Mobile phone terms

Beep-Beep : A term made popular by teenagers, as in to "Beep-Beep someone". This is regarding the sound of the Nextel walkie-talkie feature. Used 'interchangeably' with 'chirp'.

Brick : A large, heavy, and usually obsolete wireless mobile phone, such as the [[Motorola International 3200]].

Candy bar : A housing shape that has no hinges and resembles an oblong candy bar (US).

Cell phone, Cellular phone, or cell :Term used currently in the [[ United States]] and [[ Canada]] (and in other countries as well during the 1980s) to refer to most mobile phones. It technically applies specifically to mobile phones which use a cellular network. In developing mobile phone technology, American electrical engineers saw the main technical problem as achieving a smooth handoff from one radio antenna to the next. After they gave the name "cell" to the zone covered by each antenna, it was a natural choice for them to apply the term "cellular" to both the technology and the phones that ran on it.

Chirp : A term made popular by teenagers, as in to "chirp someone". This is regarding the sound of the Nextel walkie-talkie feature. Used 'interchangeably' with 'Beep-Beep'

Cinderblock : Another name for a "brick"

Clamshell : A phone that opens up to reveal the keypad, microphone, and earpiece; these are typically more compact than other designs. Often called "flip phones". Clamshell phones became very popular in the United States after the introduction of Motorola's StarTAC in 1996.

Hand phone : A common pseudo-English term in South-East Asia (including South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore) encompassing cell phones or any wireless phones connected to telecommunication providers.

Handset : A term used by manufacturers to refer to a mobile phone. Also commonly used by industry insiders.

Hands-free car kit : Mobile phone accessory used to talk while keeping hands on the steering wheel.

Handy : Pronounced "hendee", a pseudo-Anglicism that is used in [[ Austria]] and [[ Germany]] for a mobile phone (rare alternative spelling: '''Händi'''). In German, the word "Handy" has the meaning of "Hand-Telefon" or "handgehaltenes Mobiltelefon" (translated to English: "handheld mobile telephone"). The term possibly derived from the 1940s product name ''Handie-Talkie'' for a handheld military radio. (The backpack version was introduced as ''Walkie-Talkie''.)

Mobile : Short for "mobile phone" (in the sense of "cellular phone"), a term in everyday usage in some English-speaking countries such as the UK and Australia. Also commonly used by industry insiders in America, although with a different pronunciation.

Mobile phone : A term covering cellular phones, satellite phones, and any phones giving wide-ranging mobility, used in most English-speaking countries. In some English-speaking countries such as the UK and Australia, common usage refers specifically to cellular phones.

Ring tone : A song or tune that is played when a mobile phone is receiving a call.

Satellite phone : A mobile phone which communicates with a satellite rather than a land-based network.

3G phone : A mobile phone which uses a [[3G]] network, with greater bandwidth allowing faster data downloads and face-to-face video calling.

Wireless phone : A term that generally refers to a Wi-Fi VoIP phone but is sometimes used by the mobile phone industry to describe mobile phones.

Summary

It is exciting to be part of a growing technological world and all should enjoy its benefits, but in moderation.