Many users are familiar with the concepts of smartphones and communicators. Happy owners bring their devices to perfection. The rest are probably not averse to becoming the owners of such devices. This is clear. The market for smartphones and communicators is growing rapidly, maintaining the dynamics of recent years. Sales in the Russian market for the first half of 2007 amounted to slightly less than a million units. As a percentage, the growth looks more impressive. Compared to the same period in 2006, the growth was over 250%! The locomotive of the mobile industry - Nokia - has long represented only "smart phones" in the hi-end class. The only exceptions are fashion phones not for everyone - Nokia 8800, 8800 Sirocco Edition, 8600 Luna ... On the other side of the price tag, there are inexpensive solutions. The class of budget smartphones is cheaper than eight thousand rubles. In turn, the price of the most affordable communicators is just over ten thousand rubles. However, not everyone understands such complex devices. Many smartphone owners consider their phones to be regular phones. In most cases, we are talking about the owners of Nokia Symbian devices. But some cell phone owners also mistake them for smartphones. In particular, a couple of years ago, many online stores called the Sagem myX-8 designer phone a smartphone. They were fooled by the powerful processor and the excellent QVGA screen. Today, many are sure that all smartphones are produced by Nokia. Other users do not see the difference between communicators and PDAs. Few enlightened people claim that smartphones and communicators are one and the same. This material will help you understand the variety of smartphones and communicators. And also not to get lost when choosing a future device. People who are versed in mobile technology know the concept of WID (Wireless Information Devices) - wireless information devices. This definition includes smartphones, communicators and PDAs.
PDA
PDA (pocket personal computers, microcomputers, handhelds) are the predecessors of smartphones and communicators. The history of PDAs and smart mobile phones began in 1984 with the release of Psion Organizer. After that there were a lot of interesting models. Including Apple Newton MessagePad. So the notorious iPhone has a big history. By the way, the term PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), another name for a PDA, was proposed by Apple. Later, PDAs from Palm appeared on the market. The value of its products can hardly be overestimated. "Palms" were for their time what Nokia smartphones are now. They shaped the PDA market to some extent. There are quite affordable devices with excusable flaws.These are now monochrome displays, low resolution, lack of multitasking, and so on, look archaic. A few years ago, all this was leveled by the wide capabilities of applications. The PDA market was not exclusively a territory of "palm trees" (PalmOne, Sony Clie). Following Palm OS, Microsoft presented its own operating systems for the PDA. In 1996, the first version of Windows CE 1.0 was released. It served as the inspiration for the company's subsequent mobile platforms. You can also remember Linux solutions. These are the once famous "Sharposaurs" Sharp Zaurus of various versions. True, most of them have not left Japan. Although the devices were good, they tested the latest mobile technology. For example, a built-in hard drive.
However, most PDAs ran on Windows. Windows CE was followed by the Pocket PC and Windows Mobile platforms. They also had versions for communicators that were gaining strength (Phone Edition) and smartphones (for Smartphone). During its heyday, PDAs were highly functional devices. They had a powerful processor, a luxurious 3.5-4-inch VGA touch screen, video accelerator, support for wireless communications, a variety of peripherals accessible via CF, SD / MMC expansion slots (SDIO was supported, of course) or a USB host. The HP hx4700 PDA was such a monster. In addition to impressive characteristics, it had a design feature. Instead of a navigation key, a TouchPad was used, like on laptops.
However, these wonderful devices have become outdated. And almost at the time of the release. The emergence of communicators revealed the main drawback of the PDA - the lack of voice communication. With the release of the HTC Magician platform in 2005, communicators became widespread. Manufacturers have relied on a new class of mobile devices. They tried to equip the PDA with new functions. The manufacturers did not support the idea of a built-in hard disk (like in PalmOne LifeDrive). The same can be said for the built-in cameras. PDA with GPS-modules got widespread. Before the appearance of the new SiRF Star III chipset in the same 2005, there was only one model on the market - MiTAC Mio 168. Later, the GPS function in the PDA became widespread. However, this did not help save the CCP. Communicators also began to be equipped with GPS-modules. Standalone GPS navigators have become multimedia. The once popular idea of the PDA + phone combination has also lost its relevance. The price of an inexpensive PDA and a phone with Bluetooth is just the price of a cheap communicator. The simultaneous use of multiple devices is not held in high esteem in the era of convergence. But smartphones and communicators fit perfectly into the concept of all-in-one devices. The most striking example is the Nokia N95. Although the usability and implementation of individual functions of such combines are controversial. The disadvantage is their high cost. Perhaps, it is the low price that remains the main advantage of the PDA. The purchase of a handheld device is justified for those who need specific functions. For example, a high-quality screen for comfortable video viewing or reading. Cheapness and sufficient functionality make the PDA an effective means of mobile commerce. Retail companies use a PDA with preinstalled software to automate the activities of sales representatives, merchandisers, supervisors, that is, "field" employees. Although here, too, PDAs are inferior to communicators. It is often necessary to synchronize data with the office "over the air". This requires an external PDA modem or the use of a cell phone modem. That makes the kit more expensive and inferior in convenience to the communicator. Apart from smartphones and communicators, other mobile devices are beginning to invade the PDA niche. For example, multimedia GPS navigators, various compact multimedia players. And also - in the longer term - UMPC subnotebooks. Now these are rather clumsy and expensive devices weighing half a kilo. However, with a decrease in size, they are able to take the place of a PDA.
Communicators
In those distant times, when antennas were external, the first communicator appeared. It was the Nokia 9000, released in 1996. The device was a very expensive bulky brick. As you can see, the idea of subnotebooks existed even then. Nokia 9000 ran on GEOS OS. There was no question of any third-party applications or multimedia. But the communicator had two distinctive features - a full-size QWERTY-keyboard and a high-resolution screen (640 x 200, albeit monochrome). And most importantly, it was possible to call on it. What could not be done on the PDA. By the way, it was Nokia who introduced the name “communicator” into everyday life. The entire 9xx0 line was called communicators. The 9000 was followed by the 9000i, 9110, 9210 / 9210i. The latest model, released in 2002, has become a cult classic. She had an excellent screen at that time, could work with office documents, archives, graphics, Internet pages.However, Nokia communicators had a drawback - the lack of a touch screen. This set them apart from traditional CCPs. Other companies took a different path. Also in 2002, the Sony Ericsson alliance introduced the P800 with a touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard. Handspring released the Treo communicators, Palm - the Tungsten W. The model failed, which resulted in the merger of Palm and Handsring in 2003. Communicators Palm Treo 600, 650 have become very successful. They could be described as a PDA with a GSM module. The advantages of the PDA - touch screen, handwriting input - were complemented by the ability to browse the Internet and work with e-mail. With the development of the Pocket PC operating system, Windows communicators began to appear. These are HP Jornada 928, Siemens SX45, Trium Mondo, Sagem WA3050 and others. However, the largest contribution to the development of Windows devices and communicators was made by the Taiwanese company HTC (High Tech Computer Corp). Nokia communicators were niche solutions. They were not intended for a general audience. Besides, there weren't many of them. On the contrary, numerous HTC products under various brands have made the communicator market widespread. Other developers followed HTC: Taiwanese E-Ten, Quanta Computer, Wistron, Chinese Legend Group and others. But it was HTC that created the face of communicators today. The dimensions of the first HTC devices did not differ from PDAs. In 2001, HTC Wallaby appeared (under different names - O2 XDA, Qtek 1010, Siemens SX56). Two years later, the HTC Himalayas platform came out with a powerful processor, large memory and a fresh Windows Mobile 2003 Phone Edition. Representatives of this platform: i-mate Pocket PC, Qtek 2020, T-Mobile MDA II, O2 XDA II. The HTC Blue Angel, which replaced it, had an interesting design. It was a slider with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The platform is reflected in products such as Qtek 9090, T-Mobile MDA III, O2 XDA II, i-mate PDA2k. But the revolution was made by the HTC Magician platform (i-mate JAM, Qtek S100, T-Mobile Compact, Dopod 818, O2 mini-XDA).
With its appearance, communicators moved further away from the CCP. And, accordingly, they became even closer to smartphones and phones. The release of HTC Magician was the beginning of their integration into one class of devices. The sizes of communicators have changed. They are as close as possible to the phone dimensions. This resulted in smaller screens. For a PDA, a diagonal of 3.5-4 inches is considered the norm. For communicators, the standard now is no more than 2.8 inches. Finally, the QWERTY keyboard is no longer required in communicators. There are devices with full-size keyboards. These are clamshell communicators based on HTC Universal, side sliders HTC Wizard, Herald, TyTN, E-Ten Glofiish M700. Smartphones are now beginning to be equipped with QWERTY keyboards. Apart from Sony Ericsson devices, this is the HTC S710. Which confuses users even more. At the same time, smartphones and communicators have a few more common features. Although at first their development proceeded in parallel.
Smartphones
There is an opinion that communicators are PDAs with telephone functions, and smartphones are phones with PDA functions. This explanation is rather primitive, but partly true. Smartphones don't look very different from phones. The first “smart phone” (smartphone) was the Ericsson R380s. Unlike bulky PDA, it had acceptable dimensions (130 x 50 x 26 mm). The weight was also comparatively light (169 g). Outwardly the device was similar to other Ericsson flip models (R320s). It was behind the flip that the main feature of the R380s was hidden - the touch screen.The manufacturer specifically emphasized the intelligence of the device. Like Nokia 9000 Communicator, Ericsson R380s was called Smartphone. Although by modern standards, the device could not be considered a full-fledged smartphone. It did not allow the installation of third-party applications, the OS was closed. The concept of a smartphone was much closer to the Nokia 7650. Many consider it the first “smart phone” on the market. The device ran on Symbian OS and allowed installing third-party applications. There were also downsides. For example, a small amount of memory (4 MB), no slot for memory cards. Interestingly, Nokia did not emphasize the advancedness of the device. Purely hardware features were emphasized. This is a form factor (one of the first sliders), a camera, a large screen, MMS support. Subsequent Nokia smartphones were not positioned as smartphones. The emphasis was on other features - design, swivel screen, gameplay, whatever. Nokia smartphones quickly became popular. That revealed another difference between "smart phones" and communicators. Smartphones have not been marketed as smart devices. They were sold on a par with regular phones. Sony Ericsson has taken a different path. Its models P800, P900 and others were too specific for ordinary phones. These devices were located between communicators and smartphones. Besides Nokia and Sony Ericsson, Symbian solutions were represented by other manufacturers. Siemens, Sendo, Samsung. Think of Linux smartphones. For example, Motorola devices for the Chinese market, model Haier N60. With the release of Windows Mobile for Smartphone, the first Windows smartphones appeared. The Avenger, released in 2000, was a trial balloon. Although it can be called the first pancake with attendant consequences. In 2001 Sendo Z100 appeared, the next year - HTC Canary. In 2003, several smartphones on Windows Mobile appeared at once. These are HTC Tanager and Voyager, Red-E SC110, Samsung SCH-i600, Mio 8380, Motorola MPx200. "Unkillable Motor" became the first Windows Mobile-smartphone officially delivered to the Russian market. Where he lived up to his nickname. Largely due to the solid body and unpretentiousness. Craftsmen even installed Windows Mobile 5.0 on it. Since 2004, the development of WM-smartphones has become an avalanche. As well as among communicators, HTC was the leader. Its platforms HTC Typhoon, Hurricane, Tornado and others were distributed under numerous trademarks.
Most importantly, smartphones are no longer perceived as just fancy phones. The increased functionality put them on a par with communicators. Many began to classify smartphones and communicators as one type of device. This opinion has intensified after the release of the so-called N-series multimedia computers from Nokia. And also with the development of corporate QWERTY smartphones (HTC S620, S650, Motorola Q, Samsung i320, i600, Nokia E61 / E61i). These devices were the heirs of the BlackBerry from the Canadian company RIM. But smartphones and communicators cannot be equated unequivocally. These are still different devices. They have both similar and distinctive features.
Articles and Life Hacks
More recently, humanity was surprised at the appearance of mobile phones, and today people are already thinking about what a communicator is and what it is for.
It is not so difficult to answer this question, since there is a lot of information about these devices, but first you need to understand the terms.
What is this device
The communicator is a miniature computer (pocket size) with a built-in GSM-module.In other words, it is a small computer running on any operating system and giving a person the opportunity not only to use computer programs, but also to make phone calls (this is something in between a computer and a smartphone).
The modern market for mobile devices boasts a fairly wide range of communicators, although they are most often purchased as fashion accessories or an addition to the image (therefore, high-end communicators are especially popular).
What is a communicator for?
- The main advantage of communicators is that these devices are famous for their "intelligence", that is, the operating system. After all, there is nothing wrong with always having an entire mobile office at hand.
- With the help of a communicator, you can check your mail, comfortably surf the Internet or answer an important call. Everything you need for work will always be "at hand"!
- In addition, using the communicator, you can read a book, listen to music and even watch a movie. Moreover, it is very convenient to read books and watch movies on communicators, since these devices, as a rule, have a rather large touch screen.
- Also, with their help, you can type or correct text, that is, do everything for which you could use a personal computer.
Communicator
Communicator Qtek S100
Smartphone, less often smartphone(eng. smartphone- smart phone) - a mobile phone with extended functionality, comparable to a pocket personal computer (PDA). Also, the term "communicator" is often used to refer to some devices that combine the functionality of a mobile phone and a PDA.
At the end of 2008, Nokia launched the Nokia 5800 touchscreen device based on Symbian OS 9.4. The smartphone supports stylus-free operation and is targeted at the mass market. Simultaneously with this device, the flagship smartphone Nokia N97 with a touch screen and a sliding QWERTY / QWERTY keyboard was announced.
The most common smartphone manufacturers
|
Smartphone market statistics by manufacturer:
| Manufacturer | 3 sq. 2007 year | % | 3 sq. 2008 r. | % | the change Q3 08 / Q3 07 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RIM ( | Htc | 850 400 | 2,7 % | 2 308 210 | 5,8 % | 171,4 % | |||
| Other | 7 816 100 | 25,1 % | 6 791 530 | 17,0 % | −13,1 % | ||||
| All manufacturers | 31 156 240 | 100,0 % | 39 850 100 | 100 % | 27,9 % |
OS
The most common operating systems and platforms for smartphones:
Smartphone production statistics by share of operating systems:
| Platform | 3 sq. 2005 year | % | 3 sq. 2006 year | % | 3 sq. 2007 year | % | 3 sq. 2008 r. | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symbian OS | 8 164 790 | 59,7 % | 13 217 980 | 72,8 % | 21 219 390 | 68,1 % | 18 583 060 | 46,6 % | |
| Mac OS | - | - | - | - | 1 107 460 | 3,6 % | 6 899 010 | 17,3 % | |
| RIM ( | Windows Mobile | 302 280 | 2,2 % | 1 025 540 | 5,6 % | 3 797 360 | 12,2 % | 5 425 470 | 13,6 % |
| Palm OS | 621 700 | 4,5 % | 333 340 | 1,8 % | - | - | - | - | |
| Other | 85 580 | 0,6 % | 51 308 | 0,3 % | 372 130 | 1,2 % | 862 340 | 2,2 % | |
| Total | 12 389 890 | 90,5 % | 18 164 618 | 100 % | 31 156 240 | 100 % | 39 850 100 | 100 % |
Smartphones and malware
The openness of the operating system of smartphones and communicators gives rise to another problem that is well known to users of personal computers - computer viruses and other malicious programs. To protect against this threat, most of the leading anti-virus software developers have created special versions of anti-virus programs for mobile operating systems (for example, Kaspersky Mobile Security from Kaspersky Lab).
Most modern malicious programs for mobile devices (mainly Trojans) are distributed via the Internet under the guise of useful programs (games, codecs for video players, etc.), or locally in crowded places via bluetooth from strangers, do not install suspicious programs from unreliable sources, and However, in the long term, with the growing use of smartphones and communicators to access the Internet (thanks to the introduction of new wireless technologies WiMAX and others), malicious programs for mobile devices can become a serious threat.
It should also be noted that ordinary mobile phones can also be infected with malware (there are malicious J2ME programs, it is possible to use vulnerabilities in the phone's OS, etc.).
Notes (edit)
Links
- Communicator - the history of the emergence of Mobile-Review devices
- Smartphones and communicators: from birth to the present day Mobi magazine
- Database on PDAs, smartphones and communicators (eng.)
| Computer dimensions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Large | ||
According to analysts, sales of smartphones in Russia are growing and will continue to grow. Six brands account for 98% of all smartphones sold in Russia: Nokia, Samsung, HTC, SonyEricsson, Apple and LG. The first commercial portable cell phone was released by Motorola on March 6, 1983. The device made calls independently of the wired telephone network. Modern mobile phones are already multifunctional devices. They do an excellent job with many functions that go beyond cellular communication: working with e-mail, viewing text documents, organizer capabilities, reading mp3 format, accessing the Internet. But modern man cannot imagine himself without a computer. A completely new stage in the development of the mobile world was opened by the combination of the functionality of a mobile phone and a PC. Devices such as smartphones and communicators appear.
Story
The ideas of combining the functions of a telephone and a PC appeared after the appearance of the first pocket personal computers (PDA) in the early 90s of the twentieth century. In 1992, the first such model of the IBM Simion cell phone was introduced. In addition to calls, the phone could receive and send faxes, allowed to work with e-mail, supported organizer functions and contained some games. The device weighed more than 1 kg and was not widely used. This was followed by a whole series of attempts to create multifunctional phones. In August 1996, the first truly successful device appeared that combines the functions of a cell phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA) in one body - the NOKIA 9000 Communicator. The device ran under the GEOS operating system, had a full-size QWERTY keyboard, and a monochrome screen. In terms of functionality, the device was not inferior to the PDA. The disadvantage was the closed operating system.
The term "smartphone" was coined in 2000 by Ericson to refer to the new Ericson R380s phone. With this name, the company wanted to emphasize the intelligence of the device, although the operating system was still closed. The distinctive features of the device were a touchscreen display and a closed flip cover.
The most active development of smartphones and communicators began in 2001. NOKIA has released the first communicator model with an open operating system.
Mobile phone - a portable device, a means of communication, created for voice communication. Thus, the main function of the telephone is voice calls. The mobile phone operates on the basis of a closed operating system created by the manufacturer. This program is called "firmware". It cannot be expanded, it has a processor, RAM and permanent memory.
Mobile phone functions:
Standard: telephone communication, display (monochrome, LED, color), telephone directory, caller ID, voice control, hands-free communication, conference calls, headset connection, SMS and MMS reception and transmission, wireless data transmission, Internet access.
Business and entertainment functions: clock, alarm clock, calendar, organizer, calculator, currency convector, stopwatch, games, radio, mp3 player, voice recorder, digital camera, GPS, GPRS, qwerty keyboard, touch display, large screen, memory card slot ...
The mobile phone allows downloading Java applications, significantly increasing the functionality of devices.
Thus, the modern cell phone is a multifunctional device. Its functions go beyond telephony. But a distinctive feature of a cell phone is a closed type of operating system. If the operating system is open, then the device is a smartphone or communicator.
Smartphone
- English. Smartphone - "smart phone" - a mobile phone with a full-fledged open-type operating system: Symbian OS, Windows Mobile, Palm OS, GNU / Linux, Android, etc. Smartphones allow the installation of new programs, which significantly increases the functionality of the device. Smartphone manufacturers focus on advanced multimedia features (high-quality camera, enhanced file playback capabilities), wi-fi, GPS.
Popular smartphones: Nokia E50, Nokia N95, Nokia N82, Sony Ericsson P1, Samsung i710
Communicator - pocket personal computers with telephone functions. They operate under operating systems open to third-party users. A distinctive feature is the input of characters through the stylus, the presence of a touch screen. The communicator allows you to make phone calls and access the Internet. The device combines compact size and versatility. It is a full-fledged pocket personal computer with the ability to make phone calls.
reference... Stylus is a colloquial name for a computer pen. Outwardly, it resembles a plastic handle, only of a reduced size. The stylus is used to control the communicator or PDA. This will not damage the touchscreen. Functions similar to a computer mouse.
Currently, there is no clear distinction between a smartphone and a communicator, since the functionality of these devices is approximately the same. Often these devices are classified in the same class. Some experts use a "historical approach": if the device "originated" from a PDA, then it is a communicator, if from a mobile phone, then it is a smartphone. This division is arbitrary. In the early 2000s, the boundary between devices was more pronounced. The first communicators differed from the PDA only by the presence of the GSM-module. Smartphones differed little from phones, their functionality was not great.
Other experts believe that the distinctive feature of a smartphone is not a touchscreen display, the Windows Mbile operating system, but information input is carried out through QWERTY and / or a numeric keypad. Features of the communicator - belonging to corporate users.
Smartphone and mobile phone
The size of a smartphone is usually larger than a mobile phone, but these boundaries are now blurring. The screen size is usually larger than that of a regular phone. But modern models of mobile phones are often not inferior in this characteristic.
A smartphone is a much more functional device than a mobile phone. The operating system is open to third-party developers, which means it allows you to make changes.
Typing in a smartphone is more often done using a standard keyboard.
The smartphone has various interfaces for exchanging data with other smartphones, phones, laptops, desktop PCs (Bluetooth, USB port, Wi-Fi).
The smartphone is better suited for maintaining personal data: programs for organizing personal time, organizers, address books, calendars.
Mobile phones access the Internet via WAP or GPRS.
The hallmark of a smartphone is multitasking. The user has the ability to open and navigate from application to application running in the background. An ordinary telephone does not have this function.
Smartphone and communicator
The communicator has a larger and touchscreen display, characters are entered using a stylus. The operating system is the same as in the PDA.
A smartphone prioritizes high-quality voice transmission, while a communicator prioritizes working with data. The smartphone is inferior to the communicator in that complex and multifunctional applications in a smartphone cannot work simultaneously due to less RAM and a weaker processor. The communicator, in turn, has a more advanced operating system, a large amount of RAM. The speed of the communicator is several times higher.
As a rule, smartphones and communicators run on Windows Mobile, Linux and Symbian software.
The communicator has a large touchscreen display, which significantly improves the ergonomics of the device. In addition, due to this characteristic, the level of damage to vision is reduced. The large screen makes the process of working with text documents, watching videos more convenient.
Access to the Internet in the communicator is carried out using full-fledged browsers, which allows you to open any sites. Smatfon assumes the installation of special mobile versions of browsers.
Types of operating systems
The most popular operating system for smartphones is Symbian (all models of NOKIA smartphones, some Siemens and Samsung models). Another equally popular part of smartphones is controlled by the Windows Mobile operating system. Its advantage is the similarity of the user interface to the Windows operating system for the PC. The Symbian operating system is close to the telephone one.
According to many experts, the boundaries between smartphone and communicator will be blurred in the future. They will be replaced by more advanced devices that combine the functions of a PDA and a mobile phone.
In the issue of Science and Life magazine, Ruslan Bokoev, a specialist at the ION digital center, answering readers' questions, explained what is the difference between a smartphone and a telephone. a smartphone is the same phone, but equipped with an operating system that allows you to install various additional services on it. But the mobile technology market is not limited to these two devices. In addition to mobile phones and smartphones, so-called communicators appeared on store shelves, which, to an inexperienced eye, are functionally similar to smartphones, and even at a price they are not too different from them. We asked Ruslan Bokoev to explain the difference between a smartphone and a communicator.
A communicator (from English to communicate - to communicate) is a device that combines a pocket personal computer (PDA) and a cell phone. What is a cell phone, today it is no longer necessary to explain to anyone, but it is worth telling about a PDA in more detail.
A PDA is a small computing device the size of a notebook. Two or three years ago the PDA operated under the operating system Windows Mobile 2003 (2003 Second Edition), then Windows Mobile 5.0, today the PDA has Windows Mobile 6.0. The PDA allows you to work with office applications (viewing documents in WORD, EXCEL formats, presentations in the POWER POINT program, creating and editing TXT text files and PWI notes), access the Internet, send e-mails, view color photographs and clips, listen to MP3 files, watch videos, etc. Now the PDA is increasingly used as an e-book that can be viewed in the Haali Reader and AlReader2 programs. In recent years, various PDAs have begun to use technologies for wireless data exchange and Internet access (infrared port, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth), GPS receivers, VGA cameras, FM radio and TV tuner. An element of completing almost any PDA is a disk with a program for data synchronization via USB and infrared ports. Modern PDAs are also equipped with a permanent memory expansion slot - special cards (SD, miniSD, microSD), with which you can transfer files from a PDA to other devices.
If a PDA functions as a cell phone and can be used as a subscriber terminal, then such a PDA is usually called a communicator. That is, communicators are pocket computers equipped with a module supporting the GSM / GPRS cellular communication standard, and sometimes even more modern standards. The first communicators were created under Windows Mobile 2003 Phone Edition and Windows Mobile 5.0 Phone Edition, now they have Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional installed.
If a communicator is a PDA with phone functions, then by its "origin" a smartphone is a cell phone supplemented with PDA functions. Today, many smartphones are embedded with a GPS module, which makes it possible to use satellite navigation. All smartphones and communicators have RAM (for running programs) and ROM (for installing programs and storing data). Some models of smartphones do not differ in appearance from the phone, they have the usual telephone keypad and dimensions. There are smartphones, which are essentially pocket computers with the ability to make calls. Such "advanced" smartphones really no longer differ from communicators, at least visually. The difference lies in their "pedigree": one descended from the PDA, the other from the telephone.
In general, communicators are more functionally rich, they can solve almost all user tasks, from creating and editing documents and ending with watching TV channels on the screen. Meanwhile, only a few smartphone models make it possible to edit documents without installing additional software.
The real difference between a smartphone and a communicator lies in device performance and software compatibility. If you have a Nokia device that runs on Symbian OS, then we can definitely say that this is a smartphone and to install applications you need the Nokia PC Suite control and synchronization program. If you are holding a device running Windows Mobile 2003 for Smart-phone, Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphone or the new Windows Mobile 6.0 Standart, then this is definitely a smartphone! If the device is running Windows Mobile 2003 PocketPC, Windows Mobile 5.0 PocketPC or the new Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional, then it is a communicator. To install applications on such devices, you should pay attention to compatibility and the presence of a synchronization program Microsoft Active Sync.
Dear readers, send your questions to Ruslan Bokoev by email or postal address of the editorial office.
GLOSSARY TO ARTICLE
Wi-Fi(English Wireless Fidelity - wireless communication) - the general name of a group of standards for high-speed wireless data transmission. The technology is used to build networks and access Internet resources.
Infrared port- infrared port. It is a transmitter in the form of an LED and a receiver in the form of a photodiode, operating in the infrared range. Serves for data exchange between two devices in line of sight at a distance of no more than 50 cm.
Bluetooth- wireless technology. Used to build a network between devices and exchange data. Bluetooth technology (English - blue tooth) is named after the Danish Viking king Harald Gomson, nicknamed "Blue Tooth", possibly for his blackened teeth (in Danish the word "blue" is also used to mean "dark"). In the 10th century AD, he managed to unite the scattered kingdoms into a powerful Viking state. That is why King Harald has become a symbol of the design of an integration system that allows different devices to interact with each other.
RAM- Random Access Memory - random access memory, or, as it is often called, random access memory (RAM).
ROM- Read Only Memory - read-only memory. Another name is read only memory (ROM).
SD- SecureDigital is a flash memory standard from Panasonic. Designed as an extended version of MMC (MultiMediaCard).
