Although we lack a clear distinction between a cell phone and a smart phone, generally, a smart phone is a next-generation, multifunctional cell phone that provides voice communication and text-messaging capabilities and facilitates data processing as well as enhanced wireless connectivity. Cell phones are everywhere, growing in both number and type. You might consider the smart phone as the marriage between a powerful cell phone and a wireless-enabled PDA.

According a study by UK market research firm Canalys, more than 12 million data-ready wireless mobile devices shipped in the second quarter of 2005-twice the fewer than 6 million shipped in the year before. Although smart phones account for only a small slice of the worldwide cell phone market, many consumers are opting for business-centric smart phones as the price continues to drop.

The big picture Enhanced wireless capability such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and infrared and the ability to synchronize with computers. A large memory (RAM and ROM) and persistent storage (memory cards or built-in hard disk). Unlike most conventional cell phones, a smart phone will have these features: A color LCD screen with backlight. Many have a camera; some even have a Carl Zeiss lens. An advanced operating system with a set of applications that usually include games and calendar, scheduler, address book, media player, book reader, recorder, note, and calculator functions.

Additionally, smart phones generally fall into three categories in terms of handset design, representing three camps in the industry sector:

high-end cell phones by cell phone manufacturers, such as Nokia, Ericsson, and Motorola; however, software platforms for smart phones aren’t aligned with this categorization at all. PDA phones by HP and Palm; and enhanced wireless email devices (that is, Blackberry) by Research in Motion.

Cell phone manufacturers used to develop their own proprietary, highly customized operating systems for their product lines. Because independent software vendors commonly don’t have access to these operating systems, they’re not appropriate for today’s vertical wireless market. On the battlefield of smart phone software platforms, we have just a few large combatants: Symbian OS, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Palm OS, and some variations of embedded Linux systems.

This article tried to explained only a tiny piece about how smart phones differ from ordinary mobile phones. Nowadays, smart phones can do astonishing things!