Cell Phone Basic Glossary

Here's a simple list of words if you are new to cell phone terminology. I know when we go looking to buy a cell phone, we have no idea what they are talking about. Technology is advancing so quickly, and when something new comes out, they have already created more new terms.

Bluetooth Wireless - Personal Area Network (PAN) standard that enables data connections between electronic devices such as desktop computers, wireless phones, electronic organizers and printers in the 2.4 GHz range at 720kbps within a 30-foot range. Bluetooth depends on mobile devices equipped with a chip for sending and receiving information.

Call Transfer - Enables you to transfer a caller to another number.

Call Waiting - If your line is busy, callers are asked to wait while you are alerted to their incoming call.

Caller ID - An enhanced feature that displays a caller's phone number on the wireless handset receiving the call. Many systems are adding the caller's name to the caller ID.

Calling Plan - A rate plan selected by subscribers when they start up cellular service, usually consisting of a base rate for system access and a per-minute rate for usage. Service plans are designed to provide the most cost-effective rates for different types and amounts of usage by the cellular subscriber.

CMRS - Commercial Mobile Radio Service - An FCC designation for any carrier or licensee whose wireless network is connected to the public switched telephone network and/or is operated for profit.

CSTN - Color Super Twist Nematic - an LCD technology developed by Sharp Electronics Corporation. Unlike TFT, CSTN is based on a passive matrix, which is less expensive to produce. The original CSTN displays developed in the early 90's suffered from slow response times and ghosting. Recent advances in the technology, however, have made CSTN a viable alternative to active-matrix displays. New CSTN displays offer 100ms response times, a 140 degree viewing angle, and high-quality color rivaling TFT displays - all at about half the cost. A newer passive-matrix technology called High-Performance Addressing (HPA) offers even better response times and contrast than CSTN

EDGE - Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution - The final evolution of data communications within the GSM standard. Based on 8PSK modulation, EDGE provides 3G packet data throughput on GSM networks, and uses a new modulation scheme to enable data throughput speeds of up to 384kbit/s using existing GSM infrastructure.
EMS - Enhanced Message Service - A new and improved format of Short Message Service (SMS) pushed by Alcatel, Ericsson, Motorola and Siemens. EMS has enhanced features such as over the air daton and, and messages with fix icons. EMS is an open standard, which means that these new picture messages will be cross-phone compatible and every phone manufacturer can use the format. But Nokia, the largest phone maker, refuses to join the initiative, rather concentrating on the more evolved MMS system.
ESMR - Enhanced Specialized Mobile Radio - Digital SMR networks that provide dispatch, voice, and messaging and data services.
ETSI - European Telecommunications Standards Institute

GPRS - General Packet Radio Service - A GSM data transmission technique that does not set up a continuous channel from a portable terminal for the transmission and reception of data, but transmits and receives data in packets. GPRS is used to boost wireless data transmission over GSM networks. GPRS can achieve 171.2 kilobits per second (kbps), which is about three times as fast as the data transmission speeds possible over today's fixed telecommunications networks and ten times as fast as current GSM networks. Unlike existing digital wireless Net connections, no dial-up modem is necessary.

GSM 1800 - or DCS 1800 or PCN - A digital network working on a frequency of 1800 MHz. It is used in Europeand Australia.
GSM 1900 - or PCS 1900 - A digital network working on a frequency of 1900 MHz. It is used in the US and Canada and is scheduled for parts of Latin America and Africa.
GSM 900 - The world's most widely used digital network and now operating in over 100 countries around the world, particularly in Europe and Asia Pacific

Hz - Hertz - A unit of measurement of one cycle per second when one radio wave passes one point in one second of time. Named in honor of Heinrich Hertz, the physicist who developed the theory of radio waves.

LCD - Liquid crystal display - a type of displ cell phones, capable of displayingmonochrome characters and some pictures. The LCD has low energy requirements and uses dark segments against a lighter background for easy viewing in all lighting conditions. Color LCD displays use two basic techniques for producing color: Passive matrix is the less expensive of the two technologies. The other technology, called thin film transistor (TFT) or active-matrix, produces color images that are as sharp as traditional CRT displays, but the technology is expensive.

LED - Light emitting diode - a semiconductor device that illuminates when electricity passes through it. Often used as an indicator light, or to spell out words and numbers. LEDs come in many colors, and some LEDs contain multiple elements and are therefore capable of multiple colors. Provides good visibility in direct sunlight and in darkness.

MMS - Multimedia Message Services - Extends text messaging to include longer text, graphics, photos, audio clips, video clips, or any combination of the ertain size limits. MMS is frequently used to send photos and videos from camera phones to other MMS phones or email accounts. Many newer MMS phones also support SMIL, which allows various parts of an MMS message to be arranged into a small multimedia "slideshow" to be viewed on another SMIL-capable MMS phone.

PIM - Personal Information Manager - Also known as a contact manager. It is a form of software that logs personal and business information, such as contacts, appointments, lists, notes, occasions, etc.

Service Plan - When choosing a wirvice its the rate plan you select. A service plan typically consists of a monthly base rate for access to the system and a fixed amount of minutes per month. Service plans are designed to provide the most cost-effective rates for different types and amounts of usage by the cellular subscriber.

SIM Card - A small printed circuit board that must be inserted in any GSM-based mobile phone when signing on as a subscriber. It contains subscriber details, security informatioor a personal directory of numbers. The card can be a small plug-in type or sized as a credit-card but has the same functionality. The SIM card also stores data that identifies the caller to the network service provider

Situational Lights - A feature that lets you light colors for various types of calls displayed on a large, high-resolution 176 x 220 pixel, 65,000 color interior screen.

Smart Card - A plastic card containing important data about a person's identity to allow access to a network or premises. Also, a card containing subscriber information, often inserted into GSM phones for roaming in different countries.
Smart Phone - A class of wireless phone handsets with many features, and often a keyboard. What makes the phone "smart" is its ability to ha only voice calls.

SMS - Short Message Service - available on digital GSM networks allowing text messages of up to 160 characters to be sent and received via the network operator's message center to your mobile phone, or from the Internet, using a so-called SMS gateway website. If the phone is powered off or out of range, messages are stoork and are delivered at the next opportunity.

TDMA - Time Division Multiple Access - A method of digital wireless communications transmission allowing a large number of users to access a single radio-frequency channel without interference. Each user is given a unique time slot within each channel. SMS Mobile Originate has now gone live on several TDMA networks around the world including Telecom New Zealand, Midwest Wireless USA, Algar Telecom Brazil and Cellcom Israel. Other TDMAors such as AT&T Wireless in the U.S. have launched SMS nationally.

Tri-Band - A network infrastructure or wireless phone designed to operate in three frequency bands: 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 1800MHz. Phones that work on three modes GSM, TDMA and analog.

Voice Activation - A convenient safety feature that allows a subscriber to dial a phone by voice instead of physically punching in the numbers.
Voice Recognition - The capability for cellular phones, PCs and other communications devices to be activated or controlled by voice commands.

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System - The goal of UMTS is to enable networks that offer true global roaming and can support a wide range of voice, data and multimedia services. A new-generation technology for rapidly moving data and multimedia over wireless devices.

UWCC - Universal Wireless Communications Consortium - An industry group supporting TDMA and WIN technology.

UWC-136 -y path for both the old analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) and the second-generation TIA/EIA-136 technologies, which were designed specifically for compatibility with AMPS. UWC-136 ran technology proposes a low-cost incremental, evolutionary deployment path for both AMPS and TIA/EIA operators. The technology is tolerant of the frequency band in which it is deployed: 500 MHz to 2.5 GHz.

Voice Activation - Voice Activated Dialing - A convenient safety feature that allows a subscriber to dial a phone by voice instead of physically punching in the numbers.
Voice Recognition - The capability for cellular other communications devices to be activated or controlled by voice commands.

WCDMA - Wideband CDMA - Designed for high-speed data services and more particularly, internet-based packet-data offering up to 2Mbps in stationary or office environments, and up to 384Kbps in wide area or mobile environments.

WAP - Wireless Application Protocol - A wireless communications environment for delivering web data to wireless terminals with minimal screen display. WAP strips all but graphics for display on small screens, such as mobile phones. A mini-browser is an integral part of WAP enabled phones.

WCS - Wireless Communications Services - The variety of services available using frequencies in the 2.3 GHz band for general fixed wireless use.
WIM - Wireless Instant Messaging - Bridges the gap between wired and wireless networks. Seamlessly allows a desktop user to instantly send a message to a handset.
WIN - Wireless Intelligent Network - The architecture needed to match the capabilities of the wireline intelligent network. In addition to transparent roaming, selective call screening, short message service and pre-paid billing are features that a WIN can provide.
WML/WMLScript - Wireless Markup Language/Script - The languages used to create WAP pages. WML is similar to the way HTML is used to create web pages and WMLScript is based on JavaScript. Both are adapted and optimized for a wireless environment (compression to save bandwidth).

WNG - Wireless Networking Capabilities - add to your office, you can get down to the business of actually setting up your wireless network. It's easier than you might think. You need to understanding the equipment involved in a wireless network.
WLAN - Wireless Local Area Network - equipment that consists of two main components: A wireless client is any device capable of communicating over a wireless LAN e.g. notebook, printer or handheld. Access points act as the data go-between for your wireless clients and the hardwired network. The access point is generally about the size of a book and contains a radio transceiver, communications and encryption software, and an Ethernet port for a cable connection to the wired LAN.