Mobile Phones
A mobile
phone is a device which behaves as a normal
telephone whilst being able to move over a wide
area (cf. cordless phone which acts as a
telephone only within a limited range). Mobile
phones allow connections to be made to the
telephone network, normally by directly dialling
the other party's number on an inbuilt keypad.
Most current mobile phones use a combination of
radio wave transmission and conventional
telephone circuit switching, though packet
switching is already in use for some parts of
the mobile phone network, especially for
services such as internet access and WAP.
Mobile phone manufacturers include Audiovox,
Kyocera (formerly the handset division of
Qualcomm), Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic
(Matsushita Electric), Samsung, Sanyo, Siemens,
Sony Ericsson, Alcatel, LG and Sagem.
There are also specialist communication systems
related to, but distinct from mobile phones,
such as satellite phones and Professional Mobile
Radio.
Worldwide
deployment
Mobile
phones have a long and varied history that
stretches back to the early 1970s. Due to their
low establishment costs and rapid deployment,
mobile phone networks have since spread rapidly
throughout the world, outstripping the growth of
fixed telephony. Such networks can often be
economic, even with a small customer base, as
mobile network costs are mostly call volume
related, while fixed-line telephony has a much
higher subscriber related cost component.
In most of Europe, wealthy parts of Asia, and
Australasia, mobile phones are now virtually
universal, with the majority of the adult,
teenage, and even child population owning one.
They are somewhat less common in the United
States — while widely used, market penetration
is lower than elsewhere in the developed world
(around 66 percent of the U.S. population as of
2003). Reasons advanced for this include
incomplete coverage, relatively high minimum
monthly service charges (around $30), and the
availability of relatively low-cost fixed-line
networks (around $30 for unlimited local
calling).
Mobile phone features
Mobile
phones are designed to work on cellular networks
and contain a standard set of services that
allow phones of different types and in different
countries to communicate with each other.
Before the phone can be used, a subscription to
a mobile phone operator (a.k.a. carrier) is
required. The operator will issue a SIM card
which contains the unique subscription and
authentication parameters for that customer.
Once the SIM card is inserted into the phone,
services can be accessed. Mobile phones do not
only support voice calls; they can also send and
receive data and faxes (if a computer is
attached), send short messages (or "text
messages"; see SMS), access WAP services, and
provide full Internet access using technologies
such as GPRS. Mobile phones usually have a clock
and a calculator and often one can play some
games on them.
Many mobile phones support 'auto-roaming', which
permits the same phone to be used in multiple
countries. For this to work, the operators of
both countries must have a roaming agreement.
Newer models also allow for sending and
receiving pictures and have a built-in digital
camera. This gives rise to some concern about
privacy, in view of possible voyeurism, for
example in swimming pools. For this reason,
Saudi Arabia has entirely banned the sale of
camera phones (although the country allows
pilgrims on the Hajj to bring in camera phones);
South Korea has ordered manufacturers to ensure
that all new handsets emit a beep whenever a
picture is taken.
GPS receivers are starting to appear in cell
phones, primarily to aid in dispatching
emergency responders.
Newer models have included many features aimed
toward personalisation, such as user defined and
downloadable ring tones and logos, and
interchangeable covers, which have helped in the
uptake by the teenage market. Usually one can
choose between a ring tone, a vibrating alert,
or a combination of both.
Multi-mode mobile phones
A
multi-mode (a.k.a. dual, tri or quad band)
mobile phone is a phone which is designed to
work on more than one GSM radio frequency. The
multi-mode case occurs mostly in GSM which
originated in the 900 MHz band, but expanded to
other bands including 1800 and 1900Mhz bands.
Some multi-mode phones can operate on analog
networks as well (e.g. dual band, tri-mode: AMPS
800 / CDMA 800 / CDMA 1900).
Multi mode phones have been valuable to enable
roaming but are now becoming most important in
allowing the introduction of WCDMA without
customers having to give up the wide coverage of
GSM. Almost every single true 3G phone sold is
actually a WCDMA/GSM dual-mode mobile. This is
also true of 2.75G phones such as those based on
CDMA-2000 or EDGE.
The special challenge involved in producing a
multi-mode mobile is in finding ways to share
the components between the different standards.
Obviously, the phone keypad and display should
be shared, otherwise it would be hard to treat
as one phone. Beyond that, though, there are
challenges at each level of integration. How
difficult these challenges are depends on the
differences between systems. The different
variants of the GSM system have only different
frequencies and so aren't even considered true
multi-mode phones but rather are called
multi-band phones. When talking about IS-95/GSM
multi-mode phones, for example, or AMPS/IS-95
phones, the base band processing is very
different from system to system. This leads to
real difficulties in component integration and
so to larger phones.
An interesting special case of multi-mode phones
is the WCDMA/GSM phone. The radio interfaces are
very different from each other, but mobile to
core network messaging has strong similarities,
meaning that software sharing is quite easy.
Probably more importantly, the WCDMA air
interface has been designed with GSM
compatibility in mind. It has a special mode of
operation, known as punctured mode, in which,
instead of transmitting continuously, the mobile
is able to stop sending for a short period and
try searching for GSM carriers in the area. This
mode allows for safe inter-frequency handovers
with channel measurements which can only be
approximated using "pilot signals" in other CDMA
based systems.
A final interesting case is that of mobiles
covering DS-WCDMA and MC-CDMA the 3G variant of
CDMA-2000. Initially, the chip rate of these
phones was incompatible. As part of the
negotiations related to patents, it was agreed
to use compatible chip rates. This should mean
that, despite the fact that the air and system
interfaces are quite different, even on a
philosophical level, much of the hardware for
each system inside a phone should be common with
differences being mostly confined to software.
Health controversy
Main article: Mobile phone radiation and health
As with many new technologies, concerns have
arisen about the effects on health from using a
mobile telephone. There is little scientific
evidence for an increase in certain types of
rare tumors in long-time, heavy users. More
recently a pan-European study provided
significant evidence of DNA damage under certain
conditions. So far, however, the World Health
Organization Task Force on EMF effects on health
has no definitive conclusion on the veracity of
these allegations. (see also Electromagnetic
radiation hazard).
Another controversial but perhaps more lethal
health concern is the correlation with
automobile accidents. Some countries, provinces
and states are considering banning hand mobile
phone use whilst driving or require that a
"hands-free" system be used. Many European
countries and New York already require a
"hands-free" device for mobile phone use in
vehicles.
Security concerns
Earlier
mobile phones were fairly simple and security
wasn't much of a concern, but in 2004, even
basic phones can send and receive text messages
which makes them vulnerable to attack by worms
and viruses. Advanced phones capable of e-mail
can be susceptible to viruses that can multiply
by sending messages through a phone's address
book. Of more important concern, a virus may
allow unauthorized users to access a phone to
find passwords or corporate data stored on the
device. Moreover, they can be used to commandeer
the phone to make calls or send messages at the
owner's expense. Unlike computers that are
restricted to only a few widespread operating
systems, cellular phones use a variety of
systems that require separate programs to be
designed in order to disable each one. While
reducing overall compatibilty from an
application design standpoint, this has the
beneficial effect of making it harder to design
a mass attack. However, the rise of cellular
phone operating system programming platforms
shared by many manufacturers such as Java,
Microsoft operating systems, Linux or Symbian
OS, may in the future change this status quo.
Bluetooth is a wireless communication feature
now found in many higher-end phones, and the
virus Cabir hijacked this function, sending
Bluetooth phones on a search-and-destroy mission
to infect other Bluetooth phones. In early
November 2004, several web sites began offering
a specific piece of software promising ringtones
and screensavers for certain phones. Those who
downloaded the software found that it turned
each icon on the phone's screen into a
skull-and-crossbones and disabled their phones,
so they could no longer send or receive text
messages or access contact lists or calendars.
The virus has since been dubbed "Skulls" by
security experts. The Commwarrior.A virus was
identified in March 2005, and it attempts to
replicate itself through MMS to others on the
phone's contact list. Like Cabir, Commwarrior.A
also tries to communicate via Bluetooth wireless
connections with other devices, which can
eventually lead to draining the battery. The
virus requires user intervention for propagation
however.
Mobile phone culture
In less
than twenty years, mobile telephones have gone
from being rare and expensive pieces of
equipment used by businesses to a pervasive
low-cost personal item. In many affluent
countries, mobile phones now outnumber land-line
telephones, with most adults and many children
now owning mobile phones. Mobile phone
penetration is increasing around the world; this
is particularly true of developing countries,
where there is little existing fixed-line
infrastructure.
With high levels of mobile telephone
penetration, a mobile phone culture has evolved,
where the mobile phone becomes a key social
tool, and people rely on their mobile phone
addressbook to keep in touch with their friends.
Many people keep in touch using SMS, and a whole
culture of "texting" has developed from this.
The mobile phone itself has become a totemic and
fashion object, with users decorating,
customizing, and accessorizing their mobile
phones to reflect their personality.
The capabilities of mobile phones are now being
expanded further, to become smartphones which
can adopt the roles of Internet browser, game
console, personal music player and personal
digital assistant.
Mobile etiquette has become an important issue
with mobiles ringing at funerals, weddings,
movies and plays. Users often speak at increased
volume, with the effect of nearby people hearing
personal conversations that they don't
necessarily want to hear.
Future prospects
There is a
great deal of active research and development
into mobile phone technology that is currently
underway. Some of the improvements that are
being worked on are:
One difficulty in adapting mobile phones to new
uses is form factor. For example, ebooks may
well become a distinct device, because of
conflicting form-factor requirements — ebooks
require large screens, while phones need to be
smaller. However, this may be solved using
folding e-paper or built-in projectors.
One function that will be useful in phones is
translation function. Currently it is only
available in stand-alone devices, such as Ectaco
translators.
mobile phones will include various speech
technologies as they are being developed. Many
phones already have rudimentary speech
recognition in a form of voice dialling. Of
particular interest will be real-time voice
translation (that must include speech
recognition, machine translation and speech
synthesis). However, more natural speech
recognition and translation in these devices
requires a drastic improvement in the state of
technology: the phone's processor must be faster
by several orders of magnitude with the phone
requiring far more internal memory, or new ways
of processing speech data must be found. Natural
language processing requires inordinately
powerful hardware.
developments in miniaturised hard disks to solve
the storage space issue, therefore opening a
window for phones to become portable music
libraries and players similar to the iPod.
the emergence of integration capabilities with
other unlicensed access technologies such as a
WiMAX and WLAN, as well as allowing handover
between traditional operator networks supporting
GSM, CDMA and UMTS to unlicensed mobile
networks.
further improvements in battery life will be
required. Colour screens and additional
functions put increasing demands on the device's
power source, and battery developments may not
proceed sufficiently fast to compensate.
However, different display technologies, such as
OLED displays, e-paper or retinal displays,
smarter communication hardware (directional
antennae, multi-mode and peer-to-peer phones)
may reduce power requirements, while new power
technologies such as fuel cells may provide
better energy capacity.
Speculative improvements in the future may be
inspired by an English team led by James Auger
and Jimmy Loizeau who in 2002, developed an
implant designed to be inserted into a tooth
during dental surgery. This device consists of a
radio receiver and transducer, which transmits
the sound via bone conduction through the
jawbone into the ear. Sound is transmitted via
radio waves from another device (ostensibly a
mobile phone) and received by the implant. The
implant is currently powered externally, given
that no current power source is small enough to
fit inside the tooth with it. In addition, the
implant was only designed to receive signals,
not transmit them. Directly tapping into the
inner ear or the auditory nerve is already
technologically feasible and will become
practical as surgical methods advance.
Terminology
Mobile
phone terms
Cell phone or cellular telephone
Term used currently in the United States and
during the 1980s to refer to most mobile phones.
This term applies specifically to mobile phones
which use a cellular network. In developing
mobile phone technology, American electrical
engineers saw the main technical problem as
achieving a smooth handoff from one radio
antenna to the next. After they gave the name
"cell" to the zone covered by each antenna, it
was a natural choice for them to apply the term
"cellular" to both the technology and the phones
that ran on it.
Clamshell
An unfolding oval shape resembling a shell
Handy
pronounced "Hendi", this is a pseudo-anglicism,
derived from the term Handy Talkie for a
handheld military radio, that is used in Germany
for a mobile phone (rare alternative spelling:
Händi). Similarly another pseudo-anglic term
Hand phone is used in South Korea.
Mobile phone
A term covering cellular phones, satellite
phones and any phones giving wide ranging
mobility.
Mobile
Short form of the above, a term in everyday
usage in some English speaking countries such as
the UK.
Satellite phone
A mobile phone which communicates with a
satellite rather than a land-based network.
Wireless phone
This is a term which is generally used to refer
to a mobile phone although it could legitimately
cover almost any phone which does not use a
wire.
3G phone
A mobile phone which uses a 3G network.
Related systems which
are not mobile phones
Cordless Phone (Portable Phone)
Cordless phones are standard telephones with
radio handsets. Unlike mobile phones, cordless
phones use private base stations that are not
shared between subscribers. The base station is
connected to a land-line.
Radio Phone
This is an term which covers radios which could
connect into the telephone network. These phones
may not be mobile, e.g. they may require a mains
power supply.
Professional Mobile Radio
Professional mobile radio systems are very
similar to mobile phone systems and attempts
have even been made to use TETRA, the
international digital PMR standard, to implement
public mobile networks, but normally PMR systems
are sufficiently separate from the phone network
to not really be considered phones but rather
radios.
Terms in other languages
In many
Asian countries they are called hand phones.
In Andorra, they are called mòbils.
In Australia, they are called mobiles.
In Belgium, they are called GSMs (Global System
for Mobile communications).
In Brazil, they are called celulares (singular
form celular).
In Canada, they are called cell phones or cells.
In Mainland China, they are called "show ji"
(hand machine) in Mandarin
In Czech Republic, they are called mobilní
telefony or simply mobily.
In Denmark, the device is called a mobiltelefon
or a mobil.
Users of Esperanto usually talk about
poŝtelefonoj ("pocket phones", pronounced
poshtelefonoy).
In Finland, they are called matkapuhelimet
(literally travel-phones, singular form
matkapuhelin) or kännykät (singular form
kännykkä, very close in meaning to the German
Handy), this Finnish word actually trademarked
by Nokia in 1987 but fallen into generic use and
would probably not be upheld any more if
contested in a court of law.
In France, they are called portable (literally
portable).
In Germany, they are called Handys.
In Hong Kong, they are called sau (hand) kei
(machine), in Cantonese.
In Hungary, they are called mobiltelefon or
simply mobil.
In Iceland, they are Called Farsími (Official
for all mobile phone systems), Gemsi (means
young sheep, referring to GSM), GSM-sími (For
phones using the GSM System), or NMT-sími (For
phones using the Nordic Mobile
Telephone-system).
In India, they are called cell phone and mobile
or just cell. Most cell phones in India are GSM
but there is also CDMA phones operated by Tata
Group and Reliance Infocomm.
In Indonesia, they are called Ponsel (telepon
selular, cellular phones), or HP (shortened from
Hand Phone, but pronounced ha-pe, not like HP in
English)
In Ireland they are called mobile short for
mobile phone, however in irish the states
offical language, they are called Fón Póca So-Gluiste
Literly meaning //phone-pocket-that-moves//
In Israel, they are called /pelefon/ (literally
wonder-phone), as derived from the first such
operator, or /najad/ (portable). But in formal
hebrew they are called /telefon selolari/(cellular
phone).
In Italy Telefonino (meaning small phone), or
Cellulare (short form for Telefono cellulare).
In Japan Keitai.
In the Netherlands mobieltjes.
In Malaysia and Singapore, they are commonly
called handphones.
In New Zealand, they are called mobiles.
In Norway, the device is called a mobil or
mobiltelefon.
In the Philippines, they are called cellphones.
In Puerto Rico, they are called cellulares.
In Poland, they are called komórki (singular
form komórka) or telefon komórkowy, meaning
cells/cellular phone.
In Portugal, they are called telemóveis
(singular form telemóvel).
In Romania, they are called telefon mobil (pl.
telefoane mobile), but the short form is more
common: mobil (mobile)
In Russia, they are called mobilny telefon (=
mobile phone), or mobilnik for short. Older
names are sotovy telefon (= cell phone) and
trubka (= handset).
In Somalia, they are called telefoonka gacanta
(literally "hand's phone").
In South Africa, they are called cellphones.
In Spain, they are called móviles in Spanish and
mòbils in Catalan.
In Sweden, they are called mobiltelefon or
sometimes called nalle, or teddy bear translated
to English, originally referring to the term
yuppie nalle since in the beginning only rich
yuppies could afford them and they showed them
off in a way that looked as they where carrying
a yuppie teddy bear, nowadays only nalle is used
representing that people always carry them
around and feel insecure if they misplace them,
like a child missing their teddy bear.
In Switzerland, they are called Natel.
In Thailand, they are called Meu Teu.
In the UK, they are called mobiles.
In the U.S., they are called cell phones or even
simply cells.
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