These are the first-generation systems in mobile
telephony. They were analogue and circuit-switched systems which had poor voice
links and unreliable hand-off. They also exhibited low capacity and even-lower security.
These are Second generation of mobile wireless system that uses various
digital encoding protocols including GSM, TDMA, CDMA, iDEN, and PDC. 2G networks
are used around the world at present. Apart from good communication, 2G offers auxiliary
services such as fax, data and SMS along with different levels of encryption.
This is the intermediate step between 2G and 3G network, and comes with
higher-capacity data transmission capability compared to the existing 2G networks.
Additional features like GPRS, HSCSD, EDGE, etc. are also availed in this system.
Third Generation Network is one among the latest evolutions in mobile
phone technology. 3G protocols support much higher data rates intended for applications
other than voice. 3G supports high bandwidth applications like video-conferencing
, full-motion video and full Internet access. Mobile broadband and 2-way video calling
are added advantages of 3G.
It is the IEEE standards for wireless LANs, and
comes with specifications for 24mbps,11mbps, 2mbps and 1mbps.
It is generally known as conference calling.
Three or more people can be connected together on single phone call, where all of
them can talk and listen at the same time.
It is the acronym of Advanced Mobile Phone System.
It is a first generation standard that works in the frequency band of 800-900 MHz.
It is still widely used in the US.
It refers to Assisted GPS, and triangulation
technique is used in this system to get a fast access on the current location. In
triangulation method, the mobile phone will judge your location to within hundred
metres by estimating your distance from the nearest three mobile phone aerials in
that area. The distance from each aerial determined to record the particular location.
A-GPS offers a faster fix which gifts better end user experience too.
It is the abbreviated form of Advanced Audio
Coding. Being the successor of MP3, AAC is a music format that offers ace sound
quality without using extra memory.
It is mainly employed for measuring acceleration.
In a mobile phone, it notices the motion of the handset and will tilt the display
automatically to display the screen accordingly when rotated in 90 degrees. It is
quite helpful while viewing photos on the phone.
One of the simplest ways to transmit speech.
Voice signals are translated into electronic signals of different frequency and/or
amplitude. 1G system was an analogue network. AMPS, NMT and ETACS are other instances
of analogue networks.
It refers to an operating system exclusively
for mobile phones and is developed by Google. This Operating system is faster, and
is more stable and easy to use than existent mobile phone operating systems.
Audio Output Jack
A port commonly found in mobile phones where the client can use normal headset with
the phone to listen to music, instead of using the phone specific set. Most of the
present day headphones comes with 3.5mm connectors.
It refers to the ability of camera phone lens
to focus in on a particular object without any manual operations. It gives pictures
with better clarity and sharpness than that provided by fixed focus camera phones.
It refers to the capability of a Telecom line
to convey signals. The greater the bandwidth, the more is the capability of the
Telecom line to transmit data.
It is a device that stores power, which can be
used by the mobile gadget to meet its energy requirements. Mobile phones comes with
The period of time the battery can keep the mobile phone powered up. For mobile
phones battery life is determined with two constraint parameters; talk-time and
stand-by time. Talk-time refers to the period of time the battery can support calls.
It is generally measured in hours. Standby time is the time-span a battery can retain
the charge when not in use. It is generally measured in days.
It is the wireless technology that allows connections between compatible electrical
devices. Wire-free data exchange is also possible using blue-tooth. It is a short
range technology, and has an operation range of 10meters.
It is the fundamental radio transmitter/receiver that preserves communication with
mobile phones within the cell site.
It is the elementary form of digital data, and
can be either 0(OFF) or 1(ON).
One byte is equivalent to 8 bits.
It refers to the bits transmitted per second. It includes the quantitative measure
of data(bits) that can be transmitted or received per second. It indicates the data
transfer speed of a mobile phone.
It refers to the communications medium that is able to transmit a large amount of
data over a particular period of time. It can also be considered as the collective
term for developing digital technologies which offers integrated access to voice,
video-demand services, high-speed data service, and interactive delivery services.
It refers to the package of telecommunication
services either wireless or wired ones. A bundled package comes mainly with cellular,
long distance, Internet and paging services.
It is a type of form-factor or shape of the mobile phone, and comes with a single
panel in which screen and keypad is included.
It helps the user to restrict or block some or
all incoming and outgoing calls in the mobile phone. Call barring is activated with
a personal code as a password.
This service helps the users to divert incoming
calls to another phone or answering service.
This feature aids you to put one caller on hold
and answer or make a second call simultaneously.
This feature is same as that of call barring, and helps you to filter unnecessary
calls and calling services like outgoing international calls, incoming calls from
a particular number, etc.
This service helps you to transfer a call/caller
to another number.
This service will ask the caller to wait in the line when your number is busy, and
alerts you of the second call.
This feature shows a caller’s phone number on
the mobile phone while receiving the call.
It is the tariff plan selected by subscribers when they start up a contract with
the cellular service. It offers the most cost-effective rates for several types
and amounts of usage by the cellular subscriber.
It refers to the Code Division Multiple Access
Technology. It is a digital wire-free telephony transmission technique that permits
multiple frequencies to be used simultaneously. In 2G mobile telephony, CDMA standards
used are IS-95.
It is the most elementary geographic unit of
a cellular system. It is the basic block of the cellular services. Any geographical
region(city/country) can be divided into smaller “cells,” and each equipped with
a low-power radio transmitter or receiver. These cells can differ in size depending
upon terrain, capacity demands, etc.
It is a wireless device that transmits and receives
signals using RF(radio frequency) energy in the 800-900 Megahertz frequency band.
It is the position where the wireless antenna
and network communication equipments are placed. A cell site has a transmitter or
receiver, transmission radios , antenna tower and radio controllers, and is operated
by a WSP(Wireless Service Provider).
It is the process of improvising the coverage
and capacity of the wireless system by installing more cell sites over a particular
region. Each cell site covers a smaller area, and has lower power MHz. Hence it
ensures re-usability of frequencies more times in a larger geographic coverage area,
such as a city or MTA. Cell splitting is done for optimising the high wireless requirements.
It is the term used to elaborate mobile phone
communications. The wireless telephone network is called ‘cellular’ since the system
uses many BS(base stations) to divide a service area into multiple ‘cells’.
Cellular Base Station
It is the transceiver equipment, including the
BS(base station) antenna, that connects a cellular phone to the network. It is also
called a cell site.
Cellular Digital Packet Data
It refers to the enhanced packet overlay used
to transmit and receive data in analog cell phone networks . In this technology
data files are broken into a number of packets and sent along the idle channels
of existing cellular voice networks. CDPD offers19.2 Kbps and is distributed by
AT&T among several other carriers.
It is the technique that has made large scale
mobile telephony a reality. At present cellular networks reuse the same radio frequencies
by assigning them to cells separated optimally to reduce interference.
It refers to an electromagnetic, electrical,
or optical path for communication between two distinct points.
It refers to the shape or form-factor of the
mobile phone. Two panels are attached together at a hinge in a clamshell model,
and is popularly known as “flip mobile phones”.
It is the service provided by the telecom providers
in which the user take out a 12 or 18 month contract along with the phone. For taking
the contract, and paying their bills telecom organisations will offer the phone
for free. However contracts are subjected to identification proofs and credit check.
The calls are billed monthly in contract unlike the pre-pay scheme.
It refers to the particular area in which a mobile
phone can make and receive calls.
It refers to the organisations that provides
services to mobile phone users and network operators. These services include web
surfing, shopping, playing games, chat rooms, accessing data such as music and books
through a server.
It refers to the interference in the wire-free
communication systems caused by other conversations in nearby cells using the same
It is a process method of encoding information
from electrical pulses using binary codes of 0s and 1s.Since digital signals consist
of binary streams, less information is needed to carry a message, thereby increasing
the capacity of a given radio frequency.
It refers to a feature of a camera phone lens. The ability of the camera phone to
enhance part of a picture, and to make the perception that one has ‘zoomed in’ on
the object. In reality, a part of the picture is cropped and the rest is enhanced
to full size. However the picture quality is affected with the digital zoom.
It is a functionality available on certain mobile phones which allows the handset
to operate using either the 800 MHz cellular or the 1900 MHz PCS frequencies.
It is the feature on certain mobile phones which permits the handset to operate
on both analog and digital networks.
It indicates the telecommunication path from satellite to the ground. It is also
known as the reverse link.
It refers to Enhanced Data Rates For GSM Evolution.
This enhanced modulation technique improvises the network capacity and data rates
in GSM networks. It can also be considered as an alternative to 3G, as it provides
faster transfer rates even if there is no 3G coverage in that particular area.
It is the acronym for Extended Total Access Communications System. It is a first
generation mobile network developed in UK and is used in Europe as well as Asia.
Electronic Serial Number is the unique identification
number embedded in each mobile phone by the manufacturer. It has a pivotal role
in the functioning of the mobile phone. ESN is checked electronically to help prevent
fraud in wireless communication system.
It refers to the ability of the integrated camera in a mobile phone to detect and
focus on people’s faces automatically.
Federal Communications Commission
It is the federal government agency in Washington.
They regulates telecommunications in the US, including commercial and private wireless
It is the technology in which fine and transparent lines are used for the transmission
of data. The data to be transmitted is digitally encoded into light pulses.
This technology is developed by Apple, tand has
gained prevalence as very fast external bus for transferring data between compatible
devices; It is also known as IEEE 1394.
Fixed Cellular Terminal
It is a mobile widget that allows fixed telephony
devices like PBX Telephone Systems to access GSM Mobile Phone Network directly.
Devices like Ericsson F251M comes with various services that provides voice, fax
and data over the GSM network.
It is a type of storage device that can retain data without using any power.
It indicates the build or form factor of the
mobile phone. In a flip model, the two panels are attached in a hinge. It is also
reputed as “Clamshell mobile phones”.
It refers to the shape or build of the mobile
It is a packet-based interface mainly used for
transmitting bursts of data over a wide-area network. However it is not used frequently
for voice signals.
It refers to the number of vibrations/oscillations
of the radio waves per unit time. It is usually expressed in cycles per second or
Frequency Modulation (FM)
It is a signalling method that changes the carrier
signal’s frequency proportional to the amplitude of the modulating signal.
It is the capability of the network to use same frequencies several times across
a cellular system. The advantage of frequency reuse is the ability to handle a huge
number of calls with a limited number of channels.
It is defined as the node that connects two different
It is the acronym for Gigabytes, and is considered
as the measurement of memory storage. 1GB is equivalent to 1024MB.
Acronym for Global Positioning system; It is
the technology that helps a user to calculate the location with the help of data
collected from satellites. This technology was launched by the U.S. and consists
of 24 satellites for identifying earth locations, Triangulation method is used in
General Packet Radio Service was the first high
speed data service introduced in the mobile telephony service. Some of the advantages
of this radio technology is the addition of packet-switching protocols, reduced
set-up time for ISP connections, and the billing by amount of data sent rather than
It is the acronym for Global Standard for Mobile
communications. It is a digital standard used by mobile networks across the globe.
It is now one of the world’s main 2G digital wireless standards. GSM is a TDM(time
division multiplex) system, and is implemented on 800, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz frequency
It is the technique by which the MTSO(Mobile
Telephone Switching Office) passes a cellular phone conversation from one RF(radio
frequency) in one cell to another RF(radio frequency) in another. The handoff must
be done swiftly and must be imperceptible for the users.
It is one of the most prevalent feature included
in most of contemporary mobile phones. It can be considered as a safety features
since drivers can use their cellular phone without lifting or holding the hand-set
to their ear.
It is the unit of frequency, and is the measurement
of one cycle per second when one radio wave passes one point in one second of time.
Home Location Register (HLR)
It is a database present in the local wireless network. It has service profiles
and also checks the identity of a local subscriber.
It is the acronym for High Speed Circuit-Switched
Data (HSCSD). It is a method for providing faster internet access via older 2G mobile
phone networks. It is used only by Orange in the UK and is outdated with the début
of 3G networks and HSDPA.
It is the abbreviation of High Speed Download
Packet Access (HSDPA) and is more popularly known as mobile broadband. It offers
a high speed method of downloading data across a 3G mobile phone network.
It is the abbreviated form of High Speed Upload
Packet Access and is a complementary service to HSDPA. HSUPA boosts HSDPA by providing
high quality mobile broadband upload speeds apart from the usual faster download
It is a patented packet-based information service
for mobile phones. I-mode is a prevalent technology in Japan, and supplies information
like mobile banking, train timetable, etc. to mobile phones. It also enables exchange
of email from these hand-held mobile phones on the PDC-P network.
IM is the short form for Instant Messaging. Many
contemporary handsets is compatible with instant messaging of one kind or another.
However high-end handsets that support access to services like Windows Live and
Yahoo Messenger are being launched of late.
IMAP denotes Internet Message Access Protocol.
IMAP is a type of transmission of electronic mails. IMAP holds the message online
with the help of your internet server, and you can download the header and sender
information alone in the beginning. After knowing the sender information, you can
choose whether to download the full email or leave it on the server to be accessed
from a PC later.
IMEI stands for International Mobile Equipment
Identity. Every mobile phone has this unique serial number, and is generally found
printed under the phone battery. IMEI number can be used to identify the phone if
it is stolen, and networks can use the number to block the mobile phone.
It is the functionality implemented in the latest
camera mobile phones to stabilise the image while capturing photograph. This results
in clear and sharp pictures. A number of techniques are employed to overcome the
image blurs due to the camera shakes and slow shutter speed in cameras having image
It refers to the built-in storage space in the mobile phone. It is usually expressed
in Megabytes. However some of the latest mobile phones with advanced memory chip
technology, comes with higher internal memory of the order of GB.
it is the ability to connect one network with another. For instance, a cellular
carrier’s wireless network with the local exchange can be interconnected.
It is the capability of a network to operate and be compatible with other networks,
like two systems based on dissimilar protocols or technologies.
It stands for Intelligent Roaming Database. The
database contains a list of acceptable and unacceptable networks for a mobile phone
to roam with stored either on a SIM card or in the phone.
It is the abbreviated form of Infra-red Data Association. It contains a set of protocols
that define the method of data exchange between devices using infra-red technology.
It is the standard adopted for CDMA technology
in wireless telephony.
It is an Industry based object-oriented language
and virtual machine developed by Sun Microsystems. It is an ideal language for network
applications and applets. Sun’s Java specifications include Java-Phone API and Personal
Java platform, that are included in Symbian OS.
It is a Java Application Program Interface specification that control contacts,
power management, call control, and phone book management, mainly for the programmability
requirements of cell phones.
It stands for Java Telephony API; and it is an
extensible API which provides an interface to all call control services. It is a
part of the JavaPhone API.
It stands for kilobytes per second, and is used
to indicate the speed of data transfer.
It is the core of an operating system. It deals
with the machine’s hardware resources and has higher privilege than other programs
like user-mode programs
It refers to the conventional wired phone service.
In land line telephony, voice, video and data transmission technology relies on
wires, and hence it is also called wireline.
LCD is the abbreviated form of Liquid Crystal
Display technology and is mainly used for mobile phone screens.
LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. LED’s are
commonly used in mobile phones as flash to enhance the image quality captured in
the low lighting conditions.Although LED flashed are not powerful as the less used
Xenon Flash, the lower power consumption is the major advantage of LED.
Most of the mobile phones come with LEDs beneath their screens which light up when
the phone is in use. This is of great help while operating the mobile phone in dimly
Lithium Ion Battery
It is the light-weight battery than conventional
ones, and have relatively longer cycle life. Another advantage of Li-Ion battery
is the fact that they do not suffer from memory effect.
Local Calling Area
It refers to the geographical region that a customer
may call without receiving extra toll charges.
It stands for Megabits per second, and is a measure
of speed of digital data transfer. It is equivalent to 106 bits per second.
It is the measure of screen resolution of the
camera or the screen in mobile phones. 1 MegaPixel is equal to 106 pixels.
Memory Expansion Slot
Electronic gadgets like mobile phones, digital cameras, etc. are furnished with
slots into which memory cards can be inserted for storing information. The slots
comes with an expandable storage capacity of upto 32GB.
A microSD card is a type of memory card, that
can be inserted into the memory slot(SD Card Slot) provided in mobile phones. It
is intended for data storage.
It stands for Mobile Information Device Profile.
It consist of a set of Java APIs which are generally implemented on the Connected
Limited Device Configuration (CLDC).
It is the abbreviated form of Mobile Identification
Number. It helps to identify a mobile unit within a wireless carrier’s network accurately.
MIN is different from ESN, however both the numbers can be used for electronic check
to prevent the fraud.
It is the acronym for Multimedia Messaging Service.
MMS is a communication service that helps to send multimedia files like video clips,
pictures, audio files, etc.
Modem is the abbreviation of modulator and demodulator.
It is a device that interfaces between the traditional telephone network and the
handset. It also converts the analogue voice signals to digital signals and vice-versa.
It is a wire-free internet access technology,
that connects to the internet anytime , anywhere. Most of the latest mobile phones
have this technology integrated into them.
Mobile Satellite Service
It refers to the communications transmission
service offered by satellites. A single satellite can cover a vast area, even a
MP3 is a short form of MPEG Layer-3. MPEG is
the abbreviation of Moving Pictures Expert Group, and refers to the group that regulates
MPEG audio/video technology. MP3 permits digital audio files to be highly compressed,
and it also retains a permissible level of audio quality
It stands for Mobile Telephone Switching Office.
It is the central switch that controls the entire functioning of a cellular system.
It can be explained as a complicated computer which monitors all cellular calls.
It also keeps a track of the location of all cellular-equipped vehicles travelling
in the system, assures timely hand-offs, and also follow up the billing information.
It refers to the distortion of the signal when it is reflected from nearby surfaces
on its way to a receiver.
It refers to any system which was designed to
offer one or more access paths for communication between users at different geographical
regions. Communication networks may be designed for various domains like text, voice,
fax, data and video.
It refers to a company with authorisation and
certification to provide wireless telephony services to the customers. BT, Orange,
3, Vodafone, Virgin Media, etc. are some of the network operators in UK.
It is the acronym for Near Field Communication.
This short distance wireless data exchange technology enabled data transfer between
two NFC compatible devices when placed at a distance less than 10cm from each other.
Nickel Cadmium Battery
It is a re-chargeable battery that generally lasts for 700 charge and discharge
Nickel Metal Hydride Battery
It is a re-chargeable battery with more power retaining capacity compared to the
NiCd battery. However it is more expensive than a NiCd battery.
It is also known as Nordic Mobile Telephone.
It is one of the most former 1G cellular network operated in the 450 MHz band. Later
on it is operated in 900 MHz as well.
Also called Object Exchange. It consists of set
of high-level protocols permitting objects using either IrDA or Bluetooth. Symbian
OS for exchange of vCards.
It is the period of time in which carriers offers
reduced airtime charges. Generally off-peak hours include post-normal business hours
during the week and weekends.
It is a programming language used for rapid application
development. It is used mainly on Symbian OS.
It is abbreviated form of Operating System. It
includes all software including kernel, device drivers, graphics, comms, data management,
system shell application, GUI framework, and utility applications. Windows, Palm
OS, MacOS, etc are examples for operating systems. Symbian offers operating system
especially for mobile phones.
It is the short form of Personal Communications
Network. PCN is popularly known as GSM 1800 /DCS 1800, and is used in Europe and
It is the abbreviated form of Personal Communications
Service. PCS is a 2G digital messaging, voice and data cell phone system in the
2GHz range and is supported mostly by GSM.
It is the time period in which a cellular system
carries the most calling traffic. Usually business hours are considered as peak
It is the Java platform optimized specially for
meeting the requirements and constraints of mobile devices.
It is the smallest piece of image information
that can be displayed on screens/mobiles/computers. It can also be defined as the
basic picture element.
It is the abbreviated form of Personal Identification
Number. PIN is the code used by a mobile telephone number along with the SIM card
to complete a call.
Polyphonic Ring tones
Polyphonic ring tones comes with the same quality as that of original records, They
sounds good and majority of the hits are easily available so that it can be used
as the ring tone.
POP3 is the acronym for Post Office Protocol it denoted the data format used for
sending emails across the internet.
Unlike contract calls, pre-pay scheme is a mobile
phone service without any credit check or contract or monthly bills. One has to
pay in advance for making calls in the pre-pay scheme.
It is the heart and soul of electronic gadgets
like computers and mobile phones. Processor executes all operations inside the gadget.
Also known as PIN Unblocking Key, it is used
to unlock the GSM/GAIT mobile phones that got locked automatically with the entry
of wrong PIN codes thrice.
It denotes the mobile phones with the capability
to operate in all four available GSM frequency bands.
It is the short form of Quarter Video Graphics
Array. It indicates the display resolution of the screen (320 x 240 pixels), and
is generally used for mobile phones and other hand-held devices.
It is a type of keypad incorporated in the mobile
phones, and is similar to the computer or type-writer like keyboards.
It s a type of user interface design tailored
especially for Symbian OS delivered to Symbian licensees.
Resolution can be defined as the total number
of pixels that can be afforded in a particular display screen. The higher the resolution,
the greater the picture quality.
It is the ability to use the mobile phone even
outside the usual home service area. However the network operators have introduced
extra tolls from roaming facility.
It is the abbreviated form of Really Simple Syndication.
It is a standard file format used to publish data like sports updates, news and
blogs which need to be updated frequently.
It denotes the Series 40 software implemented
in many of the Nokia handsets
It depicts the Series 60 OS(operating system)
incorporated in certain Nokia smart phones.
It is the amount levied from the customers each
month for utilising the wireless service. Service charge is a fixed amount to be
given by the customers regardless of the usage of the mobile service.
It is the tariff plan one opt for while enrolling
in a wireless phone service. It assures the best cost-effective call rates to the
Refer Network Provider.
It is the acronym for Subscriber Identity Module.
It is a smart card to be inserted in all GSM phones. SIM card identifies the user
account to the network, handles authentication and offers information storage for
elementary user data and network info.
It is a type of mobile phone in which one panel
can be slid over the another. Slider is a type of form-factor of the mobile phone.
Generally the top panel that slides comes with the screen and the lower panel comes
with keypad or keyboard. Dual slider phones that can be slid along the length and
the width, comes with numeric keypad as well as a QWERTY keyboard.
It is the collective name for voice centric mobile
phones that features an operating system. Smart phones support much more applications
compared to a normal mobile phone and provides better functionalities like high
speed internet browsing with higher download capacity.
It is the acronym for Short Message Service,
and is available on all digital GSM networks. Using this facility, one can send
or receive text messages of up to 160 characters via the network operator’s message
center to your mobile phone, or from the Internet with “SMS gateway” website.
It is the virtual key or button that is generally
implemented on touchscreens of mobile phones. It can be touched to carry out the
It is the maximum time period one can leave the
fully charged mobile phone powered on before it is completely discharge the batteries.
It is the operating system designed by Nokia
especially for mobile phones. It comes with various functionalities like a user
interface framework, a multi-tasking multithreaded core, data services enablers,
wireless communications and integrated PIM functionality
It is the amount of time mobile phone battery
can support phone calls.
It is the abbreviation for Time Division Multiple Access. It is a wireless telephony
transmission technology used in the cellular technology. Different time slot is
allotted to the users in the wireless telephony with the help of TDMA.
It refers to Text on 9 keys. Tegic Communications invented this technology that
avails faster typing of text messages on mobile phones.
It collectively refers to the handsets that can
operate on three of the four GSM transmitting frequencies.
It is the method of locating a caller’s geographic region using three or more radio
receivers, a compass and a map.
It is the specifically designed circuit that
handles the process of sending and receiving the radio signals along with the subscriber
They are touch sensitive screens that can be
operated either with a stylus or finger-tip.
UMTS is the acronym for Universal Mobile Telecommunications
Service. It is the universally accepted technology for 3G mobile phone networks
It is the telecommunication path from the ground
to the satellite. Also known as forward link.
It stands for Universal Serial Bus. This device
allows data transfer to other devices with a compatible cable in the most simplest
It stands for Video Graphics Array. VGA screen
comes with a display resolution of 640 x 480 pixels.
It stands for Visitor Location Register, It is
a network database in which information about roaming wireless customers will be
It stands for Wireless Application Protocol.
It is a wire-free standard that allows you to access internet pages via mobile phones
It stands for Wideband Code Division Multiple
Access. Though WCDMA is a wireless 3G data transfer technology, it is used in the
GSM networks too to offer speedy internet access and to boost the mobile communication
It is a short-cut icon for retrieving certain
applications swiftly in mobile phones like Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, etc.
It is the popular term for expressing Wireless
Local Area Network (WLAN). WiFi enabled devices can access internet via Wi-fi hotspots.
The router installed in the Wi-Fi hotspot uses Ethernet connection to connect to
Windows Mobile OS
It is the OS formulated by Microsoft especially
fro mobile phones.