Many cell phone users remain confused on what it means to unlock a phone. Most commonly, this term is used to describe the process of removing restrictions placed on using a GSM cell phone by the manufacturer. These restrictions are intended to prevent the mobile phone from being used on competing cell phone carriers or …
A SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card is a type of interface card that is found in most modern cell phones and contains the user’s account information as well as some types of media, such as contacts, pictures, and sometimes ringtones. A SIM card contains an ICCID, or Integrated Circuit Card ID, number that identifies the …
The BlackBerry OS is deployed on mobile devices used in 91 countries across more than 500 service operators. Research In Motion (RIM) developed the operating system since 1999, which allows mobile devices to act as both digital assistants and portable media players depending on the type of device purchased. A common task that arises for …
ESN (Electronic Serial Number) An Electronic Serial Number is a code created to identify mobile devices. An ESN is 32 bits long, and the distribution of information in those bits has changed as the standard has evolved. The first 8 bits originally represented the manufacturer code, leaving 24 bits for the manufacturer to assign codes …
Mobile software refers to software that can be stored and executed on a mobile device such as a cell phone, PDA, smart phone, or similar device. Mobile software can range in its capabilities as some simply change the virtual appearance of the device while others provide important features such as menu layouts and password protection. …
MiFi stands for “My Wi-Fi” or “Mobile Wi-Fi”, and represents a line of relatively small wireless routers developed by Novatel Wireless, which turn a mobile broadband internet connection into a Wi-Fi hotspot. These hotspots support up to 5 Wi-Fi enabled devices within a range of 10 meters. This means that any Wi-Fi enabled device, from …
Forward and reverse channels refer to a number of frequencies that are used by a telecommunications broadcast system in order for a telephone tower and a cellular telephone to communicate with each other. A forward channel refers to the frequencies used by a telephone tower to communicate with all nearby cellular phones. Contrastingly, a reverse …
The Mobile Telephone Switching Office, or MTSO, is a system that automatically keeps track of a cell phone user’s relative signal by monitoring readings from cell phone towers near the user. MTSO systems also automatically switch a cell phone’s service from one cell phone tower to another depending on which tower will provide the user …
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) system is a widely deployed digital mobile telephony standard that is deployed throughout Europe and other locations around the globe. The GSM standard leverages a variant of TDMA (time division multiple access) and is the most deployed of the three competing legacy digital wireless technologies on the market …
Cell phone signal boosters (or cellular repeaters) are bidirectional amplifiers designed to boost the mobile phone reception using internal signal amplifiers, reception antennas and rebroadcast antennas. External antennas collect good cellular signal, and then it is transmitted to an amplifier, which retransmits the signal locally. This process results in much better signal. Rural areas often …