(FORTUNE Magazine) – Smart phones HQ: La Jolla, Calif. Founded: 1997 Sales: $32 million (est.) Employees: 260 Stock: Privately held Address: www.neopoint.com

William Son was sitting in a room full of telecom executives in Hong Kong a few years ago when he noticed all the gadgets. Most folks were loaded down with a cell phone, pager, and Palm, armed to keep in touch by any means necessary. "All that stuff clipped to everyone's belts just wasn't right," he remembers thinking.

So on the plane ride back home to San Diego, Son, then director of Qualcomm's South Korean operations, started thinking about the what-ifs--namely, what if he could invent an all-in-one gadget to replace the clutter of little devices. By the end of the flight, scribbled on an airline napkin were his sketches for the first smart phone.

The NeoPoint phone is 6.5 ounces of sleek, muted-gold, high-tech coolness. Its neat features include a relatively spacious 11-line screen for e-mail and Web access, speech-recognition software, a calendar and 1,000-name address book, and an "ignore" function that sends unwanted calls straight into voice mail. The $399 phone also doubles as a wireless modem and comes with a docking station that synchronizes information with your PC while the phone battery recharges.

In creating the gadget, Sonny, as NeoPoint's founder and CEO is known, has accomplished an improbable feat: getting noticed in a market dominated by big guys such as Nokia, Motorola, and Ericsson. The NeoPoint 1000 was among the first consumer-friendly Web phones available in the U.S., nabbing a $90 million contract from Sprint PCS last August and helping fuel excitement over mobile Internet access. "If you want to win in an industry segment, create one," says Son, who has a weakness for aphoristic pronouncements. "It's a much better feeling to have arrows shot at your back than at your chest. It means you're moving forward."

Although those arrows are being launched by some tough competitors, analysts are still bullish on NeoPoint's IPO, expected later this year. NeoPoint is also planning to start its own wireless portal, MyAladdin.com, to be available through wireless Web devices including pagers, cell phones, and PDAs. Using location-tracking technologies, My-Aladdin will send the user personalized information--travel directions to the nearest ATM, for instance, or concert ticket information, or flight updates. The "Where am I?" feature will even track your whereabouts for people on your buddy list. Then again, perhaps a phone can be too smart.

--Cora Daniels