Are smartphones essential? (review of "essentials of mobile handset design"; naha, a. and whale, p.; 2012) [book/software reviews]

This book has seven chapters that take the reader from before the beginning of cell phones to ideas about the future. The middle chapters fall into two categories: the details of cell phone engineering and handsets from a product development and marketing perspective. The book by does not contain any equations, but it does contain a table with the cost breakdown of an Apple iPhone 4S, as well as lots of information on all aspects of cell phones. The book describes the history, engineering, and many product development test cases of cell phone design. It is an enjoyable read and contains many valuable lessons in product development. This book is also a comprehensive, albeit high level, tour of cell phone hardware, software, and networking. It would be very useful to engineers, educators, and marketing people.