Is it a unlocked mobile phone or a flashlight? Or a compass, a global positioning device or a barcode reader? Perhaps it’s a spirit level, or a camera or a restaurant guide, a weather forecaster, a laser pointer, a jukebox or an electronic book reader or…?

As it turns out, it’s all of the above – and more. While demand for traditional unlocked GSM 3G handsets and flip-phones has slumped, busy (and not so busy) executives and consumers alike are finding the amazing variety of things they can do with the latest unlocked prepaid and postpaid smartphones compelling.

So, what exactly is a smartphone? How does it differ from a conventional unlocked cell phone in the US Cellular arena? Industry insiders reckon that a digital cell phone is basically a portable phone that can sometimes do other things, such as play music or videos. A smartphone, on the other hand, is a pocket-sized computer that can – among other things – make phone calls and send SMS text messages. It surfs the wireless Internet effortlessly.

Cheap unlocked GSM smartphones have bright and colorful touchscreens; an operating system that resembles those of desktop or notebook PCs; 3G or wi-fi connections to access the internet at speed; full-scale web browsers; and qwerty keyboards (as hardware or as virtual keyboards on a touchscreen). Increasingly these mobile phones come crammed with applications such as those mentioned above – and there are literally thousands more available for quick and easy download from the manufacturers’ online app stores. Many are free; the rest are mostly cheap – typically just a few dollars. Unlocked smartphones Florida prepaid or postpaid are available, and in every other US State

Unlocked smartphones make look expensive at first glance but are cheap when you see all the things it can do for you; they are especially adept at handling email like Gmail and SMS text messaging. The best use systems that “push” your personal and professional email to you, automatically and securely, wherever you are. They have been around for years, but things really took off last year when Apple launched its ATT locked touchscreen 3G iPhone. It looked and felt sleek, and it was fun and easy to operate, using your fingers to flick through stacks of photos or music albums and to contract or expand images by pinching or spreading your fingers.

Customers found they could do things with the prepaid recharge unlocked and locked iPhone that they had never imagined doing with a mobile device. Millions sold in just one month. There are already 15,000 software applications available at the pay as you go or post paid iPhone app store. Among the most popular with users are: Around you, which pinpoints your location on a street map, then shows you the way to the best and nearest restaurants, bars, theatres and cinemas, as well as ATMs and banks; Shazam – if there’s recorded music playing nearby, just aim your unlocked ATT iPhone at the nearest loudspeaker and within a minute or so your phone tells you the record, the track and the artist(s); and Qantas – which provides up-to-date departure and arrival items of all the flying marsupial’s domestic and international flights (no need to ring airport information ever again).

Serious business users might want to eschew a little of the fun in the interests of email power and security. And nobody handles those issues with more attention to detail than RIM (Research in Motion), the Canadian company that makes the top-selling Blackberry range. There are nine unlocked Blackberry models on the market, and all but one have physical keyboards, which most road warriors find easier for tapping out message to HQ and home.

The latest arrival – and one of the most promising – is the open-source (read: free) Android operating system, designed by Google. Android’s promise is that it gives phone makers and independent software designers a free hand, while also providing a new outlet for Google’s own no-cost or cheap online office apps. The unlocked Google phone also scores a chance to push search advertising revenue onto mobiles – oh, you didn’t think your mobile screen would be ad-free forever, did you? It hasn’t happened yet, but it surely will.

Eyeballs and money, in the end, is what the unlocked smartphone market is all about. There are now about 4 billion mobile phone users worldwide, compared with 1.5 billion internet users. Everyone, including Google, Apple, Nokia and – belatedly – Microsoft, can see the possibilities.

Those at risk of missing out on the unlocked smartphone money avalanche could be the carriers. They’re selling huge numbers of the new handsets – but in most cases they’re forced to subsidise the retail price. They aim to compensate by encouraging customers to increase data downloads or by accessing music or video services. Some put tight limits on “free” downloads included in monthly “capped” plans – and charge the earth for anything extra. I have heard of unwary users copping a $7,000 over-the-limit data bill for the first month. The stories may be apocryphal, but they’re possible. So here’s a thought: Buy an unlocked smartphone that allows wi-fi connections as well as 3G. Then you can do your downloading at home or perhaps more sneakily in the office at no added cost.

UNLOCKED BLACKBERRY BOLD & UNLOCKED BLACKBERRY STORM

Research in Motion’s GSM 3G Blackberry line remains the first choice for big business users, and it’s not hard to see why. The email system, which will follow the user anywhere on the planet, is superb. And the unlocked GSM Bold is the best Blackberry yet, with a small but delightfully crisp backlit colour display (480 by 320 pixels) that’s ideal for videos and HTML-formatted email, though a little small for web browsing. This is the first GSM Blackberry to connect via 3G, fast becoming a necessity. There’s also support for wi-fi. The physical keyboard is probably the best in the business: the keys are slightly bigger than of earlier versions, and I have seen executives thumbing messages out at an amazing rate aided by RIM’s accurate predictive software. It is a mobile made for the wireless Internet and the US cellular progressive arena in cameraphones and smartphones in general.

Other unlocked Blackberry Bold features include a trackball, GPS navigation, a 2-megpixel camera and good battery life – up to three days between charges, even under heavy use. Surprisingly there’s only 1 gigabyte of storage for music or photos. But you can add memory easily by plugging in a MicroSD card (something you most definitely can’t do with the iPhone). Ensquared are leaders in the Blackberry range of phones selling internationally and in USA. Options include ATT Verizon T-mobile locked BlackBerry GSM Cell Phones postpaid contracts and Unlocked BlackBerry Cell Phones

 A less happy choice is the newer Blackberry Storm, RIM’s first touchscreen model. Like the iPhone, it sports a virtual keyboard. Some reviewers have hailed this; many others have found it clunky. Some have been called it horrible. The Storm lacks the ability to connect to wi-fi networks. While the Bold is marketed by ATT, T Mobile and Verizon it can be bought unlocked prepaid recharge for flexible use        

AT&T UNLOCKED APPLE iPhone

Pick up any iPhone and you immediately sense the appeal of this phenomenally successful product. The slightly curved, rigid plastic shell nestles neatly in your palm, and the crisp and colourful 3.5-inch touch-sensitive screen – one of the biggest and brightest in the business – begs to be touched. But there’s no physical keyboard. You tap on virtual keys, in either portrait or landscape mode (the latter is better for messages).

Under the iphone touchscreen lies an accelerometer – a bit of electronic wizardry that tells the iPhone which way it’s pointing. When you switch the phone from vertical to horizontal, it changes the layout to suit. It also makes it possible to indulge in racing games in which you tilt the phone to steer.

The unlocked iPhone is an iPod as well: you have access to the iTunes music service. There’s room for a very good library. A combination of GPS navigation and triangulation that uses mobile or wi-fi towers pinpoints your position on a Google map. The full-scale web browser is based on Apple’s Safari.

The iPhone connects to the internet via your choice of 3G or wi-fi. Alas, battery life is short – you’ll have to recharge at least once a day. Other black marks: the camera has only 2-megapixel resolution, there’s no memory card slot, video recording or even an FM radio.

The future: Apple is said to be working on new models, possibly out by mid-year. Secrecy abounds, but bank on better batteries and iPhone cameraphone – and perhaps video-calling.

THE UNLOCKED HTC DREAM 3G MOBILE

This is special: the first smartphone other than the Google phone to use the all-new Android operating system devised by Google. It uses open-source technology, which means it’s open to any software developer to customise as they wish, and to any phone maker to install on a handset, without the restrictions imposed by other operating system developers. The unlocked HTC Dream, from Taiwan’s HTC, is a natty little device that conceals a physical qwerty keyboard beneath a slide-away 3.2-inch touch-sensitive high-resolution screen. A trackball allows one-handed navigation. Despite the touchscreen, “gestures” – as with the iPhone – aren’t yet possible. The technology exists, but the whisper is that Apple (which has patented some gestures) persuaded Google to eschew it for now. There’s one-touch access to a raft of Google applications and a dab of the finger also gives online access to the Android Market for more innovative apps. There’s Bluetooth, GPS navigation and a 3.2-megapixel camera.

The unlocked GSM HTC Dream connects via 3G networks or by wi-fi, and the software has an excellent web browser. So far the only Australian carrier with the Dream is Optus, which is building a national network based on two frequencies – 2100 mHz in major cities; 900mHz in the bush. The Dream supports only 2100mHz – so users will get true 3G only in the cities.

The future: Slicker Android phones are due out from many makers, including Samsung and LG. HTC has launched a new generation of its G1 Dream machine, dubbed Magic, but to date only through Vodafone in Europe.

THE UNLOCKED NOKIA N96 CELL PHONE

The unlocked Nokia’s N96 3G GSM smartphone is the company’s flagship – and a bulky one at that. It’s almost 2cm thick, so it doesn’t slide quite as easily into a pocket or handbag as some of its competitors. There’s no touchscreen, but there are some wondrous features packed inside the rather daunting exterior. For a start, there’s a 5-megapixel camera with ultra-sharp Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus and LED flash. It doubles as a video camera, operating at a respectable 30 frames per second. The unlocked digital N96 has a 2.8-inch display – rather small, but images are crisp. The screen slides up to reveal a 12-key numeric keypad for making phone call; and down to go into landscape mode with a number of buttons for controlling the music player. There’s no qwerty keyboard. Instead, each key on the numeric keypad is responsible for three letters or symbols. There’s excellent GPS navigation. But an inbuilt DVB-H TV tuner, which essentially turns the phone into a mobile TV, must go unused here, as Australia does not use this digital TV format. As compensation the Nokia unlocked N96 offers local buyers the chance to download full seasons of one of four popular BBC shows free of charge. The unlocked Nokia N96 cell phone offers 3G or wi-fi connections to the internet, though its browser doesn’t compare to those on the unlocked iPhone or the HTC Dream.  In Australia, the Nokia is offered by Optus and Vodafone, and makes good use of their 2100/900 mHz 3G networks. Since the phone doesn’t support 850mHz networks, it won’t work with Telstra’s faster, more widespread Next G operation.