Technology has come a long way since early man invented modes of communication. People are in constant need of keeping in touch for various reasons since they cannot always be together at one place at the same time. Reasons for communication vary from family matters, business issues, and global communication. There is a lot of information flowing each second, which needs to be shared with other people. With the coming of globalization, new methods have been invented to stay on top of issues and make the world a global village. It is for this reason that people try to make communication easy by coming up with various ways to transmit information faster and more conveniently (Ilyas, 2006). The first phones only catered for the single purpose of calling, they were big and immovable. The appearance of the mobile phones has changed the world very drastically. Mobile phones have become a necessity in each household, that is why their portability and applicability are the determining factors. You might be far from your family, friends or work place but still feel connected to them. This is possible because you can exchange e-mails, photos, videos, texts and calls with their help.
Mobile phone functions seem to be increasing each day because it is hard to move with computers around because of their size and weight; and even with laptops, it is still tedious. This is why the mobile phone has taken over virtually every function of the computer. It is no longer just used for calling and texting. What is a Smartphone then? This is a kind of the art gadget that has advanced computing features, uses an operating system like a computer and has enhanced and multiple connectivity abilities. Features integrated in a smart phone include high resolution cameras, media players, bluetooth, touch screens and wireless internet connection ability (Al-Ubaydli, 2006). These types of phones are essentially mini computers. The mobile operating systems include iOS used by apple’s iPhone, Nokia’s Symbian, Google’s Android and the BlackBerry’s OS. Other third party applications can be installed; e.g., Java applications and games, and entertainment applications. With these applications, you can manage almost everything in your phone, which include day to day schedules, managing contacts, arranging business meetings and Internet access. Another important feature of the smart phone is the QWERTY keyboard, which is the same as that of the normal computer. The keyboard can be physical or integrated onto a touch screen. This makes texting and e-mailing very simple. Since the invention of the smart phones, mobile phone companies are trying to outdo each other by producing different models with different capabilities.
The popularity of a smart phone has been elevated by its function capabilities. Other gadgets, such as the Personal Data Assistant (PDA), laptops, palm tops and the normal feature phones, are either bulky or have limited capabilities. Consider a scenario where you have to carry around a digital camera, a laptop, a PDA, a mobile phone, a notebook, diary and a media player. Managing all these items can prove to be a cumbersome task, and there is also the bulk factor to consider. A smart phone encompasses all these capabilities in to a single gadget that is portable, small and easy to manage. Taking into consideration the cost factor, it proves that buying all those gadgets will be expensive. Smart phones are cost effective and offer the functions of all other gadgets in one. For example, you can take high resolution photos, plan your schedules, connect to the internet on high speed connection networks (3G and 4G) and even engage in a meeting via video conferencing.
There are many models and brands of smart phones in the market today. Different mobile phone companies are producing high-end mobile phones. The choice of a smart phone depends on the function capabilities and the price tag and to some extent, to the preference on colour, design and size. One of the smart phones in the market is the Blackberry. It is a smart phone designed by a Canadian company. The Blackberry is one of the most popular brands in the market. This phone has a sleek design and comes in many colours. The price tag also depends on the design, model and features that the phone has incorporated. The Blackberry can be used as a personal digital assistant and has a high speed connection to the Internet. Other models have touch screens while some have the physical keyboard. It can also be synchronized with a personal computer for data transfer and other computing functions.
The developers of the Blackberry have ensured that it stays competitive in the smart phone market by ensuring that the phone is durable. This means that it can survive drops without losing any data that are stored. The battery life is also long, which makes it even more popular because one needs a mobile phone that can go for hours or days without charging all the time. The Blackberry is also affordable, and various designs offer customized satisfaction to different individuals. Mailing and managing office work is one of the selling factors of this phone. With the long battery life, you can use it as an entertainment garget to take photos, chat, and listen to music. The blackberry OS makes it easier for one to navigate through the menu (Jipping, 2007). You can enjoy a program or switch to another one without having to closing the other just like a computer, and it also allows other program applications to be installed. The phone has an internal drive that can be used to store data, and also offers another option of using an external storage.
The experience of using a Blackberry smart phone has its limitations as well. The most visible let down of the Blackberry is that in most models, the screens are small. This makes reading of documents or enjoying the use of other applications very difficult. Just like a normal personal computer, opening of multiple programs slows down the processing performance of the phone. Opening a number of programs also disrupts other functions of the phone, like when there is an incoming call; sometimes it can go unnoticed.
Some model sizes are also not pocket friendly due to their bulky nature. The replacement of the physical keyboard on some models to touch screens also reduces the user friendliness of the screen as it serves all the functions. The price range is also unaffordable to many people in the developing world (Ni Lionel, 2006).
Looking at the Blackberry brand in the line of smart phones, it still leaves one to wonder what is going to come in the next generation of smart phones. However, a lot still needs to be done on the design and applicability. Most smart phones are designed for the developed world; new models should also include the applications that are most suited for the developing world.
References
Al-Ubaydli, Mohammad, 2006.The Doctors PDA and Smartphone Handbook: A Guide to Handheld Healthcare. London: Royal Society of Medicine Press.
Ilyas, Mohammed, 2006.Smartphones: Research Reports. Illinois: Professional Educational International.
Jipping, J., Michael. 2007. Smartphone Operating System Concepts with Symbian OS. West Sussex: John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
Ni Lionel, Zheng Pei. 2006. Smartphone and Next Generation Mobile Computing. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.