Smartphones to replace PDAs

Sales of smartphones are set to soar, but the devices need better operating systems for business applications, says the International Engineering Consortium

Sales of smartphones will grow by 44 percent between now and 2008, largely at the expense of personal digital assistants (PDAs), which will steadily decline, according to a report from International Engineering Consortium (IEC) published last week.

However, the authors added that business users would require more advanced handset operating systems, and noted that many platforms today only support basic telephony and user interfaces. It highlighted Symbian, Linux, Palm OS and Windows Mobile as potential catalysts for improvements.

Smartphones need an “advanced open operating system” backed by a large developer community to access enterprise applications, such as customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP), alongside email, personal information managers (PIMs) and MS Office, the report stated.

Other potential smartphone applications include software for financial services, stock trading, financial tracking, online banking, the viewing of real-estate listings, and mortgage processing. And more niche applications might include software to collect on-site pictures and data for insurance claims adjustment.