Using mobile phones

Most mobile phones in use today will do far more than users realise. The ingenuity of mobile phone makers has packed handsets with a range of applications and features to be discovered. Carrying the hopes of tomorrow's mobile phone is 3G - the next generation of mobile phone technology. It offers users a wide range of high speed mobile services. Include also Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), allowing mobiles to access Internet-type services over the airwaves, and most users are only scratching the surface of what their phones can do.
Carrying the hopes of tomorrow's mobile phone is 3G - the next generation of mobile phone technology. >>Short Message Service: (SMS) was initially offered on digital GSM networks allowing text messages of up to 160 characters to be sent and received via the network operator's message centre to a mobile phone, or from the Internet, using an 'SMS gateway' website. Fast forward 150 years or so and enter 'texting' - Short Messaging Service (SMS) on mobile phones.

Unexpected demand for SMS : return to sender
One of the biggest surprises of the mobile story has been the success and popularity of text messaging.
Since its introduction in 1995 the number of SMS (short message service) sent by British mobile users alone has reached an astonishing 25 billion - that's equivalent to 416 for every man, woman and child.Short Message Service: (SMS) was initially offered on digital GSM networks allowing text messages of up to 160 characters to be sent and received via the network operator's message centre to a mobile phone, or from the Internet, using an 'SMS gateway' website.
If the telephone is turned off or out of range, messages are stored in the network and are delivered at the next opportunity.
SMS became popular for the same reason as telegrams remained needed for so long - that they offered a guaranteed 'sure shot' way of getting an important message through to the intended recipient.
Now 'texting' is a communications form in its own right especially on occasions like Valentine's Day when in Britain an estimated 22 -25 million messages were sent in both 2003 and 2004.

How different people use text : e-mail on the move
SMS is used by network operators and third party suppliers to deliver value-added services to mobile users, such as daily horoscopes, traffic alerts, weather reports, sports results, etc.
But the most popular application is among mobile users, who use text messaging to stay in touch with their friends and family through a series of 'mini e-mails'.
When users are skilled and determined, some of these can be surprisingly elaborate and even include photographs or drawings.

Getting the best from your mobile : it doesn't do the washing up though!
Many users are unaware of the functionality built into their telephones. For instance, how many of the following do you know how to use?
Call Barring: prevents others from using your telephone or to keep control of your spending.
Call Divert: lets you redirect incoming calls to voicemail or to any other UK telephone number.
Fax: WAP phones can take in faxes via the Internet and send texts to fax machines.
Memory: most modern telephones allow you to save information to the telephone's internal memory or to the SIM card.
And it doesn't end there. Latest developments include being able to take digital pictures via your mobile, download music and keep up- to- date with news and sports. So while your mobile will not do the washing up for you yet, the innovation potential is such that you can't bank on it not happening one day!

Changing sound of mobile life : my mobile ... Top of the pops
On the bus you hear a muffled rendition of 'Switch' by Will Smith from a handbag. It's someone's mobile ringing - but not yours. You prefer 'Somewhere Else' by Razorlight.
Musical ring tones make it easy to distinguish your own telephone and instil a bit of your personality in an otherwise soulless object. They're fun - and not too bad on the ear - in small doses.
And today musical ring tones are big business with yearly sales topping the £70m figure. In fact, pop tunes are the most popular of all ring tones with youngsters changing them on average once a week to keep up- to- date with the latest songs.
It is a big leap forward from early cellphones which had fixed, single-tone call alerts and on some you could not even alter the basic ring tone. Later models had some musical capabilities - but limited to beeping one note at a time. Scarcely melodic and hardly convincing.
Now mobiles have polyphonic ring tones that play multiple notes simultaneously creating a fuller, richer sound.
The result is far more musical than the old monotone melodies and users can download new compositions from a lots of different web sites whenever they get bored with their current tune. Musical ring tones is now one of the fastest growing industries in Britain.

Can u transl8? : 'brevity is the soul of wit ... '
See people's fingers flash over the characters of their mobile phone like grease lightening and they're doing what's become a mobile phenomenon - texting.
Not that it's an entirely new fad. Back in the 19th century, the high cost of sending lengthy telegrams made people use a staccato way of writing called 'telegraphese'.
Fast forward 150 years or so and enter 'texting' - Short Messaging Service (SMS) on mobile phones.
The 160-character limit, the skimpy displays on mobile phones and the multiple key presses to find the right character are forcing the text generation to be inventive.
Texting is like e-mailing but far sharper and the literary rules are still being written. People love text messaging because it is 'fun, cheap, silent, private and immediate.
The trick is to shorten words by any means, using smileys to convey emotions. If you still don't get the point, Y R U SO DUM M8?
Test your text skills below. How many of the following texts can you translate?ATB = All The Best NITING = AnythingR = AreR U CMNG = Are You ComingRU OK = Are You OK?AFAIK = As far as I knowL8ER = Later B4 = Before2MORO = Tomorrow