Summary Mobile Devices and their Features

Mobile Devices Notes
1990s mobile phones start as a piece of tech that is available to everyone

Phones can:
 Call people
 Access information online
 Use a GPS
 Play games
 Monitor health

How calling works
1. You make a phone call
2. The phone transmits the call to the nearest base station
a. Mobile phones contain antennas, one to transmit and one to receive the radio waves
3. The signal from the phone is picked up by the closes base station then is transmitted to the network
4. It uses radio waves to transport the voice
5. The wave is sent to a network such as EE, O2 and Virgin
6. The nearest base station sends a signal to the person you are calling

All Mobile phones have an Operating System just like computers. The operating system allows the user to
interact and operate the device.

Apps allow you to:
 Play games
 Access social media
 Watch movies
 Play your music collection
 Store your photographs and edit them

Types of apps:
 Native app
o The app is written for the specific device and cannot be translated on to other devices
without recoding it. (iPhone app to an Android app)
 Web app
o The app works on browsers rather than the device, this could make the app run slower as it’s
not written for the specific device

Health and safety
 Concerns regarding long term exposure to radio waves transmitted by the phones are:
o Increase the risk of cancer
o Infertility
o Risk to children’s development
o Interference with pacemakers
 Dangers
o Using a mobile phone when driving is distracting to the driver and now is illegal
o Interference with transmission on planes

The Future of Mobile Phones
 Virtual reality
 Holographic displays
 Flexible frames
 Virtual Classrooms