Smartphones

Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) help you stay in touch with available e-mail messaging, Web browsing, even reading and editing of Word and Excel files on the go. Combined with mobile phone service, smartphones offer two-in-one functionality and the flexibility of being mobile while conducting University business. While many other phones have similar functions, smartphones can offer users a bigger screen and a full keyboard, making data functions easier to use.

Some of the features that can be found in smartphones, in addition to standard mobile phone services, include:

• Appointment calendar (may synchronizes with MeetingMaker and Outlook through synchronization software)
• Address Book
• MP3 player
• Web browser
• E-mail access, in addition to text messaging
• Mini-keyboards or onscreen keyboards
• Voice dialing
• Bluetooth
• Character recognition (allowing for handwritten input)
• Synchronization of information with desktop or laptop computers
• Voice recording
• Digital camera
• Video recording
• GPS
• Microsoft Office (MS) compatible applications (Native with Pocket PC operating systems. Palm operating systems may require third-party software)

Operating Systems

As standard with PDAs, the two most widely used operating systems for smartphones are Palm OS and Pocket PC. Both operating systems work with central University applications, such as e-mail downloads, and Palm OS works with MeetingMaker.

• Palm OS — Palm has many different freeware, shareware, and less costly software available for its devices. Palm OS is currently most compatible with MeetingMaker.
  
  For more information about Palm devices, please visit Palm's Web site.
  
  
• Pocket PC — The Pocket PC operating system is a streamlined version of Microsoft Windows. Pocket PC devices integrate more easily with Windows Office programs. Synchronization with Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel is native to Pocket PC programming.
  
  For more information about Pocket PC devices, please visit Microsoft.com's Windows Mobile site.
  
  
• iPhone - The iPhone syncs with OS X and will also work with Windows XP and Vista through iTunes. If you want more information about getting connected, see Using Your iPhone on Campus Quick Reference Guide.
  
  For more information about iPhone devices, please visit Apple's iPhone site.

Choosing a smartphone to use at the University

Similar to the selection of a standard mobile phone, choosing a smartphone calls for an evaluation of your Business and/or Personal needs. Smartphone features, such as size and weight, battery choice and wireless connectivity, are similar to those found in their standard PDA counterpart.

Before you purchase a smartphone, please note that voice and data services are considered distinct functions of a smartphone and are often billed separately. For example, a service provider often charges for data transmissions, such as connecting to the Internet or downloading e-mail, separate from any phone call charges. Some service providers will allow a certain volume of downloads or minutes-used for data transmissions before charges start to incur. Please review the details of service charges with your service provider for both data and phone transmission before purchasing your smartphone.

Other Considerations

Wireless Internet Access — Most smartphones let you surf the Internet by connecting through the mobile phone service provider wherever a signal is located. An emerging set of technologies allows for additional wireless access using Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet through wireless access points or "hot spots" at a much faster rate. Your smartphone must be WPA2 compliant to log on to the Northwestern wireless network.

Carrier Choice — The calling capability of smartphones is often specific to their mobile phone carrier. If you change carriers, you may not be able to use the same device.

Replacement — Loss or damage to your smartphone would be equivalent to losing or damaging both your mobile phone and your PDA. Backing up your data (e.g., contact information) on your computer is essential.

Software — Consider any specialized software needs. Pocket PC devices will integrate with the most popular Microsoft Office products out of the box. Palm devices may require third-party software to do so.

For additional features, visit the Mobile Phone Features and Manufacturers page.