[Mitchi]

Before saying anything on the technologies that Smartphones will presumably ax, I will say that the battery life of them is currently TERRIBLE. I have to charge my phone nearly every night if I have the internet or GPS turned on. Then again, the Droid Eris isn't exactly known for having good battery life.

Cameras - Digital cameras STILL haven't completely replaced film cams, especially for professional photographers (though yes, some of them do use high end digital cams). While I do like the cam on my phone, it does use up quite a bit of battery power, and the quality just isn't as good as a dedicated camera. Good for on the go stuff and spur of the moment things, not so good for photography work.

Video game consoles - BRB laughing.

Netbooks - Ever try to type or browse the internet for long periods on a smartphone? It's not fun. As for tablet PCs....well, for tablets like ipads, i withold my judgement but for the laptops with touchscreens and styluses? As long as there are digital artists, those will be around.

GPS - Anyone who thinks a smartphone will replace a dedicated GPSr has never met a hardcore geocacher. While yes, a smartphone can work, there's the battery, the software (most of it just isn't up to par), the recievers, the accuracy...so many things. I don't see it happening. Funny enough though, some of the higher end GPSr's are also a camera, or something else, so a straight up GPSr might not make it unless it's extremely cheap.

Ebook readers - While for the general population, smartphones may be good for reading ebooks, they just don't have the battery power to hold up.

Originally Posted by Phogg

PSP and Nintendo DS? Those are toast - Sony has a PSP replacement that is also a phone in the pipeline now.

Sorry but I disagree for multiple reasons. One being that smartphones don't have the processing power to run a lot of bigger games properly (they can't even run emulators right), another being battery life, and third...well, a call interrupting your game time can be downright annoying. As for sony making a handheld that is also a phone...a lot of things these days, while being "also a camera" (cough cough DSi) are starting to show hints of being "also a phone" becoming the new trend.