Do you remember when there was a time that it was a very futuristic thought to be able to walk around and speak on a telephone that was not connected to the wall? I clearly remember watching Star Trek episodes and seem to use those flip communicators and I thought that was pretty cool. I would have never guessed that in my lifetime I see a device that resembled that gadget that was on the TV show.



The idea that the cell phone is now called a smart phone really a good description of what they've become. Today, more of us want our mobile phones to be fully loaded with every imaginable feature: Internet accessibility, MP3 capabilities, GPS navigation, email devices. 2008 is the year the smart phone goes mainstream.

The big race for smart phones really started in the year 2008. Prior to 2008, there was a lot of discussion in a lot of prototypes, but it was the iPhone that really unleash the possibilities with a smart phone.. it was the iPhone that raised the bar and all other manufacturers are chasing to follow. The original iPhone sold 5 million units despite being available only in the United States and select parts of Europe. So the release of the new 3G iPhone from Apple it is no surprise that this is a really big push for the smart phone.

When you look at the numbers in smart phones sales, the mobile phone industry released its latest statistics on the smartphones and their impact on the market. According to Gartner, Inc, smartphone sales have increased worldwide by nearly 30% just since 2007. In a slowing economy, the mere fact that any given industry has a 30% increase in sales when the general market is in decline is proof that the smart phone is poised to take off.

In North America, however, the rise is even more prominent. During the same period, sales for smartphones increased by 106%. That means their sales more than doubled in comparison to the first quarter sales of 2007.

The iPhone isn't the only smartphone on the market. That being said, it's success has proven the viability of the item in the marketplace, and competitors are following suit. While smartphones, like those created by Blackberry, were once considered only desirable by on-the-go business professionals, every day consumers are gravitating to the full functionality, and the portability.

And although the prices for smart phones are relatively high when you sitter the cost compared to a regular cell phone, the demands is going to increase the effective efficiency in production, and naturally that should bring down the costs of smart phones. By bringing down the cost of the smart phone more people will be little for them and more smart phones will sell.

With the popularity of the iPhone, it's no surprise that other mobile phone companies are going to be hitting the market soon with their own smartphones. Samsung, for example, is releasing the Tocco. It has a touchscreen and allows for the dropping and dragging of widgets for the user's convenience. Nokia is also coming up to bat with its own version of this smart phone. They are currently working on a touchscreen model prototype currently referred to as Tube. Blackberry is also releasing its own model known as the BlackBerry Thunder. This should be available in Fall 2008.

And don't forget, Google is also on the horizon with their version of the phone. Not only are they working on an interesting open source platform, but the features that they are looking for in their phone should be exciting to see.

All of these model should do well, but the question is which one's the best? I'm thinking that people are going to side with the Apple. Either way, smart phones are a trend that is exploding in the technology sector and we are just looking at the infancy of the product.