| Word | Description |
| 2G | 2G (or 2-G) is short for second-generation wireless telephone technology. The main differentiator to previous mobile telephone systems, retrospectively dubbed 1G, is that the radio signals that 1G networks use are analog, while 2G networks are digital. Note that both systems use digital signaling to connect the radio towers (which listen to the handsets) to the rest of the telephone system. |
| 3G | 3G is third-generation technology in the context of mobile phone standards. The services associated with 3G include wide-area wireless voice telephony and broadband wireless data, all in a mobile environment. In marketing 3G services, video telephone has often been suggested as the killer application for 3G. According to the GSA, in December 2005 there were 100 3G networks in operation in 40 countries in the world. In Asia, Europe, and the USA and Canada, telecommunication companies use W-CDMA technology with the support of around 100 terminal designs to operate 3G mobile networks. Roll-out of 3G networks was delayed in some countries by the enormous costs of additional spectrum licensing fees. In many parts of the world 3G networks do not use the same radio frequencies as 2G, requiring mobile operators to build entirely new networks and license entirely new frequencies; a notable exception is the United States where carriers operate 3G service in the same frequencies as other services. The license fees in some European countries were particularly high, bolstered by initial excitement over 3G's potential. Other delays were as a result of the expenses related to upgrading equipment for the new systems. The first country that introduced 3G on a large commercial scale was Japan. In 2005, about 40% of subscribers used 3G networks only, with 2G being on the way out. It was expected that the transition from 2G to 3G would be largely completed during 2006, and upgrades to the next 3.5G stage with 3 Mbit/s data rates were under way. The successful 3G introduction in Japan showed that video telephony was not the killer application for 3G networks after all. The real-life usage of video telephony on 3G networks was found to be a small fraction of all services. On the other hand, downloading of music found strong acceptance by customers. Music download services in Japan were pioneered by KDDI with the EZchakuuta and Chaku Uta Full services. 3G networks are not IEEE 802.11 networks. IEEE 802.11 networks are short range, higher-bandwidth (primarily) data networks, while 3G networks are wide area cellular telephone networks which evolved to incorporate high-speed internet access and video telephony. |
| ActiveSync | ActiveSync is a synchronization program developed by Microsoft. It allows a mobile device to be synchronised with either a desktop PC, or a server running Microsoft Exchange Server or Kerio MailServer. Only Personal information manager (PIM) data (Email/Calendar/Contacts) may be synchronised with the Exchange Server. (Tasks may also be synchronised with Exchange Server on Windows Mobile 5.0 devices.) The PC synchronisation option, however, allows PIM synchronisation with Microsoft Outlook, along with Internet "favorites", files, and tasks, amongst other data types. Supported mobile devices include PDAs or Smartphones running Windows Mobile, or the Windows CE operating system, along with devices that don't use a Microsoft operating system[1], such as the Symbian platform. ActiveSync also provides for the manual transfer of files to a mobile device, along with limited backup/restore functionality, and the ability to install and uninstall mobile device applications. Alternative software that allows mobile devices to synchronise non-Microsoft PIMs with a PC is also available; such as FinchSync[2] for Thunderbird, or Intellisync. Starting with Windows Vista, the latest release of the Windows Operating System, ActiveSync has been replaced with the Windows Mobile Device Center.[3] |
| Address Book | Address Book also referred to as Phonebook is a book or a database used for storing entries called contacts. In cellphones each contact entry usually consists of a few standard fields (for example: Name, Mobile Number, Home Number, Work Number, E-mail address and Fax number). Most such systems store the details in alphabetical order of people's names, although in paper-based address books entries can easily end up out of order as the owner inserts details of more individuals or as people move. |
| AirTouch | AirTouch Communications was a U.S.-based wireless service provider that was created when PacTel Cellular was spun off from Pacific Telesis on April 1, 1994, forming both AirTouch Cellular and AirTouch Paging. On June 30, 1999, AirTouch Communications merged with UK-based Vodafone Group Plc, and the new company was called Vodafone AirTouch Plc. In September 1999, Vodafone AirTouch announced a $70-billion joint venture with Bell Atlantic Corp. to be called Verizon Wireless, and which would be comprised of the two companies' U.S. wireless assets: Bell Atlantic Mobile, AirTouch Cellular, PrimeCo Communications, and AirTouch Paging. This wireless joint venture received regulatory approval in six months, and began operations as Verizon Wireless on April 4, 2000. On June 30, 2000, the addition of GTE Wireless' assets, in connection with the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE to form Verizon Communications, made Verizon Wireless the nation's largest wireless communications provider (until Cingular's acquisition of AT&T Wireless in 2004). For the joint venture, Verizon Communications owns 55% and UK-based Vodafone Group (formerly Vodafone AirTouch) owns 45%. |
| Alltel Corporation | Alltel (NYSE: AT) is an American telecommunications company with headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas. Alltel provides wireless services to residential and business customers in 35 states. States not served by Alltel include Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, D.C. Recently Alltel agreed to be bought out by TPG Capital, L.P. and Goldman Sachs for $27.5B. |
| American Telephone & Telegraph | The American Telephone & Telegraph Company, in its later years simply AT&T Corporation, provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies. During its long history, AT&T was at times the world's largest telephone company, the world's largest cable television operator, and a regulated monopoly. At its peak, it employed one million people and its revenue was roughly $300 billion annually in today's dollars (for comparison, ExxonMobil's 2006 annual revenue was $377.6 billion). |
| Antenna | An antenna or aerial is a transducer designed to transmit or receive radio waves which are a class of electromagnetic waves. In other words, antennas convert radio frequency electrical currents into electromagnetic waves and vice versa. Antennas are used in systems such as radio and television broadcasting, point-to-point radio communication, wireless lan, radar, and space exploration. Antennas usually work in air or outer space, but can also be operated under water or even through soil and rock at certain frequencies for short distances. Physically, an antenna is an arrangement of conductors that generate a radiating electromagnetic field in response to an applied alternating voltage and the associated alternating electric current, or can be placed in an electromagnetic field so that the field will induce an alternating current in the antenna and a voltage between its terminals. Some antenna devices (parabola, horn antenna) just adapt the free space to another type of antenna. Thomas Edison used antennas by 1885. Edison patented his system in U.S. Patent 465,971 . Antennas were also used in 1888 by Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894) to prove the existence of electromagnetic waves predicted by the theory of James Clerk Maxwell. Hertz placed the emitter dipole in the focal point of a parabolic reflector. He published his work and installation drawings in Annalen der Physik und Chemie (vol. 36, 1889). |
| Anycall | Anycall is a South Korean Mobile phone brand. Samsung established the brand in 1993. Like other mobile phone brands in South Korea, they provide technology such as cameras, internet access, and TV over IP. Anycall are Samsung rebranded handsets sold in throughout Asia. They tend to be filled with Samsung's latest features. |
| AT&T Mobility | AT&T Mobility LLC (usually branded "AT&T",[4] and formerly named Cingular Wireless LLC) is the wholly owned wireless subsidiary of AT&T Inc.[5] AT&T Mobility is the largest mobile phone company in the United States and the second largest in Puerto Rico. [6] AT&T Mobility currently has 62 million subscribers as of 2007, and operates the largest digital voice and data network in the United States.[7] Formerly a joint venture between SBC Communications and BellSouth, Cingular Wireless soon acquired the old AT&T Wireless; SBC later acquired the original AT&T and rebranded as "the new AT&T". Cingular became wholly-owned by the new AT&T in December 2006 as a result of AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth. The division is currently in the process of being rebranded to match its new parentage. Renaming on a corporate level occurred immediately, and consumer branding will change to "AT&T," or a variant thereof, by the end of 2007. Until all regulatory filings are approved, however, and public awareness is fostered, the "Cingular" brand will continue to be used in store signage and media advertisements during a dual-branded transition, expected to last several months. This process began January 15, 2007.[8] Among the services that AT&T aggressively promotes is its "Rollover" service, allowing customers to keep unused minutes from month to month on a twelve-month rolling cycle on its popular "Nation" nationwide plans. |
| AT&T Wireless Services | AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., formerly part of AT&T Corp., was a wireless telephone carrier in the United States, based in Redmond, Washington, and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol "AWE". On October 26, 2004, AT&T Wireless completed a merger with Cingular Wireless to become the largest wireless carrier in the United States. Under the agreement, only the Cingular brand name would remain. On November 16, 2004, AT&T Wireless stores were rechristened under the Cingular banner. The legal entity AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. was renamed New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc. [1] In late 2005, SBC (the majority partner in Cingular) acquired AT&T Corp., and renamed the combined company AT&T. |
| Bandwidth | Bandwidth is a measure of frequency range and is typically measured in hertz. Bandwidth is a central concept in many fields, including information theory, radio communications, signal processing, and spectroscopy. Bandwidth is related to channel capacity for information transmission and often the two can be confused. In particular, in common usage "bandwidth" also refers to data (information) transmission rates when communicating over certain media or devices. |
| BER | Beyond Economical Repair |
| BES | BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) is the name of the middleware software package that is part of the BlackBerry wireless platform from Research In Motion. BES connects to messaging and collaboration software (Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, Novell GroupWise) on enterprise networks to synchronize email and PIM information between desktop and mobile software. |
| Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless | EW is an application development platform created by Qualcomm for mobile phones. It is air-interface independent, i.e. it can support GSM/GPRS, UMTS, and CDMA. However, when BREW was first introduced it was solely developed for CDMA handsets. Standing for Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, it is a software platform that can download and run small programs for playing games, sending messages, sharing photos, etc. The main advantage of BREW platform is that the application developers can easily port their applications between all the Qualcomm ASICs. The BREW runs between the application and the wireless device's chip operating system; therefore BREW enables a programmer to develop applications without needing to code for system interface or understand wireless applications. It debuted in January 2001. |
| Blackberry | BlackBerry is a wireless handheld device introduced in 1999 which supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, internet faxing, web browsing and other wireless information services. Developed by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM), it delivers information over the wireless data networks of mobile phone service companies. BlackBerry first made headway in the marketplace by concentrating on e-mail. RIM currently offers BlackBerry e-mail service to non-BlackBerry devices, such as the Palm Treo, through the BlackBerry Connect software. The original BlackBerry device had a monochrome display, but all prevalent models have color displays. |
| Blackberry Enterprise Server | BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) is the name of the middleware software package that is part of the BlackBerry wireless platform from Research In Motion. BES connects to messaging and collaboration software (Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, Novell GroupWise) on enterprise networks to synchronize email and PIM information between desktop and mobile software. |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs). Bluetooth provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices such as mobile phones, laptops, PCs, printers, digital cameras and video game consoles over a secure, globally unlicensed short-range radio frequency. |
| Boost Mobile | Boost Mobile is an Irvine, CA brand of mobile phone launched in Australia (Over Optus) in 2000 and in New Zealand (Over Telecom New Zealand) in 2001 . The Boost brand is primarily marketed to the teenager and young adult of the urban demographic, generally African Americans and Hispanics. Nextel Communications (now Sprint Nextel) brought the brand to the United States in 2002 and owns 100% of the American division of Boost Mobile. Prior to launching Boost Mobile, Nextel primarily focused on the business market. Following the closure of the Sprint Corporation and Nextel Communications merger in August, 2005. Boost Mobile has more than 4 million customers at the end of the first quarter, 2007. Boost Mobile's latest American advertising campaign features Fat Joe, Eve, Travis Barker, Kanye West, Ludacris, Richard "Rip" Hamilton, Nick Cannon, Master Shake, and The Game and uses the slogan "Where you at?" |
| BREW | EW is an application development platform created by Qualcomm for mobile phones. It is air-interface independent, i.e. it can support GSM/GPRS, UMTS, and CDMA. However, when BREW was first introduced it was solely developed for CDMA handsets. Standing for Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, it is a software platform that can download and run small programs for playing games, sending messages, sharing photos, etc. The main advantage of BREW platform is that the application developers can easily port their applications between all the Qualcomm ASICs. The BREW runs between the application and the wireless device's chip operating system; therefore BREW enables a programmer to develop applications without needing to code for system interface or understand wireless applications. It debuted in January 2001. |
| Caller ID | This is the outside display usually on flip phones. This is the display that you see when the flip is closed. The main function of this is to see who is calling you without opening the flip. |
| Caller ID LCD Display Screen | This is the LCD Screen located on the outside of the phone which allows the user to view who is calling without having to open the flip. This LCD Display Screen usually only exists on flip phones. |
| Caller ID Lens | This is the glass / plastic window that covers and protects the Caller ID LCD Display Screen. Also see Caller ID |
| Camera Phone | A camera phone is a mobile phone which has a camera built-in and is coupled with a server-based infrastructure or protocol, such as MMS or Bluetooth that allows the user to share pictures and video with someone that has a device adapted to receive pictures and video. Typically the receiving device must have a web browser with messaging or must be capable of decoding and displaying MMS information, as opposed to an ordinary telephone for example. The picture and video are usually delivered after the message recipient requests they be sent in response to a notification of a picture or video message received at a server. This is designed to manage bandwidth and device resources and be "well behaved" to others. |
| CDMA | Code division multiple access (CDMA) is a form of multiplexing and a method of multiple access that divides up a radio channel not by time (as in time division multiple access TDMA), nor by frequency (as in frequency-division multiple access), but instead by using different pseudo-random code sequences for each user. CDMA is a form of "spread-spectrum" signaling, since the modulated coded signal has a much higher bandwidth than the data being communicated. To clarify the CDMA scheme, imagine a large room containing many people speaking many different languages. Each group of people speaking the same language can understand each other, but not any of the people speaking other languages. Similarly in CDMA, each pair of users is given a single code which uses the channel. There are many codes occupying the channel, but only the users associated with the code can decode it. CDMA also refers to digital cellular telephony systems that make use of this multiple access scheme, such as those pioneered by QUALCOMM, and W-CDMA by the International Telecommunication Union or ITU. CDMA has been used in many communications and navigation systems, including the Global Positioning System and in the OmniTRACS satellite system for transportation logistics. |
| CDMA2000 | CDMA2000 is a hybrid 2.5G / 3G protocol of mobile telecommunications standards that use CDMA, a multiple access scheme for digital radio, to send voice, data, and signalling data (such as a dialed telephone number) between mobile phones and cell sites. CDMA2000 is considered a 2.5G protocol in 1xRTT and a 3G protocol in EVDO. CDMA (code division multiple access) is a mobile digital radio technology that transmits streams of bits and whose channels are divided using codes (PN sequences). CDMA permits many radios to share the same frequency channel. Unlike TDMA (time division multiple access), a different technique used in GSM and D-AMPS, all radios can be active all the time, because network capacity does not directly limit the number of active radios. Since larger numbers of phones can be served by smaller numbers of cell sites, CDMA-based standards have a significant economic advantage over TDMA-based standards, or the oldest cellular standards that used frequency division multiple access (FDMA). CDMA2000 has a relatively long technical history, and remains compatible with the older CDMA telephony methods (such as cdmaOne) first developed by Qualcomm, a commercial company, and holder of several key international patents on the technology. The CDMA2000 standards CDMA2000 1xRTT, CDMA2000 EV-DO, and CDMA2000 EV-DV are approved radio interfaces for the ITU's IMT-2000 standard and a direct successor to 2G CDMA, IS-95 (cdmaOne). CDMA2000 is standardized by 3GPP2. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA-USA) in the United States, not a generic term like CDMA. (This is similar to how TIA has branded their 2G CDMA standard, IS-95, as cdmaOne.) CDMA2000 is an incompatible competitor of the other major 3G standard UMTS. It is defined to operate at 400 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1700 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz, and 2100 MHz. |
| Cell Phone | Cellular Phone |
| Cell Site | Cell site is a site where antennas and electronic communications equipment are placed to create a cell in a cellular network for the use of mobile phones. A cell site is composed of a tower or other elevated structure for mounting antennas, and one or more sets of transmitter/receivers transceivers, digital signal processors, control electronics, a GPS receiver for timing (for CDMA2000 or IS-95 systems), regular and backup electrical power sources, and sheltering. |
| Cellphone | Cellular Phone |
| Cellular Frequencies | Cellular frequencies are the frequencies utilized by cellular networks to provide service to their subscribers. Due to historical reasons, radio frequencies used for cellular networks differ in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The first commercial standard for mobile connection in the United States was AMPS, which was in the 800 MHz frequency band. In Europe, the first wide-spread automatic mobile network was based on the NMT-450 standard, which was in the 450 MHz band. As mobile phones became more popular and affordable, mobile providers encountered the problem when they could not provide service to more and more customers. They had to develop their existing networks and eventually to introduce new standards, often based on other frequencies. The GSM standard, which appeared in Europe to replace NMT-450 and other standards, initially used the 900 MHz band. As demand grew, carriers acquired licenses in the 1800 MHz band. (Generally speaking, lower frequencies allow carriers to provide coverage for a larger area, while higher frequencies allow carriers to provide service to more customers in a given area.) In the U.S., the analog AMPS standard that used the Cellular band (800 MHz) was replaced by a number of digital systems. Initially, systems based upon the AMPS mobile phone model were popular, including IS-95 (often known as "CDMA", the air interface technology it uses) and IS-136 (often known as D-AMPS, Digital AMPS, or "TDMA", the air interface technology it uses.) Eventually, IS-136 on these frequencies was replaced by most operators with GSM. GSM had already been running for some time on US PCS (1900 MHz) frequencies. And, some NMT-450 analog networks have been replaced with digital networks utilizing the same frequency. In Russia and some other countries, local carriers received licenses for 450 MHz frequency to provide CDMA mobile coverage. Many GSM phones support three bands (900/1800/1900 MHz) or four bands (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), and are usually referred to as tri band and quad band phones, or world phones; with such a phone one can travel internationally and use the same handset. This portability is not as extensive with IS-95 phones, however, as IS-95 networks do not exist in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Mobile networks based on different standards may use the same frequency range; for example, AMPS, D-AMPS, N-AMPS and IS-95 all use the 800 MHz frequency band. Moreover, one can find both AMPS and IS-95 networks in use on the same frequency in the same area that do not interfere with each other. This is achieved by the use of different channels to carry data. The actual frequency used by a particular phone can vary from place to place, depending on the settings of the carrier's base station. |
| Cellular Network | A cellular network is a radio network made up of a number of radio cells (or just cells) each served by a fixed transmitter, known as a cell site or base station. These cells are used to cover different areas in order to provide radio coverage over a wider area than the area of one cell. Cellular networks are inherently asymmetric with a set of fixed main transceivers each serving a cell and a set of distributed (generally, but not always, mobile) transceivers which provide services to the network's users. |
| Cellular One | Cellular One is the trade name of the cellular service offered by several mobile phone providers, most recently Dobson Cellular. It was originally the trade name of one of the first mobile telephone service providers. In 1977, the American Radio Telephone Service and Motorola formed Cellular One to offer service to the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area. In 1984, cellular service began in the Baltimore/DC area. The Baltimore/DC service, and the rights to the name Cellular One, were sold from Metromedia to Southwestern Bell in 1987. In 1989, Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems and McCaw Communications formed a partnership called Cellular One Group. In 1992, Vanguard Cellular Systems joined the group. In 1995, Cellular One opened up membership in the partnership to all A-side providers. Under the U.S. AMPS allocation, A-side providers were independent wireless operators, while B-side providers were usually affiliates of the local landline telephone company. A new slogan was also developed, "Cellular One: Clear Across America", recognizing cellular's national reach, although there were very few national plans at this time. In 1995, Cellular One affiliates had over 5 million customers and affiliates' towers served approximately 69% of the U.S. population. [1] Also in 1995, SNET joined the partnership. Not all A-side carriers participated: most notably, L.A. Cellular, in the nation's second largest market, Los Angeles, never participated in Cellular One, and did not have agreements with Cellular One for some time. Many McCaw markets switched to the AT&T Wireless name when that was introduced, and McCaw dropped out of the partnership. Western Wireless joined the partnership in 1999. When SBC Communications and BellSouth merged their wireless operations into Cingular Wireless, the Cellular One group name became the sole property of Western Wireless. The Cellular One brand name was also used by Dobson Cellular on the US West Coast and in Alaska. In December 2005, Dobson purchased the rights to the Cellular One name from Alltel (which had purchased Western Wireless in August). However, their services were completely unrelated. Dobson uses a TDMA and GSM network; Western Wireless used a AMPS and CDMA network. |
| Cellular Telephones | Perhaps one of the most well known examples of wireless technology in action is the cellular telephone. These instruments use radio waves to enable the operator to make phone calls from many locations world-wide. They can be used anywhere that there is a cellular telephone site to house the equipment that is required to transmit and receive the signal that is used to transfer both voice and data to and from these instruments. (For more information see mobile phones). |
| Centennial Wireless | Centennial Wireless (NASDAQ: CYCL) is a regional wireless telecommunications provider that operates D-AMPS and GSM networks in the Midwest states of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana as well as the Southeastern states of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Centennial Wireless is a wholly owned subsidiary of Centennial Communications. Centennial also operates CDMA networks in in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. |
| Charge Port | This is the hole that the charge plugs in to charge the battery. |
| Charger | This is the power source that plugs into the phone to charge the battery. |
| Cingular Wireless | Cingular Wireless LLC was founded in 2001 as a joint venture of SBC Communications (now AT&T, Inc.), and BellSouth (which AT&T Inc. acquired in 2006). The joint venture created the nation's second largest carrier. Cingular grew out of a conglomeration of 12 regional companies with Bell roots. The 12 companies included: -Ameritech Mobile Communications, LLC* -BellSouth Mobility, LLC* -BellSouth Mobility DCS, Inc. -BellSouth Wireless Data, LLC -SBC Wireless, LLC -SNET Mobility, LLC -Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems, Inc.* -Southwestern Bell Wireless, Inc. -Pacific Bell Wireless, LLC -Pacific Bell Wireless Northwest, LLC Also included were some Cellular One markets, and Houston Cellular. Cingular's lineage can be traced back to Advanced Mobile Phone Service, Inc. (companies spun off from this denoted with a *), which was a subsidiary of AT&T created in 1978 to provide cellular service nationwide. AMPS, Inc. was divided among the RBOCs as part of the Bell System Divestiture. With the exception of Pacific Bell and BellSouth Mobility DCS, the digital network consisted of D-AMPS technology. The Pacific Bell and BellSouth Mobility DCS networks used GSM technology on the PCS frequency band (1900 MHz). |
| Cingular Wireless is now at&t | AT&T Mobility LLC (usually branded "AT&T",[4] and formerly named Cingular Wireless LLC) is the wholly owned wireless subsidiary of AT&T Inc.[5] AT&T Mobility is the largest mobile phone company in the United States and the second largest in Puerto Rico. [6] AT&T Mobility currently has 62 million subscribers as of 2007, and operates the largest digital voice and data network in the United States.[7] Formerly a joint venture between SBC Communications and BellSouth, Cingular Wireless soon acquired the old AT&T Wireless; SBC later acquired the original AT&T and rebranded as "the new AT&T". Cingular became wholly-owned by the new AT&T in December 2006 as a result of AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth. The division is currently in the process of being rebranded to match its new parentage. Renaming on a corporate level occurred immediately, and consumer branding will change to "AT&T," or a variant thereof, by the end of 2007. Until all regulatory filings are approved, however, and public awareness is fostered, the "Cingular" brand will continue to be used in store signage and media advertisements during a dual-branded transition, expected to last several months. This process began January 15, 2007.[8] Among the services that AT&T aggressively promotes is its "Rollover" service, allowing customers to keep unused minutes from month to month on a twelve-month rolling cycle on its popular "Nation" nationwide plans. |
| Contacts | Contacts also referred to as Phonebook is a database used for storing name and phone numbers. In cellphones each contact entry usually consists of a few standard fields (for example: Name, Mobile Number, Home Number, Work Number, E-mail address and Fax number). Most such systems store the details in alphabetical order of people's names, although in paper-based address books entries can easily end up out of order as the owner inserts details of more individuals or as people move. |
| DBR | Damaged Beyond Repair |
| Digital | A digital system is one that uses discrete values (often electrical voltages), representing numbers or non-numeric symbols such as letters or icons, for input, processing, transmission, storage, or display, rather than a continuous spectrum of values (ie, as in an analog system). The distinction of "digital" versus "analog" can refer to method of input, data storage and transfer, or the internal working of a device. The word comes from the same source as the word digit and digitus: the Latin word for finger (counting on the fingers) as these are used for discrete counting. The word digital is most commonly used in computing and electronics, especially where real-world information is converted to binary numeric form as in digital audio and digital photography. Such data-carrying signals carry one of two electronic or optical pulses, logic 1 (pulse present) or 0 (pulse absent). The term is often meant by the prefix "e-", as in e-mail and ebook, even though not all electronic systems are digital. |
| Dopod | Dopod (多普達) is a Taiwan-based distributor of Windows Mobile smartphones, operating in the South East Asia and Australasia. Dopod International was founded in 2004 and it is now directly owned by the Taiwanese Windows Mobile device manufacturer HTC with over 50% of shares (acquired on June 2, 2006). It has manufacturing bases in Taiwan and Wuhan, China. Dopod specifically produces PDA phones. The most recent models are: P100, S300, 577W, 595, 818 Pro, 838 Pro, 900, D810, and the U1000. |
| EDGE | Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) or Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), is a digital mobile phone technology that allows to increase data transmission rate and improve data transmission reliability. It is generally classified as a 2.75G network technology. EDGE has been introduced into GSM networks around the world since 2003, initially in North America. It can be used for any packet switched application such as an Internet connection. High-speed data applications such as video services and other multimedia benefit from EGPRS' increased data capacity. EDGE Circuit Switched is a possible future development. EDGE Evolution continues in Release 7 of the 3GPP standard providing doubled performance e.g. to complement High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA). |
| EMS | Abbreviated as EMS, an application-level extension to Short Message Service (SMS) for cellular phones available on GSM, TDMA and CDMA networks. An EMS enabled mobile phone can send and receive messages that have special text formatting (such as bold or italic), animations, pictures, icons, sound effects and special ring tones. EMS messages that are sent to devices that do not support it will be displayed as SMS transmissions. EMS, also referred to as Enhanced Messaging Service, is a cross-industry collaboration between Ericsson, Motorola, Siemens and Alcatel, among others. EMS is an intermediate technology, between SMS and MMS, providing some of the features of MMS. EMS is a technology that is designed to work with existing networks, but may ultimately be made obsolete by MMS. EMS is defined in 3GPP Technical Specification 23.040, "Technical realization of Short Message Service (SMS)". |
| Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution | Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) or Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), is a digital mobile phone technology that allows to increase data transmission rate and improve data transmission reliability. It is generally classified as a 2.75G network technology. EDGE has been introduced into GSM networks around the world since 2003, initially in North America. It can be used for any packet switched application such as an Internet connection. High-speed data applications such as video services and other multimedia benefit from EGPRS' increased data capacity. EDGE Circuit Switched is a possible future development. EDGE Evolution continues in Release 7 of the 3GPP standard providing doubled performance e.g. to complement High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA). |
| Enhanced Messaging Services | Abbreviated as EMS, an application-level extension to Short Message Service (SMS) for cellular phones available on GSM, TDMA and CDMA networks. An EMS enabled mobile phone can send and receive messages that have special text formatting (such as bold or italic), animations, pictures, icons, sound effects and special ring tones. EMS messages that are sent to devices that do not support it will be displayed as SMS transmissions. EMS, also referred to as Enhanced Messaging Service, is a cross-industry collaboration between Ericsson, Motorola, Siemens and Alcatel, among others. EMS is an intermediate technology, between SMS and MMS, providing some of the features of MMS. EMS is a technology that is designed to work with existing networks, but may ultimately be made obsolete by MMS. EMS is defined in 3GPP Technical Specification 23.040, "Technical realization of Short Message Service (SMS)". |
| Ericsson | Ericsson (Telefonaktiebolaget L. M. Ericsson) NASDAQ: ERIC. Founded in 1876, Ericsson is a leading provider of communications networks, related services and handset technology platforms. Through their Sony Ericsson joint venture, they are also a major provider of handsets. Headquartered in Kista, Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is considered to be part of the so-called Wireless Valley. |
| ESN | Electronic Serial Number. Every phone has either a unique ESN or IMEI assigned to it. |
| EVDO | Evolution-Data Optimized or Evolution-Data only, abbreviated as EV-DO or EVDO and often EV, is one telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access. It is classified as a broadband technology, because it utilizes a broad band of radio frequencies. It employs multiplexing techniques such as CDMA (Code division multiple access) as well as Frequency division duplex (FDD) to maximize the amount of data transmitted. It is standardized by 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) as part of the CDMA2000 family of standards and has been adopted by many mobile phone service providers around the world – particularly those previously employing CDMA networks (as opposed to GSM networks). |
| Firmware | In computing, firmware is software that is embedded in a hardware device. It is often provided on flash ROMs or as a binary image file that can be uploaded onto existing hardware by a user. |
| Frequency | Frequency is the measurement of the number of occurrences of a repeated event per unit of time. It is also defined as the rate of change of phase of a sinusoidal waveform. |
| Frequency Spectrum | Familiar concepts associated with a frequency are colors, musical notes, radio/TV channels, and even the regular rotation of the earth. A source of light can have many colors mixed together and in different amounts (intensities). A rainbow, or prism, sends the different frequencies in different directions, making them individually visible at different angles. A graph of the intensity plotted against the frequency (showing the amount of each color) is the frequency spectrum of the light. When all the visible frequencies are present in equal amounts, the effect is the "color" white, and the spectrum is a flat line. Therefore, flat-line spectrums in general are often referred to as white, whether they represent light or something else. Similarly, a source of sound can have many different frequencies mixed together. Each frequency stimulates a different length receptor in our ears. When only one length is predominantly stimulated, we hear a note. A steady hissing sound or a sudden crash stimulates all the receptors, so we say that it contains some amounts of all frequencies in our audible range. Things in our environment that we refer to as noise often comprise many different frequencies. Therefore, when the sound spectrum is flat, it is called white noise. This term carries over into other types of spectrums than sound. Each broadcast radio and TV station transmits a wave on an assigned frequency (aka channel). A radio antenna adds them all together into a single function of amplitude (voltage) vs. time. The radio tuner picks out one channel at a time (like each of the receptors in our ears). Some channels are stronger than others. If we made a graph of the strength of each channel vs. the frequency of the tuner, it would be the frequency spectrum of the antenna signal. |
| General Packet Radio Service | General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a Mobile Data Service available to users of GSM and IS-136 mobile phones. GPRS data transfer is typically charged per megabyte of transferred data, while data communication via traditional circuit switching is billed per minute of connection time, independent of whether the user has actually transferred data or has been in an idle state. GPRS can be utilized for services such as WAP access, SMS and MMS, but also for Internet communication services such as email and web access. 2G cellular systems combined with GPRS is often described as "2.5G", that is, a technology between the second (2G) and third (3G) generations of mobile telephony. It provides moderate speed data transfer, by using unused TDMA channels in for example the GSM system. Originally there was some thought to extend GPRS to cover other standards, but instead those networks are being converted to use the GSM standard, so that GSM is the only kind of network where GPRS is in use. GPRS is integrated into GSM standards releases starting with Release 97 and onwards. First it was standardized by ETSI but now that effort has been handed onto the 3GPP. |
| Global Positioning System | The Global Positioning System (GPS) is currently the only fully functional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Utilizing a constellation of at least 24 medium Earth orbit satellites that transmit precise radio signals, the system enables a GPS receiver to determine its location, speed and direction. Developed by the United States Department of Defense, it is officially named NAVSTAR GPS (Contrary to popular belief, NAVSTAR is not an acronym for NAVigation Satellite Timing And Ranging, but simply a name given by Mr. John Walsh (no relation to John Walsh of America's Most Wanted), a key decision maker when it came to the budget for the GPS program[1]). The satellite constellation is managed by the United States Air Force 50th Space Wing. The cost of maintaining the system is approximately US$750 million per year,[2] including the replacement of aging satellites, and research and development. Despite this fact, GPS is free for civilian use as a public good. GPS has become a widely used aid to navigation worldwide, and a useful tool for map-making, land surveying, commerce, and scientific uses. GPS also provides a precise time reference used in many applications including scientific study of earthquakes, and synchronization of telecommunications networks. |
| GPRS | General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a Mobile Data Service available to users of GSM and IS-136 mobile phones. GPRS data transfer is typically charged per megabyte of transferred data, while data communication via traditional circuit switching is billed per minute of connection time, independent of whether the user has actually transferred data or has been in an idle state. GPRS can be utilized for services such as WAP access, SMS and MMS, but also for Internet communication services such as email and web access. 2G cellular systems combined with GPRS is often described as "2.5G", that is, a technology between the second (2G) and third (3G) generations of mobile telephony. It provides moderate speed data transfer, by using unused TDMA channels in for example the GSM system. Originally there was some thought to extend GPRS to cover other standards, but instead those networks are being converted to use the GSM standard, so that GSM is the only kind of network where GPRS is in use. GPRS is integrated into GSM standards releases starting with Release 97 and onwards. First it was standardized by ETSI but now that effort has been handed onto the 3GPP. |
| GPS | The Global Positioning System (GPS) is currently the only fully functional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Utilizing a constellation of at least 24 medium Earth orbit satellites that transmit precise radio signals, the system enables a GPS receiver to determine its location, speed and direction. Developed by the United States Department of Defense, it is officially named NAVSTAR GPS (Contrary to popular belief, NAVSTAR is not an acronym for NAVigation Satellite Timing And Ranging, but simply a name given by Mr. John Walsh (no relation to John Walsh of America's Most Wanted), a key decision maker when it came to the budget for the GPS program[1]). The satellite constellation is managed by the United States Air Force 50th Space Wing. The cost of maintaining the system is approximately US$750 million per year,[2] including the replacement of aging satellites, and research and development. Despite this fact, GPS is free for civilian use as a public good. GPS has become a widely used aid to navigation worldwide, and a useful tool for map-making, land surveying, commerce, and scientific uses. GPS also provides a precise time reference used in many applications including scientific study of earthquakes, and synchronization of telecommunications networks. |
| GSM | The Global System for Mobile communications (GSM: originally from Groupe Spécial Mobile) is the most popular standard for mobile phones in the world. GSM service is used by over 2 billion people across more than 212 countries and territories.[1][2] The ubiquity of the GSM standard makes international roaming very common between mobile phone operators, enabling subscribers to use their phones in many parts of the world. GSM differs significantly from its predecessors in that both signaling and speech channels are Digital call quality, which means that it is considered a second generation (2G) mobile phone system. This fact has also meant that data communication was built into the system from the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). From the point of view of the consumers, the key advantage of GSM systems has been higher digital voice quality and low cost alternatives to making calls such as the Short Message Service (SMS). The advantage for network operators has been the ability to deploy equipment from different vendors because the open standard allows easy inter-operability.[3] Like other cellular standards GSM allows network operators to offer roaming services which mean subscribers can use their phones all over the world. As the GSM standard continued to develop, it retained backward compatibility with the original GSM phones; for example, packet data capabilities were added in the Release '97 version of the standard, by means of GPRS. Higher speed data transmission has also been introduced with EDGE in the Release '99 version of the standard. |
| GSM Services | GSM services are a standard collection of applications and features available to mobile phone subscribers all over the world. The GSM standards are defined by the 3GPP collaboration and implemented in hardware and software by equipment manufacturers and mobile phone operators. The common standard makes it possible to use the same phones with different companies' services, or even roam into different countries. GSM is the world's most dominant mobile phone standard. The design of the service is moderately complex because it must be able to locate a moving phone anywhere in the world, and accommodate the relatively small battery capacity, limited input/output capabilities, and weak radio transmitters on mobile devices. |
| GTE | General Telephone and Electronics (GTE) was the largest of the "independent" US telephone companies during the days of the Bell System. It acquired the second largest independent, Continental Telephone (ConTel) in 1991[1]. They also owned Automatic Electric, a telephone equipment supplier similar in many ways to Western Electric, and Sylvania Lighting, the only non-communications-oriented company under GTE ownership. GTE provided local telephone service to a large number of areas of the U.S. through operating companies, much like how AT&T provided local telephone service through its 22 Bell Operating Companies. The company also acquired BBN Planet, one of the earliest Internet service providers, in the late 1990s. That division became known as GTE Internetworking, and was later spun off into the independent company Genuity (a name recycled from a company BBN Planet had acquired before the merger with GTE) as part of the GTE-Bell Atlantic merger that created Verizon. |
| Handheld Device | A Handheld device (also known as handheld computer or simply handheld) is a pocket-sized computing device, typically utilising a small visual display screen for user output and a miniaturised keyboard for user input. In the case of the personal digital assistant (PDA) the input and output are combined into a touch-screen interface. Along with mobile computing devices such as laptops and smartphones, PDAs are becoming increasingly popular amongst those who require the assistance and convenience of a conventional computer, in environments where carrying one would not be practicable. The following are typical handhelds: -Information appliance -Smartphone -Personal digital assistant -Mobile phone -Personal Communicator -Handheld game console -Ultra-Mobile PC -Handheld television |
| HTC | High Tech Computer Corporation (TSEC: 2498), known by its acronym HTC, is the Taiwan-based manufacturer of Microsoft Windows CE portable devices. It was founded on May 15th 1997 and was strictly an outsourcing company, an Original Design Manufacturer (ODM). Today, HTC provides its own HTC self-branded products, as well as supporting its operator-branded products and its OEM partners. HTC also owns Dopod as a subsidiary company. |
| iDEN | Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) is a mobile telecommunications technology, developed by Motorola, which provides its users the benefits of a trunked radio and a cellular telephone. iDEN places more users in a given spectral space, compared to analog cellular and two-way radio systems, by using speech compression and time division multiple access (TDMA). |
| IMEI | This is a unique serial number. Every GSM phone has a unique IMEI assigned to it. |
| Instant Messaging | Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. The text is conveyed via computers connected over a network such as the Internet. |
| Integrated Digital Enhanced Network | Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) is a mobile telecommunications technology, developed by Motorola, which provides its users the benefits of a trunked radio and a cellular telephone. iDEN places more users in a given spectral space, compared to analog cellular and two-way radio systems, by using speech compression and time division multiple access (TDMA). |
| iPhone | The iPhone is a multimedia and Internet-enabled mobile phone, announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs during the keynote address at the Macworld Conference & Expo on 9 January 2007, that is scheduled to be released on 29 June 2007.[1][2][3] The iPhone's functions include those of a camera phone, a multimedia player, mobile phone, and Internet services like e-mail, text messaging, web browsing, Visual Voicemail and wireless connectivity. iPhone input is accomplished via touchscreen with virtual keyboard and buttons. The iPhone is a quad-band GSM phone, though Jobs mentioned in his keynote that Apple has a "plan to make 3G phones" in the future.[4] Apple has filed more than 200 patents related to the technology behind the iPhone.[5] The iPhone is scheduled to be released in the United States on June 29, 2007.[6][7] It will be available from the Apple Store and from AT&T Mobility, formerly Cingular Wireless, with a price of US$499 for the 4 GB model and US$599 for the 8 GB model, based on a two-year service contract. Apple has also announced plans to make the iPhone available in Europe and Japan at a later date. |
| IS-95 | Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), is the first CDMA-based digital cellular standard pioneered by Qualcomm. The brand name for IS-95 is cdmaOne. IS-95 is also known as TIA-EIA-95. It is a 2G Mobile Telecommunications Standard that uses CDMA, a multiple access scheme for digital radio, to send voice, data and signaling data (such as a dialed telephone number) between mobile telephones and cell sites. CDMA or "code division multiple access" is a digital radio system that transmits streams of bits (PN Sequences). CDMA permits several radios to share the same frequencies. Unlike TDMA "time division multiple access", a competing system used in GSM, all radios can be active all the time, because network capacity does not directly limit the number of active radios. Since larger numbers of phones can be served by smaller numbers of cell-sites, CDMA-based standards have a significant economic advantage over TDMA-based standards, or the oldest cellular standards that used frequency-division multiplexing. It is now being supplanted by IS-2000 (CDMA2000), a later CDMA-based standard. It is used in the USA, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, India, Israel, Australia,Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Brazil and China. |
| iSync | iSync is a software application published by Apple Computer. It runs only under Mac OS X and is used to synchronize data in iCal and the Address Book with .Mac and with devices including iPods, many SyncML-compatible mobile phones and Palm OS handheld organizers & smartphones. PocketPCs and Windows Mobile devices cannot be used with iSync, but are supported by third-party applications. Prior to the release of Mac OS X v10.4, iSync could also synchronize a user's Safari bookmarks with the .Mac subscription service provided by Apple. Starting with Mac OS X v10.4, much of this functionality has been moved into the Sync Services framework, which developers can use to incorporate synchronization into their own applications. iSync, however, retains responsibility for synchronizing mobile handsets, Palm OS organizers and compatible smartphones. With the release of iTunes 4.8, the responsibility for synchronizing iPods under Mac OS X v10.4 has been delegated to iTunes. Synchronization with .Mac is now the domain of .Mac Sync, accessible through a System Preferences pane. The current version of iSync is 2.4. |
| iTap | iTap is a predictive text technology for mobile phones, developed by Motorola as a competitor to T9. It was designed as a replacement for the old letter mappings on phones to help in word entry on mobile phones. This allows an easier use of messaging and note-taking features. |
| Kyocera | Kyocera Corporation or Kyōsera Kabushiki-gaisha is a Japanese company based in Kyoto, Japan. The company was founded as Kyoto Ceramic Co., Ltd. (京都セラミツク株式会社 Kyōto Seramikku Kabushiki-gaisha?) in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori. It manufactures ceramics and printing-related devices, as well as a comprehensive line of imaging products. Kyocera acquired the famous Yashica Camera Company Ltd. in 1983, along with Yashica's prior licensing agreement with Carl Zeiss, and manufactured a line of high-quality film and digital cameras under the Yashica and Contax trade names, until Kyocera abandoned all film and digital camera production in 2005. In January 2000 Kyocera acquired photocopier manufacturer Mita Industrial, and a month later they bought the mobile phone manufacturing operations of San Diego, California-based QUALCOMM to form Kyocera Wireless. Headquarters of Kyocera in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan In the 1980s, Kyocera marketed high-end audio components, such as CD players, receivers, turntables, and cassette decks. These featured unique elements, including Kyocera ceramic-based platforms, and are sought by collectors to the present day. It also introduced a portable LCD screen computer in 1985, the Kyotronic 85. Kyocera also produces ceramics, such as their ceramic knives. Kyocera are currently the shirt sponsor of Reading F.C., of the English Premiership, Kyoto Purple Sanga in the J-League, Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Bundesliga, and Atlético Paranaense in Brazil. Kyocera also sponsor Atlético's stadium, the Kyocera Arena, and have their insignia on the back of Atlético Madrid's shirts. In 2003, Kyocera Wireless California started the India subsidiary at Bangalore. It was named Kyocera Wireless India. KWI has tied up with several leading players for providing CDMA services in India. For 2005, Kyocera copiers and printers have received J.D. Power and Associates' highest ranking in their latest customer satisfaction survey. |
| LCD | Liquid Crystal Display |
| LG Electronics | LG Electronics (Hangul:엘지전자, KSE: 066570, LSE: LGLD) is one of the world's leading electronics companies. It is part of the Korean LG Group, operating in approximately 80 countries. The previous company name was Lucky-Goldstar, from which the abbreviation of LG was derived. Their slogan encourages the public to assume that LG stands for "Life's Good", but this is a backronym. LG Electronics is viewed by many Koreans as a symbol of national pride and 'can do' spirit along with its Korean rival, Samsung Electronics. Since the start of the 21st century, LG Electronics saw a tremendous rate of growth, especially from 2006, where the company's mobile phone division, LG Mobile, started to properly 'take off' with the hugely popular LG Chocolate phone, changing the company's image of the maker of 'fat' 3G phones. This major movement was very successful and the company continues this trend and having one of the largest design teams in Korea, it now focuses on design, brand and creating stylish phones such as the LG Shine and PRADA Phone. As a result, the company was picked as 'The Design Team of the Year' by the Red Dot Design Award in 2006~2007 and is often called the "New Apple' or "New Sony' in the industry and online communities. LG's efforts to become one of the world's top three electronics company by 2010 is annually reflected by its high revenue growth and increased brand value - by 2005, LG was in the league of the Top 100 global brands and just a year later, LG recorded an impressive brand growth of 14%. Already the world's largest plasma panel manufacturer, its joint venture, LG.Philips LCD, is the world's top maker of liquid-crystal displays for TVs. LG Electronics is a pioneering developer that facilitated commercializing iris recognition technology in 1999. It is now the world leader in deployed iris recognition systems for security, convenience, privacy enhancement, productivity, and other identity-dependent uses. |
| LG Group | LG Group is a large South Korean chaebol (conglomerate), which produces electronics (including domotics), mobile phones, and petrochemical products and operates subsidiaries like LG Electronics. Created in 1947 as "Lucky-Goldstar", it assumed the abbreviated name of "LG" in 1995. LG is also an abbreviation of "Lucky Geumseong" (럭키금성) in South Korea, which is translated into English as Lucky Venus (Goldstar). Before then, many electronic products were sold under the brand name Goldstar, while some other household products (not available outside South Korea) were sold under the brand name of Lucky. The Lucky brand was famous for producing household cleaning products and laundry detergents in South Korea. Before massive industrialization of South Korean society, the name Lucky was synonymous with toothpaste. |
| Main LCD Display Screen | The word MAIN is usually used only if the phone has multiple LCD Display Screens. ie. On flip phones this would be the internal LCD Display Screen. |
| Main Lens | This is the glass / plastic window that covers and protects the Main LCD Display Screen. The word MAIN is usually used only if the phone has multiple LCD Screens. ie. On flip phones this would be the internal LCD Screen cover. |
| Mic | Microphone |
| MMS | Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a standard for a telephony messaging systems that allow sending messages that includes multimedia objects (images, audio, video, rich text) and not just text as in Short Message Service (SMS). It is mainly deployed in cellular networks along with other messaging systems like SMS, Mobile Instant Messaging and Mobile E-mail. Its main standardization effort is done by 3GPP, 3GPP2 and Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). |
| Mobile Network Operator | A mobile network operator, also known as wireless service provider, wireless carrier, mobile phone operator, or cellular company, is a telephone company that provides services for mobile phone subscribers. The process of becoming a mobile network operator within a country usually begins by acquiring a radio spectrum license from the government. The precise spectrum obtained does depend on the type of mobile phone technology the operator intends to deploy. For example, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network will require a GSM frequency range. The government may allocate spectrum using whichever method it chooses, although the most common method is an auction. Recent allocation of 3G licenses in Europe have been auctioned. |
| Mobile Phone | A mobile telephone or cellular telephone (commonly, "mobile phone" or "cell phone") is a long-range, portable electronic device used for mobile communication. In addition to the standard voice function of a telephone, current mobile phones can support many additional services such as SMS for text messaging, email, packet switching for access to the Internet, and MMS for sending and receiving photos and video. Most current mobile phones connect to a cellular network of base stations (cell sites), which is in turn interconnected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) (the exception are satellite phones). |
| Mobile Web | This refers to the World Wide Web as accessed from mobile devices such as cell phones, PDAs, and other pocketable gadgets connected to a public network. Accessing the Mobile Web does not require a desktop computer. And since it can be accessed with a number of mobile devices, the Internet can now be accessed in remote places previously unconnected to the Internet. For example, medical information could be sent by a mountaineer in difficulty and received by rescuers. Today, many more people have access to mobile devices than have access to a desktop computer. This is likely to be very significant in developing countries. where web-capable mobile devices may play a similar role for deploying wide-spread Web access as the cell phone has played in providing telephone service (see W3C Workshop on Mobile Web Access in Developing Countries). However, Mobile Web access today still suffers from interoperability and usability problems. This is partly due to the small physical size of the screens of mobile devices and partly due to the incompatibility of many mobile devices with not only computer operating systems, but also the format of much of the information available on the Internet. |
| Multimedia Messaging Service | Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a standard for a telephony messaging systems that allow sending messages that includes multimedia objects (images, audio, video, rich text) and not just text as in Short Message Service (SMS). It is mainly deployed in cellular networks along with other messaging systems like SMS, Mobile Instant Messaging and Mobile E-mail. Its main standardization effort is done by 3GPP, 3GPP2 and Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). |
| Network | A telecommunications network is a network of telecommunications links and nodes arranged so that messages may be passed from one part of the network to another over multiple links and through various nodes. Telecommunications network links (including their endpoints or "nodes") may in turn be built out of hierarchical transmission systems. |
| Nextel Communications | NEXTEL Communications (Former NASDAQ: NXTL) which is now known as the Sprint Nextel Corporation was a telecommunications firm based in the United States. Known for providing a nation-wide mobile communications system. Unlike other cellular operators, NEXTEL used a Specialized Mobile Radio band (SMR) and was one of the first operators in the United States to offer a national digital cellular coverage footprint. It had over 11 million U.S. subscribers, and in 2003, claimed to serve "198 of the top 200 U.S. markets." NEXTEL offered pre-paid services through the Boost Mobile brand and provided services in the Philippines through the Next Mobile brand. The company had long worked closely with a single vendor, Motorola, on both equipment and standards, though a competitor Kyocera was reported to be working on compatible handsets. The close relationship had yielded the iDEN protocol which used a time division multiple access (TDMA) technology. Some of Nextel's special features included its push-to-talk feature, which simulated the half-duplex operation of a two-way radio. A downside of this sole-source and proprietary standard had been a lack of innovation in handset size and weight, compared to mobile telephony industry trends, but this has changed. In addition, since few carriers adopted iDEN around the world, NEXTEL users have no other iDEN carriers to fallback on or roam on in the USA. In other countries there are non-NEXTEL carriers that have iDEN networks that NEXTEL users roam on. (see iDEN) NEXTEL had a huge advantage in the U.S. push-to-talk industry, though in 2003 Verizon Wireless and Sprint PCS each launched a push-to-talk feature, with Cingular following in 2005. Since then many other cell phone providers have announced plans to launch similar half-duplex features. Nextel and Verizon had entered a legal battle in June 2003 over Verizon's advertising for their push-to-talk feature. The companies then finally reached a settlement on February 13, 2004. Early advertising for Verizon's service was heavy, but it became almost nonexistent fairly quickly — this may have been due to poor reviews of the unclear service. Prior to its merger with Sprint, NEXTEL had announced plans in 2003 for its next generation, or 4G offerings. It was reportedly to use an extension to iDEN called WiDEN, which is also from Motorola. NEXTEL was headquartered in Reston, a community in Fairfax County, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC. |
| Nokia | Nokia Corporation is one the world's largest manufacturer of mobile telephones, with a global market share of approximately 36% in Q1 of 2007. It produces mobile phones for every major market and protocal, including GSM, CDMA and W-CDMA (UMTS). |
| O2 Telefónica | Telefónica O2 Europe plc[1] (known prior to March 2005 as mmO2, prior to 2006 as O2 plc and usually stylised as O2, like the chemical symbol) is an European telecommunications company specialising in mobile phones. The company was previously part of BT Group plc as BT Cellnet. After a period of independence it was acquired by Telefónica of Spain, with the offer becoming unconditional on 23 January 2006. [1] By 31 December 2005 the company had 27.4 million customers in the UK, Germany and Ireland. [2] The UK headquarters are in Slough, with major offices in Bury, Glasgow, Leeds, and Preston Brook. It has both retail outlets and technology sites located around the UK, Ireland and Germany. In 2005 it acquired the name rights of the Millennium Dome. Irish Headquarters are in Dublin and German headquarters are in Munich. New in the group are O2 Czech Republik and O2 Slovakia. |
| Orange SA | Orange SA IPA: [ɔʀɑ̃ʒ] is a mobile network operator and an internet service provider that is a subsidiary of France Télécom. Orange also belongs to the FreeMove mobile phone alliance. It operates as a mobile phone operator in many parts of the world, including France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (see Orange UK), Switzerland, Poland (see Orange Polska), Egypt (see mobinil), the Dominican Republic, Slovakia (see Orange Slovensko), Romania (see Orange Romania), Moldova (see Orange Moldova), Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Botswana, Madagascar, Réunion and on Martinique, French Guiana, St Kitts in the Caribbean and Spain (see Orange España). It also franchises the Orange Brand in Israel (see Partner Communications Company Ltd.) and has franchised it in Australia, India (until 2006) and Hong Kong in the past. It had a joint venture with Charoen Pokphand in Thailand until 2005. Altogether, as of July 2006 Orange Mobile had 88.6 million users.[1] |
| OTA | Over-the-air programming (OTA), also known as over-the-air service provisioning (OTASP), over-the-air provisioning (OTAP) or over-the-air parameter administration (OTAPA), is a method of distributing new software updates to cellphones or provisioning handsets with the necessary settings with which to access services such as WAP or MMS. Some phones with this capability are labeled as being "OTA capable." When OTA is used to update a phone's operating firmware, it is sometimes called "Firmware Over The Air" (FOTA). For service settings, the technology is often known as Device Configuration. Various standardization bodies were established to help develop, oversee, and manage OTA. One of them is the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). |
| Over-the-air programming | Over-the-air programming (OTA), also known as over-the-air service provisioning (OTASP), over-the-air provisioning (OTAP) or over-the-air parameter administration (OTAPA), is a method of distributing new software updates to cellphones or provisioning handsets with the necessary settings with which to access services such as WAP or MMS. Some phones with this capability are labeled as being "OTA capable." When OTA is used to update a phone's operating firmware, it is sometimes called "Firmware Over The Air" (FOTA). For service settings, the technology is often known as Device Configuration. Various standardization bodies were established to help develop, oversee, and manage OTA. One of them is the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). |
| Palm | The Palm corporation produces a number of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) which run the Palm operating system. This page describes the range of Palm devices, from the first generation of Palm machines known as the Pilot through to the latest models. |
| Palm OS | Palm OS is a compact operating system developed and licensed by PalmSource, Inc. for personal digital assistants (PDAs) manufactured by various licensees. It is designed to be easy-to-use and similar to desktop operating systems such as Microsoft Windows. Palm OS is combined with a suite of basic applications including an address book, clock, note pad, sync, memo viewer and security software. Palm OS was originally released in 1996. |
| PDA | ersonal data assistants (PDAs) are handheld computers that were originally designed as personal organizers, but became much more versatile over the years. PDAs are also known as pocket computers or palmtop computers. PDAs have many uses: calculation, use as a clock and calendar, playing computer games, accessing the Internet, sending and receiving E-mails, video recording, typewriting and word processing, use as an address book, making and writing on spreadsheets, use as a radio or stereo, and Global Positioning System (GPS). Newer PDAs also have both color screens and audio capabilities, enabling them to be used as mobile phones (smartphones), web browsers, or portable media players. Many PDAs can access the Internet, intranets or extranets via Wi-Fi, or Wireless Wide-Area Networks (WWANs). One of the most significant PDA characteristics is the presence of a touch screen. |
| Personal Communicator | The term personal communicator has been used with several meanings. Around 1990 the next generation digital mobile phones were called personal communicators. Another definition is for a category of handheld devices that provide personal information manager functions and packet switched wireless data communications capabilities over wireless wide area networks such as cellular networks. |
| Personal Digital Assistant | ersonal data assistants (PDAs) are handheld computers that were originally designed as personal organizers, but became much more versatile over the years. PDAs are also known as pocket computers or palmtop computers. PDAs have many uses: calculation, use as a clock and calendar, playing computer games, accessing the Internet, sending and receiving E-mails, video recording, typewriting and word processing, use as an address book, making and writing on spreadsheets, use as a radio or stereo, and Global Positioning System (GPS). Newer PDAs also have both color screens and audio capabilities, enabling them to be used as mobile phones (smartphones), web browsers, or portable media players. Many PDAs can access the Internet, intranets or extranets via Wi-Fi, or Wireless Wide-Area Networks (WWANs). One of the most significant PDA characteristics is the presence of a touch screen. |
| Personal Information Manager | A personal information manager (PIM) is a type of application software that functions as a personal organizer. As an information management tool, a PIM's purpose is to facilitate the recording, tracking, and management of certain types of "personal information". Personal information can include any of the following: -Personal notes/journal -Address books -Lists (including task lists) -Significant calendar dates -Birthdays -Anniversaries -Appointments and meeting. -Email, instant message archives -Fax communications, voicemail -Project management features -RSS/Atom feeds Some PIM software products are capable of synchronizing data with another PIM over a computer network (including mobile ad-hoc networks, or MANETs). This feature usually does not allow for continuous, concurrent data updates, but rather enables point-in-time updating between different computers, including desktop computers, laptop computers, and personal digital assistants. Prior to the introduction of the term “PDA” (Personal digital assistant) by Apple in 1992, handheld personal organizers such as the Sharp Wizard and the Psion were also referred to as "PIM’s". |
| Phonebook | Phonebook also referred to as an address book or a name and address book (NAB) is a book or a database used for storing entries called contacts. In cellphones each contact entry usually consists of a few standard fields (for example: Name, Mobile Number, Home Number, Work Number, E-mail address and Fax number). Most such systems store the details in alphabetical order of people's names, although in paper-based address books entries can easily end up out of order as the owner inserts details of more individuals or as people move. |
| PIM | A personal information manager (PIM) is a type of application software that functions as a personal organizer. As an information management tool, a PIM's purpose is to facilitate the recording, tracking, and management of certain types of "personal information". Personal information can include any of the following: -Personal notes/journal -Address books -Lists (including task lists) -Significant calendar dates -Birthdays -Anniversaries -Appointments and meeting. -Email, instant message archives -Fax communications, voicemail -Project management features -RSS/Atom feeds Some PIM software products are capable of synchronizing data with another PIM over a computer network (including mobile ad-hoc networks, or MANETs). This feature usually does not allow for continuous, concurrent data updates, but rather enables point-in-time updating between different computers, including desktop computers, laptop computers, and personal digital assistants. Prior to the introduction of the term “PDA” (Personal digital assistant) by Apple in 1992, handheld personal organizers such as the Sharp Wizard and the Psion were also referred to as "PIM’s". |
| Pocket PC | A Pocket PC, abbreviated P/PC or PPC, is a specification for a handheld-sized computer (Personal digital assistant) that runs a specific version of the Windows CE operating system. It may have the capability to run an alternative operating system like NetBSD or Linux. It has many of the capabilities of modern desktop PCs. Currently there are thousands of applications for handhelds adhering to the Microsoft Pocket PC specification, many of which are freeware. Some of these devices also include mobile phone features. Microsoft compliant Pocket PCs can also be used with many other add-ons like GPS receivers, barcode readers, RFID readers, and cameras. |
| Predictive Text | T9, which stands for Text on 9 keys, is a predictive text technology for mobile phones, developed by Tegic Communications. It is used on phones from LG, Samsung, Nokia, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, Sanyo, Sagem and others. Its main competitors are iTap, created by Motorola, and LetterWise, created by Eatoni. T9's objective is to make it easier to type text messages on small mobile devices. The technology allows words to be entered by a single keypress for each letter, as opposed to the approach used in the older generation of mobile phones in which several letters are associated with each key, and selecting one letter often requires multiple keypresses. The software combines the groups of letters found on each phone key with a fast-access dictionary of words. It looks up all the possible words corresponding to the sequence of keypresses in the dictionary. As the predictive software gains familiarity with the words and phrases the user commonly uses, it speeds the process by offering the most frequently used words first and then lets the user access other choices with one or more presses of a predefined NEXT key. The Tegic Communications website offers training tools and web games such as this crossword puzzle [1] that are designed to help users become proficient with this interface. The dictionary can be expanded by adding missing words, enabling software to recognize them in the future. After introducing a new word, the next time the user tries to produce that word T9 will add it to the predictive dictionary. |
| Preferred Roaming List | The Preferred Roaming List (PRL) is a database residing in a wireless (primarily CDMA) device that contains information used during the system selection and acquisition process. In the case of RUIM-based CDMA devices, the PRL resides on the RUIM. The PRL indicates which bands, sub bands and service provider identifiers will be scanned and in what priority order. Without a PRL, the device may not be able to roam, i.e. obtain service outside of the home area. There may be cases where missing or corrupt PRL's can lead to a customer not having service at all. On many networks, regularly updating the PRL is advised if the subscriber uses the device outside the home area frequently, particularly if they do so in multiple different areas. This allows the phone to choose the best roaming carriers, particularly "roaming partners" that the home carrier has a cost-saving roaming agreement with, rather than using non-affiliated carriers. PRL files can also be used to identify home networks along with roaming partners, thus making the PRL an actual list that determines the total coverage of the subscriber, both home and roaming coverage. The PRL is built by an operator and is normally not accessible to the user. Many operators provide the ability for the user to download the latest PRL to their device by dialing the Over-the-air (OTA) feature code *228. |
| PRL | The Preferred Roaming List (PRL) is a database residing in a wireless (primarily CDMA) device that contains information used during the system selection and acquisition process. In the case of RUIM-based CDMA devices, the PRL resides on the RUIM. The PRL indicates which bands, sub bands and service provider identifiers will be scanned and in what priority order. Without a PRL, the device may not be able to roam, i.e. obtain service outside of the home area. There may be cases where missing or corrupt PRL's can lead to a customer not having service at all. On many networks, regularly updating the PRL is advised if the subscriber uses the device outside the home area frequently, particularly if they do so in multiple different areas. This allows the phone to choose the best roaming carriers, particularly "roaming partners" that the home carrier has a cost-saving roaming agreement with, rather than using non-affiliated carriers. PRL files can also be used to identify home networks along with roaming partners, thus making the PRL an actual list that determines the total coverage of the subscriber, both home and roaming coverage. The PRL is built by an operator and is normally not accessible to the user. Many operators provide the ability for the user to download the latest PRL to their device by dialing the Over-the-air (OTA) feature code *228. |
| PTT | Push-to-Talk (PTT), also known as "Press-to-Transmit", is a method of conversing on half-duplex communication lines, including two-way radio, using a momentary button to switch from voice reception mode to transmit mode. |
| Push e-mail | Push e-mail is used to describe e-mail systems that provide an "always-on" capability, in which new e-mail is instantly and actively transferred (pushed) as it arrives by the mail delivery agent (MDA) (commonly called mail server) to the mail user agent (MUA), also called the e-mail client. Most of today's clients are smartphones. |
| Push to talk | Push-to-Talk (PTT), also known as "Press-to-Transmit", is a method of conversing on half-duplex communication lines, including two-way radio, using a momentary button to switch from voice reception mode to transmit mode. |
| Qualcomm | QUALCOMM (NASDAQ: QCOM) is a wireless telecommunications research and development company based in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1985 by Irwin Jacobs and Andrew Viterbi, who previously founded Linkabit. QUALCOMM is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders. QUALCOMM's first products and services included the OmniTRACS satellite locating and messaging service, widely used by long-haul trucking companies, and specialized integrated circuits for digital radio communications such as a Viterbi decoder. QUALCOMM developed a digital cellular telephony technology based on CDMA; the first version was standardized as IS-95. It has since developed newer variations on the same theme, including IS-2000 and 1xEV-DO (IS-856). It formerly manufactured both CDMA cell phones and CDMA base station equipment. QUALCOMM sold its base station business to Ericsson and its cell phone manufacturing to Kyocera, and now focuses on developing and licensing wireless technologies and selling ASICs that implement them. Other QUALCOMM projects include the development of the Globalstar satellite system (a joint venture with Loral Space & Communications) and a joint venture in digital cinema with Technicolor. It developed BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) as a platform for phones. It also maintains and sells the Eudora email program. |
| QWERTY | QWERTY (pronounced / kwərti/) is the most common modern-day keyboard layout on English-language computer and typewriter keyboards. It takes its name from the first six letters seen in the keyboard's top first row of letters. The QWERTY design was patented by Christopher Sholes in 1868 and sold to Remington in 1873, when it first appeared in typewriters. The QWERTY keyboard is also a commonly used nickname to name the English language keyboard. |
| Radio Frequency | Radio frequency, or RF, refers to that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in which electromagnetic waves can be generated by alternating current which is fed to an antenna. |
| Research In Motion | Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (TSX: RIM, NASDAQ: RIMM) is a Canadian wireless device company. It is best known as the developer of the BlackBerry handheld communication device. RIM is headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, and is a sponsor of RIM Park in the northeast of the city. It was founded by Mike Lazaridis, who currently serves as its co-CEO along with Jim Balsillie. RIM develops its own software for its devices, using C++ and Java technology. RIM also develops and sells embedded wireless data components. |
| RIM | Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (TSX: RIM, NASDAQ: RIMM) is a Canadian wireless device company. It is best known as the developer of the BlackBerry handheld communication device. RIM is headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, and is a sponsor of RIM Park in the northeast of the city. It was founded by Mike Lazaridis, who currently serves as its co-CEO along with Jim Balsillie. RIM develops its own software for its devices, using C++ and Java technology. RIM also develops and sells embedded wireless data components. |
| Roaming | oaming is a general term in wireless telecommunications that refers to the extending of connectivity service in a location that is different from the home location where the service was registered. The term "roaming" originates from the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications Association) sphere. Traditional GSM Roaming is defined (cf. GSM Association Permanent Reference Document AA.39) as the ability for a cellular customer to automatically make and receive voice calls, send and receive data, or access other services, including home data services, when travelling outside the geographical coverage area of the home network, by means of using a visited network. This can be done by using a communication terminal or else just by using the subscriber identity in the visited network. Roaming is technically supported by mobility management, authentication, authorization und billing procedures. |
| Samsung | The Samsung Group is a South Korean conglomerate (chaebol) composed of numerous businesses, including Samsung Electronics, one of the world's largest electronics companies. Samsung Group is South Korea's largest exporter and is helmed by Chairman Lee Kun-hee, the third son of the founder Lee Byung-chul. The name "Samsung" means "three stars" or "tristar" in Korean. |
| Shortwave | Shortwave radio operates between the frequencies of 3,000 kHz and 30 MHz (30,000 kHz) [1] and came to be referred to as such in the early days of radio because the wavelengths associated with this frequency range were shorter than the long wave lengths widely in use at that time. An alternate name is HF or high frequency radio. Short wavelengths are associated with high frequencies because there is an inverse relationship between frequency and wavelength. |
| Sim Card | This is the small card with gold contacts that fits into all GSM phones in order to allow the phone to make a connection with the system. |
| Smartphone | A smartphone is a full-featured mobile phone with personal computer like functionality. Most smartphones are camera phones that support full featured email capabilities with the functionality of a complete personal organizer. An important feature of most smartphones is that applications for enhanced data processing and connectivity can be installed on the device[1], by contrast to regular phones which support sandboxed applications. These applications may be developed by the manufacturer of the device, by the operator or by any other third-party software developer. "Smart" functionality includes any additional interface including a miniature QWERTY keyboard, a touch screen, or even just secure access to company mail, such as is provided by a BlackBerry. |
| SMS Messaging | Short Message Service. Means fo sending "short" (160 characters or fewer) messages, most often referred to as text messages. |
| Software | Software, consisting of programs, enables a computer to perform specific tasks, as opposed to its physical components (hardware) which can only do the tasks they are mechanically designed for. The term includes application software such as word processors which perform productive tasks for users, system software such as operating systems, which interface with hardware to run the necessary services for user-interfaces and applications, and middleware which controls and co-ordinates distributed systems. |
| Sony Ericsson | Sony Ericsson is a joint venture established in 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to make mobile phones. Both companies have stopped making their own mobile phones. The reason for this merger is to combine Sony's consumer electronics expertise with Ericsson's technological leadership (see Ericsson Mobile Platforms) in the communications sector. The company's global management is based in Hammersmith, London. It also has research & development teams in Sweden, Japan, China, Canada, the Netherlands, the United States, India and the United Kingdom. The company is seriously considering its plan to open a research & development centre in India after starting a manufacturing unit near Chennai in early 2007. Sony Ericsson has approximately 8,000 employees worldwide. The current President is Miles Flint and the Corporate Executive Vice President is Anders Runevad. |
| Sprint Nextel | Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. With 53.7 million subscribers, Sprint Nextel operates the third largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States (based on total wireless customers), behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Sprint is a global Tier 1 Internet carrier, and, as such, makes up a portion of the Internet backbone. In the United States, the company also operates the largest wireless broadband network and is the third largest long distance provider. The company was created in 2005 by the $35 billion purchase of NEXTEL Communications by Sprint Corporation. In 2006, the company spun-off its local landline telephone business, naming it Embarq and also completed the $6.5 billion acquisition of Nextel Partners, one of its largest affiliates, which primarily provides Nextel wireless services to more rural markets. Sprint Nextel has its executive headquarters in Reston, Virginia and maintains an operational and engineering headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas (where the largest number of Sprint Nextel employees are based). Both internally and externally, Sprint is an acceptable short name for the company. |
| SunCom | SunCom is a wireless carrier that has operated in the southeastern United States since 1999 and in parts of the Caribbean since 2004. SunCom provides digital wireless communications services to more than 1,000,000 customers, employs more than 1,900 people and offers international, national, and regional calling plans. |
| Symbian OS | Symbian OS is a proprietary operating system, designed for mobile devices, with associated libraries, user interface frameworks and reference implementations of common tools, produced by Symbian Ltd. It is a descendant of Psion's EPOC and runs exclusively on ARM processors. Symbian is currently owned by Nokia (47.9%), Ericsson (15.6%), Sony Ericsson (13.1%), Panasonic (10.5%), Siemens AG (8.4%) and Samsung (4.5%). While BenQ has acquired the mobile phone subsidiary of Siemens AG the Siemens AG stake in Symbian does not automatically pass to BenQ - this will need the approval of the Symbian Supervisory Board. |
| System Connector | This is the part of the phone that is usually used to both charge and transfer data using a data cable. |
| T-Mobile | T-Mobile is a mobile network operator headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom and belongs to the FreeMove alliance. T-Mobile is a group of mobile phone corporate subsidiaries (all under the ownership of Deutsche Telekom) that operate GSM and UMTS networks in Europe and the United States. The "T" stands for "Telekom" and "Team." Most subsidiaries of Deutsche Telekom have names beginning with "T-". T-Mobile also has financial stakes in mobile operators in Eastern Europe. Globally, T-Mobile has 101 million subscribers, making it the world's sixth largest mobile phone service provider by subscribers and the third largest multinational after the United Kingdom's Vodafone and Spain's Telefonica. T-Mobile International has a substantial presence in eleven European countries: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom as well as in the United States. Deutsche Telekom recently attempted to acquire rival mobile network operator O2, but it was eventually acquired by Spain's Telefonica. As well as kit sponsors for FC Bayern Munich, Ferencvárosi TC, The Blues City and West Bromwich Albion, T-Mobile is also a sponsor of several sports events, some of which carry the company name. For example, it sponsors its own cycling team, the T-Mobile Team, and the Austrian first division football competition, the T-Mobile Bundesliga. It was also the official global mobile phone carrier for the 2006 FIFA World Cup (football) in Germany. |
| T-Mobile USA | T-Mobile is a mobile network operator headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom and belongs to the FreeMove alliance. T-Mobile is a group of mobile phone corporate subsidiaries (all under the ownership of Deutsche Telekom) that operate GSM and UMTS networks in Europe and the United States. The "T" stands for "Telekom" and "Team." Most subsidiaries of Deutsche Telekom have names beginning with "T-". T-Mobile also has financial stakes in mobile operators in Eastern Europe. Globally, T-Mobile has 101 million subscribers, making it the world's sixth largest mobile phone service provider by subscribers and the third largest multinational after the United Kingdom's Vodafone and Spain's Telefonica. T-Mobile International has a substantial presence in eleven European countries: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom as well as in the United States. Deutsche Telekom recently attempted to acquire rival mobile network operator O2, but it was eventually acquired by Spain's Telefonica. As well as kit sponsors for FC Bayern Munich, Ferencvárosi TC, The Blues City and West Bromwich Albion, T-Mobile is also a sponsor of several sports events, some of which carry the company name. For example, it sponsors its own cycling team, the T-Mobile Team, and the Austrian first division football competition, the T-Mobile Bundesliga. It was also the official global mobile phone carrier for the 2006 FIFA World Cup (football) in Germany. |
| T9 | T9, which stands for Text on 9 keys, is a predictive text technology for mobile phones, developed by Tegic Communications. It is used on phones from LG, Samsung, Nokia, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, Sanyo, Sagem and others. Its main competitors are iTap, created by Motorola, and LetterWise, created by Eatoni. T9's objective is to make it easier to type text messages on small mobile devices. The technology allows words to be entered by a single keypress for each letter, as opposed to the approach used in the older generation of mobile phones in which several letters are associated with each key, and selecting one letter often requires multiple keypresses. The software combines the groups of letters found on each phone key with a fast-access dictionary of words. It looks up all the possible words corresponding to the sequence of keypresses in the dictionary. As the predictive software gains familiarity with the words and phrases the user commonly uses, it speeds the process by offering the most frequently used words first and then lets the user access other choices with one or more presses of a predefined NEXT key. The Tegic Communications website offers training tools and web games such as this crossword puzzle [1] that are designed to help users become proficient with this interface. The dictionary can be expanded by adding missing words, enabling software to recognize them in the future. After introducing a new word, the next time the user tries to produce that word T9 will add it to the predictive dictionary. |
| TDMA | Time division multiple access (TDMA) is a channel access method for shared medium (usually radio) networks. It allows several users to share the same frequency channel by dividing the signal into different timeslots. The users transmit in rapid succession, one after the other, each using his own timeslot. This allows multiple stations to share the same transmission medium (e.g. radio frequency channel) while using only the part of its bandwidth they require. TDMA is used in the digital 2G cellular systems such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), IS-136, Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) and iDEN, and in the Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) standard for portable phones. It is also used extensively in satellite systems, and combat-net radio systems. |
| Telecommunication | Telecommunication is the transmission of signals over a distance for the purpose of communication. In modern times, this process typically involves the sending of electromagnetic waves by electronic transmitters but, in earlier years, it may have involved the use of smoke signals, drums or semaphore. Today, telecommunication is widespread and devices that assist the process, such as the television, radio and telephone, are common in many parts of the world. There are also many networks that connect these devices, including computer networks, public telephone networks, radio networks and television networks. Computer communication across the Internet is one of many examples of telecommunication. Telecommunication systems are generally designed by telecommunication engineers. Telecommunication is an important part of the world economy; the telecommunication industry's revenue has been placed at just under 3% of the gross world product. |
| Telecommunications Industry Association | The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is a trade association in the US that represents about 600 telecommunications companies. TIA represents providers of information, communications and entertainment technology products and services for the global marketplace through its core competencies in standards development, domestic and international policy advocacy, and facilitating member business opportunities. The association supports the convergence of new communications networks while working for a competitive and innovative market environment. TIA is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to develop voluntary industry standards for a wide variety of telecommunications products. TIA's Standards and Technology Department is composed of five divisions which sponsor more than 70 standards formulating groups. The committees and subcommittees sponsored by the five divisions (Fiber Optics, User Premises Equipment, Wireless Communications, Communications Research and Satellite Communications) formulate standards to serve the industry and users. Within TIA, more than 1,100 individuals, with representatives from manufacturers, service providers and end-users, including the government, serve on the formulating groups involved in standards setting. To ensure representation for the positions of U.S. telecommunications equipment producers in the international arena, TIA also participates in international standards-setting activities, such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). While better known for its activities in long-haul and wireless applications, TIA also addresses the needs of communications networks in premises applications. In 1993, TIA founded the Fiber Optics LAN Section (FOLS) which provides information on the use of fiber optic technology in local area networks (LANs). The TIA coproduces NXTcomm, one of the largest trade shows for the telecommunications industry. It replaces TIA's GLOBALCOMM (formerly SUPERCOMM) and TelecomNext. |
| Telefónica O2 | Telefónica O2 Europe plc[1] (known prior to March 2005 as mmO2, prior to 2006 as O2 plc and usually stylised as O2, like the chemical symbol) is an European telecommunications company specialising in mobile phones. The company was previously part of BT Group plc as BT Cellnet. After a period of independence it was acquired by Telefónica of Spain, with the offer becoming unconditional on 23 January 2006. [1] By 31 December 2005 the company had 27.4 million customers in the UK, Germany and Ireland. [2] The UK headquarters are in Slough, with major offices in Bury, Glasgow, Leeds, and Preston Brook. It has both retail outlets and technology sites located around the UK, Ireland and Germany. In 2005 it acquired the name rights of the Millennium Dome. Irish Headquarters are in Dublin and German headquarters are in Munich. New in the group are O2 Czech Republik and O2 Slovakia. |
| Text Messaging | Also known as texting. This is the common term for the sending of "short" (160 characters or less) text messages, using short message service from mobile phones. |
| Thumbing | Thumbing is the act of typing on a small keyboard solely (or primarily) using your thumbs. It is primarily used with devices such as PDAs with built-in keyboards. |
| TIA | The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is a trade association in the US that represents about 600 telecommunications companies. TIA represents providers of information, communications and entertainment technology products and services for the global marketplace through its core competencies in standards development, domestic and international policy advocacy, and facilitating member business opportunities. The association supports the convergence of new communications networks while working for a competitive and innovative market environment. TIA is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to develop voluntary industry standards for a wide variety of telecommunications products. TIA's Standards and Technology Department is composed of five divisions which sponsor more than 70 standards formulating groups. The committees and subcommittees sponsored by the five divisions (Fiber Optics, User Premises Equipment, Wireless Communications, Communications Research and Satellite Communications) formulate standards to serve the industry and users. Within TIA, more than 1,100 individuals, with representatives from manufacturers, service providers and end-users, including the government, serve on the formulating groups involved in standards setting. To ensure representation for the positions of U.S. telecommunications equipment producers in the international arena, TIA also participates in international standards-setting activities, such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). While better known for its activities in long-haul and wireless applications, TIA also addresses the needs of communications networks in premises applications. In 1993, TIA founded the Fiber Optics LAN Section (FOLS) which provides information on the use of fiber optic technology in local area networks (LANs). The TIA coproduces NXTcomm, one of the largest trade shows for the telecommunications industry. It replaces TIA's GLOBALCOMM (formerly SUPERCOMM) and TelecomNext. |
| Time Division Multiple Access | Time division multiple access (TDMA) is a channel access method for shared medium (usually radio) networks. It allows several users to share the same frequency channel by dividing the signal into different timeslots. The users transmit in rapid succession, one after the other, each using his own timeslot. This allows multiple stations to share the same transmission medium (e.g. radio frequency channel) while using only the part of its bandwidth they require. TDMA is used in the digital 2G cellular systems such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), IS-136, Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) and iDEN, and in the Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) standard for portable phones. It is also used extensively in satellite systems, and combat-net radio systems. |
| TMobile | T-Mobile is a mobile network operator headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom and belongs to the FreeMove alliance. T-Mobile is a group of mobile phone corporate subsidiaries (all under the ownership of Deutsche Telekom) that operate GSM and UMTS networks in Europe and the United States. The "T" stands for "Telekom" and "Team." Most subsidiaries of Deutsche Telekom have names beginning with "T-". T-Mobile also has financial stakes in mobile operators in Eastern Europe. Globally, T-Mobile has 101 million subscribers, making it the world's sixth largest mobile phone service provider by subscribers and the third largest multinational after the United Kingdom's Vodafone and Spain's Telefonica. T-Mobile International has a substantial presence in eleven European countries: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom as well as in the United States. Deutsche Telekom recently attempted to acquire rival mobile network operator O2, but it was eventually acquired by Spain's Telefonica. As well as kit sponsors for FC Bayern Munich, Ferencvárosi TC, The Blues City and West Bromwich Albion, T-Mobile is also a sponsor of several sports events, some of which carry the company name. For example, it sponsors its own cycling team, the T-Mobile Team, and the Austrian first division football competition, the T-Mobile Bundesliga. It was also the official global mobile phone carrier for the 2006 FIFA World Cup (football) in Germany. |
| Touchscreen | Touchscreens, touch screens, touch panels or touchscreen panels are display overlays which have the ability to display and receive information on the same screen. The effect of such overlays allows a display to be used as an input device, removing the keyboard and/or the mouse as the primary input device for interacting with the display's content. Such displays can be attached to computers or, as terminals, to networks. Touchscreens also have assisted in recent changes in the PDA and Cell-Phone Industries, making these devices more usable. |
| U.S. Cellular | U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM) is a super-regional cellular telephone provider, serving 5.8 million customers in 189 markets in 26 U.S. states. The company was created in 1983 as a subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. Since April 2000, John E. Rooney has been the company's President and CEO. |
| Value-added Service | A value-added service (VAS) is a telecommunications industry term for non-core services or, in short, all services beyond standard voice calls. On a conceptual level, value-added services add value to the standard service offering, spurring the subscriber to use their phone more and allowing the operator to drive up their ARPU. For mobile phones, while technologies like SMS, MMS and GPRS are usually considered value-added services, a distinction may also be made between standard (peer-to-peer) content and premium-charged content. Value-added services are supplied either in-house by the mobile network operator themselves or by a third-party value-added service provider (VASP). VASPs typically connect to the operator using protocols like Short message peer-to-peer protocol (SMPP), connecting either directly to the short message service centre (SMSC) or, increasingly, to a messaging gateway that allows the operator to control and charge of the content better. |
| Verizon Wireless | Verizon Wireless is the largest American wireless company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues. Also, advertised as the nation’s most reliable wireless network, Verizon Wireless owns and operates the second largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, based on total wireless customers. As of May 2007, the company served a total of 60.7 million U.S. subscribers and has the largest service by area and had an annual revenue of $38.0 billion. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, the company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, with 55 and 45 percent ownership respectively. |
| Vodafone | Vodafone Group plc is a mobile network operator headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover and has a market value of about £86 billion (November 2006). Vodafone currently has equity interests in 27 countries and Partner Networks (networks in which it has no equity stake) in a further 38 countries. Its portfolio of global services, supported by its global brand, is available in a total of 59 countries/ territories. The name Vodafone comes from Voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones."[1] At 31 January 2007 Vodafone had 200 million proportionate customers in 27 markets across 5 continents. [4] ("Proportionate customers" means, for example, that if Vodafone has a 30% stake in a business with a million customers, that is counted as 300,000). On this measure it is the second-largest mobile telecom group in the world behind China Mobile. The seven markets where it has more than ten million proportionate customers are the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and, India. In the U.S., these customers come via its minority stake in Verizon Wireless, and in the other six markets Vodafone has majority-controlled subsidiaries. |
| W-CDMA | W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) is a type of 3G cellular network. W-CDMA is the higher speed transmission protocol used in the Japanese FOMA system and in the UMTS system, an advanced 3G system, designed as a replacement for the aging 2G GSM networks deployed worldwide. More technically, W-CDMA is a wideband spread-spectrum mobile air interface that utilizes the direct sequence Code Division Multiple Access signalling method (or CDMA) to achieve higher speeds and support more users compared to the older TDMA signalling method of GSM networks. W-CDMA is a competitor to CDMA2000. |
| WAP | WAP is an open international standard for applications that use wireless communication. Its principal application is to enable access to the Internet from a mobile phone or PDA. A WAP browser is to provide all of the basic services of a computer based web browser but simplified to operate within the restrictions of a mobile phone. WAP is now the protocol used for the majority of the world's mobile internet sites, known as WAP sites. The Japanese i-mode system is currently the only other major competing wireless data protocol. Mobile internet sites, or WAP sites, are websites written in, or dynamically converted to, WML (Wireless Markup Language) and accessed via the WAP browser. Before the introduction of WAP, service providers had extremely limited opportunities to offer interactive data services. Interactive data applications are required to support now commonplace activities such as: -email by mobile phone -tracking of stock market prices -sports results -news headlines -music downloads |
| Western Wireless Corporation | Western Wireless was a wireless telecommunications (i.e. cellular) provider in the western United States that specialized in rural service. Western Wireless Corporation primarily operated under the Cellular One brand. It had corporate offices in the Factoria area of Bellevue, Washington and Issaquah, WA. The company provided cellular services in 19 western, midwestern, and southwestern states. Originally, VoiceStream Wireless PCS was a division of Western Wireless which was spun off in 1999. VoiceStream later became T-Mobile USA and is still headquartered in Bellevue, Washington where its former corporate parent was based out of as well. On January 10, 2005, Little Rock, Arkansas-based telecommunications provider Alltel announced it would buy Western Wireless in a $6 billion stock-and-cash transaction. The merger closed in August 2005. |
| Wi-Fi Wifi | Wi-Fi, popularly known as an acronym for wireless fidelity (see below for origin), but, in actuality is simply a play on the term "Hi-Fi," was originally a brand licensed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to describe the embedded technology of wireless local area networks (WLAN) based on the IEEE 802.11 specifications. Use of the term has now broadened to generically describe the wireless interface of mobile computing devices, such as laptops in LANs. Wi-Fi is now increasingly used for more services, including Internet and VoIP phone access, gaming, and basic connectivity of consumer electronics such as televisions, DVD players, and digital cameras. More standards are in development that will allow Wi-Fi to be used by cars on highways in support of an Intelligent Transportation System to increase safety, gather statistics, and enable mobile commerce (see IEEE 802.11p). Wi-Fi and the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo are registered trademarks of the Wi-Fi Alliance - the trade organization that tests and certifies equipment compliance with the 802.11x standards. |
| WiDEN | Wideband Integrated Dispatch Enhanced Network, or WiDEN, is a software upgrade developed by Motorola for its iDEN enhanced specialized mobile radio (or ESMR) wireless telephony protocol. WiDEN allows compatible subscriber units to communicate across four 25 kHz channels combined, for up to 100 kbit/s of bandwidth. The protocol is generally considered a 2.5G wireless cellular technology. |
| Windows Mobile | Windows Mobile is a compact operating system combined with a suite of basic applications for mobile devices based on the Microsoft Win32 API. Devices which run Windows Mobile include Pocket PCs, Smartphones, and Portable Media Centers. It is designed to be somewhat similar to desktop versions of Windows. |
| Windows Mobile 5.0 | Windows Mobile 5.0, originally codenamed "Magneto", was released on May 9, 2005, and first offered on the Dell Axim x51. It is powered by Windows CE 5.0 and uses the .NET Compact Framework 1.0 SP2 — an environment for programs based on .NET to be used. Features include -A new version of Office called "Office Mobile" -PowerPoint Mobile has been added -Excel Mobile adds graphing capability -Word Mobile adds tables and graphics insertion -Windows Media Player 10 Mobile -Photo Caller ID -DirectShow Support -Picture and Video package, which converges the management of videos and pictures -Bluetooth support with fewer features than prior Broadcom/Widdcomm alternatives, although some users reportedly have managed to replace the default stack with the legacy Broadcom/Widdcomm stack.[citation needed] -Global Positioning System (GPS) management interface to all navigation programs installed -Microsoft Exchange Server "push" functionality improvements - Improvements only function with Exchange 2003 SP2 installed.[1] The "push" functionality also requires vendor/device support[2], with the Palm Treo and Motorola Q scheduled to receive support with Q1 2006 firmware updates. With AKU2 software upgrades all WM 5.0 devices support DirectPush -QWERTY keyboard-support is included by default -Error reporting facility similar to that present in desktop and server Windows systems -ActiveSync 4.2, promising 10–15% increased speed on synchronization -Persistent storage (PS) is now supported in Pocket PCs allowing devices to have increased battery life. Previously up to 50% (enough for 72 hours of storage) of battery power was reserved just to maintain data in volatile RAM. Windows-based devices are moving from using RAM as their primary storage medium to the use of flash memory. -Windows Mobile updates are released as Adaptation kit upgrade. AKU3.5 is the most current release. Windows Mobile 5.0 comes with one notable loss. Microsoft Money for the Pocket PC which worked with previous versions is no longer supported. Windows Mobile 5.0 was released at Microsoft's Mobile and Embedded Developers Conference 2005 in Las Vegas, May 9–May 12, 2005. |
| Windows Mobile 6.0 | Windows Mobile 6, formerly codenamed Crossbow is the latest version of Windows Mobile platform and has been released on February 12, 2007 [3] at the 3GSM World Congress 2007. It features three different versions: Windows Mobile 6 Standard for Smartphones (phones without touchscreens), Windows Mobile 6 Professional for PDAs with phone functionality (Pocket PC Phone Edition), and Windows Mobile 6 Classic for plain PDAs without cellular radios.[4] Windows Mobile 6 is powered by Windows CE 5.2 and is strongly linked to Windows Vista, Windows Live, Microsoft Office and Exchange 2007 products. It has an excellent integration back into exchange and Exchange 2007 driven to the mobile devices. The Windows Mobile 6 form factor is another major improvement, and is much simpler to use.[5] Windows Mobile 6 Standard was first offered on Orange's SPV E650.[6] Windows Mobile 6 Professional was first offered on O2's Xda Terra.[7] Summary of Specs -Based on Windows CE 5.0 (version 5.2) -Supports 640x480 (VGA), 320x240 (QVGA), and 320x320 resolution. -Advanced Business and Enterprise propositions -Strengthened phone experience -Operating System Live Update [9] -Improved Remote Desktop access [10] -Faster, easier application development and distribution -VoIP (Internet calling) support with AEC (Acoustic Echo Cancelling) and MSRT Audio Codec -Windows Live for Windows Mobile. [11] -Customer Feedback option. [12] -Microsoft Bluetooth Stack greatly improved. -Storage Card Encryption - Windows Mobile 6-based Pocket PC and Smartphone devices support encryption of data stored in external removable storage cards. -Smartfilter to search faster through emails, contacts, songs, files, etc. -Improved Internet Sharing to easily setup your device as a Laptop Modem. -Outlook Mobile now supports viewing HTML email. -Ability to search for contacts in an Exchange Server Address Book. -Support for AJAX, JavaScript and XMLDOM on Internet Explorer Mobile -Set Out of Office Replies from the device (requires Microsoft Exchange 2007). -Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) support for selected Operators (like BT in the UK). -Server Search to Search your entire Exchange mailbox from the device (requires Exchange 2007). -.NET Com |