Once upon a time, phones were used only for voice communication, while PDAs were used to store contact information, to-do lists, and access e-mail.
Perhaps, one day, somebody looked at the cell phone and the PDA and thought, "They look pretty much alike - why don't we put them together?" And the smartphone was born.
But it took a while for smartphones to gain market demand. At first, these handheld communication and computing devices catered only to a specific niche.
And then Apple released the iPhone - and suddenly, smartphones started becoming immensely popular.
Fighting for number one
With this new popularity came the war of the smartphones. Now, the big players that once sold to a limited demography are competing for worldwide sales supremacy. The aim is to gain control of the fast-growing smartphone market.
And the battle in sales extends to research and development. While phone manufacturers Apple, Samsung, Blackberry, and Nokia are fighting their war in hardware, smartphone operating system (OS) providers are also battling it out in the software department.
Google owns the Android OS, while Microsoft owns the mobile Windows OS. Apple, Blackberry, and Nokia all use their own OS.
Perhaps, one day, somebody looked at the cell phone and the PDA and thought, "They look pretty much alike - why don't we put them together?" And the smartphone was born.
But it took a while for smartphones to gain market demand. At first, these handheld communication and computing devices catered only to a specific niche.
And then Apple released the iPhone - and suddenly, smartphones started becoming immensely popular.
Fighting for number one
With this new popularity came the war of the smartphones. Now, the big players that once sold to a limited demography are competing for worldwide sales supremacy. The aim is to gain control of the fast-growing smartphone market.
And the battle in sales extends to research and development. While phone manufacturers Apple, Samsung, Blackberry, and Nokia are fighting their war in hardware, smartphone operating system (OS) providers are also battling it out in the software department.
Google owns the Android OS, while Microsoft owns the mobile Windows OS. Apple, Blackberry, and Nokia all use their own OS.
