A technology reporter’s behind-the-scenes history of the device that has taken over our lives.

How have smartphones shaped the way we socialize and interact? Who tracks our actions, our preferences, our movements as recorded by our smartphones? These are just some of the questions that Elizabeth Woyke, a journalist who has covered the industry for Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, and MIT Technology Review, addresses in this book.

Including photos and an in-depth look at the early decades of mobile communication, The Smartphone offers not only a step-by-step account of how smartphones are designed and manufactured but also a bold exploration of the darker side of this massive industry, including the exploitation of labor, the disposal of electronic waste, and the underground networks that hack and smuggle smartphones.

Featuring interviews with key figures in the development of the smartphone and expert assessments of the industry’s main players—Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung—The Smartphone is the perfect introduction to this most personal of gadgets. Your smartphone will never look the same again.

“The author does a good job explaining the relationships among the makers, carriers and developers, and she delivers an engrossing chapter on design trends. ” —Kirkus Reviews