Do you own a smartphone?

If you don't, you should. These days, smartphones are basically mini-laptops -- enabling email, Web browsing and more. It puts an extension of your online business in your pocket.

With this week's launch of the iPhone 2.0 from Apple, smartphones will get more attention than ever before.

Should you buy an iPhone? With this new version, the price is right (just $199 with a two-year AT&T contract) and the new version has faster 3G downloading, an integrated GPS chip for taking advantage of and learning about the mobile Web and a bevy of new applications from third-party developers.

Many of these capabilities have been available with other smartphones for some time -- for instance, my Treo running on the Verizon network has everything about but GPS -- but few phones are as elegant as simply as fun to use as the iPhone. Like most things Apple, user experience sets it apart.

See this video from CBS News for a closer look at the iPhone:



How should you choose a smartphone? The bMighty blog has a some good guidelines from Info-Tech Research to guide you in choosing a smart phone.

Boiled down, the advice is as follows:

1. Go QWERTY if messaging is paramount (that leaves out the iPhone)

2. Consider messaging platforms carefully, including Microsoft Exchange, RIM Blackberry, Apple Mobile Me.

3. If you are rolling out more than a handful of devices, focus on device management.

4. If you can, give users choice, including letting them pay their own mobile bills and reimbursing them.