Mobile Devices

Mobile DevicesHandsets & Tablets

Class 3

Mobile Devices

History of Mobile Handsets• 1946 - 1st mobile telephone call in a delivery truck• 1973 - 1st portable cell phone call by Martin Cooper • 1st analog cellular system (1G) in 1978 • 1983 - 1st consumer handset introduced – Motorola DynaTAC 8000X received approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and become the world's first commercial handheld cellular phone. Cost $3995.• 1st digital cellular system (2G) in early 1990s

• CMDA in U.S.• GSM around the world

• The GSM set of standards was implemented in 1991, with 36 networks around 22 countries implementing the standard by 1993.• 1st GSM phone by Nokia in 1992

Mobile Devices

Types of Mobile DevicesBasic phone • These standard mobile devices don’t have too many bells and

whistles. With basic call and text messaging capabilities, typically these phones offer predictive text, calculators and alarm clocks, but these features and functions vary between handsets.

• All basic phones on the GSM network are voice, SMS and USSD enabled. Even though basic phones provide only entry level communication, GSM standards allow for marketing, advertising and even mobile payments.

• SIM cards are similar to banking cards in that they act as the gateway to an account and that chips used are encoded and can only be accessed with a four digit pin code.

• Payments can be made by an identification process or via SMS (which is handy for basic phones).

Mobile Devices

Types of Mobile DevicesFeature phone• Feature phones can be seen as the middle ground in the mobile

world, offering more capabilities than the basic send/receive cell phone and fewer freedoms than smartphones.

• These color screen phones cover the basics, as well as a couple of multimedia applications such as cameras or MP3 players, handy features such as calendars and additional storage capabilities to store the rich multimedia information.

• Most feature phones have WAP capabilities. What is WAP?

• Generally speaking, feature phones are also Java enabled, with Bluetooth and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) capabilities. They do make use of an alphanumeric keypad. An alphanumeric keypad has at least twelve keys with up to four letters sharing a key with a digit.

Mobile Devices

Types of Mobile DevicesSmartphone• iPhones, Blackberrys, PDAs and other so called ‘smartphone’

devices bridge the gap between modern technologies. They sport video and still cameras, recording devices, radios, music and video players, calculators, gaming devices and wallets. And they make calls and access the Internet.

• Smartphones have advanced operating systems, which are scaled down versions of desktop operating systems. The more popular systems include iPhone OS, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Linux on the Blackberry and the open source Google Android.

• These devices typically include full office suites for documents and spreadsheets, spelling and grammatical applications. They also feature full QWERTY keyboards, Global Positioning System (GPS), 3G/4G connectivity and larger screen sizes. With audio-visual multimedia capturing and editing software, and 12-16 megapixel cameras, it’s easy to see why these phones have grown in popularity.

Mobile Devices

Types of Mobile DevicesOther Types of PhonesCamera PhoneThe camera phone is similar to the basic mobile phone, however, it is

also equipped with a camera. These phones allow the user to take pictures and attach photos to text messages.

Music PhoneAllow the user to play music of their choice. MP3 media files may be

loaded onto the phone via a USB device or memory card. This type of phone is a good option for individuals who do not own an MP3 player.

Video PhoneA video phone allows the user to capture videos and play them back on

their phone. These videos may also be attached to text messages. PDA PhoneA PDA, also known as Personal Digital Assistant, is a type of cellular

phone designed to allow the user to perform a wide variety of activities. They provide basic phone functions along with Web capabilities, email, text and instant messaging, media viewing and video conferencing.

Mobile Devices

Types of Mobile DevicesTabletsSmaller than a laptop and bigger than a Smartphone, the tablet can

browse the Internet, create and share presentations, videos conference with clients, stay connected with email, download books, games and videos, watch movies, and share photos.

Android or Apple? An important tablet feature is the operating system, otherwise known as a

'platform'. There are currently three choices available, Android, BlackBerry, and Apple.

Mobile Devices

Types of Mobile DevicesTabletsInternet access options:Wi-Fi connectivity is a standard feature of all tablets. Wi-Fi connections

enable you to make use of your tablet's standout feature supreme portability and complete web accessibility wherever there is a Wi-Fi signal in your home or workplace, mall, restaurants, and coffee shops.

3G and 4G connectivity are other options that enable surfing anywhere there is a cellular telephone network. You'll find such access particularly useful for any apps with GPS related functions, such as maps.

Most tablets also incorporate Bluetooth technology. This enables your tablet to wirelessly transfer data to and from your computer or other peripherals such as keyboards, speakers or a mouse.

Mobile Devices

Types of Mobile DevicesTabletsTablet screen size, memory and camerasThe tablet display or screen is one of the most important features to

consider. Most screens come out somewhere between 7" and 11". This is the diagonal distance between corners.

Memory is expressed as GB (gigabytes). Memory is the amount of storage available on your tablet to save files such as documents, video files and photographs. Tablets start at 16GB and can go up to 64GB. If you are going to listen to a lot of music and watch a lot of movies consider a tablet with 32GB or more of storage.

More and more tablets now incorporate cameras, enabling you to not only capture images, but also to use in video conferencing, or video conversations. Different tablets have different systems some have only a single camera, while others have both forward and backward-facing cameras. Things to bear in mind here are the resolution of the camera and whether it has a zoom, a flash or autofocus feature.