Technology continues to advance. Today, there is a gadget for everything and the technology behind electronics continues to amaze with each new gadget having more advanced features. The days of stopping at payphones to make a call are long gone thanks to the invention of mobile phones, and now anyone can make a call from anywhere. Like everything else in technology, the mobile phone has gone through several evolutions from the beginner big bulky car phones to tiny little mobile pocket gadgets and eventually to smartphones.

Basically, the smartphone is a mini computer and phone combination. It allows for complete functionality of communication in a small wireless mobile package. It offers tons of features and capabilities, the least of which is a mobile phone.

Some of the features standard in a smartphone include, email, Internet browsing, full operating systems, GPS, camera and video capability, organizers, calendars, mp3 players, full keyboards, oh and of course the cell phone. Some smartphones also have touch screens, such as the iPhone and the newest Blackberry Storm.

The first ever smartphone was called Simon. Designed in 1992 by IBM and released to the public by BellSouth in 1993. It contained an address book, calculator, note pad, email, fax and games and by today's advanced standards is considered pretty limited.

In 2001 RIM released the first BlackBerry smartphone which was the first smartphone optimized for wireless email use. The BlackBerry popularity was astounding with a total customer base of 8 million subscribers by June 2007. The RIM BlackBerry operating system is focused on easy operation and has recently seen an increase in third-party applications and has been improved to offer full multimedia support.

The BlackBerry comes in several models, including, Bold, Curve, Pearl and Storm, offering a wide range in prices and features for everyone. This year the long awaited newest model of BlackBerry Storm was released that features the first BlackBerry touch screen that is a trully unique because it clicks when you press down to provide tactile feedback when typing, clicking web links, selecting icons and more.

There are several manufacturers of smartphones today, each running their operating system, including Apple's iPhone which is one of the best sellers of smartphones.