Smart Phones are Always Getting Smarter

When the first mobile phone was issued, it was called “The Brick” because it looked and felt like one. Now, we have “smart phones,” computers that fit into your pocket that have more computing power than all of the machines on the spaceship that landed on the moon.

Smart phones, with brand names like iPhone, BlackBerry and Android, sound more like something out of a science fiction movie from the 1950s than devices that we use every day.

Some of the largest software and hardware companies in the world are in on the act. Google just acquired Motorola’s mobile phone division, giving it an even larger audience for its Android technology. Microsoft has put its Windows Phone operating system onto Nokia phones; and, of course, Apple has set the bar very high with its iPhone smart phones.

Once, leading edge applications were MP3 players and voice dialing. Now, you can unlock your car, order dinner, call your mother and shop for a new car all on your phone. You can find out where you are, control your investments and deal with “Angry Birds” all from a machine that fits neatly in the palm of your hand. The least impressive thing that your smart phone can do is to make a telephone call from a moving train!

Then, after making that call from the train, you can use your smart phone to watch videos. Using software from Research in Motion, you can watch BlackBerry videos on your device. You can download your favorite television programs right to your phone and watch them anywhere you want.

The newest smart phones have screens with 450x900 pixel resolution, better than most early computers. They have 1.2 GHz processors. If your computer at home is more than a few years old, your phone processes faster. It can even become a Wi-Fi hot spot for your laptop instantly.

What we used to require several different tools to do, we can now do with just our phones. Carrying your music library, listening to music off the internet and writing documents can now all be done through our smart phones. Balancing a bank account, moving money around in a mutual fund and ordering flowers for your mom can all be done through just the one device.

For parents, smart phones can be wonderful. As it allows texting, voice calls, email, video conferencing and even GPS tracking, a smart phone can help parents watch over their children even when they are not around. The children may not like it, but it can set parents’ minds at ease.

Smart phones get smarter every day and every day make our lives easier and more mobile. That is the miracle that came from “The Brick.”