A Brief Overview of Mobile Phones

A mobile phone, sometimes shortened to just cell or simply mobile, is a small, lightweight portable phone that can make and receive telephone calls via a radio signal in a phone service area while the individual is moving in that same phone service area. The signal can come from a nearby fixed location or from a receiving device such as a PDA or cell phone. Most phones are capable of some voice messaging as well as basic incoming and outgoing text messaging. However, there are some newer mobile phones that allow a wider variety of applications and features, including GPS technology, which is commonly used by drivers in the GPS enabled vehicles.

There are two major types of mobile phones – ones that are built into a mobile device and those that are hand held or “handheld” devices. Hand held mobile phones are the smaller, lighter and less powerful version of their larger counterparts. While they are designed to be more convenient and carry less weight, a number of manufacturers have also designed mobile devices with a full-form mobile design. This type of mobile phone is generally made up of a rectangular housing with the monitor and keyboard located in the front and the battery and various connectivity options located in the back. Some of the latest full form mobile devices have screen displays that are so large that they are only suitable for viewing on a window such as the windshield of a car.

With the advent of cell phones, text messaging abilities have become extremely advanced, and a full form mobile phone with a larger screen and greater text messaging capabilities is available for individuals who enjoy using text messaging. Some of the latest mobile phones provide individuals with “talk” buttons that initiate text messaging functions when the user holds the button down. In the past, a mobile phone only supported short message messaging (SMS), but more recent mobile phones now support long message (MLM) messages as well.