With the mobile marketplace making huge leaps in size every year, the number of mobile products has become extremely large as well. A number of these products use the label “smartphone”, but not every mobile device that is called a smartphone truly is one.

First and foremost, for any device to be considered a smartphone it must be internet capable. The core of smartphone functionality lies in the ability to get online. Additionally, true smart phones have internet speeds that are comparable with today’s broadband standards. Many smartphones feature the ability to get online via a built in WIFI antenna in addition to the standard onboard internet provided by the voice carriers.

The internet naturally lends itself to multimedia, smartphone devices must be able to work with a number of file formats for audio and video files. In order to store these files smart phones generally require a generous internal hard drive, as well as removable storage options.

Smartphones should also be able to run software applications. These applications are increasingly most important part of the smart phone ecosystem. Some applications are business oriented, while some are for leisure. Being able to run apps, and having a strong library of available apps, is a key feature that all genuine smartphones share.

Finally, smartphones are increasingly called upon to preform many of the functions of standard computers. In order to do this, smartphones must feature full connectivity with standard pc technology. These technologies include: USB, Bluetooth and a number of other protocols.

Picture copyright – Tanja Krstevska – Fotolia