Smartphone

A **smartphone** is a mobile device. It works as a computer but are small and portable like a mobile phone or a E-reader. It uses a system on a chip or a minimal instruction set computer so it can be small.

**Uses include**:
- Sending and receiving emails, text, photographs and multimedia messages
- Registering contacts
- Calculator, currency conversions, alarm, etc. functions
- Browsing the Internet using a mobile browser
- Playing games
- Video chat
- Mobile payment for goods or services
- Barcode scanning
- Photography and video recording
- Use as torch to make light in dark areas
- Taking and searching notes
- Mapping the user's location by GPS (Global Positioning System)

Another way to think of smartphones is that they are PDAs that can make voice calls like any other mobile phone. Older phones also used computer technology, but lacked many of the parts of a computer that were too big to fit into a phone. Modern phone makers have been able to use smaller parts. Most smartphones are also GPS receivers and digital cameras.

Because smartphones are small computers, they run an operating system that is often common between devices to ensure compatibility. The majority of smartphones run on Apple iOS or Google Android. Most can do multitasking, running  more than one program which helps the user do things quicker and easier. Users can get more programs, called mobile apps, from the manufacturer's app store, such as the Apple App Store and Google Play which can help them complete special tasks.

Data communication has become faster. Smartphones can send and receive data much faster than older phones. The industry uses different standards to label the data transmission rates. 2G was introduced in 1991. 2G means **_2**nd **G**eneration_. 2G phones transmit data at about the same speed as a 56 kbit/s (kilobits per second) dial-up modem would get.

3G was introduced in the early 2000s. Depending on where they are, 3G phones vary in speed between about 200 kbit/s to 14 Mbit/s (megabits per second). This is comparable to a DSL or low end cable modem speed. Most smart phones use 3G technology to make them fast enough to practically use internet and other data features. Faster 4G networks operate in many places, with speeds estimated as fast as 100 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s (gigabit per second). This is as fast as some computer networks that use Ethernet. Many smartphones introduced after 2010 use 4G technology including LTE, as later, even faster version. 5G was introduced in a few places in 2019.

Smartphones are powered by rechargeable batteries. The amount of energy they can store is reduced over time, and they become weaker. With less power, a smartphone may not be able to perform as well as or for as long as when it was new. Until 2010, most smartphones were made so that the user could replace or remove a weakened battery. Most newer smartphones do not give users this ability.

## Use as camera

Many smartphones today have cameras built into them. They are usually not as capable as dedicated cameras.  Some phones have sophisticated camera software allowing such features as independent setting of bit rate, framerate and resolution.  Such controls have only been adapted starting in the mid-2010s.  As of early 2021, mobile phone chipsets may be capable of 2160p 4K video capture at 120 frames per second.

## Related pages

- Mobile phone
- Android
- iPhone
- Windows Phone
- BlackBerry
- Symbian