- Remote access to my calendar- Probably the #1 benefit immediately realized by a new Smartphone user is remote access to his/her calendar. If you're like most busy professionals and/or business owners, you do a pretty solid job of keeping your calendar on a PC (or you have an admin or office manager that keeps it for you). The problem is you're constantly having to use the line, "Let me check my calendar when I get back in the office" as you're visiting with your clients, suppliers, and partners. With the snazzy wireless syncing options available on most Smartphones, you'll have an up-to-date calendar in-hand whenever you need it.
- Checking email on the road- For some Smartphone users, this capability is absolutely invaluable. Not only are you accessible via the phone, but you also can communicate via email from wherever you are without having to haul out your laptop and find a "hot spot". Others don't use this capability for a variety of reasons (e.g., keys are too small to type with, the screen's too small for reading that much text, or difficulty with attachments).
- "Whiz-bang" mobile applications- There are tons of little niche applications that are very handy to have with you on-demand (e.g., customized cost calculators, quick-reference manuals, or mini-invoice builders).
Palm® Treo- Palm introduced their first Smartphone in 2002 (it was actually Handspring that introduced the Treo 180). The first mass entry in the space, though, was in 2003 with the Treo 600. The line has rapidly grown into one of the most popular and most versatile. Palm's stability in the space is probably its most distinguishing trait. Below are images and links to some of the details for some of Palm's current Treo™ models.
 Palm® Treo™ 700wx |  Palm® Treo™ 755p |
 Palm® Centro™ |  Palm® Treo™ 750 |
BlackBerry®- The BlackBerry was introduced in 1999 by Research in Motion (RIM). Although not officially a Smartphone until 2001, BlackBerry's niche is definitely remote access to email (it's the pioneer in the space). The line has rapidly grown into one of the most popular and most versatile Smartphones (with 8 milliion subscribers as of April 2007). RIM also offers the BlackBerry® Connect software to allow users access to BlackBerry's email service on other devices (such as the Treo™). The table below breaks down some of the details for each of RIM's BlackBerry® models.
| Model | Features |
| BlackBerry® 7200 series |
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| BlackBerry® 7500 series |
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| BlackBerry® Charm |
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| BlackBerry® 7130 |
|
| BlackBerry® Electron |
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| BlackBerry® Pearl |
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| BlackBerry® 8800 |
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| BlackBerry® Curve |
|
Apple iPhone- Apple's iPhone combines the popular iPod with a mobile phone and PDA. The device looks fantastic, but it's still evolving in the areas of interoperability and scalability. Its screen is a 320x480 color screen. Storage is in-line with the iPod (8GB-16GB) which places it well beyond other Smartphones in capacity. Regarding battery life, it has at least 5 hours of talk time and up to 24 hours of audio playback time. With Bluetooth® capabilities and a 2.0MP camera, it is definitely a strong competitor to the more established players.
Symbian OS-based devices- Smartphones running the Symbian OS represent 72.8% of the worldwide market share (mostly because of their predominance in Japan through a relationship with Nokia). There is a wide variety of Smartphones manufactured with the Symbian OS, and most are very robust devices. There has been an outbreak of malware among these devices, but most of the security risks are introduced through downloaded applications (so the risk is very manageable).
Obviously, there are many choices, and you shouldn't just go for the cheapest device you can find. Because of the growing popularity of these devices, you might want to consider contacting your existing wireless carrier to see if any special deals are available for current customers (you might be surprised what the carrier is willing to do to keep your subscription... after all, that's where the real money is).
