In this case some of us go for simplicity

The first mobile phones were bulky, their battery quickly blown and the reception quality was uneven. However, they have won a great success because they were practical. Since 1984, first year of marketing of mobile phones, mobile networks, and in particular mobile terminals, went through several phases of development. The first generation networks have given way to digital standards CDMA and GSM. These were then replaced by the 3 G and a fourth generation of communications technologies is already in development.

The most important change was the same terminals. The mobile phone has benefited both the miniaturization and Moore's law (that the power of microprocessors doubles every two years). Terminals have become also significantly more affordable: If the first models were approximately 4,000 dollars, (3,000 euro) service providers now offer them their customers with the purchase of a package. Even if a buyer of a mobile phone in 1984 had been anticipating, and probably hoped that future phones would be cheaper, smaller and lighter, few are those who have dared imagine that they would become as powerful. "We no longer perceive as before mobile phones", said Mark Stansfeld, Director of sales for operator O2. "Previously, they assumed a cost and sought to buy the capacity of the cheaper voice calls possible." Today, there is interest in additional benefits that a mobile phone available in the business.

In the high-end of the market segment, smartphones have integrated the tasks of the PDA and the more powerful models are beginning to encroach on the territory of laptops. These phones are now equipped with touch screen, folding keyboard and support data such as Wi - Fi networks. They can manage presentations, have software word processing and voice recording and an increasing number of applications for professionals. On the sectoral analysis firm Gartner, are almost 35 million smartphones were sold last year, or four times more than the non-cellular PDAs number classic. While smartphones are designed to fill a wide range of functions of communication and entertainment, there is an application which, more than all the others, led to the replacement of the PDA phones: electronic mail. Terminals such as the Palm Treo, the Nokia E series, the Motorola Q, the Sony Ericsson P900 and the Messenger of HP iPaq all contributed to that mobile e-mail become a realistic possibility.

Many features

But there is especially a device who has worked in the craze for mobile e-mail: the BlackBerry from Research in Motion. In a certain way, BlackBerry is bucking the trend of smartphones, because it is a virtually unique use. users complain about the quality of voice calls on the first BlackBerry, akin to a PDA. But these same users argue that it is excellent for e-mail. Research in Motion then reacts by developing his own range of more traditional smartphones, parallel to his PDA. But the BlackBerry, and even more phones optimized for listening to music or take pictures, represents what observers called a "functional convergence, divergence physical."

These developments have changed the nature, and sometimes the appearance, of mobile phones. Manufacturers such as Nokia and Sony Ericsson, for example, have phones optimized for photography or video. They are equipped with flash, sensor high resolution and high-quality optical lenses. Phones designed for listening to music when it moves, represent another important part of the market for the phones to functions. Some models have very high capacity hard drives to store music, others connect to Apple's iTunes and others still wear the famous Sony Walkman brand. The best models of this market have a sound quality that rivals that of conventional drives, or even exceeds the.

A manufacturer of mobile phones will use the same core components, including processor, a screen, a memory, an interface, a camera and software. But this is how the designer will showcase a set of functions over the other, reading keys and pause music, obturator for photos or keyboard for electronic messages, which indicate how the apparatus has been optimized for its target market. However, this wealth of functions is not without drawbacks. Some companies consider that the ever more numerous functions of mobile phones generate problems of administration and support around a device intended to be a working tool.

Still more powerful

The appeal of mobile phones to consumers and their low cost also means that some companies have difficulties in managing personal devices that their owners want to connect to the corporate network. This has led some companies to adopt policies strict on the use of phones, or even totally prohibit the smartphones that are not part of the Park. "On the one hand, companies are absolutely no benefit from the new generation of phones", warns Ken Dulaney, expert in mobility Gartner. However, ignore the potential of new communication devices could risk missing an opportunity. "On the other hand, a large number of these phones are looking to the future, he said. BlackBerry has given to those responsible for the information technology a real insight into what may be a wireless computer.

The generation of mobile phones currently in development will be even more powerful. Manufacturers betting big on "dual mode" phones able to make calls voice on wireless networks and cellular; the most elaborate smartphones already have wireless LAN. Save on the cost of the purchase will be a decisive factor for the adoption of these devices. "" Dual mode"phones have the potential to function as postal telephone switches in the Office, using all the capabilities of the PBX and phones on IP (Internet telephony) to public Wi - Fi access or at the user points," explained Phil Sayer, analyst at Forrester Research. With half of mobile calls made from buildings, so in range of a wireless local area network potentially, the potential savings on the costs of only calls are significant.

But the cost motivates not only the purchase of a Wi - Fi phone. It is anticipated that unified communications and "presence" will be important, especially to professional users. Unified communications will enable them to use their mobile for voice calls, voice mail, e-mail, instant messaging and video conferencing. The concept of presence will enable them to report if they are connected, and if they accept phone calls or even just an instant message. Thus, based on where they are located (in the train, in a meeting at the Office...), they can receive the most appropriate message type. "The real benefit comes from an approach which is based on a single telephone number, explains Phil Sayer." Your contacts call "your unique number" and the appeal is sent to you via a land line in the Office, home, in a public Wi - Fi area or by GSM if none of the previous options is usable.

However, there are still in the way that it works perfectly. still need trade-offs between energy consumption, the complexity of devices, their cost and their functions. A phone equipped with an excellent it MP3 is a good thing, but it will be not very useful as a phone or music player if the battery is being depleted too quickly. In this case, some of us go for simplicity. "The most important feature is often the duration of battery life," said Mark Stansfeld from O2. "The duration of the conversations is fundamental for some of our customers, and this is why we have developed a phone to multiplying by two the duration thereof." It all depends on what people expect from a phone.