When cellular telecoms services were launched, phones and calls were very expensive and early mobile operators (carriers) decided to charge for all air time consumed by the mobile phone user. This resulted in the concept of charging callers for outbound calls and also for receiving calls. As mobile phone call charges diminished and phone adoption rates skyrocketed, more modern operators decided not to charge for incoming calls. Thus some markets have "Receiving Party Pays" models (or, more correctly, "Mobile Party Pays"), in which both outbound and received calls are charged, and other markets have "Calling Party Pays" models, by which only making calls produces costs, and receiving calls is free. An exception to this are international roaming tariffs, by which receiving calls are normally also charged.[citation needed]
The European market adopted a "Calling Party Pays" model throughout the GSM environment and soon various other GSM markets also started to emulate this model. As Receiving Party Pays systems have the undesired effect of phone owners keeping their phones turned off to avoid receiving unwanted calls, the total voice usage rates (and profits) in Calling Party Pays countries outperform those in Receiving Party Pays countries. Consequently, most countries previously with Receiving Party Pays models have either abandoned them or employed alternative marketing methods, such as massive voice call buckets, to avoid the problem of phone users keeping phones turned off.[citation needed]
In most countries today, including European Union nations, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Turkey, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, Pakistan, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, India,[21] Maldives, Malaysia, Peru, South Africa, Israel, Lebanon and Jordan the person receiving a mobile phone call pays nothing. However, in Hong Kong, Canada, and the United States, one can be charged per minute. In the United States, a few carriers are beginning to offer unlimited received phone calls. For the Chinese mainland, it was reported that both of its two operators will adopt the caller-pays approach as early as January 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Features
There are significant questions as to who first invented the camera phone, as numerous other people received patents filed in the early 1990s for the device, including David M. Britz of AT&T Research in March of 1994 and Phillipe Kahn, who claims to have first invented it in 1997.[citation needed] The camera phone now holds 85% of the mobile phone market[citation needed]. Mobile phones often have features beyond sending text messages and making voice calls, including Internet browsing, music (MP3) playback, memo recording, personal organizer functions, e-mail, instant messaging, built-in cameras and camcorders, ringtones, games, radio, Push-to-Talk (PTT), infrared and Bluetooth connectivity, call registers, ability to watch streaming video or download video for later viewing, video calling and serve as a wireless modem for a PC, and soon will also serve as a console of sorts to online games and other high quality games (e.g. Final Fantasy Agito).
Power
Mobile phones generally obtain power from batteries which can be recharged from mains power, a USB port or a cigarette lighter socket in a car. Formerly, the most common form of cell phone batteries were nickel metal-hydride, as they have a low size and weight. Lithium-Ion batteries are sometimes used, as they are lighter and do not have the voltage depression that nickel metal-hydride batteries do. Many mobile phone manufacturers have now switched to using lithium-Polymer batteries as opposed to the older Lithium-Ion, the main advantages of this being even lower weight and the possibility to make the battery a shape other than strict cuboid. Cell phone manufacturers have been experimenting with alternate power sources.
Applications
Mobile news services are expanding with many organizations providing "on-demand" news services by SMS. Some also provide "instant" news pushed out by SMS. Mobile telephony also facilitates activism and public journalism being explored by Reuters and Yahoo[19] and small independent news companies such as Jasmine News in Sri Lanka. Companies like Monster[20] are starting to offer mobile services such as job search and career advice. Consumer applications are on the rise and include everything from information guides on local activities and events to mobile coupons and discount offers one can use to save money on purchases. Even tools for creating websites for mobile phones are increasingly becoming available, e.g. Mobilemo.
The total value of mobile data services exceeds the value of paid services on the internet, and was worth 31 billion dollars in 2006 (source Informa).[citation needed] The largest categories of mobile services are music, picture downloads, videogaming, adult entertainment, gambling, video/TV.
The total value of mobile data services exceeds the value of paid services on the internet, and was worth 31 billion dollars in 2006 (source Informa).[citation needed] The largest categories of mobile services are music, picture downloads, videogaming, adult entertainment, gambling, video/TV.
Use by drivers
Use by drivers
Mobile-phone use while driving is common but controversial. While few jurisdictions have banned motorists from using mobile phones while driving outright, some have banned or restricted drivers from using hand-held mobile phones while exempting phones operated in a hands-free fashion. Using a hand-held mobile phone while driving is an impediment to vehicle operation that can increase the risk of road traffic accidents. However, some studies have found similarly elevated accident rates among drivers using hands-free phones, suggesting that the distraction of a telephone conversation itself is a significant safety problem.[17] This problem does not apply to conversations with a passenger, as passengers can regulate the flow of conversation according to the perceived level of danger, and also provides a second pair of eyes to spot hazards.
Mobile-phone use while driving is common but controversial. While few jurisdictions have banned motorists from using mobile phones while driving outright, some have banned or restricted drivers from using hand-held mobile phones while exempting phones operated in a hands-free fashion. Using a hand-held mobile phone while driving is an impediment to vehicle operation that can increase the risk of road traffic accidents. However, some studies have found similarly elevated accident rates among drivers using hands-free phones, suggesting that the distraction of a telephone conversation itself is a significant safety problem.[17] This problem does not apply to conversations with a passenger, as passengers can regulate the flow of conversation according to the perceived level of danger, and also provides a second pair of eyes to spot hazards.
Use in disaster response
Use in disaster response
The Finnish government decided in 2005 that the fastest way to warn citizens of disasters was the mobile phone network. In Japan, mobile phone companies provide immediate notification of earthquakes and other natural disasters to their customers free of charge.[citation needed] In the event of an emergency, disaster response crews can locate trapped or injured people using the signals from their mobile phones. An interactive menu accessible through the phone's Internet browser notifies the company if the user is safe or in distress.[citation needed] In Finland rescue services suggest hikers carry mobile phones in case of emergency even when deep in the forests beyond cellular coverage, as the radio signal of a cellphone attempting to connect to a base station can be detected by overflying rescue aircraft with special detection gear. Also, users in the United States can sign up through their provider for free text messages when an Amber Alert goes out for a missing person in their area.
The Finnish government decided in 2005 that the fastest way to warn citizens of disasters was the mobile phone network. In Japan, mobile phone companies provide immediate notification of earthquakes and other natural disasters to their customers free of charge.[citation needed] In the event of an emergency, disaster response crews can locate trapped or injured people using the signals from their mobile phones. An interactive menu accessible through the phone's Internet browser notifies the company if the user is safe or in distress.[citation needed] In Finland rescue services suggest hikers carry mobile phones in case of emergency even when deep in the forests beyond cellular coverage, as the radio signal of a cellphone attempting to connect to a base station can be detected by overflying rescue aircraft with special detection gear. Also, users in the United States can sign up through their provider for free text messages when an Amber Alert goes out for a missing person in their area.
Etiquette
Etiquette
Mobile telephone use etiquette is an important matter of social discourtesy, phones ringing during funerals, weddings, in toilets, cinemas, and plays. Users often speak loudly, leading to book shops, libraries, bathrooms, cinemas, doctors' offices, and houses of worship prohibiting their uses, and, in some places, the installation of signal-jamming equipment to prevent their use (though in many countries, including the U.S., such equipment is currently illegal). Some new buildings, such as auditoriums, have installed wire mesh in the walls (making it a Faraday cage) which prevents signal penetration that does not violate signal jamming laws.
Trains, particularly those involving long-distance services, often offer a "quiet car" where phone use is prohibited, much like the designated non-smoking car in the past. However many users tend to ignore this as it is rarely enforced, especially if the other cars are crowded and they have no choice but to go in the "quiet car". Mobile phone use on aircraft is also prohibited and many airlines claim in their in-plane announcements that this prohibition is due to possible interference with aircraft radio communications. Shut-off mobile phones do not interfere with aircraft avionics. The nuisance of telephones on while aeroplanes take off and land, is that they disrupt the ground mobile telephone networks.[citation needed]
As customers want to be connected on planes, now several airlines are experimenting with base station and antenna systems installed to the aeroplane, allowing low power, short-range connection of any phones aboard to remain connected to the aircraft's base station.[citation needed] Thus, they would not attempt connection to the ground base stations as during take off and landing.[citation needed] Simultaneously, airlines could offer phone services to their traveling passengers either as full voice and data services, or initially only as SMS text messaging and similar services. Qantas, the Australian airline, is the first airline to run a test airplane in this configuration in the Autumn of 2007.[citation needed] Emirates have announced plans to allow limited mobile phone usage on some flights.[citation needed]
In any case, there are inconsistencies between practices allowed by different airlines and even on the same airline in different countries. For example, Northwest Airlines may allow the use of mobile phones immediately after landing on a domestic flight within the US, whereas they may state "not until the doors are open" on an international flight arriving in the Netherlands. In April 2007 the US Federal Communications Commission officially grounded the idea of allowing passengers to use phones during a flight.[14]
In a similar vein, signs are put up in UK petrol stations prohibiting the use of mobile phones, due to possible safety issues. Most schools in the United States have prohibited mobile phones in the classroom, due to the large number of class disruptions that result from their use, the potential for cheating via text messaging, and the possibility of photographing someone without consent.[citation needed] In the UK, possession of a mobile phone in an examination can result in immediate disqualification from that subject or from all that student's subjects.[15]
A working group, made up of Finnish telephone companies, public transport operators and communications authorities, have launched a campaign to remind mobile phone users of courtesy, especially when using mass transit – what to talk about on the phone, and how to. In particular, the campaign wants to impact loud mobile phone usage as well as calls regarding sensitive matters.
Mobile telephone use etiquette is an important matter of social discourtesy, phones ringing during funerals, weddings, in toilets, cinemas, and plays. Users often speak loudly, leading to book shops, libraries, bathrooms, cinemas, doctors' offices, and houses of worship prohibiting their uses, and, in some places, the installation of signal-jamming equipment to prevent their use (though in many countries, including the U.S., such equipment is currently illegal). Some new buildings, such as auditoriums, have installed wire mesh in the walls (making it a Faraday cage) which prevents signal penetration that does not violate signal jamming laws.
Trains, particularly those involving long-distance services, often offer a "quiet car" where phone use is prohibited, much like the designated non-smoking car in the past. However many users tend to ignore this as it is rarely enforced, especially if the other cars are crowded and they have no choice but to go in the "quiet car". Mobile phone use on aircraft is also prohibited and many airlines claim in their in-plane announcements that this prohibition is due to possible interference with aircraft radio communications. Shut-off mobile phones do not interfere with aircraft avionics. The nuisance of telephones on while aeroplanes take off and land, is that they disrupt the ground mobile telephone networks.[citation needed]
As customers want to be connected on planes, now several airlines are experimenting with base station and antenna systems installed to the aeroplane, allowing low power, short-range connection of any phones aboard to remain connected to the aircraft's base station.[citation needed] Thus, they would not attempt connection to the ground base stations as during take off and landing.[citation needed] Simultaneously, airlines could offer phone services to their traveling passengers either as full voice and data services, or initially only as SMS text messaging and similar services. Qantas, the Australian airline, is the first airline to run a test airplane in this configuration in the Autumn of 2007.[citation needed] Emirates have announced plans to allow limited mobile phone usage on some flights.[citation needed]
In any case, there are inconsistencies between practices allowed by different airlines and even on the same airline in different countries. For example, Northwest Airlines may allow the use of mobile phones immediately after landing on a domestic flight within the US, whereas they may state "not until the doors are open" on an international flight arriving in the Netherlands. In April 2007 the US Federal Communications Commission officially grounded the idea of allowing passengers to use phones during a flight.[14]
In a similar vein, signs are put up in UK petrol stations prohibiting the use of mobile phones, due to possible safety issues. Most schools in the United States have prohibited mobile phones in the classroom, due to the large number of class disruptions that result from their use, the potential for cheating via text messaging, and the possibility of photographing someone without consent.[citation needed] In the UK, possession of a mobile phone in an examination can result in immediate disqualification from that subject or from all that student's subjects.[15]
A working group, made up of Finnish telephone companies, public transport operators and communications authorities, have launched a campaign to remind mobile phone users of courtesy, especially when using mass transit – what to talk about on the phone, and how to. In particular, the campaign wants to impact loud mobile phone usage as well as calls regarding sensitive matters.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
