The Smartphone Revolution: The Growth of Smartphones & Exchange ActiveSync

Technology has made such an impact on society that most people won’t leave home without their cell phone, and their computer has become their best friend. This is why one of the most life-changing pieces of technology for many has been the smartphone — an all-in-one, portable device that combines the functions of a cell phone with the functions of a computer.
Brief History of the Smartphone
Smartphones are actually a relatively new piece of technology.

• 1992 – The first smartphone was invented by IBM in 1992. It was nicknamed, “Simon,” and had a plethora of features including a calendar, address book, calculator, email service, and even a touch screen. At $899.00, though, most people could not afford it.
• 1996 – Nokia launched a series of smartphones in the late ’90s that were basically a cross between a cell phone and a PDA.
• 2000 – Ericsson developed the R380, a touch screen smartphone that used the Symbian operating system and had a foldable keyboard. It was the first all-in-one device to actually be called a smartphone.
• 2002 – This was the year the smartphone revolution really took off. Blackberry was introduced with its email services, as well as the Palm Treo and its full QWERTY keyboard and Ericsson’s P800 model. Several new features were added to smartphones including the MP3 player, camera, and wireless technology. Exchange Email also became popular.
• 2005 – The N-Series of smartphones was introduced to the market by Sony Ericsson. These devices were targeted at business people because of their computing capabilities.
• 2007 – Apple’s coveted iPhone was introduced with its massive app store.
• 2008 – The open-source, Android operating system started to take off, supported by Google, Intel, HTC, and a variety of other developers.
• Now – New smartphones are constantly being introduced to the market by all the major players. The focus is currently on getting faster Internet speeds.

Why Are Smartphones so Popular?
The popularity of the smartphone grew, in part, because of services like Exchange, and their ActiveSync and Push Email services. People loved the idea of being able to access their email and do business while on the go. With the first smartphones, it was difficult to manage a calendar and contacts because they had to be updated on too many separate devices. Exchange allowed people to update information once and have it show up on all the other device they used instantly.
Smartphones have come a long way in a short period of time. Now, we’re anxiously awaiting the technology that comes next.

Another Apple iPhone prototype has gone missing

Another Apple iPhone prototype has gone missing, again lost by an Apple employee in a bar, CNET is reporting. The device, supposedly a prototype of the upcoming iPhone 5, apparently still hasn't been recovered.
The unconfirmed incident strangely mirrors the infamous loss of an iPhone 4 prototype last year, although this time things are less definitive. Whereas last year, the prototype was obtained by a tech blog and revealed for the world to see, so far no photos or details about the phone have come out. CNET reports that it's not known what the device looks like or what operating system it's running.
The chain of events, as reported, goes like this: Sometime in late July, a person testing the iPhone, presumably an Apple employee, accidentally left the device at San Francisco Mexican restaurant called Cava 22. Since then Apple has been "scrambling" to get the device back, managing to track it to electronically to a two-floor home in the city's Bernal Heights neighborhood. The twentysomething man who apparently lived there said he was at the restaurant on the night the prototype went missing but denied any knowledge of it, even when Apple offered him money if he produced the phone, no questions asked.
CNET goes on to say the phone may have been sold on Craigslist for $200. All of the information appears to have come from a single source "familiar with the investigation."
When contacted by PCMag, a spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department couldn't confirm or deny if there was a police report about the incident. He said it was relatively routine to work with a private company's security when investigating a theft, but couldn't think of another case where company reps accompanied uniformed officers into a private residence. Apple didn't respond to a request for comment, and calls to the bar, Cava 22, weren't returned.

It all sounds eerily familiar. Last year after an Apple engineer, Gray Powell, accidentally left an iPhone 4 prototype in a bar, the finder quickly recognized what he had and sold it to Gizmodo. The tech blog then proceeded to reveal the phone to the world, posting photos and a teardown weeks before the official release. Although Gizmodo and its staff escaped charges in the incident, the San Mateo District Attorney's Office charged two people, Brian Hogan, 22, and Sage Wallower, 28, with misappropriation of lost property and possession of stolen property earlier this month.
For more on what the iPhone 5 might be, check out our roundup of the most likely rumors, a look at six technologies that most likely won't be in iPhone 5, and why the phone, whatever it ends up being, probably won't have LTE network technology.

iphone 5 : the october 4 is the date

It's October 4, the date scheduled for the next ceremony of Apple, which will launch theiPhone 5, and this, according to sources close to the preparation of the event, the datethe new Devoille iPhone5 while some sources also added that this does not mean that this date is official as long as it is uncertain where the company can change at any time inthe day. October 4 will be the only date of the announcement iphone 5 and will be available in stores a few weeks after the ceremony to be held, the latter which is not like other celebrations of the previous year, especially after the Functions of thedecision-CEO of Apple by Tim Cook.

A comparison : the NOKIA N8 VS THE IPHONE 4

On paper, the Nokia N8 certainly looks like an impressive piece of hardware. We were taken through an early sneak peek of the touchscreen smartphone with Australian Nokia representatives and were reasonably impressed. The N8 has a 12-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens and a Xenon flash, it records 720p HD video and has a HDMI-out port so you can watch high quality footage through a television, and it also supports Dolby Digital sound. It also has an aluminium body and is available in five colours including white, orange, green and black.

During our demo, the HDMI-out capabilities were particularly impressive — we watched a short movie clip through a full HD television and the video was clear and smooth. The Nokia N8 will ship with plenty of accessories, including a dongle to connect a USB flash drive to the phone to share, transfer and store a range content.

With this in mind, how will the Nokia N8 stack up against the Apple iPhone 4?

Feature	Apple iPhone 4	Nokia N8	Verdict?
Operating system (OS)	Apple iOS4	Symbian S^3	iPhone 4
Display technology	Capacitive retina IPS	Capacitive OLED	iPhone 4
Display resolution	640x960 pixels	640x360 pixels	iPhone 4
Multitouch	Yes	Yes	Draw
Camera	5 megapixels, LED flash, autofocus, geotagging	12 megapixels, Xenon flash, autofocus, geotagging, face detection	Nokia N8
FM radio	No	Yes	Nokia N8
GPS	Yes	Yes	Draw
Internal memory	16GB or 32GB	16GB	iPhone 4
Expandable memory	No	microSD card slot	Nokia N8
Dimensions	115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3mm	113.5 x 59 x 12.9mm	iPhone 4
Weight	137g	135g	Nokia N8
Application store	Apple App Store	Nokia Ovi Store	iPhone 4
Processor	Apple A4	ARM 11 (680MHz)	Unknown
3G networks	HSDPA 850/ 900/1900/2100	HSDPA 850/900/1700/1900/2100	Nokia N8
Wi-Fi	802.11b/g/n	802.11b/g/n	Draw
Bluetooth	2.1 with A2DP	3.0 with A2DP	Nokia N8
Quoted talk time	Up to 7 hours	Up to 5.9 hours	iPhone 4
Quoted standby time	Up to 300 hours	Up to 400 hours	Nokia N8
Adobe Flash support	No	Yes	Nokia N8
HDMI-out	No	Yes	Nokia N8

As you can see, both smartphones stack up reasonably well, with each possessing its own strengths and weaknesses. The Nokia N8 is the first Nokia phone to run the latest Symbian OS, Symbian S^3. The changes are mostly related to performance and stability, with only minor changes to the actual user interface. During our brief hands on, the Nokia N8 was zippy and fast, and offered a smooth multitouch experience, bringing it closer to the iPhone and Android smartphones. However, the menus don't look as polished as the interface on HTC's Android smartphones or Apple's iOS4, and we were left feeling that Symbian S^3 merely brings Nokia in line with its competitors, without pushing ahead of them.

Although we're looking forward to seeing Nokia really take the next step with Symbian S^4 (scheduled for release sometime in 2011), it's the N8's hardware which is getting some serious attention, in particular the 12-megapixel camera, HDMI out and HD video recording features.

The N8's 3.5in display is the same size as the iPhone 4's screen but uses OLED technology. Apple's iPhone 4 utilises IPS technology (as does the iPad, but thanks to its 640x960 pixel resolution it has been described as a "retina" display, due to the human eye being unable to distinguish individual pixels. We are keen to see exactly how it stacks up against the N8's screen, but it is expected to beat a regular OLED display. Unlike Samsung's Galaxy S, the Nokia N8 has an aluminium body that feels well constructed.

What do you think about the Nokia N8 and the Apple iPhone 4? Tell us in the comments below!

Apple Ready to Deliver 30 Million iPhone 5 Handsets with an Upgraded Antenna + Minor Changes

According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is set to build and ship more than 30 million of its next-generation iPhone 5 handsets by the end of the year. Kuo believes that Apple is capable of reaching this target due to the anticipation and hype that’s building around the iPhone 5, which has yet to be announced or confirmed by Apple, but is largely expected to be shipping in October.
Kuo believes that the iPhone 5 will ship with the same amount of RAM memory as the iPhone 4 – 512 MB – and that the design, which features a glass front and back, will remain largely the same. It’s also rumored that the iPhone 5 will ship with a completely redesigned antenna system, which caused a huge PR nightmare for Apple during the launch of the iPhone 4. It was discovered by users and media outlets that the cellular reception of the iPhone 4 could be drastically reduced by covering the bottom left and right corners of the iPhone 4 with a hand. Apple ended up giving users a free ‘bumper’ case to offset the antenna issues, but with a new phone comes the opportunity to fix the issue.
The iPhone 5, which has been dubbed the ‘N94’ handset, will apparently also make use of Corning’s Gorilla Glass for its front and back panels. Kuo is confident that the iPhone 5 will come in both white and black, and that both colors will ship at launch. According to his sources, Kuo indicates that about sixty percent of the iPhone 5 handsets built so far have been black, with the remaining designed in white. It’s widely known that China-based manufacturer Foxconn is handling almost all of the iPhone 5 assembly duties, with Pegatron picking up the remaining fifteen percent to help boost Apple’s launch and delivery capacity.
If Kuo is correct and Apple somehow does manage to deliver 30 million iPhone 5 handsets to users around the world before the end of the 2011 calendar year, they will be smashing their own iPhone sales records. To date, the best quarter that Apple has had was the second quarter of 2011, which saw Apple shipping just over 20 million handsets through the end of June.
The report also alluded to an improved rear camera coming with the iPhone 5. Rumors have speculated that the camera will be an 8 megapixel module built by Sony, and may or may not feature an LED flash on the opposite side of the handset from the lens which is meant to reduce red-eye artifacts in photos. Kuo believes that the size of the rear camera lens and circuitry is one of the major reasons that the iPhone 5 will have a similar design to its predecessor, but with the rumor mill working furiously to try to determine what the iPhone 5 is all about, this could change.
One thing is certain: the launch of the iPhone 5 is getting closer by the day. Stay tuned for further information and expect an official announcement from Apple any day now.

iPhone 5 release date as iPhone 4 supply dries up, iPhone 4S

etting an iPhone 4 or 3GS just got harder, the surest sign yet that managing to wait for an iPhone 5 release date is about to get a whole lot easier. After consistent ship times on both current iPhone models dating back to last year which have had Apple shipping online orders within twenty-four hours, estimates for both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS have slipped to as much as a three day turnaround time. This means inventory of both current models is drying up, pointing to Apple having put both models out of production. That signals the quick rise of the iPhone 5, and it also signals something else: the iPhone 4 for both Verizon and AT&T is a goner, pointing to an iPhone 4S model to fill the bargain bin role.
The gradual bleed down of existing inventory comes amid of week of mounting circumstantial evidence that the iPhone 5 release date is rising if not quite imminent. But the exit of the iPhone 4 as of note, as Apple’s history would have pointed to it remaining as the sub-$100 bargain iPhone model even as the iPhone 5 arrives at $199 and up. However, the fact that the iPhone 4 hardware is bifurcated across two different carriers has been a messy loose end. By ending the iPhone 4 as we know it and replacing it with a universally compatible iPhone 4S, as the iPhone 5 is expected to be as well, Apple simplifies its product line.
This development still leaves a multitude of questions to be answered, including when precisely the iPhone 5 will see release date. There’s also the issue of just what the iPhone 4S will entail. Two years ago, Apple added an “S” to end of its iPhone 3G, at which time Steve Jobs said that the S stood for speed. In this instance Apple could add its new A5 processor to the iPhone 4; the chip is considered a lock to be a part of the iPhone 5. There’s also another less likely scenario.
and that’s that there is no iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 is about to take over the entire iPhone spectrum. That would entail a sub-$100 iPhone 5 model to fill the bargain role along with more expensive iPhone 5 models sporting better specs and additional features. But in any case, the fact that Apple is bleeding off existing iPhone 4 inventory signifies that it’s a goner either way. And it also signifies that the iPhone 5 is close to launch after all. Here’s more on the iPhone 5

An other rumor, iphone 6