Technology has inspired a growing crop of new words and phrases
The world of smartphones is filled with obscure acronyms and technical jargon. Below are just a few of the terms you may encounter.
- Android: A smartphone operating system and software platform created by Google. There are a number of competing mobile operating systems including BlackBerry and Apple's iOS.
- Apps: Short for applications or, more accurately, applications software. Apps are computer software designed to help users perform a specific task. Apps can be used with cellphones.
- Browse: Software that allows the user to access Internet sites.
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- Calling plan: The package of services offered by a wireless service provider. The plan usually includes monthly charges, voicemail and data, among other things.
- Dynamic memory: Also known as shared memory, it's a way of organizing different types of data in the phone's memory.
- 4G: The fourth generation of cellular wireless, which succeeds 3G and 2G.
- Graphics processing unit: The GPU is a specialized circuit that helps to manage computer graphics. Modern smartphones typically come with this.- - - HTML: Short for hypertext markup language, which is used to create web pages. Designed for desktop computers. A newer format, XHTML, is designed for mobile devices.
- Moore's Law: We're including this -- a canny engineering observation, not a law of nature -- to provide a little insight. In 1965, Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, which makes computer chips, famously predicted that "The number of transistors incorporated in a chip will approximately double every 24 months." His prediction has largely been accurate. The nearly half century of advances has allowed computing devices to become cheaper and smaller and to perform an ever-growing number of tasks.
- MMS: Short for multimedia messaging services. It allows text, photos, audio and video, or a combination of the four. Most current mobile phones have this.
- Operating system: This manages the hardware and software of a smartphone.
- Roaming: Using a mobile phone outside of your service provider's coverage area. Typically, service providers charge higher fees for calls, messages and access to the Internet.
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- Smartphone: A cellphone that can do some of the same things as a personal computer, including providing Internet access and editing Microsoft Office documents.
- Text messaging: More commonly known as texting, this allows short messages to be sent and received on a mobile phone.
- Video calling: Also known as videoconferencing, this allows people to see live video of each other when talking.
