Mobile phone terms:
Brick
A large-sized early handheld mobile phone, such as the Motorola International
3200, nearly the size of a VHS video cassette, with the keypad and microphone
on the narrow side.
Candybar
A housing shape that has no hinges and resembles an oblong candy bar (US).
Cell phone or cellular telephone
Term used currently in the United States (and in other countries as well
during the 1980s) to refer to most mobile phones. It technically applies
specifically to mobile phones which use a cellular network. In developing
mobile phone technology, American electrical engineers saw the main technical
problem as achieving a smooth handoff from one radio antenna to the next.
After they gave the name "cell" to the zone covered by each
antenna, it was a natural choice for them to apply the term "cellular"
to both the technology and the phones that ran on it.
Clamshell
A phone that opens up to reveal the keypad, microphone, and earpiece;
these are typically more compact than other designs. Often called "flip
phones".
cp
short for cellphone
Handset
The term handset is used by cell-phone manufacturers to refer to a mobile
phone. Also commonly used by industry insiders.
Handy
Pronounced "Hendi", is a pseudo-anglicism, derived from the
term Handy Talkie for a handheld military radio (also known as walkie-talkie),
that is used in Austria and Germany for a mobile phone (rare alternative
spelling: Händi). In German, the word "Handy" is derived
from "handgehaltenes (or hand-held) Telefon." Similarly another
pseudo-English term Hand phone is used in East and South Asian countries
like South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.
H/P
short for hand phone
Hands free car kit
cell phone accessory use to talk while keeping hands on the steering wheel.
Mobile phone
A term covering cellular phones, satellite phones and any phones giving
wide ranging mobility, used in most English-speaking countries except
the United States.
Mobile
Short for 'mobile phone', a term in everyday usage in some English-speaking
countries such as the UK.
Satellite phone
A mobile phone which communicates with a satellite rather than a land-based
network.
Wireless phone
A term that generally refers to a Wi-Fi VoIP phone but is sometimes used
by the mobile phone industry to describe mobile phones.
Ringtone
A song or tune that is played when a cell phone is receiving a call.
3G phone
A mobile phone which uses a 3G network, with greater bandwidth allowing
faster data downloads and face to face video calling.
Related systems which are not cellphones
Cordless Phone (Portable Phone)
Cordless phones are standard telephones with radio handsets. Unlike mobile
phones, cordless phones use private base stations that are not shared
between subscribers. The base station is connected to a land-line.
Radio Phone
This is an term which covers radios which could connect into the telephone
network. These phones may not be mobile, for example, they may require
a mains power supply.
Professional Mobile Radio
Professional mobile radio systems are very similar to cellphone systems
and attempts have even been made to use TETRA, the international digital
PMR standard, to implement public mobile networks, but normally PMR systems
are sufficiently separate from the phone network to not really be considered
phones but rather radios.
Index Mag1 Mag2
Mag3 Mag4
|