I truly appreciate all the emails you send with tones and temperament that range from stay- at-home moms needing help finding income without ever leaving home to moms and ladies totally clueless about gadgets, gizmos of the basics of technology. Today I’m addressing some more emails re: the latter.

I say thumbs up to those who were unafraid to ask and wrote in for clarification. Jillian,42, Novaliches, Quezon City – All The while I thought that when someone mentioned Smart phone they meant the network or service provider, Smart Telecom.

I just recently found out otherwise and the hard way at a cocktail party when a friend told me Smart didn’t mean just that. Please explain further.

Well Jillian, you’re not alone in this. The term, “smartphone” pops up every so often nowadays but what exactly does it mean? How is a smartphone different than a cell phone, and what makes it so smart?

In a nutshell, it’s a device that lets you make telephone calls, but also adds in features that you might find on a personal digital assistant or a computer--such as the ability to send and receive e-mail, take and send out pics as well as edit office documents.

But, to really understand what it is and isn’t , we should start with a history lesson. In the beginning, there were cell phones and personal digital assistants (or PDAs).

Cell phones were used for making calls--and not much else--while PDAs, like the Palm Pilot, were used as personal, portable organizers. A PDA could store your contact info and a to-do list, and could sync with your computer. Eventually, PDAs gained wireless connectivity and were able to send and receive e-mail. Cell phones, meanwhile, gained messaging capabilities, too. PDAs then added cellular phone features, while cell phones added more PDA-like (and even computer-like) features. The result was the smartphone.

What are its features? Here they are: Operating System: In general, a smartphone will be based on an operating system that allows it to run productivity applications. BlackBerry smartphones run the BlackBerry OS, while other devices run the Palm OS or Windows Mobile. There are smartphone OSes that are pared-down versions of desktop Linux, too.

Software: While almost all cell phones include some sort of software (even the most basic models these days include an address book or some sort of contact manager, for example), a smartphone will have the ability to do more. It may allow you to create and edit Microsoft Office documents--or at least view files.

It may allow you to download applications, such as personal and business finance managers. Or it may allow you to edit photos, get directions via GPS and create a playlist of digital tunes. Web Access:
More smartphones can access the Web at higher speeds, thanks to the growth of 3G and the addition of Wi-Fi support to many handsets. Still, while not all smartphones offer high-speed Web access, they all offer some sort of access. You can use your smartphone to browse your favorite sites. (To be continued)

Lemme hear from yah! techiemommy@gmail.com