The very first Symbian phone, the touch screen Ericsson R380 Smartphone, was launched in 2000, and it was the very first device that was called a “smartphone”. It was a fusion of a Personal Digital/Data Assistant (PDA) and a mobile phone. A PDA is a palmtop computer that is used as a personal organizer and provides access to the Internet. Smartphones have bought in the fifth wave of computing – they are portable, internet-empowered computers with a variety of sensors. Smartphones enhance the computational abilities of their users, particularly through internet access, global positioning systems (GPS), geographical information systems (GIS), and microphones. Moreover, one can access almost unlimited music on the go and then there are cameras that take not only high-resolution photographs but also read Quick Response Code (QR) and record videos.

With the widespread penetration of smartphones, these phones are now accessible to an increasingly large number of people. As per a survey by Strategy Analytics in Aug 2016, it has been established that 40% of Indian Android users change their smartphones in a span of 6 months. Over 300,000 iPads were sold on the first day and Apple sold 1.5 million iPhone 4G on launch day. Today mobile phones are simply unavoidable and they have become such an inevitable component of our daily life that it is no more a mere ‘technological object’ it has rather become a key ‘social object’.

Author: Gunjan Sood, Assistant Professor –  Unitedworld School of Business (UWSB)

Disclaimer: The opinions / views expressed in this article are solely of the author in his / her individual capacity. They do not purport to reflect the opinions and/or views of the College and/or University or its members.