As Mobile Phones Get Smarter, They Make More Users' "A' Lists; Sales Expected To Skyrocket; These devices increasingly taking center stage in field, but PDAs will retain a place.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Publication: Investor's Business Daily

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COPYRIGHT 2004 Investor's Business Daily, Inc.

Byline: MIKE ANGELL

Smart phones remain a small slice of the total cell phone market, but the product is getting a big piece of attention from rivals intent on leading this fast-emerging field.

Smart phones are cell phones with PC-like microprocessors and capable of running computerlike software. The phones, which can cost $300 or more vs. usually $100 or less for ordinary handsets, handle tasks once limited to specialty products such as mobile e-mail devices and personal digital assistants. (See related this page, below.)

The industry expects the smart phone market to grow as people rely on their handsets for more tasks.

Analysts agree -- to a point. But they say there will continue to be some demand for PDAs and mobile e-mail devices such as BlackBerry and Treo. And analysts and...

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