NMT – Key Terms

Mobile Phones
3G – Third Generation. First generation phones were analogue, second generation phones were digital. 3G is a step forward largely because of the massive increase in bandwidth (up to 384Kbps) which means such features as video calling, true internet surfing and watching television on your mobile phone is no longer a far-fetched idea.
GPRS – General Packet Radio Service. This is so-called 2.5G phone technology, in that it offers faster, more sophisticated mobile internet experience (although it can’t handle video, like 3G can). Data is broken up into ‘packets’, sent and then reassembled at the destination. This means data transfer is more efficient and so faster.
HSCSD – High Speed Circuit-Switched Data. Unlike the ‘packet’ method, this establishes a direct connection before data is transferred. Although less efficient, with the correct equipment, this cn be fast (as the name suggests!).
SIM – Signal Identifier Module. Your SIM card tells the network who is calling. Some predict that this could be a useful place to store such things as electronic money, personal identification, etc (See my previous post of the G2 article – ‘To Hell in a Handset’).
SMS – Short Messaging Service. Millions of text messages are sent daily…and you’re probably responsible for a good percentage of them!! After email, text messaging has probably been the most unexpectedly popular means of communication of the digital age.
MMS – Multimedia Messaging Service. Take a photo with your camera and send it to your friends – all in just a few seconds. The introduction of the service had led to colour screens becoming the norm on our mobile phones. The Sony Ericsson T681i (with attached Communicam) was the UK’s first phone to allow this. We now have mobile phones such as the Nokia N95 which boast 5-megapixel cameras….which means crystal clear photos that would put some digital cameras out there to shame!
WAP – Wireless Application Protocol. The first form of internet on your mobile phone. These days, as mentioned earlier, we can find more and more phones that have the capabilities to access the internet in much the same way as you would be able to on this computer.
Smartphone – A new breed of mobile phone which has a large variety of functions that would enable you to take your office with you anywhere you go…and cram it all into your pocket! Features such as email, internet, satellite navigation, and software (such as Microsoft’s Office software – Word, Excel, Powerpoint) are fast becoming the norm on these more sophisticated (and more expensive!) mobile phones.

Internet
ADSL – Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. High-speed internet access…or Broadband to you and me!
HTML – Hyper Text Markup Language. At a basic level, HTML is used to tell your browser how to display a webpage. Right Click and choose ‘View Source’ to see some!
HTTP – Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. The ‘rules’ by which web pages are handled by your browser.
ICQ – I Seek You. A programme that allows instant messaging of other users, as well as other features such as chat, file transfer, voice calls, etc. It has wider implications because of the way in which users log on to the network and can then interact with others. See www.icq.com for details.
MP3 – Motion Picture Experts Group Layer Three Audio. As you’ll agree, MP3 will do! A computer file which I’m sure we’re all familiar with (IN A LEGAL SENSE, YES?!). It uses compression to make music small enough to be downloaded from the internet without noticable loss of quality. Hundreds of MP3 audio devices, such as the Apple i-Pod have capitalised on the MP3’s popularity. Hands up who DOESN’T have an MP3 player!!
Peer-to-Peer – A piece of software that connects users to a central server. The files on their computer are then made available to anyone else logged on for free. This sort of service is generally illegal due to the fact that a high number of files being shared is protected by Copyright laws. Those caught sharing Copyrighted files, run the risk of being prosecuted!
BitTorrent – Works in a similar way to Peer-to-Peer, but instead connects to a number of computers which all contain the same file, and downloads small sections of it simultaneously from each computer. This makes file transfer quicker, and (for those that are interested in the extra info) make it harder for the authorities to prosecute users sharing Copyrighted materials.
OS – Operating System. Windows Vista, Mac OSX, Linux, are all examples of Operating Systems. Basically, this is the software that allows you to use both hardware (devices) nd software (programmes) on your computer. Without an Operating System, your computer is little more than a big, heavy, expensive paperweight!
Server – A server is a central computer that ‘hosts’ webpages. For example, Qube is hosted on the college server.
Streaming – Rather than waiting to receive an entire video or music file, streamed files can be played as they download (as you would be able to see on YouTube). The advantages are obvious, although this does require a consistent internet connection.
URL – Uniform Resource Locator. A web ‘link’ or web address. It’s ‘uniform’ because it’s a the same for everyone, wherever they are.

General
Bandwidth – The amount of data transmitted in a fixed amount of time. Larger bandwidth is one advantage of 3G mobile phones and broadband internet connections.
Bluetooth – A wireless, short-range communication technology that allows devices to connect easily and quickly. At the moment, this technology is popular with connecting such devices as mobile phones and computer equipment. This is set to grow into other areas in the future.
Cable Infrastructure – Generally used to refer to the network of fibre optic cables (Which were invented in Harlow!!) that cover the country. Through ‘cable’ it is possible to receive TV pictures, telephone services, and the internet.
Convergence – The coming together of technologies from different areas to make a new product. Think of the fax machine – this uses telephone, scanning and printing technologies.
Platform – The ’stage’ on which something operates. The use of this depends on the context. For example, you could talk about a gaming platform to mean either an Xbox 360, Playstation 3, or Nintendo Wii.
Protocol – Protocol is a set of rules by which things operate together. For example, one protocol is that black is worn at a funeral… Others are much mroe recent (See HTTP and WAP)