iPhone

iPhone

The iPhone is an Internet-enabled multimedia mobile phone designed and marketed by Apple Inc.. It has a multi-touch screen with virtual keyboard and buttons. The iPhone's functions include those of a camera phone, portable media player (iPod), in addition to text messaging and visual voicemail. It also offers Internet services including e-mail, web browsing, and local Wi-Fi connectivity. It is a quad-band mobile phone that uses the GSM standard, and hence has international capability. It supports the EDGE data technology.
Apple announced the iPhone on January 9, 2007.The announcement was preceded by rumors and speculations that circulated for several months.The iPhone was initially introduced in the United States on June 29, 2007 followed by numerous other countries. It was named Time magazine's Invention of the Year in 2007.

Smartphone

Smartphone
A Sony Ericsson Smartphone (Model P910i) with touch screen and QWERTY keyboard
A smartphone is a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities beyond a typical mobile phone, often with PC-like functionality. There is no industry standard definition of a smartphone.For some, a smartphone is a phone that runs complete operating system software providing a standardized interface and platform for application developers. For others, a smartphone is simply a phone with advanced features

Mobile Web

Mobile Web

The Mobile Web refers to the access to wireless data services using a mobile device such as as cell phones, PDAs, and other portable gadgets connected to a mobile telecoms network. Access does not require a desktop computer, nor a fixed landline connection. The service can be to the traditional World Wide Web or to any one of more limited service platforms such as WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), i-Mode and Blackberry services.
While many think that mobile web or mobile internet means access to the traditional internet using a mobile phone or device, this is not the case. The access can be to the traditional internet, but it can be to less than the internet, as typically is with WAP services, or it can be to more than the internet, to data services that do not even exist on the traditional internet, such as SMS text messaging and ringtones. The mobile web is similar to, but not identical to the traditional internet and World Wide Web.
However, Mobile Web access today still suffers from interoperability and usability problems. This is partly due to the small physical size of the screens of mobile devices and partly due to the incompatibility of many mobile devices with not only computer operating systems, but also the format of much of the information available on the Internet.

Mobile game

Mobile game
A mobile game is a video game played on a mobile phone, smartphone, PDA or handheld computer. This does not include games played on handheld video game systems such as PlayStation Portable or Nintendo DS.
Mobile games are played using the technologies present on the device itself. For networked games, there are various technologies in common use. Examples include text message (SMS), multimedia message (MMS) or GPRS location identification.
However, there are non networked applications, that simply use the device platform to run the game software. The games may be installed over the air, they may be side loaded onto the handset with a cable, or they may be embedded on the handheld devices by the OEM or by the mobile operator.
Mobile games are usually downloaded via the mobile operator's radio network, but in some cases are also loaded into the mobile handsets when purchased, or via infrared connection, Bluetooth or memory card.

Mobile gambling

Mobile gambling
Mobile gambling refers to gambling done on a remote wirelessly connected device. These devices can include wireless tablet PC's, mobile phones and other non traditional mid-level networked computing devices. Some online casinos and online poker cardrooms offer mobile options.
Most mobile gambling services require a data connection to operate. The data connection is provided by the telecom provider for the region or country and may use data layer technologies such as GPRS, GSM Data, UMTS, and I-MODE. However, some services are available through an SMS text messaging interface.
While still relatively underdeveloped, analysts place the value of the market space at US$20 billion by 2010. Juniper, Gartner and Seymour Pierce all project rapid growth in the sector through to 2010.
The market is still at a nascent stage at the moment, as mobile operators and brands/ media owners are currently not in a position to create this market due to the potential reputational risk. This is mainly because of the uncertain nature of most countries' in-decision towards regulation of remote gambling and online gambling.

M-learning

M-learning


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M-learning, or "mobile learning", now commonly abbreviated to "mLearning", has different meanings for different communities. Although related to e-learning and distance education, it is distinct in its focus on learning across contexts and learning with mobile devices. One definition of mobile learning is: Learning that happens across locations, or that takes advantage of learning opportunities offered by portable technologies.
The term covers: learning with portable technologies, where the focus is on the technology (which could be in a fixed location, such as a classroom); learning across contexts, where the focus is on the mobility of the learner, interacting with portable or fixed technology; and learning in a mobile society, with a focus on how society and its institutions can accommodate and support the learning of an increasingly mobile population that is not satisfied with existing learning methodologies.

Mobile phones on aircraft

Mobile phones on aircraft

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission prohibits the use of mobile telephones aboard any aircraft in flight. The reason given is that mobile phone systems depend on channel reuse, and operating a phone at altitude may violate the fundamental assumptions that allow channel reuse to work.
Mobile telephones are intentionally designed with low power output. A tower is the center of a "cell" and due to attenuation with distance (inverse square law) a phone can usually be received only weakly by towers in adjacent cells, and not at all in cells farther away (non-adjacent cells). This allows the channel used by any given phone to be reused by other phones in non-adjacent cells. This principle allows tens or hundreds of thousands of people to use their phones at the same time in a given metropolitan area while using only a limited number of channels.

Mobile publishing

Mobile publishing
Mobile publishing is the act of making something public through mobile phones.
One advantage for publishers is the ease of adding the cost of downloading content to the users' phone bills. Mobile music revenues (mostly from ringtones) amounted to $400m in 2005.
The arrival of more powerful telecoms networks such as 3G has enabled video publishing to mobile phones using tools such as FORscene. Video can be downloaded over the air, and once downloaded can be distributed virally over the phones' Bluetooth connections.

mobile v0ip

Mobile VoIP

Mobile VoIP is an extension of mobility to a VoIP Voice over IP network.
There are several methodologies by which a mobile handset can be integrated into a VoIP network. One implementation turns the mobile device into a standard SIP client, which then uses a data network to send and receive SIP messaging, and to send and receive RTP for the voice path. This methodology of turning a mobile handset into a standard SIP client requires that the mobile handset support, at minimum, high speed IP communications. In this application, standard VoIP protocols (typically SIP) are used over any broadband IP-capable wireless network connection such as EVDO rev A (which is synchronously high speed — both high speed up and down), HSDPA, WiFi or WiMAX.
Another implementation of mobile integration uses a softswitch like gateway to bridge SIP and RTP into the mobile network's SS7 infrastructure. In this implementation, the mobile handset continues to operate as it always has (as a GSM or CDMA based device), but now it can be controlled by a SIP application server which can now provide advanced SIP based services to it. Several vendors offer this kind of capability today, including i2Telecom, Tango Networks, Outsmart, NewStep, BridgePort and BroadSoft.

Mobile development

Mobile development
This page lists the known relative differences between the most popular mobile platform development options for handheld devices such as a personal digital assistants, enterprise digital assistants or mobile phones. It is not intended to be an absolute guide to the various mobile development platforms, instead it is to help guide developers in choosing a mobile platform for development on Information appliances. More detail on the subject can be found at the Mobile software article.

Mobile dating

Mobile dating
These services allow their users to provide information about themselves in a short profile which is stored in their phones as a dating ID. They can then search for other IDs online or by calling a certain phone number dictated by the service. The criteria include age, gender and sexual preference. Usually these sites are free to use but standard text messaging fees may still apply as well as a small fee the dating service charges per message.
Mobile dating websites, in order to increase the opportunities for meeting, focus attention on users that share the same social network and proximity. Some companies even offer services such as homing devices to alert users when another user is within thirty feet of one another.[Some systems involve bluetooth technology to connect users in locations such as bars and clubs. This is known as proximity dating. These systems are actually more popular in some countries in Europe and Asia than online dating. With the advent of GPS Phones and GSM localization the proximity dating will rise sharply.
According to The San Francisco Chronicle in 2005, "Mobile dating is the next big leap in online socializing."More than 3.6 million cell phone users logged into mobile dating sites in March 2007, with most users falling in the under 35 age range.
Some experts believe that the rise in mobile dating is due to the growing popularity of online dating. Analyst Brent Iadarola of Frost & Sullivan said, "I think people are more comfortable with online dating, and it's generally been accepted, the comfort people have with online dating in the wired world is now translating to the mobile world." Others believe it is all about choice, as Joe Brennan Jr., vice president of Webdate says, "It's about giving people a choice. They don't have to date on their computer. They can date on their handset, it's all about letting people decide what path is best for them."

Missed cal

Missed cal
A missed call is the deliberate termination of an outgoing telephone call by the caller, before the called party answers it.
Missed calls can be used to notify another person of the caller's presence or to conveniently obtain a person's cellphone number. It can be used by one who has low credit balance or simply wishes to save money. The number of the caller is usually flashed on the screen of the callee who is using caller ID, and/or can be viewed from the missed calls list of the cellphone. Thus, the onus to call back is on the person who was called.
This phenomenon is common in developing countries, particularly India, Pakistan, the Philippines and large parts of Africa, where cell phone use is increasing, but people still have to cope with the costs of calling on a regular basis. The missed call serves as a cheap way of communication for those who cannot maintain a high credit balance such as teenagers and people with low income. The Cellular Operators Association of India, COAI, has instituted a study to understand the revenue implications of the same in India.Industry estimates of loss of revenue due to this social phenomenon are 20-25%.
At least one company in Bangalore is using this "tool" to generate business.
Missed call, as the Philippine-adapted homonym miskol, was declared the Word of the Year in 2007 at a language convention held in the University of the Philippines, Diliman.

Etiquette

Etiquette
Most schools in the United States have prohibited mobile phones in the classroom, due to the large number of class disruptions that result from their use, and the potential for cheating via text messaging. In the UK, possession of a mobile phone in an examination can result in immediate disqualification from that subject or from all that student's subjects.
A working group made up of Finnish telephone companies, public transport operators and communications authorities has launched a campaign to remind mobile phone users of courtesy, especially when using mass transit—what to talk about on the phone, and how to. In particular, the campaign wants to impact loud mobile phone usage as well as calls regarding sensitive matters.
Many US cities with subway transit systems underground are studying or have implemented mobile phone reception in their underground tunnels for their riders. Boston, Massachusetts has investigated such usage in their tunnels, although there is a question of usage etiquette and also how to fairly award contracts to carriers.

Environmental impacts

Environmental impacts
Like all high structures, cellular antenna masts pose a hazard to low flying aircraft. Towers over a certain height or towers that are close to airports or heliports are normally required to have warning lights. There have been reports that warning lights on cellular masts, TV-towers and other high structures can attract and confuse birds. US authorities estimate that millions of birds are killed near communication towers in the country each year.
An example of the way mobile phones and mobile networks have sometimes been perceived as a threat is the widely reported and later discredited claim that mobile phone masts are associated with the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) which has reduced bee hive numbers by up to 75% in many areas, especially near cities in the US. The Independent newspaper cited a scientific study claiming it provided evidence for the theory that mobile phone masts are a major cause in the collapse of bee populations, with controlled experiments demonstrating a rapid and catastrophic effect on individual hives near masts. Mobile phones were in fact not covered in the study, and the original researchers have since emphatically disavowed any connection between their research, mobile phones, and CCD, specifically indicating that the Independent article had misinterpreted their results and created "a horror story".While the initial claim of damage to bees was widely reported, the corrections to the story were almost non-existent in the media.