Recently Samsung launched Jét S8000 with tagline as “Smarter than a Smartphone”. I have been reading reviews of Samsung Jét for quite some time. It indeed has a mean hardware under its hood. Its 800MHz application processor is more powerful than 600MHz ARM Cortex A8 processor used in iPhone 3GS or Plam Prē.

In the mobile world these two phones, especially the former is considered as pinnacle of mobile technology. Their Operating Systems -- OS X and WebOS respectively are nothing but a stripped down versions of a full fledged computer OS. On other hand Samsung Jét runs a proprietary OS called Samsung Handset Platform (SHP) that does not support 3^rd party software. So why does Jét requires such a colossal processing power? Why Samsung calls it “Smarter than Smartphone”? To find answers to these questions I dug deep into what “Smartphone” means and found some interesting facts.

First fact is that there is no standard definition of a smartphone. It loosely means a mobile phone having computer-like features. This essentially represents the mobile OS loaded on the device supports installing or uninstalling applications like we do on computer OS (Windows / Linux etc.). Typically the developers of such mobile OS also release Software Development Kit (SDK) to 3^rd party developers to help them make applications for their OS. Examples of such OS are Symbian Series 60 Platform, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Google Android and of course OS X for iPhone. Therefore, a phone being smart or not; is decided by the OS and not by the device.

Second fact is that the term “smartphone” is more of a legacy than it actually representing superlative device (or OS). Few years back smartphone OS was a radical piece of software. Most of the mobile phones in that era had only the capability of phone calls (obviously!) and SMS. Some had preliminary features of calendar, scheduling etc. Having a phone that supports 3^rd party applications, that too, as complex as word processors, spreadsheets, email clients, web browsers etc. was a giant technical leap. Prior to these, these applications were exclusive domain of Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) having 3-4 times higher price than normal phones. As the technology developed, these so called smarphones became increasingly popular and also cheap. Nokia adopted Symbian Series 60 platform for literally every mid and high end device.

Therefore the smartphone today is merely a glorified name tag associated with the OS historically. The devices carrying the OS may not be as radical as they were in past. Take for instance, Samsung Jét having a proprietary OS that does not support 3^rd party applications, can not be classified as smartphone. However, it is more powerful than most of midrange Series 60 devices of Nokia. Jét supports multi-tasking, Microsoft Exchange through ActiveSync, Dolfin-- one of the best web browser based on Webkit 3.0, GPS and even widgets -- small applications that can be installed on the device. But the difference is they are only developed by Samsung, not by 3^rd party.

So if Jét is not smartphone, is it smarter than smartphones (I mean iPhone, Palm Prē etc.)? Well, the true power of smartphones lies in their ability to host vast array of application software. Non-smartphone platform like Jét does not provide that vastness. It’s an interim evolutionary phase where it is neither a dumb phone (a.k.a. featurephone) nor a smartphone. However, it does manage to provide most applications a typical user would require. One most important point to note is that by opening software development, the platform also becomes vulnerable to virus and malware attacks. Samsung Jét enjoys best of both worlds that it provides application extension in terms of widgets and also manages to keep away the vulnerabilities due to close system. In a sense we may call it as “Smarter than Smartphone” move.

To make a stable smartphone OS is an accomplishment in itself. It is complex and expensive process. That’s why there are so few smartphone OS in the market. Obviously it increases the cost of the handset. The route adopted by Samsung on the other hand, not only keeps the costs in limit but also provides maximum features a normal user would want. Coupled with top notch hardware, Samsung has hit the bull’s eye. So in future if you are carried away by “smarphone” tag, think twice… is it really a smartphone you are looking for?