Are Smartphones Still Valid?

Well my PPC fits into my pocket, so I can carry it with me al the time. I can’t do with a laptop, not even with the current smaller ones. If, for some reason, all PPC’s would disappear from the world today, I would carry the best mobile phone I could get, but just that. I want a device I can put in my pocket with as much features as possible, but I just can’t go around carrying a laptop with me all the time.

Didn’t people invent the PDA to CONVERGE mobile phones and laptops? And now everybody is speaking about splitting things up and carrying two devices again?

We used to have two categories: mobile phones, and laptops.
Then came the PDA/PPC, which filled the gap…
And now mobile phones are growing to the PPC as far as features are concerned…
And laptops are growing (or shrinking ;)) to the PPC as far as size is concerned…
So perhaps in a few years these categories won’t exist anymore and it’s just one big group of devices, some larger, some smaller, some with more features, and some with less…

Tariq, the Dell link isn’t working for me!

Are smartphones still valid?

If we look at the category as a whole, we can see how cutthroat competitive it has gotten-iphone,gphone,symbian,linux,windows mobile, windows, (at a stretch) ipod, memory sticks that have programs,google online programs, etc.

There’s HUGE amount of money to be won or lost from software makers, to phone companies, to internet providers to device manufacturers.

Smartphones are bigger than they ever have been, for now. But anything could happen. Just as easy to say the desktop/tower computer could go the way of the dodo as game machines, internet hard drives, and the various mobile devices crowd it out.

It remains to be seen who will be the most agressive. Companies like Microsoft and Dell have stumbled badly in the last year or so in my opinion, for several reasons I won’t go into. But they have resouces to play catch up. Its an exciting time.

As said by others: I want a full options device that I can have in my pocket. Even the lightest portable can’t do that (or it would be a smartphone:-)). But I *am* seriously thinking of changing my current laptop to a cheap, light portable and use that for demos and on the road. I’ll do my software development in a remote session on another, havy duty machine. So, in my opinion, these ‘new’ machines will be a threat to desktop and big laptops machines, not smartphones.

Three things will keep smartphones relevant…
1) Always with you
2) PIM apps, needed all the time
3) Connectivity… as long as the smartphone is what gets you mobile connection to the web, it’s needed.

Soon, I’m confident that we’ll see much more of the small laptops become companion devices, either tied to the smartphone for the internet connection, or used as a dumb terminal to give a better screen/keyboard when using the smartphone.

I think it is the same question there was a while ago regarding do you want a PDA + small telephone or do you want one device. Those that prefered two devices will go for the combination, those like me that wanted one device will go for the PDA.
I need something that can go into my pocket and use for emails, calender and GPS. For me to be mobile is not to carry a bag with a laptop, and to be able to quickly glance at emails.
When I need to really surf the net I use my WM phone as a modem for my laptop.
There are cell phones that can read email via IMAP or POP, and you can use them with an internal/external GPS. But to get a proper screen for the GPS you need a large phone, and you don’t really want an EEE.
The IPhone now brings convergence of music (WM is not really a music device) with a phone with Exchange connectivity (when firmware 2.0 will be released). Maybe then I will think of giving up my WM device with my keyboard to get a smaller device.
But isn’t the IPhone really a smartphone? Where do you draw the line?

Eran

These are really great comments and initially, I was thinking of replying to each one personally but I think I shall address all the comments thus far in one comment.

The reason I ask is because low cost laptops (let’s call them LCL from here on) are getting much cheaper, sometimes even cheaper than smartphones. And they are getting more powerful in a sense that there are those that have slots for 3G/EVDO cards so they do have connections.

As for phones, more and more normal phones nowadays seem to be able to do basic PIM and Email which is starting to blur the line between normal phones and smartphones. Maybe anew category should be created for such phones?

I do love smartphones. All-in-one device, a wide range of connectivity and before LCL, I had no qualms spending money on it. But with LCLs, I am starting to wonder if the money is well spent. Know what I mean? I guess if smartphones were cheaper, then maybe, just maybe, I might not even be having this discussion

Until then, let’s hear what the rest has to say

My work requires that I have a calculator with me most of the time and that I have my contact, calendar and email data with me all the time. I also received a number of email attachments that I need to look at or respond to while I am out of the office. So for me a smartphone has allowed me to load a robust financial calcuator program, Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Voice Dialing (which works on all of my 3000+ Outlook contacts without training), a GPS program and a couple of other programs that work for me. In that process I have ditched my HP 12C, I can look at and respond too most of the attachments I receive via email while I am out of the office, find the locations I am trying to get too, safely drive and make phone calls while I am out of the office. All of these things allow me to be out in the field more often and for longer periods of time with less gear, and the more that happens the more revenue I generate.

I am still a big smartphone fan. Got all my goodies in one place (in my pocket!). Love it or hate it, Windows Mobile does a good job in general, being not so distantly related to the OS of our computers at home. There is also a wealth of software for it (a lot of it for free!).
The PPC is not yet fully grown up, I am sure that over the next few years we will see thinner phones with better batteries and much quicker internet connections. Memory is already on the rise (though still not up to speed yet). The iPhone gave the industry a kick in the pants that will hopefully launch us to the next level of PPC.
And in a year or two from now we´ll be asking the question; “So, what was with the Low Cost Laptops?”. Well, at least I hope so as I don´t want to have all my pockets full of electronic devices when one will suffice!

The bigger screen, longer battery life and more standard platform (XP or Ubuntu) are very tempting. However I could never move back now that I’ve switched to one device. One device to charge, carry, synchronize, buy accessories for, consider when traveling. It’s just inconceivable to go back now. Smartphones have to grow bigger screens and get better battery performance while the devices become smaller and lighter - there’s no choice!

I need my smartphone to tether my EEE

With the HTC Advantage I feel like I have the best of both worlds (for now). I am not carrying two devices.

I’ve been carrying an ultra portable laptop for several years. I added a T-Mobile Dash about a year ago.

The smartphone is great because it’s always on, and checking contacts and appointments is immidiate. I’ve also taken to playing with google maps for directions. I normally don’t use WiFi from my phone, but I have been known to use the phone as a WiFi detector to find out if it’s worth opening up my bag and pulling out my laptop.

I’ve been looking at the new HP Mini Notebook with interest.

For me I want: a POWERFUL desktop with multiple monitors; a light laptop with decent screen resolution and long battery life; a smart phone that the battery lasts at least all day long.

All of these devices need to auto sync whenever they are connected to the network.

While there are now slots for conectivity in the smaller laptops, most people are only going to pay once for a data connection — on their phone. I have a separate card for work that gives wireless data access, but it’s expensive and Windows-only and is one more thing that has to be compatible and carried around. For now, I think the majority want to use their phone for connectivity due to simplicity (relatively speaking) and cost.

I have a Tilt, and a Fujitsu-Siemens T4220, which is a great combination for me. I travel about 50% of the time, and do spend much time at customer sites. I need to do a lot of work at customer sites that require (at least I do) a somewhat full keyboard and a viewable screen in order to do mindmaps or powerpoints. So when I am at airports, waiting for customers, etc. I use my tilt to stay in contact (with full contact list), answer emails, view presentations and documents. I also use my Tilt for GPS navigation, and taking the occasional photo (I’ve even taken a shot or two of a white board with information on it.