MOBILE DEFINITIONS :
E - F
EDGE (also known as Enhanced GPRS or EGPRS) is a data system used on top of GSM networks. It provides nearly three times faster speeds than the outdated GPRS system. The theoretical maximum speed is 473 kbps
for 8 timeslots but it is typically limited to 135 kbps in order to conserve spectrum resources. Both phone and network must support EDGE, otherwise the phone will revert automatically to GPRS.
EDGE meets the requirements for a 3G network but is usually classified as 2.75G.
An optional part of the Bluetooth specification that provides a faster data rate (speed) and possibly improved battery life. Not all Bluetooth devices support EDR and will depend on the Bluetooth version and supported profiles. Both devices need to support EDR, in which case EDR is used automatically.
A synonym for EDGE.
EGSM (Extended GSM)
EGSM extends the frequency bands of GSM 900 giving it added network capacity.
Most new phones listed as GSM 900 also support EGSM.
Some phones provide a full email client that can connect to a public or private email server via a wireless data connection(cellular or Wi-Fi).
There are different protocols used by the servers and some may not be supported by the phone's email client.
EMS or the Enhanced Messaging Service is an extension of SMS, which allowed mobile phone to send and receive messages that have special text formatting (such as bold or italic), animations, graphics, sound effects and ringtones. EMS is an intermediate technology between SMS and the rich multimedia messages otherwise known as MMS.
A 3G technology add-on for CDMA networks that allows for theoretical download speeds as fast as 2.4 Mbps, though actual rates tend to be far slower.
There are two major versions: Release 0 and Revision A. Release 0, the original release, is widely deployed. It offers data rates of 2.4 Mbps, with real-life speeds averaging 300-600 Kbps.
Revision A introduces enhancements that allow features such as VoIP and video calling. Although EV-DO does not support voice calls natively a future upgrade may enable VoIP.
EV-DV is part of the same family of CDMA connectivity as EV-DO. Unlike EV-DO, however, EV-DV also supports voice calls. EV-DV is essentially a combination of EV-DO and 1xRTT.
Development of the technology stalled before launch and was superseded by EV-DO plus VoIP.
Some phones have been designed to let the user remove the covers (front and back) and replace them with others, changing the color, pattern or even the styling of the phone.
Some examples include Nokia Xpress-On covers and Sony Ericsson Style-Up covers.
External Antenna Jack
A connector that allows an external antenna to be connected to the phone to improve reception indoors or in a car. The jack is usually hidden in some way, most commonly with a rubber plug.
Note: not all antenna jacks are the same External Display Since the display of clamshells is hidden when the phone is closed, many phones include a secondary display on the outside.
This display is of lower quality than the main display (lower resolution, may be monochrome, etc.). It is used to display various notifications such as the time, Caller-ID, missed calls.
In many camera phones, the external display can act as a viewfinder to help frame self-portrait photos.
Known also as the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission is a US government agency controlled by Congress. The FCC monitors and regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, satellite and cable.
The FCC also certifies all mobile phones intended for use in the US, insuring compliance with spectrum allocations, technical standards, and safe radiation levels.
A mobile phone that is not smartphone. It has operating system firmware, but third party software support is limited to only Java or BREW applications.
Recently feature phones have begun to offer similar features to those of smartphones, so the main difference between the two groups now is the third-party software support.
A small cellular base station, typically designed for use in residential or small business environments. The benefits of these portable base stations are similar to the ones of using, for example, regular Wi-Fi access points.
They allow the expansion of the corporate telephony and intranet network so it can be used by regular mobile phones.
Femtocells are the size of a regular broadband cable router. The small size offers a small area of coverage – in most cases a large-spaced room or two or three separate small rooms. The femtocell can be easily installed by end users, while cellular towers are only installed by the carrier.
Fixed software programs that internally control various electronic devices or individual hardware parts of these devices (such as mobile phones). They involved very basic low-level operations of the device, without which the device would be completely non-functional.
More simple firmwares are usually stored on ROM or OTP/PROM, while more complex firmwares occupy flash memory to allow for updates. Common reasons for updating firmware include fixing bugs or adding features to the device.
Doing so usually involves loading a binary image file provided by the manufacturer into the device, according to a specific procedure. More often than not this is meant to be done by the end user.
The camera focus is set to a specific distance by the manufacturer and can ’ t be adjusted. Fixed focus digital cameras limit the photo quality and the minimum shooting distance (no close-ups are possible). The fixed focus technology uses a very small lens with a tiny aperture, thus making all visible subjects in focus no
matter their distance from the camera.
Basic mobile phones cameras are usually of the fixed-focus type.
Flash memory is non-volatile computer memory that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. Non-volatile means that no power is needed to maintain the information stored on the chip.
It is a technology that is primarily used in memory cards and USB flash drives as solid state storage and its main purpose is an inexpensive way of storing or transferring data between computers and other digital products. It’s used as primary storage memory on various portable devices due to its low cost, compact size, great physical endurance and low power consumption.
The most popular types of flash memory are NAND and NOR.
Known also as Airplane mode, this mode disables all radio parts of a mobile phone but leaves other functions available. These include music player, organizer and everything that doesn't require the radio transmitters.
This mode is required because most airlines forbid the use of wireless devices during flight. Some airlines do not allow the use of such devices even in Airplane mode.
There is an industry standard icon to signify that airplane mode is on but not all phones use it.
This mode is required for several reasons. Preventing interference with the airplane equipment is the best known one but another reason is that cell towers cannot handle phones moving at high altitudes and speeds.
It ’ s a mobile phone form factor that ’ s a cross-over between the Bar and Clamshell form factors.
In this case the device is mainly a bar, but a thin "flip" part covers the keypad and/or display when not in use.
The built-in FM radio tuner is now considered a basic feature. It allows the user to listen to most of the live-broadcasted FM radio stations. Almost all phones with FM radio tuner require a wired headset to be connected to the unit as it ’ s used as an antenna.
Most FM radio tuners can receive basic radio station info over RDS. The use of FM radio does not interfere with the network carrier and it ’ s free.
Nokia enhance their FM radio interfaces with the Visual Radio enhancement that adds visuals and text as an additional info layer to normal radio broadcasts. A presentation of graphics and text, synchronized to the audio programming, gets downloaded to the phone over a data connection; the FM transmission chain is unaffected by the addition of Visual Radio.
Here's the type of content that Visual Radio can offer:
• Information on the song and artist currently playing on air
• View images related to presenters or news stories
• A weather map during the weather broadcast
• News, weather and traffic alerts while songs are playing
• Listen in to a talk show and see what has been discussed so far
• Join in audience votes, Big Brother style
• Participate in on-air competitions
You can only use the Visual Radio enhancement via a cellular data connection, as using it over Wi-Fi is not an option.
An FM transmitter allows a phone to broadcast music stored in its memory on FM frequencies, so that it can be tuned into a nearby FM receiver such as a a car radio.
FM transmitters are not a common feature on mobile phones, but such modern models do exist. The mobiles transmit at low power so interference with regular FM radio stations is highly likely – especially in dense urban environments where most of the FM spectrum is already populated by live radio broadcasts.
Some embedded FM transmitters allow for transmitting the music details over RDS.
The general look, or size and shape, of a mobile device.
All mobile phones are similar at the physical style level. Most devices fall into one of the following categories: Bar, Clamshell, Flip down, Slide or Swivel. Mobile manufacturers come up with new designs, but the base they use is normally one of these form factors.
This is a special feature supported by some phones, where users can update their handset firmware over the carrier network. It removes the need of special cables, computers or third-party programs.
This measurement is the video resolution measured in time. 24-30 fps is the normal level for good picture quality.
A video with lower frame rates appear as “choppy” on screen and fail to capture fast moving objects properly.
Ratio of data received with errors to total data received. Used to determine the quality of a signal connection. If the FER is too high (too many errors), the connection may be dropped.
Measured in hertz (cycles per second), rate of repetition of changes / waves. The term frequency is also used for range (band) on the radio frequency spectrum, such as 800 MHz, 900 MHz or 1900 MHz.
EDGE (Enhanced Data for Global Evolution)
for 8 timeslots but it is typically limited to 135 kbps in order to conserve spectrum resources. Both phone and network must support EDGE, otherwise the phone will revert automatically to GPRS.
EDGE meets the requirements for a 3G network but is usually classified as 2.75G.
EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
EGPRS
EGSM (Extended GSM)
EGSM extends the frequency bands of GSM 900 giving it added network capacity.
Most new phones listed as GSM 900 also support EGSM.
Email client
There are different protocols used by the servers and some may not be supported by the phone's email client.
EMS (Enhanced Message Service)
EV-DO
There are two major versions: Release 0 and Revision A. Release 0, the original release, is widely deployed. It offers data rates of 2.4 Mbps, with real-life speeds averaging 300-600 Kbps.
Revision A introduces enhancements that allow features such as VoIP and video calling. Although EV-DO does not support voice calls natively a future upgrade may enable VoIP.
EV-DV
Development of the technology stalled before launch and was superseded by EV-DO plus VoIP.
Exchangeable covers
Some examples include Nokia Xpress-On covers and Sony Ericsson Style-Up covers.
A connector that allows an external antenna to be connected to the phone to improve reception indoors or in a car. The jack is usually hidden in some way, most commonly with a rubber plug.
Note: not all antenna jacks are the same External Display Since the display of clamshells is hidden when the phone is closed, many phones include a secondary display on the outside.
This display is of lower quality than the main display (lower resolution, may be monochrome, etc.). It is used to display various notifications such as the time, Caller-ID, missed calls.
In many camera phones, the external display can act as a viewfinder to help frame self-portrait photos.
FCC (Federal Communications Commission)
The FCC also certifies all mobile phones intended for use in the US, insuring compliance with spectrum allocations, technical standards, and safe radiation levels.
Feature Phone
Recently feature phones have begun to offer similar features to those of smartphones, so the main difference between the two groups now is the third-party software support.
Femtocell
They allow the expansion of the corporate telephony and intranet network so it can be used by regular mobile phones.
Femtocells are the size of a regular broadband cable router. The small size offers a small area of coverage – in most cases a large-spaced room or two or three separate small rooms. The femtocell can be easily installed by end users, while cellular towers are only installed by the carrier.
Firmware
More simple firmwares are usually stored on ROM or OTP/PROM, while more complex firmwares occupy flash memory to allow for updates. Common reasons for updating firmware include fixing bugs or adding features to the device.
Doing so usually involves loading a binary image file provided by the manufacturer into the device, according to a specific procedure. More often than not this is meant to be done by the end user.
Fixed-focus
matter their distance from the camera.
Basic mobile phones cameras are usually of the fixed-focus type.
Flash Memory
It is a technology that is primarily used in memory cards and USB flash drives as solid state storage and its main purpose is an inexpensive way of storing or transferring data between computers and other digital products. It’s used as primary storage memory on various portable devices due to its low cost, compact size, great physical endurance and low power consumption.
The most popular types of flash memory are NAND and NOR.
Flight mode
This mode is required because most airlines forbid the use of wireless devices during flight. Some airlines do not allow the use of such devices even in Airplane mode.
There is an industry standard icon to signify that airplane mode is on but not all phones use it.
This mode is required for several reasons. Preventing interference with the airplane equipment is the best known one but another reason is that cell towers cannot handle phones moving at high altitudes and speeds.
Flip-down phone
It ’ s a mobile phone form factor that ’ s a cross-over between the Bar and Clamshell form factors.
In this case the device is mainly a bar, but a thin "flip" part covers the keypad and/or display when not in use.
FM Radio
Most FM radio tuners can receive basic radio station info over RDS. The use of FM radio does not interfere with the network carrier and it ’ s free.
Nokia enhance their FM radio interfaces with the Visual Radio enhancement that adds visuals and text as an additional info layer to normal radio broadcasts. A presentation of graphics and text, synchronized to the audio programming, gets downloaded to the phone over a data connection; the FM transmission chain is unaffected by the addition of Visual Radio.
Here's the type of content that Visual Radio can offer:
• Information on the song and artist currently playing on air
• View images related to presenters or news stories
• A weather map during the weather broadcast
• News, weather and traffic alerts while songs are playing
• Listen in to a talk show and see what has been discussed so far
• Join in audience votes, Big Brother style
• Participate in on-air competitions
You can only use the Visual Radio enhancement via a cellular data connection, as using it over Wi-Fi is not an option.
FM Transmitter
FM transmitters are not a common feature on mobile phones, but such modern models do exist. The mobiles transmit at low power so interference with regular FM radio stations is highly likely – especially in dense urban environments where most of the FM spectrum is already populated by live radio broadcasts.
Some embedded FM transmitters allow for transmitting the music details over RDS.
Form factor
All mobile phones are similar at the physical style level. Most devices fall into one of the following categories: Bar, Clamshell, Flip down, Slide or Swivel. Mobile manufacturers come up with new designs, but the base they use is normally one of these form factors.
FOTA (Firmware Over-The-Air)
FPS (Frames Per Second)
A video with lower frame rates appear as “choppy” on screen and fail to capture fast moving objects properly.
Frame Error Rate
Frequency
FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
A standard for transferring files over the Internet. Not commonly used on phones, although there is FTP software available for most smartphone platforms.
