Mobile Phone Terms

What is 3G

The download speeds surpass that of GPRS many times. Products include video calls, video messaging plus voice calls and SMS. Multimedia functionality allows you to play music, send pictures and video clips and play games real time.

What is GPRS

GPRS sits on top of GSM technology and mobile service providers can offer the general packet radio service to its subscribers as an always on connection rather than the traditional dial up data connections.

So what are the benefits of GPRS to the user?

For a start its always on, the mobile device will gain an IP address from the DHCP pool available at each cell, the network will then allow you to exchange data whenever you need to without having to dial up an authenticate. Practical uses of this allow for swift recovery of email with frequent pop3 checks of your mailbox and messenger style applications can work on GPRS too so having MSN on your mobile is possible, although Symbian messenger and other 3rd party applications are far more common.

What is GSM

The international, pan-European operating standard for the current generation of digital cellular mobile communications. It enables mobile phones to be used across national boundaries.

The arrival of GSM technology gave the chance for a different type of data connection one where data is moved in packets, IP data is already packetised and bytes of info are sent all round the world in this form everyday

GSM networks are made up of a number of transmitters or cells each of these can have a range of a few kilometres or just a few hundred meters depending on their proximity to each other

What is MP3

MP3 stands for MPEG layer 3 audio, MPEG being a form of compression used in both video and audio, so why compress why not just capture digitally, well its all down to size, in this case size of captured files a WAV file (the standard for CD) produces massive files which even with the event of broadband connections are just too big, for example a 1 minute file equates to 10mb of storage.

What is SMS

Short Message Service (SMS) is a quick and simple way to communicate short messages via mobile phones, handheld devices, and increasingly even landline telephones. Commonly known as text messages, SMSes, or even texts the practice has spread rapidly throughout the world, evident by the fact that 500 billion such messages were sent in the last year alone.

What is WAP

WAP phones don't display graphics and the sites only offer text. Typically this is menus and scrollable lists form which you choose an option and an information list will be displayed.

WAP Phone uses can include sending and receiving email, accessing news, weather, schedules, financial data and the like; all in a mobile environment (like in the middle of a field) - an advantage the PC can never truly emulate.

What is Bluetooth

Everybody has heard of it, but what is Bluetooth. It's a great feature, developed by Sony Ericsson, that enables other Bluetooth devices to communicate with your mobile phone. It's great for downloading photos taken with your mobile to your pc. It's also invaluable for synchronising your mobile's calendar and scheduler features with your PC. Most good mobiles have features that integrate to Microsoft's Outlook Express, this enables tasks and events to be entered on the PC then downloaded at your convenience to the mobile phone.

Another great use is to swap photos and contact numbers with your mates, providing they also have Bluetooth mobiles, of course.

To connect to the PC requires a "dongle" to be fitted to your PC, usually in the USB slot, and the software to be installed on your PC. That's all there is to it.