Today's smartphones can offer the functionality of a personal computer

Jan 5, 2009 17:26 GMT  ·  By

As soon as smartphones have been included in the total number of computers sold in 2008, Nokia has received the title of the world's largest computer maker in the world. As it turns out, the company accounts for about 13.8% of market, yet only its smartphones have been included in this count, while the Nokia mobile phones and Nokia Internet Tablets have been left aside.

Smartphones are considered to be powerful devices that feature almost all the capabilities of a common laptop, which have driven analysts into adding them to the reckoning. This way, the world's largest computer makers list starts with Nokia, followed by HP, Dell, Apple, Acer, Lenovo, RIM, and Toshiba. The count is stated to have included all PC sales, stand-alone the PDA and smartphone ones over four quarters, starting from October 2007 to September 2008.

As many of you might already know, Nokia has been naming its Nseries devices as multimedia computers, and the functionality of the products comes to sustain the name. The capabilities of such devices include photo and video capturing, along with editing options, which do not necessarily require them to be connected to a computer.

In addition, the Nseries are also able to allow their owners to employ them as personal computers, as they feature TV out and Bluetooth, which enable users to connect them to both a monitor and a bluetooth keypad at the same time. The device would, this way, be able to provide basic functions as navigation over the Internet or sending emails.

Undoubtedly, the need for powerful PCs will not disappear all of a sudden, yet a handset is now able to offer its owner features that were not available even on full-sized computers a few years ago. People tend to use their smartphones more and more as means to stay connected to the Internet, read news, or chat with friends. All these are included in a device that fits perfectly into their pockets.

The use of smartphones as portable computers is expected to grow to a great extent in the future, as manufacturers will continue to integrate even more features and services into their handsets so as to offer leveraged experience to users. Nokia will surely work on enhancing the capabilities of its S60 lineup, at least in an attempt to maintain its newly-granted title.