Mobile Phone

In 2000, just half of UK adults said that they had a mobile phone – that figure now stands at 94%. A Guardian report stated that the average Briton spends the equivalent of almost an entire day each week glued to their smartphone screen and uses it 221 times in every 24 hours for social networking, emailing, texting and other tasks. However, it is also reported (Via Billmonitor) that eight out of 10 people are on the wrong mobile-phone tariff, with just 30% using their full minutes and texts; as a result, they are paying as much as £200 more a year than necessary. Get on the right mobile and data package for you and your household today.

Jargon Buster

• 3G (Third Generation) — the current generation of mobile technology to enable higher data rates, full motion video and allows users access high-speed Internet on 3G-enabled networks
• 4G — the new standard in mobile phone technology that offers huge speeds (up to 300Mbps) and super-fast downloads
• Air Time — number of minutes spent talking on the phone, or the allowance of minutes from your provider
• Android — the operating system developed by Google
• Blocking — occurs when a phone user has entered an incorrect security code 3 or more times. Contact you network provider
• Bluetooth — allows you to connect to another bluetooth enabled phone/device that is in close proximity to you
• Brand — the company who manufactures the phone
• Camera Phone — a mobile phone with a built-in camera to take pictures and record videos
• Cooling-off Period — with many agreements, you are entitled to a cooling-off period whereby you are given a number of days (usually 14) during which you are entitled to change your mind without any repercussions
• Coverage — the area in which you get mobile phone signal from your network
• Desktop Charger — a charging dock / cradle that holds the handset on your desk while it is charging
• Download Speed — speed it takes to download data from the web
• GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) — a way to enhance 2G phones' capabilities to send and receive data at a much faster rate
• Hands-Free — allows a user to talk without holding the handset to your head and often involves using an extra hands-free accessory such as a Bluetooth earpiece
• Handset — the actual phone
• IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) — is a unique 15-digit code used to identify individual mobile phones
• Instant Messaging — services that let you chat with others with text messages in real time. For example, WhatsApp
• Latency — the time it takes data to travel to a third-party server and back, which is important to reduce delays when making video calls
• Megapixel — a unit of imagine sensing capacity in a digital camera. In general, the more megapixels in the camera the better quality of photos
• Model — the model number the manufacturers give each handset
• MP3 Player — allows a mobile phone to playback music and audio files
• Multimedia Messaging — allows you to send messages between mobile phones that include images and video clips
• Network Provider — this is your 'host' and known as your wireless service provider, wireless carrier, cellular company, or mobile network carrier
• Off-Peak — the period of time after business hours have ended. Note: mobile networks tend to offer reduced rates for calls
• Pay As You Go (PAYG) — a prepaid mobile phone service where customers purchase credit in advance to make calls and send messages at rates set by the network
• Peak — the time of day when the phone network is busiest. Note: mobile networks normally make calls more expensive during this time period
• Ringtones — sounds your phone makes when you receive an incoming call or alert
• Roaming — allows you to use your mobile phone on other networks other than the one you pay for
• Screensaver — appears when your mobile hasn't been actively used for a certain amount of time
• SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) — chip inserted into your phone which designates your mobile number, mobile account to the network and stores essential data
• SIM-only — is a pay monthly or SIM contract where your network provider supplies a SIM card with agreed amount for calls, text and data
• Smartphone — refers to modern handsets that carry out a whole range of functions including accessing the web, send and receive emails, play games, view movies etc
• Standby time — the number of number of hours that a mobile phone battery will last without receiving or making any calls
• Talk Time — see 'air time'
• Tariff — a contract you have with your network provider that states standard charges and call charges
• Text Message/SMS (Standard Message Service) — the basic form of messaging on your phone
• Unlocking — to use your mobile on different networks
• Upload Speed — speed it takes to upload content such as pictures or videos to the web
• Voice commands — using your mobile with your voice, so that your smartphone will carry out an instruction based upon a voice command
• Voicemail — records audio messages from callers when you are unable to answer the phone
• Wall Charger — a cable that plugs into wall sockets and also into your mobile to charge the phone’s battery
• Wallpaper — appears in the screen background and generally used for personalisation
• WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) — an agreed standard that allows older-generation phones to access the internet
• Web Browsing Speed — the time it takes to load a standard web page