Don't be overwhelmed when smartphone shopping.
While the cellphone market has expanded from simple calling and text messaging features, different smartphones have unique features battling for supremacy.
"I hate touch screens, so the BlackBerry is perfect for me," said Sara Lynch, junior in exercise science. "BlackBerry messenger is my favorite part. It's only for BlackBerry users, and it's like instant messaging on my phone."
BlackBerrys have a smaller display than the iPhone and Droid, but their main aim is practicality.
"I always use it for sending emails, and I use the calendar a lot," Lynch said. "The only problem is that it freezes up sometimes, and it doesn't have as much memory as other phones. I don't download many applications though, so for someone who sticks to the basics, like calls and texts, it's perfect."
The iPhone offers more memory, which makes it perfect for users who always have to have the latest application.
"I love it," said Holly Howell, senior in marketing. "I switched from the BlackBerry when it was time for an upgrade, and I'm obsessed."
The iPhone has a full touch screen, and the latest iPhone 4 has a thin, sleek design.
"It has a lot of applications on it like Safari, maps, iTunes, and I have all my music on there so I don't have to carry around an iPod, too," Howell said. "I'm really into sports, so with the iPhone, I can keep up with sports scores, and even watch NFL Sunday Ticket. It's a lot faster than my BlackBerry was."
With all those applications running, Howell said she is constantly charging her iPhone.
"The battery dies pretty quickly, which can get annoying," she said. "The applications freeze up sometimes too, but it's rare."
iPhone buyers can choose between the 16 or 32 gigabyte models.
The Droid, which comes in a number of different models, offers users the choice of having a touch screen only or both a touch screen and keyboard.
"I enjoy that my Droid has both touch screen and keyboard unlike the iPhone because sometimes it's more convenient, and I like having that variety," said Sarah Layne, junior in journalism.
Because the keyboard slides out, the Droid has a large display which makes it ideal for viewing pictures or watching videos.
"A con is the storage," Layne said. "Droids don't hold as much, and you can't play music on it like you can on an iPhone."
Despite differing memory capacities, all smartphones have application markets.
"There are so many free apps to choose from, and the Internet connection is really fast," Layne said. "This is the first smartphone I've ever had, and I really like it."
With so many updates and new versions of these devices being released, it can be difficult to select the perfect smartphone for each person.
"The thing about Droids, iPhones and BlackBerrys is that they're almost the same thing, so it's hard to choose which one would be best," Howell said. "I guess it just comes down to your personal opinion."
Some brands have the same applications available, which could make the decision harder.
According to Gizmodo.com, Words with Friends is the most popular application to be added to the Droid.
The iPhone offers this app as well, but the BlackBerry does not.
The iPhone has the most apps, according to CNN.com.
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