I think I want to get a smartphone. But I don't know why, because I know nothing about them. I need help.

[KarlosKKrinkelbeim]

I have not bothered with iPhones and all the rest thus far due to (a) brain too full of other crap to understand what they do and (b) no spare cash. But now my tariff on my boring mobile is going up and I see there are lots of cheap smartphone deals out there; tesco, for example, are offering a good deal on a Samsung Galaxy Ace, which wold work out cheaper than what I am currently paying. But what do the bloody things actually do? Will I be able to read my emails? Listen to music? use GPS? And will I need a degree in computer science to be able to do all or any of these things?

I use my smartphone for email, occasional web browsing, reading the Economist, reading Kindle Books and occasionally I use it as a SatNav. It's not as good as a proper SatNav and a bit heavy on data usage, but it's adequate for occasional use. Given a choice of paying £100 for New Zealand Maps on a proper SatNav or NZ$20 for a data bundle, using the smartphone seemed to be the better choice.