The word smart phone is all around us these days! Smart phones are on the verge of becoming the devices with the highest demand.
But what it is that makes a smart phone quite different from an ordinary feature both in performance and appearance? What is its smartness quotient?
To put it simple, we can say that:
- A smart phone apart from just making and receiving calls, grants one extravagant usability by means of many other features like listen to songs, send and receive e mails and edit the documents and so on.
- A smart phone has been made by putting together the features of both the mobile phones and PDAs (personal digital assistance).
- Features of cell phones like making calls and sending messages and PDAs features like organizer, calendar, alarm clock, portable media player etc are all incorporated in to a single device now popularly known as the “smart phone”.
- The smart phones can even be synced with one’s computer system.
- Eventually the smart phones achieved the capabilities like greater and better connectivity, web browsing, using third party applications and so on.
- Other advanced features include:
1. Pocket video Camera
2. Portable media players
3. Compact digital cameras
4. GPS navigation units
- The recent smart phones have web browsers pre- installed in them so as to facilitate the web browsing and accessing other web applications.
- The super a moled screens are now used instead of the earlier LCD displays.
- These smart phones very well support the standard web pages in their original form rather than optimizing them to be viewed through a phone like old feature phones.
How is testing on smart phones done?
- Smart phones also undergo rigorous testing to ensure that they are up to the standards and specifications.
- One way is to check the smart phone against a list of key features that must be in a cell phone for it to be a smart phone:
1. The Operating System
- A smart phone is always operated via an operating system rather than a proprietary firm ware as in the case of ordinary feature phones.
- Many of the smart phones make use of the following operating systems like iOS from Apple, Android from Google, Microsoft windows phones, Symbian from nokia, RIMS’s blackberry OS, Embedded Linux like MeeGo and Maemo etc.
- The above mentioned operating systems can be installed on different models.
- One is able to run third party applications on a smart phone only because the operating system of the smart phone is capable of integrating with the hardware of the phone.
- Likewise it also gains a third party support for the better functioning of its features.
2. Applications
- Even the ordinary feature phones include some sort of applications like address book, contact manager etc, but a smart phone serves even more.
- It includes applications for viewing and editing the Microsoft documents, download third party applications that serve other purposes.
3. Web access
- They have the capability of accessing the internet at high speeds via the advanced technologies of 3G and 4G and of course Wi- Fi!
4. Qwerty keypad
- Smart phone does includes qwerty key pad unlike the keypad of ordinary feature phones which have alphabetical order on top of a numeric keypad.
- It can be made available either through hardware or via the touch screens.
- Smart phones come in a whole lot of variety, in this case the performance and features of the models widely differ.
A smart phone is tested by testing its:
1. Usability: It involves the evaluation of the:
a) Menu navigation
b) Durability
c) Ease of use
d) Key pad layout
e) Software design
f) Screen resolution
g) Ergonomics
2. Call Quality: This involves the evaluation of the:
a) Ease of making and receiving calls
b) Managing contacts
c) Sound quality
d) Clarity of the reception
e) Messaging
3. Battery life: This involves the evaluation of the:
a) Talk time
b) Mp3 playback time
