When we go through the history it is evident that Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be awarded a patent for the electric telephone by the USA patent and Trademark office (USPTO) in March 1876. That first patent by Bell was the master patent of the telephone, from which all other patents for electric telephone devices and features were derived.

The most favorite gadget of this century is a cell phone. As every individual is relying on cell phones to communicate this industry is growing at a high pace. The race to develop a cell phone which has all the applications to cater the needs of an individual has resulted in the development of advanced cell phones.

A PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) is a device that essentially helps the user organize various activities, contacts and other life tasks. It usually consists of a small computer-like gadget with a screen that has an address book, contacts, tasks and calendar inside of it. Most PDA cell phones can also have additional programs installed into them as well.

A smart phone is a cell phone offering which may be similar to the functionality of a personal computer. There isn’t any specific definition of a smart phone. A normal cell phone comes with PDA phone capabilities i.e. they generally allow the installation of some software’s and programs into it. You can make an imagination of the Smartphone acting as a PDA but it would be coming with the additional cellular capabilities.

Basically a smart phone is a phone with advanced features like e-mail access, Internet and a built-in keyboard. In layman’s words smart phone is a computer that has phone capability. Hence smart phones are popular among a large section of population.

The major difference between PDA phone vs smart phones is cellular capability. The smart phone includes additional hardware that allows it to communicate with a cellular network and also process data, enabling internet access without searching for a wireless hotspot. However, most smart phones are bound to one cellular provider, meaning that you can't take your phone with you to another provider without unlocking it.

The Nokia communicator was the first Nokia's smart phone. Nokia started with the Nokia 9000 released in 1996 which was a palmtop computer. The Nokia 9210 was the first color screen Communicator model which was the first true smart phone with an open operating system.