HTC Desire: A Tuppeny Smartphone

There's not straight an iota of dubiousness most the fact that HTC is one of the most awesome and smartphone concern of the group. Over the geezerhood, the consort has manufactured several smartphones that soul gained worldwide popularity. With most of the renowned smartphone makers crossways the globe making an artefact effort to fabricate flashy smartphones, HTC too has jumped on to the bandwagon. The consort, which was formerly familiar to cater to only a niche divide of the industry, perhaps has initiate it tight to treat the raising claim of punk smartphones.

HTC had early prefab a large plash in the earth of smartphones with the hugely fashionable HTC Fable. In an exertion to fulfill the requirements of customers who are constantly on the lookout for tatty diminish phones and flash smartophones, the lot has introduced the HTC Desire.

This last gadget from the HTC stabilised is a smartphone which not exclusive fulfils the craving of a customer to own a punk smartphone, but also comprises individual engrossing features. The Want is an android phone which can be upgraded to the golem 2.2 (Froyo) variation. It boasts of a 1 GHz processor. The phone is lendable low cheesy change deals from most of the port mate providers. So, those intending to buy the superfine cheap smartphone, requisite not perception any added. Those who need to rise to a tinny smartphone from a trashy grasp and see of the sound is worthy. An HTC mechanised sound rarely gives any difficulty during calculation and the Want is no antithetical. It's suspended by excellent after-sales function from the friendship.

The HTC Want is a handsome sound with a turn and smoothen appearance. It measures around 119 x 60 x 12 mm in dimension and weighs most 135 gm. It comprises a enough storage susceptibleness which can be expanded to 32 GB via a microSD lineup. Many tasteless promise sound deals render this telephone. New features of the sound allow Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS and an AMOLED capacitive touchscreen. The 5 MP camera is competent of action precise pictures which galore cheesy smartphones lack. There's an LED display as recovered as a geo-tagging effortlessness which makes the telephone a must-have inferior smartphone.

The HTC want comes with an restored mixer networking curative when compared to another tacky smartphones. There's a sacred widget which enables the somebody to chisel updates straight from the multiethnic networking sites.

A customer scouring for sixpenny radiotelephone phone deals can review out the HTC Desire. Tho' its activity soprano is a slight on the higher endorse, one is outside to get any business constraints if he buys it under a sleazy diminish phone understanding. In fact, the popularity of the phone has led to an hyperbolic company of function providers content the phone under inexpensive smartphone deals.

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5 Tips to Buy Used Smartphone Without Spending Big

If you are planning to buy a smartphone but have a small budget in your tight pocket, then you may want to pick up a used smartphone instead of a new one. However, buying a used smartphone can be a bit tricky if you don't have any experience whatsoever about this "field". You cannot just go up there to the smartphone store and make a random purchase without even checking the whole condition of that phone thoroughly. And if you got the wrong device, it might turn out to be a curse for you.

You might get a good looking used smartphone with a perfect case cover without any scratches on it, but you got no clue that maybe its internal hardware or its screen interface might not work anytime soon because there have been some critical damages inside of the phone caused by the previous owners. That's why, it's really important for you to avoid this kind of smartphone for your own good.

Talking about used smartphones, most people think that used smartphones mostly suck just for the sake that they are second hand smartphones. Well, the truth is, not all used smartphones that you find around the market are some damaged phones that don't work anymore. In fact, some of this type of smartphone still works just as great as new one. So it's irrelevant anymore to say that the quality of second hand smartphones will be that horrible.

Well, if you have made the final decision and are perfectly sure that this is the right time for you to buy your first ever used smartphone, then these are 15 useful tips that hopefully can be your first guidance every time you're planning to buy used smartphones in the future.

1. Run a Quick Scan on the Case Cover

The first thing to notice from a smartphone is definitely its case cover. Therefore, every time you meet some used smartphones on any store, make sure that you always run a thorough scan of the device. Try to see if the device has any physical defect or scratch around the body of that device. This must be done in order to know more about what that device has been through in the past when it was still used by the previous owners.

2. Make Sure that the Case Cover is Original

Used smartphones are usually plagued with the perception that their case covers will tell you the whole thing about their condition. Well, that is so wrong. You cannot judge the overall quality of used smartphones just by looking at how glossy its chassis or how flawless its screen. There is a huge possibility that the seller already covers them up with some new 3rd party case covers that obviously will make them look like new phones, right?

Therefore, as a smart customer, always equip yourself with the mindset that the sellers could always replace the original but damaged case cover with some new 3rd party chassis in order to make sales.

3. Make Sure that All the Physical Buttons Work Perfectly

Physical buttons always become the fragile element on any smartphone that tends to be damaged easily if they have been pressed so many times by the owners. That's why, when checking out any used smartphone on the store, always make sure that all the physical buttons, remember, all of them, can work perfectly, without any hiccup. The best thing to do that is by pressing each physical button over and over again. If you see that there is any button that gives a weak or delay response (sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't) or even doesn't work at all when you press it, then the best

4. Always Check the Screen Sensitivity with the User Interface

The next thing to check from a used smartphone is the screen surface and the sensitivity of its User Interface. In this process, always run a thorough scan if there is any scratch around the screen and make sure that the touch screen still works perfectly. Test the touch response from each corner of the screen until the middle area. Do some mixed and random gestures on the screen over and over again, from:

• sliding the UI to the left/right/up/bottom,
• doing multi-touch,
• zooming in/out on the photos or web browser,
• deleting widgets/apps/elements
• typing on the virtual on-screen QWERTY keyboard
• etc

And if you have a plenty of time, try to play some apps that are already installed on the phone, even high performance games and test the sensitivity of the screen interface. Remember, this is really crucial because most of the previous owners might already drop it on the ground for several times in the past, so it will directly impact to the sensitivity of the screen.

5. Check if There is Any Glitch or Weird Colors Reproduction on the Screen

Besides its sensitivity, the other important thing to check on the screen is the display. Usually, used smartphones have been dropped for several times by the previous owners. Therefore, it's really important for you to see the whole area on the screen to check if there is any glitch or weird line on color reproduction around the screen. If you see any of these, then the screen is not fine.

6. Make Sure that the Battery is still Pretty Good

There is no doubt that battery is one of the most important elements in smartphones. Most of touch screen phones, even the new iPhone, have weak battery life (with the exception of Samsung or Motorola flagships of course). Therefore, it's really crucial to always run a test on this sector every time you want to buy used smartphones. To name of few, you can do things like playing high performance 3D games or watching movies/videos to make sure that the battery is still in pretty good condition, if not great. If the battery drains pretty quickly even when you just open the photos or listen some songs (which are not really energy consuming activities), then there is something wrong with the battery.

7. Check if the Camera's Shutter Key (if There is Any) Still Works

Some of smartphones usually have the physical shutter key for shooting photos/videos, even though it can be replaced with the on-screen virtual button. However, on some phones, there is a feature that lets you capture photos with shutter key even when the screen is still locked (e.g., Sony Xperia S, etc). That's why, although you may not use it very often, always do a quick test on this shutter key by pressing it over and over again just to make sure that this button still works perfectly.

8. Ensure that the Cellular and Wi-Fi Connectivity Still Work Great

Connectivity is the other important element on smartphone. Without this sector, your used phone will be pretty much useless for you. You cannot surf the web, download stuff or connect the apps to internet. Therefore, always run the test of this connectivity feature by browsing the web with the pre-installed browser or any other apps that require 3G/4G and Wi-Fi connectivity on that used smartphone.

9. Check the Bluetooth, NFC or Any Other Off-line Connectivity

These connectivity features can be really important in the future because you like it or not, you will need Bluetooth and will use it very often to share contents like photos/music/videos/files with the other devices, while NFC is also really important for the future's mobile payment. Therefore, never forget to always run the quick test on Bluetooth, NFC or other several offline connectivity features on the phone.

10. Test the Sound Quality of the Speaker

Making a phone call is the reason why cell phone is invented in the first place. Without it, your phone shouldn't be called as a phone. That's why, if this feature doesn't work properly, then your used phone will be useless in the future. So it's also really important to always run the test of this feature by making a random call on other devices and hear if there is something wrong with its sound quality, signal or its loudspeaker.

11. Try to Send Text Message

Usually, if the cellular connectivity still works great, then there is a huge chance that you can also send text messages with that phone. However, don't get carried away and sending one text message wouldn't hurt, right? This is for your own good.

12. Check the Sound Quality of the Phone, With and Without a Headset

Most of phone users usually don't open wide the loudspeaker when listening to music or watching videos. They usually use a headset for most of activities that have sounds in it, like games, movies, music or anything. However, in order to make sure that everything is fine, just spend some seconds or minutes to check if the loudspeaker still sounds great or not.

13. Make Sure that the Charging Port Can Still Charge the Phone

Charging port is also the other most important thing on smartphone. If the charging port doesn't work and cannot charge the device properly, this can be really dangerous for you in the future. These days, most smartphones' charging ports are not just assembled with glue, but on some smartphones, this part is integrated deeply with solder. So be sure to always check the charging port of the device by plugging in/out the phone with the charger and see if there is slightly delay response on battery bar on the screen when being charged. Your phone is pretty much useless if it cannot be charged.

14. Check the microSD card slot (if there is any) to see if it still works

Despite the increasing popularity of huge internal storage smartphones, most phone users still think that microSD card slot as a really vital element on smartphones. This type of users tends to choose of having a smartphone with a small internal storage but can be expanded further with external microSD card. Therefore, if you're planning to buy a microSD-card-enabled smartphone, it's recommended for you to check if the card slot still works great or not. You don't want to buy a phone with little storage that can't read external microSD card, do you?

15. Ask the Seller if the Phone is already Jail-broken or Rooted

Jailbroken iPhone or rooted Android phones might be a good thing or bad thing. If you are a tech savvy user, then it's a good thing because you can still do heck a lot of technical stuff with your phone even without the assistance of retailer. However, if you are non-tech-savvy buyer, you really need to ask the seller regarding this information. Especially for iPhone, which you may want to ask the seller to revert back your used iPhone to a non-jailbroken version, so you can still bring it safely to the official Apple store if there is anything wrong with your iPhone.

Well, those are 15 tips that you need to know before making a purchase of any used smartphone. Buying used smartphone might be a lot cheaper than getting the new one, but you as a customer still deserve to get the good quality product, even used one. So hopefully, these tips can be really useful for you every time you're planning to buy used smartphones in the future.

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Mobile Security Should Focus on Data, Not Devices

In previous posts I focused on cross-platform development using HTML5 to assure rich mobile user experience and holistic unified security analytics as a big data project. Between development and analysis, mobile security should focus on data not devices.

A recent report by McAfee Labs cited banking malware and "backdoor" Trojans, which steal data from a device without the user's knowledge, as the most common threats during the second quarter of 2013. There were over 17,000 new strains of malware targeting Android devices during the three-month period, up 35% year-on-year. This was the highest growth rate since 2010. Meanwhile, mobile cloud traffic growth continues unabated. Cisco Systems projects this traffic will account for over 70% of total mobile traffic globally by 2016, up from 45% in 2011.

Companies in every sector are experiencing the explosion in mobile, social and cloud adoption. The conundrum for IT departments is that employees need seamless and remote access to enterprise information to enhance productivity and speed decision-making while resources, applications and data need to be safeguarded.

Employees are increasingly downloading third-party apps and accessing cloud services over the corporate network. In addition, an array of new cloud-based mobile software offerings have cropped up aimed at non-technical users. These solutions provide easy-to-use tools that let users build and manage their own apps in the cloud without IT involvement. By circumventing IT, users can introduce myriad problems into the enterprise - from security breaches to unmanaged data flowing into and out of the organization, compromising GRC (governance, regulatory, compliance) mandates. CIOs are at risk of losing mobile application and content controls to business users.

Yet at the same time, more companies are implementing BYOD (bring your own device) programs. This puts pressure on CIOs to monitor, manage and govern the explosion of devices running on different operating systems with multiple versions and specially developed mobile apps. BYOD brings its own risks, including security, data leakage and privacy concerns. The same tablet accessing the corporate network today may have been infected with malware as it accessed a website from an airport terminal yesterday. Or, while accessing corporate data from the road, the same user may have moved enterprise files to a cloud storage service such as iCloud or Dropbox.

Many firms have deployed Mobile Device Management (MDM). However, MDM is useful for company-owned devices only because employees are reluctant to allow their devices to be managed by their employer's MDM solution. Moreover, as easy as it is to jailbreak devices, relying solely on device-level controls is fruitless.

Secure apps and data first

A successful enterprise mobility strategy places applications first, mapping their mission to the variety of use cases in the field. But mobile apps require greater management, control and security. Unlike with a browser, where the enterprise's application logic and data are stored in the data center, with mobile apps this intelligence is stored by the app on the device itself. Regardless of whether an organization's approach to mobility is company-issued devices or BYOD, the focus should be more on isolating and securing enterprise apps and data and less on locking down devices.

The objective is to manage mobile apps at a granular level to address deployment, security, analytics, data synchronization, storage, version control, and the ability to remotely debug a problem on a mobile device, or wipe the enterprise's data clean if a device is lost or stolen or if the employee leaves the company.

To mitigate mobile security risks, enterprises should have their mobile traffic secured, not only to detect and block malicious transactions but also to manage sensitive corporate data. First, IT needs to have visibility into the mobile traffic traversing the enterprise network, especially as it pertains to data residing in or moving between users and corporate resources. Once visibility is established, IT must secure and control potentially malicious traffic. This includes detecting and blocking advanced threats through the mobile browsers, as well as application-specific threats such as malware to prevent sensitive data leaks.

These steps can be achieved through technologies most organizations have already deployed. Specifically, application delivery controllers (ADCs) and application performance monitoring (APM) software for end-to-end visibility, and secure web gateways (SWGs) with built-in data leak prevention (DLP), and next-generation security information and event management (SIEM) to detect and block malicious traffic. These can be deployed physically or virtually on-premise or as cloud-based solutions.

Mobile Application Management for better security and control

Complementing these technologies is Mobile Application Management (MAM), which provides for the security of corporate data alone - independent of the personal settings and apps on the device. MAM solutions can be used to provision and control access to both internally-developed and approved third-party mobile apps.

With the prevalence of cross-platform development, apps are no longer created using a container model, where functionality is configured up front, leaving no room to address security or data management issues. Today, mobile apps are "wrapped", meaning that additional functionality is layered over the app's native capabilities as needed.

IT defines a set of business apps for users to access through the corporate app store via their personal device. The package includes an encrypted data file in which these approved apps reside, user authentication, selective wipe of locally-cached business data from the device and app-level VPN capabilities to provide comprehensive protection for different users and contexts. If a device is used for business, company policy should allow app downloads from a corporate app store only, instead of from public cloud app stores like iTunes or Google Play (formerly Android Market). This should be complemented by cloud access gateways that ensure transparent encryption of enterprise data stored in the cloud via sanctioned SaaS apps.

MAM provides IT with the insights and analysis to determine which apps are being downloaded, which employee groups are installing and using apps, how the apps are being used, and what devices employees have all without additional coding.

Conclusion

There is no silver bullet and organizations will need to use a combination of solutions to address enterprise mobile security. IT should collaborate with functional and business unit heads to define policies, procedures and processes. This encompasses everything from who is eligible, how users will be authenticated, what policy and network access applies to them, whether the company will issue devices or support BYOD, which devices and operating systems will be supported, who is responsible for managing wireless costs and network operators and what the consequences of non-compliance are. Painstaking as this may be, it will result in lower costs and higher productivity while minimizing security and GRC risks.

Gabriel Lowy is founder of Tech-Tonics, a research and advisory firm that bridges technology companies' vision, strategy, portfolio and markets with customers and investors to drive growth and value for all stakeholders. As a leading technology analyst for 15 years, Gabe pioneered the research on Wall Street for major trends, including application delivery networking, cloud computing, user experience assurance and big data analytics. Services include technical writing, custom research reports and strategies for market-building and financing. We resolve C-level challenges intersecting strategy, technology and finance. Contact: gabriellowy@tech-tonics.org or @gabriellowy1.

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Small Size Smartphones Are Better

In the smartphone era as we all know it everyone is tempted to go for the latest in today's technology. Somehow the manufacturers are tempted to go exactly the opposite way with this new wave of mobile phones. Instead of trying to make them smaller and smaller they decided to go for larger and larger devices.

This is probably the result of the continuously developing display technology. These devices mainly use capacitive touch-screen displays as output and input. The clients are tempted to believe that the bigger the display of a smartphone is, the better the experience will get. By unknown reasons it looks like everybody forgot that the mobile phone should be that gadget that will easily fit into a pocket and will always be comfortable to carry around.

You have probably already seen people on the street or at work talking to some devices that are almost the same size as a regular A5 notebook. This is rather embarrassing because people are paying more for some less comfortable and less practical phones.

The fault belongs to the manufacturers and the advertising that they do because advertising is known to influence the public's opinion more than is should be. The best example would be the young ladies that many times end up in hospitals just because the TV said they should look like TV stars. The same goes here, in the smartphone domain and actually in many other domains.

People should know that other devices exist, with normal shapes that are comfortable and practical, fitting perfectly in the regular sized jeans pocket. This kind of products also has prices that many times represent less than a quarter of a highly advertised smartphone.

Another important aspect would be that an intelligent smartphone can handle regular daily smartphone chords perfectly with a processor of just 800MHz. Manufacturers are tempted to build devices with bigger and bigger processors simply because the regular client is impressed by these features due to the rudimentary idea that "bigger is better". Yes, a quad-core really works faster, but a smartphone would never need such a processor because all the smartphone applications are logically made for smartphones, not kerosene powered rocket PCs. A smartphone with a quad-core processor will get over four times more money out of your pocket than a smartphone with a 1.4 GHz single core processor that will do the job probably one second slower.

Another disadvantage for the large smartphones is the fact that the microprocessor will use a large amount of its processing power simply to provide the 800 by 400 pixels HD image and the performance will still not be better than a regular smartphone with a smaller processor and display.

The most popular "wow" feature of the moment is the 4G connectivity. It is understandable that people desire such 4G compatible devices because the carriers promised download speeds of even 50 Mb per second. It would be a good upgrade but there is also a problem with this feature too. There are actually two problems, the second most important is related to the fact that a more powerful connection will drain the battery even faster, but this doesn't matter so much. The most important problem would be the fact that only some urban areas benefit from such networking systems, and it is a relatively new technology, so my recommendation would be to think twice before choosing a 4G device.

The point is that a small smartphone, or yesterday's regular sized smartphone, would make the buyer a smart buyer. It saves you a lot of money, knowing that some of the highly advertised smartphones cost almost a thousand dollars, and the speed will only be probably a second or two slower because every software that is optimized for smartphones is conceived to work perfectly even on a cheap device. Another advantage would be the portability or the practicability of the device because a mobile phone, even if it is intelligent and does a lot of tricks, should be small and highly portable.

Sell Your Smartphone for a New One!

By now you're probably aware of the smartphone craze. Chances are, you already own one. And if you do, the one you own is bound to be obsolete within a year or so.

Why the entire craze for smartphones anyway? Before, smartphones were relegated to businessmen. They were mobile phones for the executives - big, clunky and massive. Now, even kids can have a smartphone. Popular smartphones such as the BlackBerry can be seen used by people of all ages. Now they're very popular among young adults, but plenty of teenagers as well.

When you think of the word smartphone, two names probably come to mind - BlackBerry and iPhone. Though they may be very popular among the people, know that there are other brands too, just as powerful and useful.

If you're going to sell your smartphone for a new one, you're going to be blinded by what you're going to see. Not only does BlackBerry have plenty of models, but other brands such as Samsung, Motorola and Sony Ericsson possess considerable market share too.

Here are some of the most popular smartphones that you can check out:

1. Samsung Infuse 4G

- You may not know it, but this Samsung smartphone is actually very popular. It's a very powerful phone as well. It has excellent battery life, a large 4.5 inch screen and large memory capabilities as well. You also get an 8 megapixel camera, giving you assurance that every picture you'll take will be very good.

2. Apple iPhone 4S

- Once Apple joined in the smartphone market, they were able to dominate with their very popular product, the iPhone. The latest to come out from Apple is the iPhone 4S, and its features pack a powerful punch. A dual-core A5 chip allows for better graphics, better loading times and multitasking features. You can use Twitter and YouTube at the same time, and even get notifications from your email and messages too. This means no more big blue notification interrupting you while fiddling with your favorite game.

3. Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

- This smartphone is geared towards the gaming audience. If gaming is your thing, then you should definitely check it out. It looks like a gaming controller, and it's got an impressive display screen. It's reminiscent of the Sony PlayStation controller, since it has uses the same display buttons. It's also powered by the Android operating system, giving it all the usual features of a smartphone.

4. BlackBerry Curve 8530

- One of the latest BlackBerry models, this phone is a little cheaper than most high-end smartphones, but it has all the necessary features that the typical BlackBerry has. Features such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are included. If you're looking for a cheaper smartphone, you should definitely check this out. It's also multimedia minded. It has its own dedicated keys for playing audio and video files. The BlackBerry messenger makes sure you're connected to other BlackBerry users.

5. Samsung LG Optimus 2X.

- It touts itself as the world's first dual core smartphone. This guarantees a smooth user experience. Browsing the web becomes a breeze, downloading and multitasking also becomes smooth. An 8 megapixel camera ensures high quality photos. The camera can also play in HD, in a 1080p resolution. This ensures that all your videos will be smooth. All thanks to the Android operating system, this phone guarantees that you're going to enjoy every single cent.

With all the smartphones coming out today, it can be very hard to make a choice. Depending on the features you need, it may not be necessary to buy an iPhone, and you only need a moderately-priced BlackBerry. If you sell your smartphone now, you can take advantage of all these great smartphones out today. Go ahead and treat yourself to an upgrade.

Are Smartphones Right for You?

The question many of us ask ourselves while walking the isles of electronics stores, gazing at endless rows of shiny little gadgets. Is a smartphone right for me? Would it be too confusing? People are faster, busier, and far more demanding now than they have ever been, which is why smartphones really make life a little easier today. It's not just talking to people phone to phone anymore, no sir smartphones these days are sometimes jammed packed with so much technology that it can be confusing and frustrating. So are these new age super gadgets right for you?

Why a smartphone may be right for you.

If your someone that's constantly on the run, often checking your social networking sites 2-5 times a day, a smartphone will benefit you greatly. The average smartphone today is equipped with applications for the hottest social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Allowing you to constantly stay updated with your friends and family all over the world, any time any day.

Ah email. We often think of using this form of communication on the computer at home or maybe at work. Any standard smartphone today will give you access to your email as well as instant messaging, some even have fully functional slide out keypads! Perhaps your very busy one day, frustrated or tired and you'd rather not talk to a certain person with a tone that's not very appropriate, simple drop em an email on the go and be done with it. Another great feature of the smartphone is the internet. The internet is just so useful in so many ways, why not have it with you anywhere and anytime. Get directions, search for your favorite restaurant, or find the nearest gas station with your handy dandy smartphone.

These little gadgets can be great for gamers. Got some time to kill while waiting for your next class? Got a hankering for an old retro? Smartphones are filled with the hottest games to date including classics like Pacman and Tetris for the retro gamers out there. People love music, while it's at home in the car or sitting on the beach. A smartphone will be your personal music player, replacing your existing MP3 player as in all in one device, and don't worry about music space. Current smartphones today carry 10GB,30GB, or 50GB worth of music!

Why a smartphone may not be right for you.

You might not want to shell out the dough for one of these nifty little gadgets, here are some reasons why. A smartphone may not be right for you if your unfamiliar with current technology. Do you find yourself rarely using a computer, and hardly thumbing through your existing cell phone features? If so, you'd probably find that you wouldn't be using your smartphones features to the max. The last thing you want to do is put out money on a multi-functional device that you'd just use to make calls on.

Working from home is great but puts you in a position to take care of most of your emailing, gaming and social networking before you call it a day and head out for some fun. Which means you'll have less use of the great features smartphones have to offer. Simple put if your not going to use most of the features on the device than it isn't for you, as one of these bad boys can set you back up to $550 dollars! A good option to save money is to sign a contract with a cellular company, which often cuts the price in half. Even so we probably all wish you could get one for free.

Who Owns the Business Smartphone? Mobile Device Liability

Today's enterprises have already learned how to deal with the complexities of their mobile employees and the information carried in their laptop computers. After all, the information in those laptops is confidential and owned by the corporation. Those same complexities-and many more-now arise from the employees' use of smartphones. Often, the data in a smartphone is just as sensitive and critical to the company as data in computers. Issues of security, compliance, legality, trust, and of course cost all need to be addressed.

All of these issues give rise to the biggest question of all-who should own the enterprise smartphone-the employee or the corporation? Smartphone use among U.S.-based information workers is expected to triple by 2013, according to Forrester Research. It seems that the decisions and strategies surrounding the control and ownership of these devices should be made sooner than later.

The cost of ownership is perhaps the easiest aspect to calculate. It might seem like just reimbursing an employee for a flat percentage of the bill from their own phone would be a quick and easy way to go. But there are hidden costs to consider, including the support costs of accounting, billing, and asset management, and for controlling things like overseas roaming charges. Not to mention keeping track of how and where the connection charges are occurring in the company, this can yield valuable information on the true costs of enterprise mobility.

Corporate-owned phones come with their own set of problems, like supporting the plethora of different phones and carrier types. Think again if you believe that you can just issue the same phone to everyone to control that complexity. It's usually the best performers, the hardest employee-type to recruit, who insists on having his or her own type of phone, "because it's worked for me in the past."

Even though it seems obvious that there is need to control employees' equipment and use-after all, there are hundreds of emails, calendars, documents, and confidential customer information stored on these smartphones-an increasing number of companies are loosening their hold on employee-owned handheld devices that are used for business purposes.

Today, half of the smartphones in use among U.S. and Canadian businesses are not company-issued equipment, according to a recent report from Forrester Research. Most companies are still grappling with the question of who should be liable for these devices. In this debate, there are still many unanswered questions and hidden trapdoors, including: What is meant by "liability"? What are the legal aspects that must be considered? How can I start to build a strategy that is meaningful and balances the needs of both the company and the employee?

What Is Meant by "Liability"?

There are many types of liability associated with owning and using a smartphone, including financial, regulatory, compliance, privacy, and legal liability, to name just a few. Financial liability is perhaps the easiest to understand. It would seem obvious that paying for individual liable (IL) carrier plans would be the responsibility of the employee. But what if the employee racks up a $5000 bill on a three-week business trip to Europe? And what if that employee uses a corporate liable (CL) phone to conduct an illegal activity with large financial consequences, like using the camera feature to take a picture of a competitor's confidential documents?

If you are in an industry with stiff regulatory and compliance considerations, it would be more likely that stronger controls and CL smartphones would be the norm. Of course, it is the data on that phone, and not the phone itself, that needs to be managed. In a larger company with adequate IT staffing, keeping sensitive data away from the phone with specialized software and firewalls is relatively easy. But what about smaller companies that allow phone access to company records on the company's private intranet?

Financial services and medical companies can have very high financial and legal ramifications for misuse of private data that might end up on a smartphone. Many of these companies require all corporate data to go through company-issued computers (and not phones) that have elaborate encryption and other data protection mechanisms. But "privacy" can have another definition. How about protection of employee-owned information that resides on a CL smartphone? Does the employer have the right to look at ALL of the data on the phone they own, even if they might happen upon some embarrassing photos?

And here's a hypothetical "who's liable" question. What if an employee happens to lose a next-generation prototype smartphone that is later found and sold to a technology magazine, so that the new features and technology can be "outed" to an interested public? What kind of insurance/risk management liability plan will cover THAT?

Legal Aspects of Data Ownership and Control

There is a distinct lack of legal clarity about what a company can and cannot control when it comes to smartphones. With case law lagging behind technology, how do you factor legal issues into the equation of who should own the smartphone?

Some generally accepted practices are starting to emerge. Corporate email messages and company data are owned by the company, regardless of where they reside. The company has unrestricted access to the information and can set usage policies that must be adhered to by the employee. On the other hand, courts have ruled that once this data is sent via the Webmail through a service like AOL out into the cloud, employers can lose the rights to confidentiality! The problem is multiplied exponentially if you are an international firm, because in the E.U., Japan, and Canada, all email is regarded as private to employees if it was authored by them.

Can an employer mandate control over CL or IL phones used for business purposes? One way that seems to hold up legally is through the use of employment agreements. Even if the phone is owned by the employee located in (let's say) Canada, a well-crafted employment agreement will trump the local laws about employee privacy of business email and text messages. Of course, the employment agreement will not hold up if it is only selectively or randomly enforced, which makes the employer the bad guy if it is strictly enforced with a heavy hand. It is generally agreed upon that any policy must be well understood and "bought into" through consensus to be able to avoid lawsuits over privacy issues.

Start with a Strategy

There are too many variables in the equation to go about randomly managing your policy for smartphone use, ownership, and control. At the core, you need to define your strategy upfront. What are the business goals you want to accomplish? How do you balance the needs of BOTH the employee AND the company? Since every function and level of a company-not just sales and marketing Road Warriors-is affected by this plan, the strategy must be well thought out.

Segmentation of user types is generally the first step of the strategy. Forrester analyst Ted Schadler recommends dividing your information workers into several groups based on how their mobile enablement benefits the company:

Those who use the most sensitive data get company-paid, company-managed smartphones
Those who work extensively away from their desks receive subsidies for most or all of their personal smartphone charges
Those who work away from their desks occasionally receive a partial subsidy for their personal smartphone use
Those who rarely work away from their desks receive no subsidy, and you may consider locking their smartphones out of your systems altogether.
Conclusion

So who should own the smartphone? There is no perfect answer. Sometimes it's the employee, sometimes the employer. Times have changed and employee expectations are different. The workforce today is demanding to choose their own devices. The locked down, two-year old corporate device just doesn't cut it anymore.

Planning for this dynamic is the new reality. Forrester's Schadler says, "The secret to smartphone management is treating employees like grown-ups and using a 'trust and verify' model for policy control. You have to stop treating it as an IT policing issue, and instead treat it as a business risk management question."

More and more companies are already starting to make this shift in their thinking. A balance needs to be found between issuing smartphones as an IT-controlled management tool, to letting a certain subset of employees own the responsibility for their own devices. That balance point will vary for every company. One thing is certain-the IL/CL debate will rage on for a quite a while to come.

Does a Smartphone Beat a Laptop?

Smartphones are the latest must-haves for many people. Stationary work environments are a thing of the past as people are on the move and need to be able to take their work, family and friends with them. A smartphone is a new wave in cell phone technology that includes personal digital assistant capabilities too. They allow instant Internet access and have advanced features that are like a laptop.

Common Smartphone Features

* Cell phone

* E-mail access

* Organizer

* Touch-screen with high-resolution

* Camera

* Global positioning system

* Calendar

* Contact database

* Ability to read PDF files

* Music player

* Image viewer

* Video player

* Internet access

Computer Access from Cell Phones

The days of lugging around a large, weighted cell phone are gone. Today's cell phones are slim, sleek and functional. Smartphones take that a step further and incorporate data management and computer use with cell phone technology. The idea has been well received and people are using smartphones for business and personal use.

The iphone is Apple's latest and highly popular version of the smartphone. Other brands include Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, HTC Excalibur and Palm. These smartphones run on operating system (OS) software that allows them to share information from a computer or other interfaces. Such operating systems make it possible for users to access their computer files, graphics, history, memory, stage and more from their cell phones.

Common Operating Systems for Smartphones

1. Linux is one of the oldest operating systems in use and it is completely free. This system was created by a hobbyist and wasn't taken seriously for many years, but it is still around and considered one of the best shareware programs.

2. Mac OSX is Apple's version of a graphic operating system. It is a high-functioning program that turns a regular cell phone into a high-tech smartphone.

3. Solaris is Microsystem's platform supported by Dell, HP and IBM. It is a trusted name in computers and smartphones. It works on a variety of interfaces to meet the growing demand for mobile PC usage.

4. Palm OS is based on the PDAs that hit the market in 1996. It is exceptional at keeping information organized and makes file management and storage a breeze. It is easy to use, has high graphic resolution, and uses a touch- screen model.

5. Microsoft Windows is probably the most recognized of the OS software programs. It makes Internet use on-the-go a reality.

Will Smartphones Replace Laptops or Home Computers?

Smartphones are high-end technical gadgets that are convenient because they combine cell phone features with organization and Internet access. New versions with improved features and greater capacity continue to emerge. Smartphones probably won't replace laptops or home computers, though. As intelligent and sophisticated as smartphones are, they are not practical for long-term use. Smartphones are great supplemental tools for business, home office and entertainment purposes. But try spending eight hours in front of a tiny screen, reading, texting, copying or any other tasks you would normally do on your computer. It would not be a pleasant experience.

The Future of Smartphones

The future of smartphones is promising. We can look forward to increased battery power, larger memory capacity, the ability to watch TV and movies on the phone and the ability to be connected anytime, anywhere. Aside from better functionality, smartphones will be available in a variety of versions to appeal to a wider audience. As the competition for smartphones increases, the prices are dropping and they are becoming more accessible to everyone.

Faster And Smarter Future Smartphones: What Possibilities They Hold For Us

Smartphones have become a part of our personal and professional life. With new technologies cropping up everyday smartphones will become an indispensable part of our survival on this planet. It is interesting to ponder over the question as to what today's smartphone will be like in the future, maybe by the next year or five years down the line? There is no way to possibly gauge the future; however, looking at upcoming innovations for smartphones we can make decent predictions about it.

Let's take a look at what the forthcoming generation of smartphones holds for us:

Enhanced Designs

Expect future mobile phones to not only have advanced features from their existing smartphones but also unique designs. Smartphones are not just a necessity but a lifestyle for today's urban user. According to IDC Mobile Technology and Trends, smartphone sizes will nearly remain the same from 3.7 to 4.3- inch display size. Smartphones might become leaner, but they might not shrink in size. There could be transparent smartphone designs on display. There is a huge possibility, of improvement in the dual-screen foldable design for smartphones.

More interestingly future smartphones will come in customizable designs which users can shape in any size they want. Ultimately, users expect great functionality with appealing designs and future smartphones will be geared to merge the two aspects much better.

Elastic Screens

Future smartphones will come with paperlike computer displays, made almost entirely of plastic, making them durable, portable and movable. OLED (Organic-Light-Emitting-Diode) will enable easily foldable screens, which will be as thin as paper with dual display. Users will be able to run two different displays at the same time. For instance, watching movie on one screen and reading newspapers on the other. Users will also be able to take advantage of a large screen display while maintaining a small size of the device. Smartphones may encompass inbuilt projectors which can set-up projections up to 50 inches in size. This will be a direct boost for the mobile gaming industry.

What's more, this new gaming interface will be voice-enabled and will eliminate the need of manual controls. Flexible screens will use the 3-dimensional space within your phone. Hence, they can be much faster and better in performance.

Moving from 2-D to 3-D Displays

Smartphones will move the existing 2-D displays to 3-D screens. This will be more advanced from Apple's retina display capability that offers a screen resolution sharper than the human eye. Next to follow will be holograms, which will combine a 3D feature with a smartphone projection. With such technology users will be able to make changes like pull, compress and so on to images, content and graphics just by the touch of their finger.

Moreover, such technology is fully realistic and provides every user the freedom of movement, without forcing them to wear special glasses or headsets. Future holograms will be able to detect their users and appropriately change projections as per user preferences. Hologram advertising will receive a huge boost from this.

NFC Enabled Smartphones

According to the latest forecasts by Juniper Research, one in five smartphones will have Near Field Communication (NFC) by 2014. NFC enabled smartphones offer innumerable value-added services to its users. From booking tickets to providing secure storages, it is being forecast that NFC will capture 300 million smartphone users by 2014. There are numerous reasons as to how NFC will benefit the future smartphones - NFC is easy to set-up and use, it can be used from anywhere, and it offers secure data storage facility to its users. NFC is a user-centric technology which will revolutionize the future smartphone market.

In Conclusion

These features sound interesting and will definitely enhance the user experience, in a big way. Simultaneously, users must consider certain doubts before passing the final verdict: the concerns about pricing, battery consumption, and privacy issues. As of now, we can just wait and watch what the future smartphone technology holds for us.

Smartphones Versus Non-Smartphones

To compare non smartphones versus smartphones, you need to answer two key questions:

1) What do you need your phone to do? and

2) How much are you willing to pay?

Actually, you get what you pay for, and more capability will cost you more money. For some users, it may be a black-and-white decision with no shades of gray: they either want plain telephone service, or they want a phone that will do it all.

There are non smartphones that do a great job of just making calls.

For example, the Samsung m370 does only one thing, but it does it well. This is a basic phone that delivers great voice capabilities, has an over-sized keypad, and carries the familiar clamshell design that makes using it very comfortable. Call quality is excellent, and it can help you keep your monthly bills low since calling is all it does.

However, the phone has no extra features. There is no expandable memory slot for music storage. If you need any capability at all other than calling, you won't find it in this phone.

There are some non smartphones that do have extra capability such as e-mail, texting and some other functions such as a camera. These devices usually are designed to run on proprietary firmware which is tied to the phone itself.

The main factor that differentiates non smartphones from smartphones, is that they generally can't run third-party applications. This is significant, because unless the phone manufacturer decides at a later time to include an additional function in a "firmware upgrade", you can't add additional functions to the phone. You have no way to add new capability to a non smartphone.

Now let's consider the cost of the devices.

Device cost
The purchase price of a phone depends on whether it is purchased with or without a service contract. Phone service without a contract is generally on a month-to-month basis, and can be cancelled by the user with no penalty.

Smartphones without a contract are generally priced in the range of $400 - $750, depending on memory capacity and features. Refurbished earlier-generation smartphones can be bought for significantly less.Non smartphones without a contract are usually priced in the range of $50 - $150, but some can be higher.

Most service contracts run for a 2-year period and almost always have a penalty for early termination. Since the phone is sold to the user at a discount, the carrier absorbs the cost of the discount and recovers it over the life of the contract. For that reason, the carrier charges a penalty for early termination.

Non smartphones with a 2-year contract are generally priced in the range of "free" (no out-of-pocket cost) to $50-$75, some higher. Smartphones with a 2-year contract are priced in the range of $100 - $300, depending on memory capacity and features for the latest model. Refurbished prior models are available for considerably less.

After the contract has been in force for a period of time, most carriers will allow customers to upgrade to a newer model (usually at a substantially reduced price) if the customer agrees to extend the service contract for an additional two years following the upgrade.

Phone service costs
The cost for basic phone service is about the same for non smartphones and smartphones. Competition is fierce among the carriers, so the primary differences among carriers is in the quality of coverage in the user's area, rather than the service charges.

Most carriers offer combined "family" plans with a basic charge for the first phone and then a discounted additional rate for additional phones. There are various tiered plans, generally based on the amount of maximum usage in minutes per month, with additional charges applying if the maximum is exceeded. In addition, there may or may not be additional costs for long distance, and there may or may not be a difference in charges for nights and weekends versus daytime usage. Today, many carriers offer plans with unlimited calls and text messages and no charges for long distance.

The plans can be complicated, so it is well worth the effort to compare the details of the cost structure. For example, one of the carriers allows unused minutes to "roll over" from one month to the next month.

Data and internet
These costs apply only to smartphone contracts, and can be in the range of $30 - $100 per month or more, depending on the amount of data used. As in the case of the calling packages, the data plans are tiered, with a basic cost for a maximum amount of data usage and additional charges if the minimum is exceeded.

For "family plans", under which two or more smartphones are covered, carriers have begun to allow members in the plan to share a pool of data usage. This usually will reduce the family's cost, since not all family members use the same amount of data.

Apps
These costs apply only to smartphones, and are associated with third-party apps that run on the phone. Some are free, but most do require some sort of charge to be paid to access the features. Most apps cost between $0.99 and $9.99, although there are apps which are highly specialized that are much more expensive. Most apps have a one-time fee when they are downloaded and activated. Some apps require a monthly subscription fee in order to continue to use the app, or to continue to be able to access the data which is stored in the app or on the internet.

Smartphone Gloves and Other Accessories

Did I actually say smartphone gloves?

Smartphones have become extremely popular. This has produced a wide variety of accessories. Since winter means cold weather (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) special gloves have been developed for smartphone use in cold weather.

Ordinary gloves will not work with smartphone touchscreens, because of the way the screen is designed to work. Most smartphone touch screens use a "capacitive touchscreen". Essentially, this means that in order to work with a touchscreen, a glove needs to complete a circuit with your finger.

There are special gloves that will work, many priced in the $20 - $40 range. A pair of regular gloves can be converted for smartphone use by putting a few stitches of conductive thread in the fingertips of the glove. This special thread will complete the connection between the screen and your finger.

There are many different smartphone accessories. Generally, the internet is the best place to shop for them, since the cost will often be less that the cost in a physical store -- particularly in the smartphone provider's store.

Chargers and cables - A charger and cable is generally included with the device, since nearly all smartphones are rechargeable. Having at least one spare set is a good idea because cables can get lost or damaged. A charger and cable designed to work in the 12-volt outlet of a car is very handy for use on the road. This is especially advisable when using a smartphone GPS mapping app because those apps use a lot of battery power. Some smartphones use a USB plug charging cable which allows the device to be charged from a computer, and for synchronizing data or downloading apps.

Cases - A case is highly recommended for protecting your smartphone. They come in many materials and in varying degrees of device protection. Some cases are in the form of a holster than can be worn on a belt. There are also cases which attach to the user's arm when exercising so it isn't necessary to hold the device.

Headsets - A set of ear-buds or earphones is usually supplied with a smartphone for listening to audio played back on the device. Wireless headsets which eliminate the cable connection can also be used with many smartphones. A smartphone can be used as a hands-free phone when making or receiving calls by using a wireless headset which includes a microphone.

Screen protectors - Screen protectors are made of a clear plastic material which is attached directly to the touchscreen with a special (usually water-based) adhesive. This can help protect the surface of the smartphone touchscreen. All screen protectors are designed so as not to interfere with the sensitivity of the device's touchscreen, and some screen protectors are designed to reduce glare. Be careful when installing the screen protector -- the touchscreen surface must be completely clean before applying the screen protector.

Stylus - A stylus is very useful for those times when more precise control over the touchscreen is required, than can be obtained with a fingertip. These items can be quite inexpensive, and are useful. Some stylus models include a pen or pencil.

Car kits and mounts - These are useful for attaching your device to the dashboard or window when using the device with a GPS application for following a route on a map when driving. Many devices will fit many different brands of smartphone, and can include speakerphones, charging capability and/or antenna connections. However, be careful not to let viewing the map distract you!

Batteries - Generally, the battery that comes with a smartphone is rechargeable. If you remember to recharge your device when the battery is low, you shouldn't need a spare. However, spare batteries for smartphones with replaceable batteries are available in the $20 - $50 range, with some higher. Special cases incorporating a back-up battery are available for some devices - the iPhone for example - which do not have a user-replaceable battery.

There is multitude of smartphone accessories available from many manufacturers. When you do select an accessory, just be sure it is designed to work with your smartphone.

The Rise of Smartphones

With every passing day, more and more customers are buying smartphones like never before. This has been fuelled by the increasing number of cheap smartphones that are being introduced in the market by all major smartphone makers.

For the uninitiated, a smartphone is a mobile phone which can connect to the internet and has the ability to run and purchase applications. Even a cheap smartphone is equipped with voice, data, wireless fidelity, Bluetooth and GPRS functions. Operating systems that are most frequently used in cheap smartphones include the Android by Google, iOS by Apple and Mobile 7 by Windows. Most smartphone handsets, including cheap smartphones, use the 3G wireless communication technology and switches over to Wi-Fi whenever it's available. In fact, newer cheap smartphone handsets are being manufactures for accommodating the upcoming 4G technology.

Reports have revealed that worldwide, the sale of mobile phones to end-users totaled over 416 million units during the last quarter of 2011. This was a 35 per cent increase from the corresponding quarter in 2009. The sale of smartphones, including cheap smartphones, grew over 95 per cent from the third quarter during the last year. Smartphones constituted over 19 per cent of the total sales of mobile phones during the last quarter in 2010.

The United States has over 290 million mobile phone subscribers and mobile phone penetration in the country is over 92 per cent. More than one household in every four had mobile phones and no landline connection. Thus is an increase of over 2.1 per cent than 2009. Almost one household, in every six, use mobile phones exclusively despite having a landline connection. Across the world there are nearly five billion smartphone users, a substantial percentage of who use cheap smartphones.

As networks equipped with higher speeds are built, it's expected that an increasing number of customers would switch to mobile internet. Smartphone owners are downloading thousands of applications and spending huge amounts of money via mobile payments. The younger generation, today, use their smartphones for most of their e-commerce transactions. And the most surprising part is that most of them haven't been to a bank in years.

With more number of people taking to smartphones, the concerns about mobile phone security are also bound to rise. If you're one of those who have bought a smartphone, use a unique number code to lock your phone. Over 50 per cent of smartphone users don't use it and their handsets become more vulnerable to thieves and hackers. Besides, don't store any banking password in your smartphone. Nearly 24 per cent users do so and 40 per cent of these people say that losing their handset would be worse than losing their wallet. Over two million cell phones are stolen or lost each year. That's one phone in every 15 seconds.

As more mobile phone manufacturing companies focus their attention on making cheap smartphones, this segment is slated to witness a tremendous growth in the coming days. Add to that the lowering of subscription charges and smartphone users would have a gala time.

Things You Must Know About Smartphones

The craze for smartphones is at its height. Each day, almost all mobile phone companies are coming up with a new smartphone. People are lapping up each and every smartphone without knowing what to expect from such a phone.

Well, here are some things you must know about a smartphone.

Internet is the key

While it's usual for smartphones to come in several sizes, the internet is always the key. A smartphone sans internet is akin to a hamburger without the ham. As of now, over a quarter of the smartphone users rarely access internet from anywhere else other than their smartphone. Experts have projected that by the end of 2013, the smartphone would be the primary device to be used by people for accessing the internet and it will overtake the laptop and the personal computer in this regard. If your smartphone lacks internet, contemplate buying a new one.

Power is precious

Even if you make only a few calls from your phone, several cheap smartphones run low on battery beyond 24 hours. While the features of a phone usually attract the most attention, the capacity of the battery isn't given much importance. More and more smartphone users are carrying their battery chargers with them even while going to work. Playing games or watching videos would drain the battery quickly. Avoid these if you want far more important things to do with your smartphone.

Call quality depends on the design

You would be certainly amused if you saw a photo of an early mobile phone with a giant antenna protruding from the back. Even cheap smartphones, these days, have eliminated the necessity of an antenna which is comprised within the device itself. However, several ergonomically designed phones often fall short in their call quality because of the aesthetics that short-changes the function of the antenna.

Most applications get boring fast

Depending upon the operating system of your smartphone, there could be hundreds of applications available over the internet. In fact, an average cheap smartphone user normally downloads 4-5 new applications each month. Studies have revealed that a majority of these applications, a whopping 91 per cent, are used less than 10 times and are mostly forgotten. Be selective about the applications you download and delete those that you use rarely. This would save space as well as battery life.

Privacy is thin

The worst part of a smartphone is that very little information contained in its memory is actually kept private. Though the policies of the service providers and the internet often differ, most of them comprise a provision for accessing the information of their users from any corner of the world.

There are viruses for smartphones

Though their numbers could be many times less than that of a personal computer, smartphone viruses do exist. However, the vast number of smartphone viruses usually attack modified or jail-broken handsets. Nevertheless, virus attacks on regular and cheap smartphones are increasing in number.

While the above points may not be sacrosanct for each and every smartphone, it's advisable to keep them in mind while buying a handset.

Things You Must Know About Smartphones

The craze for smartphones is at its height. Each day, almost all mobile phone companies are coming up with a new smartphone. People are lapping up each and every smartphone without knowing what to expect from such a phone.

Well, here are some things you must know about a smartphone.

Internet is the key

While it's usual for smartphones to come in several sizes, the internet is always the key. A smartphone sans internet is akin to a hamburger without the ham. As of now, over a quarter of the smartphone users rarely access internet from anywhere else other than their smartphone. Experts have projected that by the end of 2013, the smartphone would be the primary device to be used by people for accessing the internet and it will overtake the laptop and the personal computer in this regard. If your smartphone lacks internet, contemplate buying a new one.

Power is precious

Even if you make only a few calls from your phone, several cheap smartphones run low on battery beyond 24 hours. While the features of a phone usually attract the most attention, the capacity of the battery isn't given much importance. More and more smartphone users are carrying their battery chargers with them even while going to work. Playing games or watching videos would drain the battery quickly. Avoid these if you want far more important things to do with your smartphone.

Call quality depends on the design

You would be certainly amused if you saw a photo of an early mobile phone with a giant antenna protruding from the back. Even cheap smartphones, these days, have eliminated the necessity of an antenna which is comprised within the device itself. However, several ergonomically designed phones often fall short in their call quality because of the aesthetics that short-changes the function of the antenna.

Most applications get boring fast

Sell Your Smartphone If You Don't Need It!

A lot of times, we buy things that we don't really need. This is true, especially in the case of consumer electronics. Plenty of things like laptops, computers, tablets, and smartphones are always bought for the simple fact that they are new. Other times, people just buy them to be "in" and be cool. They want to brag that they have the latest mp3 players with the biggest memories, or the latest phones with the coolest looking games.

Some consumer electronics are actually quite helpful for our daily lives like a desktop computer. And there are some things that just make you go, "Why did I even buy that?" This usually happens with smartphones. Why even buy the latest smartphone when you have a powerful computer, your own secretary, and still use Post-It notes?

When you think about it, do you really need 500,000 apps to remind you of your mother's birthday? You may think the smartphone is the craze right now, but actually it isn't.

In fact, only one-third of residents in the United States own a smartphone. What about the rest? They seem to be fine without it anyway. They don't need push email or the latest operating systems from Apple and Windows. But how about you? Do you really need it?

Here are some reasons to convince you to sell your smartphone:

1. They're all the same
- You could get the latest iPhone or Motorola Atrix models, but the earlier generations still perform the same functions. If you happen to own one, you're still going to do the same thing if you buy a new one.

2. You're not maximizing its capabilities
- Why bother giving your mother a BlackBerry when she's just a humble housewife? While the thought of giving her the latest smartphones is wonderful, it's just going to be a waste. If you just like to take pictures and send text messages, then go buy a regular mobile phone.

- Likewise, if you're always in front of the computer, you really don't get to use the smartphone's internet capabilities. Especially if you live near where you work (which likely has Internet access), having a smartphone is an impractical idea.

3. It still can't be a computer
- No matter what, an iPhone is still going to be a plain phone. If you're a gaming addict, you can't play the latest Call of Duty to hit the shelves. You're still going to be logging into your email account on the computer, and you're going to be online the whole day.

4. You barely bring it anywhere
- If you're a rich person that loves to travel, then having a smartphone is certainly handy. But if you're like the rest of the population, then a smartphone isn't really needed. If you bring a tablet computer or laptop with you everywhere you go (many people that have tablets also have smartphones), then you won't really use the Internet capabilities of the smartphone. The tablet is a better alternative for surfing.

Also, smartphones can be actually detrimental to your body's health. Owning a smartphone is a serious addiction. CNN reports that people normally check their smartphones at least 34 times a day, not because they really need to. They just check it out of habit. The brain simply commands the hands to reach out to the phone involuntarily.

This is a serious problem, as CNN also reports that it is very distracting. They report that it is hard to go back to work because important tasks are suddenly forgotten. Checking emails suddenly became involuntary.

If you tend to check your email using your smartphone too many times a day, then you need to think about it. Also, if you tend to zone out with your friends just because you need to check up on something, you have a problem.

If you're having these problems, just sell your smartphone and downgrade. But if you can't really live without it, just go buy a cheaper smartphone with basic smartphone features. You could try the BlackBerry Curve 8520. It's one of the cheapest smartphones, but it still has the basic smartphone features.

Sell your smartphone

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Easy Guide Explaining How Smartphones Work

In the world of mobile technology, smartphones are the only handsets worth talking about these days it seems. The following guide will explain in simple terms how they differ from normal mobile phones, what they do and how they actually work.

Introduction to Smartphones

Traditional mobile phones are made to tackle your communication needs such as making and receiving calls or texting. Smartphones differ in that they offer much more than this because they provide many of the same functions as you're used to from your computer.

Smartphones allow you to install, configure and run the applications of your choice. In effect, this means the individual can tailor their mobile device to an unprecedented degree and access a range of functions from one tidy device.

These are some of the core things smartphones can do:

E-mail - increasingly smartphones are Wi-Fi capable.
Instant messaging.
Personal Information Management, including calendar, notes and To-Do list.
Communication with laptop or desktop computers.
Data synchronisation with applications like Microsoft Outlook and Apple's iCal calendar programs.
Download and run advanced applications such as video games.
Play audio and video files.
Future smartphone applications that are already in development seem to show that the sky is the limit when it comes to the range of functions they will be able to perform. For example, near field communication technology will allow your smartphone to act as a wireless credit card at retail stores.

Smartphone Hardware

Processing Power

These days, smartphones run on computing processors with speeds that range from 100 - 624 MHz, and a 1 GHz processor is on its way. Many smartphones use power-efficient ARM processors, the same kind that can be found in printers, routers and MP3 players. They will also offer on-board memory storage in the tens of megabytes, and many devices have slots for removable memory to offer extra storage in the same way that you would use an external hard-drive for your computer.

Computer Chip Functionality

Computer chips give smartphones their functionality. This includes cameras with high-resolution image sensors like digital cameras, real-time web browsing, sharing multimedia files or playing music - without draining your phone's battery life excessively. Some manufacturers also develop chips that integrate multiple functions to help reduce the overall cost of their handset, meaning with fewer chips per phone, their production costs and thus their retail prices are lowered.

It must be said that recent hardware innovations have led the way to become what users will expect as standard from a good smartphone. For example, Apple's iPhone has an accelerometer that lets you change the view from portrait to landscape format by simply turning the phone 90 degrees. Also, dial buttons for calling are increasingly being replaced by touchscreen (the iPhone has no dial buttons at all). Then there are power saving features gaining ground - the iPhone has ambient light sensors that automatically adjusts the brightness of the display based on how much light is present in your surroundings.

Smartphone Software

The software that smartphones use is arranged as a stack (similar to computers) that consists of the following layers:

Kernel - this contains the key management systems for smartphone computing processes and drivers that operate their hardware.
Middleware - here you have software libraries that run your smartphone applications such as web browsing, security, etc.
Application Execution Environment (AEE) - this consists of the application programming interfaces which allow developers to create new programs.
User Interface Framework - allows for the graphics and layouts seen on your screen.
Application Suite - these are the basic applications you would access regularly, such as calendars, menu screens and message inboxes.
Smartphone Operating System (OS)

The OS of a smartphone is crucial to how it functions, what its limits are and the range of applications you will be able to enjoy. The two main contenders in the eye of the general public these days are Google's Android OS and the Apple iOS. Since the platform your smartphone runs on is so important to how you experience mobile technology, this will be thoroughly explained in a separate article.

Conclusion

The break-neck speed at which smartphones are progressing is opening up a seemingly limitless world of possibilities affecting how we manage and enjoy our lives. Whether you're tech-savvy and constantly keeping an eye out for the latest and coolest apps to download, or whether you simply have a set list of needs to support you while on the go, smartphones have significantly raised the bar when it comes to what you can accomplish with a mobile handset.

Smartphones - A Quick Overview

The Smartphone is the wave of the present and future. Just when most people thought that mobile phones could not get better than the Apple iPhone, a series of Smartphones have made its glorious entrance.

The concept for Smartphone apps, short for Smartphone applications, is not new. Actually, it dates back to 1992, when the first Smartphone, named Simon was invented. It was an early mobile or cell phone. It includes such apps as a clock, address book, email, notepad, a send and receive fax machine, as well as games. It was a legend ahead of its time.

The first actual Smartphone was sold in 2000, when the Ericsson R380 was released. It was the first cell phone that was actually called a Smartphone. By 2005, Nokia started launching its Nseries of 3G Smartphones, which were not called cell phones or Smartphones, but "multimedia computers", even though in effect, they were essentially Smartphones.

In 2008, Android, a cross platform OS for Smartphones, was released. This was the first Smartphone to feature the use of applications, or "apps." In July of the same year, Apple introduced its App Store. The app store is capable of delivering third-party applications to a user's iPhone or iPod touchpad via wi-fi or cellular networks without using a PC to download.

The App Store has become a huge sensation. In fact, as of March 2010, it has offered 170,000 applications and had made three billion downloads as of January 2010.

There are different types of apps. For example, on an iPhone, there are virtually apps for everything known to man. As their commercial puts it, "Yeah, there's an app for that too." If one were to consider the number of apps available on iPod, they would seemingly never get to the end of it all. Its list is inexhaustibly endless.

BlackBerry- At BlackBerry App World, you can reportedly download 140,000 apps free, with games, social networking, shopping, productivity as well as other amenities. You can personalize your BlackBerry Smartphone with literally tons of apps for whatever you want while you are on the go. BlackBerry App World has as of this article's writing 5 million users worldwide.

HTC- Named for H.T. Chou, one of the company's directors, is an Asian-based company that specializes in the use of Smartphone applications. It credits itself with creating several of cell phones firsts, including being the first company to feature the Microsoft Smartphone.

It has many, many apps as well free that you can download via the Android market. It has been received to somewhat mixed reviews. One user claims that though it was somewhat okay, it was observed that the battery on their Smartphone heated up and tended to die out very fast. However, other users give the HTC apps rave reviews.

Nokia- The Nokia E62 is another Smartphone that is becoming increasingly hot on the Smartphone market. It has various features and applications such as N-series, E-series, Xpress Music, and Classic, etc. Like its competitors, it has to stay ahead, and like its competitors, claims to offer numerous apps free.

Like with all Smartphones, they have their various games. Interestingly, it has been observed by most PC review articles that most PC apps are actually games. Some of the most popular games being played on Apple Smartphones for instance are "Tapulous Tap Revenge", a style-rhythm game, and "Tap Tap Revenge". In fact, it was estimated in 2009 that three of the top games being played on Smartphones were Tap Tap Revenge; Touch Hockey: FS5; and that old-time favorite, Pac-Man as well as other games out of the top twenty-five.

GPS-Short for Global Positioning Systems, has become an increasingly source of travel information help in recent years. It is a computerized map or navigating system that has been an immeasurably help too many. In addition, yes, there is an app for that too. In fact, you will find that many Smartphones are equipped with GPS features. In addition, you can virtually purchase any Smartphone that has these GPS accessories built into the system.

Nowadays it seems like everyone has a Smartphone, but some do not and perhaps you may be one of them. There is plenty in stock at your local retail or computer store. Get yours today!

Why Do You Want a Smartphone?

Lots of people use the word "smartphone", but not everyone knows what it means. There are many differences between a smartphone and a regular cell phone.

A smartphone is like a phone, in that you can make telephone calls. You can also add in features that make it much more, such as those bells and whistles that are found on a personal digital assistant (PDA) or even a computer. Many smartphones allow you to send and receive e-mail, edit Office documents, or surf the Internet and much more.

How did smartphones get their start? When technology started to change how we thought about communication, people had cell phones to make calls and PDAs, like the Palm Pilot, to use as personal organizers or day planners that you could carry around with you. You could sync a PDA with your computer and store your contact info, calendars, and a to-do list.

Eventually, PDAs evolved and could do more. They gained wireless connectivity and you could use them to send and receive e-mail. Cell phones, meanwhile, evolved as well. From your cell, you could take advantage of messaging capabilities, too. PDAs then adopted cellular phone features and cell phones added features similar to those found in PDAs and computers. The smartphone was born.

What are a smartphone's features?

There is no standard definition of the term "smartphone" and what is smart for one consumer might be obsolete and outdated for another. There are, however, certain features that align with smartphones and those that are more associated with cell phones.

Operating System: A phone that has an operating system that allows it to run productivity applications is clearly more than just a cell phone. Depending on the manufacturer, you can have many different types of apps. BlackBerry smartphones run the BlackBerry OS, while other smartphones use Palm OS or Windows Mobile. Many operating systems are really just pared-down versions of desktop Linux and are available on smartphones as well.

Software: All cell phones contain some type of software. Even the most basic and simple of models will include an address book or a contact manager at the very least. Usually a smartphone will be able to do more. Smartphones allow you to create and edit documents in Microsoft Office. At the very least, you are able to view the documents. Many smartphones will allow you to download applications like personal and business finance managers. You can also edit photos, play games, find out where you are thanks to GPS, and create a playlist of your favorite songs.

Web Access: Surfing the Internet is one of the smartphones more popular abilities. The speed at which they can access online information is faster than ever because the phones have 3G data networks and Wi-Fi support on handsets. Even if your smartphone doesn't have high-speed Internet access, you can still get online and use your smartphone to visit favorite websites while on the go.

QWERTY Keyboard: If you're device has a QWERTY keyboard, it's a smartphone. A QWERTY kepboard has the keys laid out like they are on your computer. They aren't in alphabetical order on top of a numeric keypad so you can't see that tapping the number 1 is the same as entering an A, B, or C. Also, it doesn't matter if the keyboard is hardware (physical keys that you type on) or software (a touch screen, like an iPhone).

Messaging: All cell phones allow you to send and receive text messages. A smartphone is set apart because of the way it handles e-mail. A smartphone can sync with your personal and/or professional e-mail accounts. Some smartphones can support several of each type. Others include access to the popular instant messaging services, like AIM at AOL and Yahoo! Messenger, and allow you to connect with others that way, too.

These are just a few of the features that make your smartphone so smart. Technology is adding more fun features and apps to smartphones every day and they can do more now than they could six months ago.

Catherine Durkin Robinson is a contributing writer for BillSavings.com, your information resource and community for money-saving tips and offers so you can shop, compare, and save money on just about everything.

The Emergence of the Smartphone

Since their explosion in popularity, cell phones have become increasingly more feature-rich and sophisticated, with enough features to supplement, or even replace, other devices such as media players, digital cameras, and PDAs. On the leading edge of this technological advancement in the smartphone, a device that blurs the line between a cell phone and a PDA.

Smartphone: Changing Definitions

By definition, a smartphone is a mobile phone that incorporates a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). A PDA is a miniature, hand-held device that replicates key features of a personal computer, most notably document viewing, task and contact management, and Internet access. A smartphone, while possibly sharing many of these features, is still primarily a "voice-centric" device, while a PDA is, by nature, "data-centric." Rather than one device replacing the other, PDAs and smartphones have often developed in tandem, with PDAs taking on more voice-centric aspects, and smartphones including features previously limited to PDAs.

Most contemporary smartphones include Internet and e-mail access, scheduling or PIM software, contact management, and the ability to read (and sometimes compose) document formats such as Word, Excel and PDF. Many smartphones also feature built-in cameras, music players, and GPS navigation software, making them an excellent all-in-one replacement for a variety of other devices. As cell phone technology continues to develop, many features previously isolated to smartphones become common in mid-range cell phones. As such, the definition of what precisely constitutes a "smartphone" is constantly evolving.

Pricing and services for various smartphones will, of course, vary by carrier. If you have a Verizon smartphone, for example, the Blackberry Voice & Data Core Choice Bundle from Verizon Wireless offers 450 minutes of voice time, with unlimited nights and weekends and virtually unlimited Internet data usage (Web browsing, email, and instant messaging) for $79.99 a month. On the other hand, Cingular's Good Mobile Messaging Smartphone Connect service, which is offered separately from its basic voice services, offers unlimited data usage within its coverage area for $34.99 a month. Add this to Cingular's 450-minute basic voice package ($39.99 a month) and it comes out to a very competitive $75 a month from Cingular.

The Most Popular Smartphones

While not quite as diverse as standard cell phones, smartphones are available in a wide array of styles and capabilities. In terms of culture and mind-share, the Blackberry is probably the most popular and easily recognizable smartphone currently on the market. The Blackberry 8800, for example, features nearly everything customers have come to expect in a smartphone: a full QWERTY keyboard, Internet and email access, document viewing, an integrated music and media player, and built-in GPS capability. (For users who need a digital camera, the Blackberry Pearl or the new Blackberry Curve are excellent choices.)

On the other hand, if you're looking for something a bit less utilitarian than the Blackberry, the Palm Treo is slim and sporty (available in a distinctive crimson red), featuring a digital camera with video capture, an MP3 player, and Bluetooth.
Like many smartphones, the Treo eliminates the need to carry around a multitude of other devices. For the user who's really passionate about multimedia, Cingular's ultra-slim Blackjack is one of the most video-intensive smartphones available, featuring a rich media player and Cingular Video. The Blackjack's Cingular Music Service supports several online music stores, as well as XM satellite radio, making it an ideal choice for the user who wants a smartphone and a powerful media player in one convenient package.

As with all emergent technology, new products are constantly pushing the boundaries. Apple's iPhone promises to raise the bar even further, not only featuring a camera, multimedia player, text messaging, Web browsing, and wireless connectivity, but a touchscreen interface and virtual keyboard that promises to bring a new level of functionality to users, with Apple's distinctive sense of style and design.

A Smart Choice for You?

While many cell phone users will be more than happy with the features of an average cell phone, smartphones have a lot to offer people who want or need Internet access, email, and multimedia while away from the home or office. While the price tag on a smartphone is often significantly higher than a mid-range cell phone, a smartphone can be a highly economical choice when compared to the cost of all the devices it can effectively replace. For the frequent business traveler or someone who's just on the move a lot, a smartphone can be a marvelous all-in-one solution.

What Is The Best Smartphone? Samsung Galaxy S4 Or iPhone 5?

What is the best smartphone?

New smartphones are coming on the market all the time, prompting consumers to do a smartphone comparison between all of the major brands. Despite major efforts by companies like HTC, LG, Nokia, and many others, the decision for most smartphone buyers comes down to a pretty simple one: Should they buy a Samsung Galaxy S4 or iPhone 5? When determining what is the best smartphone for any need, though, it's worth looking at a head-to-head matchup as well as looking at which smartphone performs best for specific tasks that most users do on a daily basis.

The Software Features: Samsung Galaxy S4 or iPhone?

Virtually all new smartphones are characterized by their operating systems and built-in features before hardware specifications even come into the picture. This is one area where the choice between a Samsung Galaxy S4 or iPhone becomes quite clear. With Samsung's latest release, the company has focused on hands-free control of the device using Air Gestures. Live translation of text and speech can be done using S Translate, and outdoor runs or traditional workouts can be monitored and recorded using S Health. It all makes the S4 one of the most exciting new smartphones in terms of features.

A good smartphone comparison must point out the areas of strength for Apple as well. The company does not have a feature like S Health, but Apple has always offered Nike+ integration with each of its new smartphones and iPods. Apple also features iCloud, an all-in-one syncing solution that can't be found on the Galaxy S4. Determining what is the best smartphone requires looking at which features are most useful and most likely to be used on a regular basis. Because the Samsung Galaxy S4 comes with translation, hands-free control, health monitoring, and a far more inventive user interface than the iPhone, it's a natural fit for seasoned smartphone buyers, younger Android customers, and those who think outside the box with their high-tech tools.

Hardware is No Contest When Choosing the Samsung Galaxy S4 or iPhone

Apple made a really great effort with its release of the iPhone 5, offering what was then the fastest processor in any of the new smartphones on the market. Much time has passed, however, and Apple has decidedly fallen behind. In fact, the two processors found in Samsung's Galaxy S4 models routinely clock in as much as four times faster than the iPhone 5's A5 processor. Samsung packs its new smartphones with either a dual-core 1.9GHz processor in the US and UK, or a 1.6GHz octa-core processor for other markets. Apple is still working with dual-core architecture.

Both companies offer internal storage amounts of 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB, which is pretty standard for new smartphones. An astute smartphone comparison, though, will note that Samsung has twice the internal RAM found on the iPhone 5.

Does the Samsung Galaxy S4 or iPhone 5: What is the Best Smartphone Screen Size?

For screen real estate, Samsung offers a 4.99 inch display that is among the largest for a flagship smartphone. Apple's display measures just four inches diagonally, although that's an increase over prior models of the device. An in-person smartphone comparison will reveal just how useful the 4.99-inch screen of the S4 really is. The screen's larger size allows for more intense video games, better multi-tasking, and easier use of the on-screen keyboard. Apple's smaller screen is good for those with tiny pockets and smaller hands, but it does sacrifice usability and overall utility in the process.

In terms of what is the best smartphone for buyers, it's worth using both devices in person and deciding which screen size works best. Deciding what is the best smartphone in this case will mean determining which device feels natural in the hand, which one feels more usable, and which one feels more capable. Increasingly, consumers are finding that to be the Galaxy S4:

The Smartphone Comparison: Deciding Between the Samsung Galaxy S4 or iPhone

There are three factors that consumers need to look at objectively when choosing what is the best smartphone for their needs:

- Screen size and utility
- Software features
- Hardware capability

The Samsung Galaxy S4 wins this smartphone comparison in all three metrics, objectively speaking, with a screen that is larger, hardware that is far faster and more powerful, and software features that outpace the iPhone 5. When choosing what is the best smartphone for any need, be sure to do an in-person smartphone comparison between the Samsung Galaxy S4 or iPhone 5, using each and assessing which one meets each of the three metrics listed above.

After choosing between each device, be sure to tell the rest of the world where you stand.

Answer the poll and help solve one of the hottest high-tech battles in recent years: Does Samsung finally have a device that Apple simply cannot compete with?