Glossary of Mobile Phone Jabber

3G

3G is an abbreviation for third-generation and is used to refer to the latest and fastest carrier networks and phones. In theory, 3G networks can push more data to a 3G phone, which should allow consumers to stream music and videos over the air as well as download huge files in no time at all. Think about this as broadband for mobile phones.

EVDO

EVDO stands for Evolution Data Optimized. EVDO provides fast wireless broadband access, aka 3G. You can use an EVDO PC card in your laptop to get high speed wireless connection anywhere an EVDO network exists. Verizon is the leading provider of EDVO network coverage and they are using it for their new VCAST service which works with several handsets. This article explains in great detail.

CDMA

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is one of two major standard digital phone technologies (the other being GSM). Although less popular abroad, CDMA is the standard adopted by Verizon Wireless and Sprint in the U.S. Although a standard each carrier may implement CDMA differently, which is why CDMA phones from one carrier may not work with another.

GSM

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is one of two major standard digital phone technologies (the other being CDMA). All European carriers as well as carriers in other countries leverage this standard. Of the four major U.S. carriers only Cingular and T-Mobile use GSM. Although a standard, each carrier may implement GSM differently, which is why GMA phones from one carrier may not work with another. Phones that use GSM store contact information on a chip that can easily be interchanged with other GSM-based phones. This makes it super-easy to change phones.

Internet Access

Internet or web-based access through your mobile phone's web browser is what it seems. As long as you have what's referred to as a WAP-enabled phone, you can surf the web just like you can through your computer. For most phones and networks today, however, the service is s-l-o-w. It can take a long time to load pages and be a frustrating experience. You'll also need to pay for it. All carriers charge an incremental flat fee to access this functionality. Unfortunately, most carriers try to limit customers to their walled garden of services. For an analogy just think about AOL did early on in the internet by trying to keep its members within its domain. They do this to make more money. For example, carriers make far more money if you buy a ringtone from their service than a third-party site. Ultimately, this doesn't serve the consumer since most of the innovation is happening outside the carriers. You may have to look hard, but carriers do allow a way to go out into the rough and tumble land of the mobile internet. Out there in can be a scary place though. First, most sites aren't configured for internet browsing on your tiny handset display. Second, you'll need to learn a new url for the site. For example, it's not just www.amazon.com anymore, it's www.amazon.com/phone.

So what's so good about mobile internet access? Mostly it's the promise of what's to come, especially when network speed improves. In the meantime, there are a few sites that do a reasonable job with their services and there are a few really cool applications that leverage web-based access, like accessing email through your phone.

Ringbacks

Ringbacks are less common than their cousin, the ringtone. Ringbacks are the "rings" that people calling you will hear instead of the standard ringing tones. It's a neat feature, but it can cause confusion on the part of callers if they've never encountered a ringback before. They might even think that they've been placed on hold and hang-up.

Ringtones

Ringtones are customizable tones, sounds or songs that play when your phone rings. Undoubtedly you've probably heard a riff from the latest pop song in lieu of a traditional ring from a friend's mobile phone. Well, that's a ringtone. Ringtones range from funny farm animal sounds to top 40 music hits to outright offensive bodily noises. The great thing about ringtones is that you can assign different rings to different callers. For example, you can program the ring you hear when your wife calls to be different than when your work colleague calls.

There are three types of ringtones: monophonic, polyphonic and realtones. Monophonic tones are single-toned rings that can play one note at a time. They are the poorest quality of the three types. One step up are polyphonic tones, which can play up to 128 instrumental sounds simultaneously and come closer to reproducing songs and sounds. The best quality are realtones. Realtones are actual audio files like MP3, WMA, WAV, etc. whose sound quality is just as good and authentic as you would find on any MP3 player (assuming the phones speakers are decent). Phones vary in their ability to support each of these different ringtone types. Always check to see your phone's compatibility before going wild purchasing ringtones.

SMS (Short Message Service)

Short Message Service, also referred to as SMS or more informally as text messaging is much more than a stealth way to pass messages back and forth. Today there are several services available that provide many useful (and some less useful) services. The flow of information is all text based, and as the name implies, those text messages are short--only about 160 characters per message. Some services overcome this limitation by breaking a large message into several smaller ones.

As far as information retrieval, SMS has several advantages over other forms. You don't need to subscribe to an internet package or have web access from your mobile phone carrier. Pretty much all phones these days have text messaging capability out of the box. Also, most of the services described throughout this website don't charge a fee. However, be aware that carriers charge as much as $0.10 a message unless you have a special text messaging package as part of your service. Still, this is cheap for information retreival, like directory assistance, when most carriers charge $1.30 plus airtime for the same service. (SMS doesn't use any of your plan minutes). Finally, the results are pretty immediate. While there may be several seconds of latency before receiving a response to your inquiry, it sure beats waiting for a internet connections through your mobile phone.

Smartphones

Smartphones are mobile phones that also serve as a small computer, providing advanced calendar and address book functionality that can synch with your PC. The most popular smartphones are based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile or Palm Operating Systems, although phones are starting to come out on alternative operatings sytems, like Symbian and Linux. The Audiovox SMT5600 and Palm Treo 650 are examples of smartphones.

Software Applications

Software applications are interactive computer programs that can be downloaded to your mobile phone. Most mobile phone software developers use a platform agnostic language like Java to get the widest distribution for their applications. Because cell phones don't have a lot of memory, the applications available for today's mobile phones are quite simple (think about the programs running on your computer 20 years ago). The most common applications are games. However, there are a lot of productivty tools available for your mobile phone, like tip calculators, dictionaries and others.