Introduction
Smart phone is a mobile phone which is based on a mobile computing platform. It has more advanced computing capabilities and networking as compared to a contemporary mobile phone. The first smart phones were developed to join the operations of a mobile phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA).
Currently, Smartphone devices are used to combine operations of portable media players, compact digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and GPS navigation units. Today, Smartphone includes web browsers that can properly navigate web pages rather than websites.
They also include high-resolution touch screens, mobile, broadband, and fast data access through Wi-Fi. Modern smart phones use various software such as Nokia’s Symbian, Microsoft Windows Mobile, and Apple’s ios, Windows phone, Blackberry Operating System; Android and embedded Linux (Yang & Zheng, 2007).
This software is installed on various smart phone models, and each device can get several software updates over the lifetime. The difference between smart phones and other phones is vague, as there is no explanation on the difference between them.
The crucial difference that can be established is the advanced application programming interfaces on smart phones. This enables applications to integrate with the Smartphone’s operating system and its.
Smart phones have been developed in the last decade. Initially, business professionals used smart phones, but today they are accessible to the public. The purpose of this research paper is to compare the advantages and disadvantages of various Smartphone’s software applications.
Smart phone soft ware
Nokia’s Symbian is one of the first Smartphone softwares. The operating system was developed for ordinary gaming, basic media, and text messaging operations, as well as basic e-mail and web surfing operations (Frederick, 2010). The software has several advantages.
For instance, it offers a combination of leading edge mobile technology and various ranges of run times. It has led to development of million Symbian devices that provide an excellent opportunity to deliver profitable applications in the market. It provides all features required to test applications for Symbian devices on a P.C.
In addition, Smartphone helps in developing the VGA screen resolution, which facilitates the development for the Nokia E6 device. The software provides updated browser, which is installed in Nokia phones. The three-plane architecture provides improved data flow performance.
Symbian software supports Korean and Chinese languages. It enables a person to develop applications using Qt, C++, and Web Runtime. Nokia Symbia has various disadvantages (Firtman, 2010). For instance, Symbian 3 uses numerical keypad, which is not proficient in the word of prediction and autocorrelation.
The operating system has unimpressive browser causing users to seek help of third party applications such as opera mobile to get browsing experience. Its online music store, Ovi music, did not receive positive responses. It does not allow the user to purchase all movies, music videos, and TV shows.
The software has few applications as compare to other software such as windows phone (Firtman, 2010). It has few third party applications compared to Android and iPhone. Nokia Symbia application system lacks social integration as it supports face book right now.
Blackberry is another operating system installed in smart phones. This software mostly focuses on providing information through advanced e-mail and web surfing capabilities. The software receives e-mails from anywhere as long as it can locate a network. Blackberry operating system has various advantages (Firtman, 2010).
For example, the development of push emails technology, which is available in most smart phones. It enables the user to receive e-mails in real time as soon as they are reflected in user’s inbox. It helps in compressing data that is transmitted through RIM servers.
This leads to saving massive costs that could be accrued due to severe bandwidth depletion. Blackberry operation system enables the user to access the cheapest Internet services. Blackberry phones have magnificent QWERTY keyboard, which makes typing easy and fluid. Blackberry software has various challenges.
First, it makes blackberry phones to be of a poor call quality in 3G mode. The phone keeps getting supplementary service errors. The operating system makes it difficult for users to download large files (Firtman, 2010). They are able to download files of over 2.9mb to 4.8mb. Blackberry services, like e-mail browsing, require service books to function. If the service books are not advanced the services will not function.
The operation system has slow and average browser. Although data is compressed, loading WebPages on curve 3G takes some time and web components are scattered on the screen.
It takes a long time to reboot black berry phones. In soft reboot, the phone is switched off but all applications are left running prior to shutdown. It is difficult to watch YouTube videos on a blackberry device, as it does not support streaming FLV files (Fling, 2009).
Another Smartphone operating system is the iPhone Ios. Apple Company developed this software in 2007. It is the software installed in apple phones such as iphone, the iPod Touch, and the ipad. When it started it could only support Apple applications. Today it can multitask as the apple company developed a new version in 2010 (Fling, 2009).
The iphone is popular and one of the best parts at third party applications. This software is easy to use and easy to access. The software has other advantages as compared to the other software. It has improved camera performance. It performs an order of high magnitude than the other software. It focuses quickly, take pictures, and gets back to screen quickly.
The camera also has a digital zoom feature, which enables the user to create folders on the screen. This helps in reducing the number of home screens by putting applications in the folders.
It contains a spell check application to aid typing. The spell check allows the user to select the word he means instead of arbitrarily choosing one for the user. It supports a unified inbox, all the emails go to a master inbox instead of a separate inboxes. The software also enables blackberry phones to multi task (Fling, 2009).
The user can now switch between applications as fast as possible. This is a considerable benefit as many applications have the background support.
The operating system also has various weaknesses, which need to be improved. Semi threaded emails enable users to see messages received in a conversation, but not the sent messages. This implies that the user will only be able to see half of the conversation. There is no real improvement on iPod devices.
The current iPod device is identical to what has been available in the last three years (Firtman, 2010). The software cannot allow the user to put additional ringing tones. There is no lock screen improvement. The user has to unlock the device to interact with missed messages, calls, and voice mails.
There is no attachment supporting email. The user is not able to attach something to the messaging once he has started composing it. Android is a Smartphone operating system based on Linux and sponsored by Google.
Today, there are about 90000 Android operating systems applications. This makes the software as one of the most known systems. The operating system is the world best selling Smartphone platform. It has a large market for third party applications (Firtman, 2010). One of its substantial benefits is the ability to multitask.
This makes it the most reliable and sensible device to Smartphone customers. It is one of the best user-friendly softwares in the world. It is also remarkably easy to customize the operating system. It provides an option of removable batteries, which enables the user to insert an extra battery.
It also has an option for expandable memory, which is useful, if the internal memory is small. Most mobile phone companies such as Samsung electronics and Motorola use it to run their smart phones. There are different types of devices such as music players, which run Android Operating System, making it the most popular.
It is easy to install and download applications from Android operating system. The procedures of removing applications are not time consuming as in other phones. New versions of Android are launched every three months this means more applications and improvements. The prices for this devices are not high, so many customers can afford them. This operating system has some challenges.
The ability to customize may create problems in the near future (Firtman, 2010). When the user customizes the phone, he is bound to make a mistake. Android phones have a small screen size this makes other competitors a better option. Launching new versions now and then may make some users unhappy.
This is because not every user is capable of updating his phone. The Apple Company is offering better and a large number of applications than Android market. This makes it extremely costly for Android to compete in the market. Finally, Windows phone 7 is the latest operating system in the market. It was released in October 2010.
It uses a mobile version of Internet explorer. Adobe is included in the operating system with a mobile version of flash. The operating system updates is delivered through Microsoft updates.
This is the latest operating system, and it has various advantages. It has a pure and elegant main screen. It allows easy access, to voice mail and call history. It consists of excellent zune based interface, which enables the user to play music and media (Fling, 2009).
It enables the user to upload photos automatically, to sky drive. The operating system is easy to update by zune software. It enables the user to open multiple tabs and web pages. It also enables the user to link profiles from several locations into a single contact.
Like other software, windows phone 7 has various problems. The battery and signal status are not always visible. There is no multitasking for third party application.
There are extremely limited Bluetooth options. Users cannot be able to customize their devices (Firtman, 2010). There is no unified inbox for emails. The keyboard layouts in this phone discourage strong passwords. Windows phone 7 makes to be difficult for the user to move files around on the main screen.
Conclusion
Smart phone software has been developed in the modern technology. There are several software applications in the market. The applications have more advantages as compared to the feature phones.
Most users prefer the Smartphone software as they are easy to operate and they consist of various applications. They are user friendly and they help users in accessing the internet. They have several challenges but advantages outweigh disadvantages.
Reference List
Firtman, M. (2010). Programming the mobile web. Chicago: O’Reilly Media.
Fling, B. (2009). Mobile design and development. Chicago: O’Reilly Media.
Frederick, G. (2010). Beginning smart phone web development. New York: Apress.
Yang, B., & Zheng, P. (2007). Professional microsoft smartphone programming. Hong Kong: Wrox.