The smart phone The GPS High speed broadband The mp3 Online TV streaming
What is so smart about a smart phone? Everything from it’s high speed internet browsing to good quality streaming of live TV! Here are some facts you may not have known:
“The first mobile phone call was in 1973: One afternoon in 1973, Motorola General Manager Martin Cooper took to the streets of New York with a prototype mobile phone. It was a monolithic device that snaps reveal was every bit as obelisk-like as you’d expect.
But it worked well enough for Cooper to make a call. And what a call. The first number he rang was Dr Joel S Engel of Bell Labs phone company. When Engel, who was head of research at Moto’s deadly rival, picked up, Cooper was delighted to be able to inform him that Moto had beaten them to the punch with the first functional mobile phone.” - Over Blog
The first smart phone was brought out in 1992 and while you may not remember getting your first smart phone till the new millennium, it's because the first model wasn’t the easiest of mobiles to take anywhere with it’s docking station and heavy weight casing
“The first camera phone was released in Japan in 2000: the Sharp J-SH04.” – Baseline mag
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Do you know where you are according to precice geographic measurements? We don’t either, we just need a GPS to get us to the mall, Grandma’s house or to that holiday destination in the mountain. But how does it work?
“The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. It is maintained by the United States government and is freely accessible by anyone with a GPS receiver.”- Wikipedia
“The term “geocaching” actually means treasure hunting! In 1992 GPS was used in Operations Desert Storm. The GPS cannot send signals!”– FunFacter.hubpages
“There are several types of GPS. systems. The most common are the in-dash, handheld, and portable GPS devices. Indash GPS systems are devices that are built in a car's dashboard and mainly assist the driver in navigating the road. Meanwhile, handheld GPS devices are gadgets that come in the form of mobile phones, smartphones or PDAs which can be easily carried and stored. Lastly, portable GPS systems are smaller than the in-dash type but more affordable. These portable devices can be mounted or dismounted from the car's dashboard. Portable GPS systems can also be used by pedestrians.”- eHow
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With cheap broadband being oh so easy to come by these days, it’s not surprising that this makes the list of tech inventions time and time again. Here are some fun facts about high speed broadband: “Broadband is defined as a high bandwidth connection to the Internet. Broadband is easier and faster to use than the traditional telephone and modem as information can be sent and downloaded much quicker. Broadband can be provided over your phone line, via cable or via satellite. It involves large volumes of information being carried at high speeds to your PC. This allows websites, text, graphics, music and videos to be experienced in real time.” – BroadbandGuide.org
Broadband has changed the world! “Before the broadband revolution, blogging (or ‘web logging’ as we once thought of it) was seen as a strictly geek-only domain. Nowadays, there are blogs about every conceivable subject – and the sociological impact is only now beginning to be felt. Whereas once groups could only gather based on geographical proximity, it is now possible for niche groups scattered across the world to get together and develop their own culture across the net. Whether you have a taste for Star Trek or for steampunk design hacks, it’s never been easier to find like-minded people. Furthermore, by exploring the long tail of online media we can find music, films and books we never knew existed before – meaning people have more diverse tastes than has ever before been possible. If you’re a fan of ‘80s computer game music living in London it’s possible to know exactly what is happening in a similar ‘scene’ in Australia. The cultural implications are profound, and blogging culture is constantly developing in many weird and wonderful ways.” – Broadband-expert.co.uk
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Facts about MP3’s could fill an entire scroll but we’ll stick to 3! MP3 is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression. It is a common audio format for consumer audio storage, as well as a de facto standard of digital audio compression for the transfer and playback of music on digital audio players.- Wikipedia Carbon-Zinc. Carbon-Zinc batteries can't be recharged, and must be discarded when they lose power. MP3 players usually use Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries, instead of the older Nickel-Cadmium (NiCad) batteries.- funtrivia.com According to a December 2007 Pew Internet Project survey, 34% of American adults and 43% of internet users report owning an iPod or MP3 player, up from 20% of the total population and 26% of internet users in April 2006. Young adults between 18 and 29 years old are the age group most likely to own MP3 players, 61% of whom own these gadgets. Parents, those with broadband access, and those with higher socio-economic status (higher income and education) are also considerably more likely to own MP3 players or iPods, according to Pew Internet Project.- itfacts.biz
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Where would we be without TV on the go? It seems hard to remember what it was like having to wait for programmes to come onto the television when we now have endless movies and TV series on demand. Here’s some facts about on line TV streaming… “Internet television (otherwise known as Internet TV, or Online TV) is the digital distribution of television content via the Internet. It should not be confused with Web television - short programs or videos created by a wide variety of companies and individuals, or Internet protocol television (IPTV) - an emerging internet technology standard for use by television broadcasters. Some Internet television is known as catch-up TV. Internet Television is a general term that covers the delivery of television shows and other video content over the internet by video streaming technology, typically by major traditional television broadcasters.” – Wikipedia “Online TV viewing has been gaining in popularity. 20% of American households who use the internet watch television broadcasts online, double the viewership from 2006, The Conference Board reports. The top two destinations for online broadcasts are the official TV channel homepage and YouTube.com. Being able to watch broadcasts on their own time and at their convenience are the top reasons users tune in online. Other reasons include avoiding commercials and portability. Nearly 72% of online households log on for entertainment purposes on a daily basis, and one in ten cites entertainment as the most important internet activity. The top five types of shows viewed online are news, drama, sitcom/comedy, reality shows and sports, with user generated content following close behind. Among consumers connecting to online broadcasts, 43% tune into the news, 39% watch drama shows, 34% view sitcom/comedy shows, 23% watch reality shows, 16% view sports, and 15% view user generated content.”- itfacts.biz
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