| By Dan Simmons Reporter, Click |
From maps to playing music, mobile phones today are much more than just devices for talking while you are walking.
Online stores by big brands have come up with tens of thousands of applications to enhance the handset experience.
From magnifying glasses to apps that record calories burned, users can buy extra functions for their devices.
Mobile operators are also starting to get in on the act, and are expected to bring a new dimension to their services.
Phillip Stubbs, director of products at Airwide Solutions, said messaging, voicemail, and voice calls could one day be added to other applications.
 Users of the iPhone and Palm Pre can choose from thousands of apps |
"These types of services can be integrated into your favourite social networking sites so you can be talking to a friend and that can be published directly.
"It really just makes your entire communication experience a whole one, rather than just a small number of parts put together," he said.
Downloading apps
Applications for all handsets, and not just smartphones, have been around for many years on lots of different sites.
For instance, Getjar and Handango have tried to collect them all together - but sites like these have not been promoted by phone makers so users have had to find them for themselves.
Downloading apps to the handset has not always been straightforward either.
Often users have had to download them to a computer, and then transfer the files to the handset to be installed.
Now most smartphones download apps straight to the handset.
Below is a list of some of the better known application stores on the web.
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment