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Why are smartphones called smartphones? |
mr_lou
Joined: Nov 14, 2002
Posts: 403
From: Denmark
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Can someone tell me why smartphones are called smartphones? I mean, what defines a smartphone?
Because I'm really getting very very tired of all the lacks in these socalled smartphones.
*I* would buy a smartphone because I'm a geek who wants a phone that can do all kinds of tricks. But most of the time I end up being disappointed by how stupid and slow it is instead.
There's absolutely nothing "smart" about having no smileys. (And don't argue against this. Just check Google how many people complains about this).
There's absolutely nothing "smart" about being unable to send a file from the phone because it's suddenly "protected". I can send the exact same file without any problems at all from my SE feature phone.
There's absolutely nothing "smart" about being unable to send/receive files and contacts via bluetooth!!!
There's absolutely nothing "smart" about needing to use an online synchronization service in order to send all my contacts to my smartphone! SE feature phones lets me send my entire address-book in less than 30 seconds via bluetooth!!!
So why is it called a smartphone? To me it seriously looks like smartphones are the dumbest phones on the market. I really can't see what all the hype is about.
Why would anyone choose a smartphone? What apps does it offer you, that you can't get for a SE feature phone? Why do you choose a smartphone over a SE feature phone? To get a bigger screen? Because you want touch? | |
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Bonovox
Joined: Apr 13, 2008
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You have a few good dumb phone points there  Yes,it is rather silly when you think about it that a "smartphone" OS cannot even send files via Bluetooth & dumb phones can 
Phone?? What phone?? |
mr_lou
Joined: Nov 14, 2002
Posts: 403
From: Denmark
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Did you know, that the new Windows Phone 7 from Microsoft can't even do it either?
That's their "A whole new beginning". Another smartphone you can't even send files or contacts to via bluetooth.
Am I the only one who things that's a critical feature-lack in a modern phone? Especially when they call it a smartphone.
Although I can't spot them, I'm sure there must be some reason why people prefer a smartphone. After all these years, maybe it's time I just realize that smartphones aren't for me. They offer me nothing of value whatsoever.
I think some people choose them because they get a big screen and touch. I hate touch, and I don't want a device that big. What other reasons are there for choose a smartphone? |
Tsepz_GP
Joined: Dec 27, 2006
Posts: > 500
From: Johannesburg, South Africa
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I'm guessing you're talking about the iPhone?
Luckily the above is all possible on my android smartphone.
Reason why i chose a smartphone and specificaly android is because:
-Yes, i get a huge high res display which makes web browsing an absolute pleasure.
The built-in web browser handles even the largest of websites with no problem, i can have multiple tabs open on a bunch of large web sites and it will have no issue handling them, its like having a mini internet tablet in my pocket as i do a lot of web browsing on my phone without having to rely on poor web browsers like Opera Mini which doesnt even support JavaScript.
-Being able to have the news, weather, email etc...info right on my homescreen, i can even have my call log, GPS switch, Music controls, Bluetooth switch, Internet switch etc...right on the homescreen, i can basicaly control everything on the phone from the homescreen or have whatever info,or both, without having to hack the phone.
-Multitasking, yes i know SE feature phones do it, but they slowdown after a few apps have been booted up, on my smartphone i can have a lot of apps up, all running and not have performance issues, at the moment i have WinAmp playing music, the web browser has 6tabs open, im downloading a 70mb Youtube vid (HD7 review) ,and i also have an ebook i keep peaking at now and then, that sort of multitasking is almost impossible on feature phones, my K850 would have given in a long time ago and rebooted.
-Customizability. On a droid smartphone you can pretty much do it all, thanks to multiple launchers, and the OS itself tying in with 3rd party programmes so well, i can set Firefox or Dolphin HD to be my default browser, from then on no matter what app im in if i click a link it goes straight to my browser of choice, and opens the link, same with SMS apps, UI launchers, Picture, video etc...viewers, its all set up to how i want it exactly, again without having to hack/jailbreak.
-High quality apps and games that take advantage of the CPU/GPU of the phones, there is simply no java apps that even come close to the quality of native apps and games.
-Being able to modify even internal hardware e.g. overclocking CPU, under/over clocking on demand, memory useage adjustments, custom ROMs etc...
Its basicaly like having a mini PC, thats why i like smartphones, especialy Androids, as by the time im done setting it up, it works exactly the way i want it to, not just minor little things like themes,lol.
-Things such as Push email, office tools to edit/view documents, exchange, PIM etc... these do exsist in featurephones but in a very poorly implemented way, all these are simple and much more convenient to do on smartphones
hope that helps. 
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mriley
Joined: Oct 03, 2009
Posts: > 500
From: UK
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I bought my first smartphone a few weeks ago, its very different to simpler 'dumb' phones, which i was a big fan of, having both the SE Elm and C901. The thing is, these simpler non smartphones are pretty much the same.
I now use my smartphone as my main phone, although its not as good as the simpler phones for calls and text simplicity, that is the only area where the simpler phones are better.
Web browsing, entertainment and apps are all much better on smartphones. The simpler phones are boring imo, unless you're going to spend hours downloading apps off getjar there isn't really much you can do with them rather than texts and calls.
The limitations you've listed only apply if you use features like bluetooth constantly and you have some huge issues using online sync, i don't miss having smilies tbh. Its a big change moving to a full touch smartphone and i was reluctant to get one too, preferring phones with a simple UI and buttons to press, but it turned out to be very good and now i use my phone a lot more for apps, games, watching videos and listening to music. Nobody likes change and so it will receive criticism, its certainly a lot different, but when you actually get one you realize the strengths greatly outweigh the limitations.
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Bonovox
Joined: Apr 13, 2008
Posts: > 500
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I see apps as not important as most are pointless there is a few useful ones. I rarely use any apps. If I have a dumb phone & there is not many apps I care not  Though Matt I would say browsing the net on phones like the w995 was a great experience with the 2,6 inch screen although yes it is far better on a smart phone it's by no means useless on a so called dumb ass phone
[ This Message was edited by: Bonovox on 2010-11-10 19:15 ] Phone?? What phone?? |
mriley
Joined: Oct 03, 2009
Posts: > 500
From: UK
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It's not just about screen size with web browsing, using buttons to navigate is so slow and tedious no matter what phone you have, touchscreens are much better. I use apps a fair bit and constantly playing games, some use features more than others it depends what you use your phone for whether you really need a smartphone, if all i did was calls and texts id get a phone similar to the w995
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mr_lou
Joined: Nov 14, 2002
Posts: 403
From: Denmark
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On 2010-11-10 20:02:38, Tsepz_GP wrote:
I'm guessing you're talking about the iPhone?
No, all smartphones, Symbian, iPhone, Android, whatever.
On 2010-11-10 20:02:38, Tsepz_GP wrote:
Luckily the above is all possible on my android smartphone.
I've lost faith in that, so I don't believe you.
Are you telling me, that your Android smartphone can receive an entire address-book by bluetooth from a Sony Ericsson feature phone? And it also has smileys in SMS?
On 2010-11-10 20:02:38, Tsepz_GP wrote:
Reason why i chose a smartphone and specificaly android is because:
-Yes, i get a huge high res display which makes web browsing an absolute pleasure.
The built-in web browser handles even the largest of websites with no problem, i can have multiple tabs open on a bunch of large web sites and it will have no issue handling them, its like having a mini internet tablet in my pocket as i do a lot of web browsing on my phone without having to rely on poor web browsers like Opera Mini which doesnt even support JavaScript.
Fair enough. The web-browsing part requires a smartphone. So far I've never felt the need to browse the web on my phone though, which is probably why I don't see any value there.
Personally I prefer to stick with RSS feeds, or websites that are suitable for phone usage.
On 2010-11-10 20:02:38, Tsepz_GP wrote:
-Being able to have the news, weather, email etc...info right on my homescreen, i can even have my call log, GPS switch, Music controls, Bluetooth switch, Internet switch etc...right on the homescreen, i can basicaly control everything on the phone from the homescreen or have whatever info,or both, without having to hack the phone.
I can see the advantage of that in some cases. But SE feature phones offer shortcuts, meaning you'll be where you want (almost) just as fast. For example, pressing RIGHT will get me to the file-explorer, and UP will get me bluetooth switch, and LEFT will let me type a new SMS. Some other shortcuts does require 2 clicks though, but they're still very fast to access in my opinion.
Personally I want fast access to the music player, so I use a headset that has play-buttons.
If you want access to certain info on your homescreen, you can do this with SE feature phones too. The Elm is a good example of a SE feature phone you can put various stuff on the standby screen, like weather or facebook or any RSS feed etc. So I don't see the big advantage in a smartphone here.
On 2010-11-10 20:02:38, Tsepz_GP wrote:
-Multitasking, yes i know SE feature phones do it, but they slowdown after a few apps have been booted up, on my smartphone i can have a lot of apps up, all running and not have performance issues, at the moment i have WinAmp playing music, the web browser has 6tabs open, im downloading a 70mb Youtube vid (HD7 review) ,and i also have an ebook i keep peaking at now and then, that sort of multitasking is almost impossible on feature phones, my K850 would have given in a long time ago and rebooted.
-Customizability. On a droid smartphone you can pretty much do it all, thanks to multiple launchers, and the OS itself tying in with 3rd party programmes so well, i can set Firefox or Dolphin HD to be my default browser, from then on no matter what app im in if i click a link it goes straight to my browser of choice, and opens the link, same with SMS apps, UI launchers, Picture, video etc...viewers, its all set up to how i want it exactly, again without having to hack/jailbreak.
-High quality apps and games that take advantage of the CPU/GPU of the phones, there is simply no java apps that even come close to the quality of native apps and games.
-Being able to modify even internal hardware e.g. overclocking CPU, under/over clocking on demand, memory useage adjustments, custom ROMs etc...
Its basicaly like having a mini PC, thats why i like smartphones, especialy Androids, as by the time im done setting it up, it works exactly the way i want it to, not just minor little things like themes,lol.
-Things such as Push email, office tools to edit/view documents, exchange, PIM etc... these do exsist in featurephones but in a very poorly implemented way, all these are simple and much more convenient to do on smartphones
hope that helps.
Yes, if you need to use your phone like a portable computer, then I do see the need for a smartphone.... or a laptop.
But it sure does look like smartphones just doesn't offer anything of value to me. Quite the opposite.
I hope they'll someday offer these basic things SE feature phones gives me. |
mr_lou
Joined: Nov 14, 2002
Posts: 403
From: Denmark
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On 2010-11-10 20:09:57, mriley wrote:
Web browsing, entertainment and apps are all much better on smartphones. The simpler phones are boring imo, unless you're going to spend hours downloading apps off getjar there isn't really much you can do with them rather than texts and calls.
The limitations you've listed only apply if you use features like bluetooth constantly and you have some huge issues using online sync, i don't miss having smilies tbh. Its a big change moving to a full touch smartphone and i was reluctant to get one too, preferring phones with a simple UI and buttons to press, but it turned out to be very good and now i use my phone a lot more for apps, games, watching videos and listening to music. Nobody likes change and so it will receive criticism, its certainly a lot different, but when you actually get one you realize the strengths greatly outweigh the limitations.
Well, I actually bought the very first Android device; HTC Dream, and found that it had incredible poor sound and again the lack of basic features made it not so interesting. I also tried other smartphones like Nokia N82, SE W950, and now Vivaz Pro, and I honestly don't think there are more interesting software for those platforms than for SE's JavaPlatform phones (feature phones).
But ok, the Android Market only offered the free apps in my country at that time, so I haven't been able to check out the paid apps. Still, I doubt they offer some high degree of greatness I can't find on the J2ME platform. It is the same developers who's doing the apps, and when I look at forum threads with "Recommended apps", I'm not impressed. I'm more like "Huh, I need to get a smartphone so I can run those apps?... no thanks". A lot of the time, it's apps you need to fix some lack, like e.g. bluetooth file transfers. That's seems to be what makes it a "cool app".
I didn't buy Vivaz Pro because it was a smartphone. I bought it because I wanted HD video recording + good mp3 player + small size. The Symbian smartphone part was an unavoidable part of the deal. I'm just amazed I keep finding stupid feature-lacks. I honestly can't believe how stupid it is. I can't believe it's not possible to find one device, that has all the things I want. This is 2010 dammit!
I can't believe that I've been on this quest-for-the-perfect-phone since my W800... best phone I ever had.
For a period of time, I carried with me both a Nokia N82 for the video recording features, and a SE W760 for everything else. And now it seems I have to carry my Vivaz Pro for the HD recording, and my Aino for everything else... doh! Stupid.
Sure, I'm looking at Android phones. I looked at Desire Z actually. But I just doubt it had a good mp3 player with good audio quality, and offer me a headset from which I can control the music. I also doubt it'll let me send and receive files via bluetooth. And these doubts comes from experience. |
Tsepz_GP
Joined: Dec 27, 2006
Posts: > 500
From: Johannesburg, South Africa
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Mr lou
Not sure about address book,haven't tried, probably possible,and if not there, there's probably an app to do it anyway.
Yes, smileys are there, i have an X10, SE's keyboard comes with smileys.
SE feature phone shortcuts are okay, but they arent a patch on live widgets, all i have to do is glance at my phone.
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mriley
Joined: Oct 03, 2009
Posts: > 500
From: UK
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Personally I want fast access to the music
player, so I use a headset that has play-
buttons .
If you want access to certain info on your
homescreen, you can do this with SE
feature phones too. The Elm is a good
example of a SE feature phone you can put
various stuff on the standby screen , like
weather or facebook or any RSS feed etc .
So I don ' t see the big advantage in a
smartphone here .
Well then clearly you don't need a smartphone if you prefer the simple phones like the Elm, people use their phones for different things and its clear to see what smartphones offer that phones like the Elm don't, but not everyone will use those features, if you don't then i would say you should stick with a good all-round 'dumb' phone. Personally, i own an elm, i think its plain boring compared to my smartphone, all i miss is real buttons. Although i can see why you personally don't need/want a smartphone doesn't mean they aren't smart 
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Bonovox
Joined: Apr 13, 2008
Posts: > 500
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I love my x8 smarty phone
Phone?? What phone?? |
mr_lou
Joined: Nov 14, 2002
Posts: 403
From: Denmark
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On 2010-11-10 21:06:55, Tsepz_GP wrote:
SE feature phone shortcuts are okay, but they arent a patch on live widgets, all i have to do is glance at my phone.
You can have these live widgets on SE feature phones too. On the background of the standby screen.
The biggest reason to get a smartphone seems to be webbrowsing. All other features are available on a standard SE feature phone as far as I can see. |
Tsepz_GP
Joined: Dec 27, 2006
Posts: > 500
From: Johannesburg, South Africa
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Mr lou
So you're able to have your Call Logs on your homescreen? Are you able to have direct shortcuts to specific parts of apps? E.g. i have a specific ebook on my homescreen, so when i click on it it goes to exactly where i left it on that specific ebook, are you able to have specific contacts or specific groups of them e.g. favourites in your homescreen?
Are you able to have a specific set of GPS directions right there so when you need them you just tap and away you go.
Are you able to download more widgets?
Are you able to set any apps as default apps for specific functions?
I could go on, web browsing isn't the only thing.
Apps on smartphones are of much higher quality, compare Opera Mini to Opera Mobile, Mobile even does JavaScript, is much more fluid as it takes full advantage of the smartphone's CPU/GPU.
Compare Media player apps, in dumbphones they are awful, in smartphones they add more support for more formats and allow more customizability.
In general smartphone apps have more depth to them, and they work far better.
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Bonovox
Joined: Apr 13, 2008
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The increasing sales of smart phones across the market world wide speaks volumes really. The demand for touch screen smart phones has over taken the demand for all buttoned phones.
Phone?? What phone?? | |
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Posted: 2010-11-10 18:56
