Smartphone

A smartphone is a mobile phone with an advanced mobile operating system which combines features of a personal computer operating system with other features useful for mobile or handheld use. Smartphones, which are usually pocket-sized, typically combine the features of a cell phone, such as the ability to receive and make phone calls and text messages, with those of other popular digital mobile devices. Other features typically include a personal digital assistant for making appointments in a calendar, media player, video games, GPS navigation unit, digital camera, and digital video camera. Most smartphones can access the Internet and can run a variety of third-party software components "apps". They typically have a color graphical user interface screen that covers 70% or more of the front surface, with an LCD, OLED, AMOLED, LED, or similar screen; the screen is often a touchscreen. 

In 1999, the Japanese firm NTT DoCoMo released the first smartphones to achieve mass adoption within a country. Smartphones became widespread in the 21st century and most of those produced from 2012 on wards have high-speed mobile broadband 4G LTE, motion sensors, and mobile payment features. In the third quarter of 2012, one billion smartphones were in use worldwide. Global smartphone sales surpassed the sales figures for regular cell phones in early 2013. As of 2013, 65% of U.S. mobile consumers own smartphones. By January 2016, smartphones held over 79% of the U.S. mobile market.

Early years

Devices that combined telephony and computing were first conceptualized by Nikola Tesla in 1909 and Theodore Paraskevakos in 1971 and patented in 1974, and were offered for sale beginning in 1993. Paraskevakos was the first to introduce the concepts of intelligence, data processing and visual display screens into telephones. In 1971, while he was working with Boeing in Huntsville, Alabama, Paraskevakos demonstrated a transmitter and receiver that provided additional ways to communicate with remote equipment, however it did not yet have general purpose applications in a wireless device typical of smartphones. They were installed at People's Telephone Company in Leesburg, Alabama and were demonstrated to several telephone companies. The original and historic working models are still in the possession of Paraskevakos.

Forerunner 

The first mobile phone to incorporate PDA features was an IBM prototype developed in 1992 and demonstrated that year at the COMDEX computer industry trade show. The prototype demonstrated PDA features as well as other visionary apps like maps, stocks and news incorporated with a cellular phone. A refined version of the product was marketed to consumers in 1994 by BellSouth under the name Simon Personal Communicator. The Simon was the first cellular device that can be properly referred to as a "smartphone", although it was not called that in 1994. In addition to its ability to make and receive cellular phone calls, Simon was able to send and receive faxes and emails and included several other apps like address book, calendar, appointment scheduler, calculator, world time clock, and note pad through its touch screen display. Simon is the first smartphone to be incorporate with the features of a PDA. The term "smart phone" first appeared in print in 1995, for describing AT&T's "PhoneWriter Communicator" as a "smart phone".