Mobile Internet Basics

What is the "mobile Internet"?

The mobile internet at this point is a scaled-down version of the internet that you would use on a regular computer. Mobile devices only have the capability to do so much on the internet. For instance,a mobile device is not going to be able to run full Java pages and all kinds of animations. It's going to take mostly text, scale it into a font size that can fit on the screen, and give you information as clearly as possible.

What is "Wireless Application Protocol" (WAP)?

With regards to mobile internet basics, Wireless Application Protocol is actually the protocol that's used to create a web page for your cell phone. Like you have “www” for your computer, you have “wap” for your cell phone. Every page that you see with a “wap” in front of it stands for “Wireless Application Protocol”. Therefore WAP is a page that's been designed to format for mobile handsets.

What are some of the issues with the mobile Internet?

With regards to the mobile internet, an issue with the mobile internet is that not all websites are compatible. Another thing is that manufacturers are using different browser technologies on different phones, some webpage's display on some phones, where some webpage's just don't display on other phones. There is a disconnection between how mobile internet pages are written and how pages are displayed across all of the different mobile phone manufacturers.

Does the mobile Internet risk "bottlenecking"?

With regards to mobile internet basics, the mobile internet does risk bottlenecking as they start to implement higher features into the wireless application protocol. Recently, there have been new innovations that allow customers to stream music from a website off their cell phone, which in turn uses a lot more data, and the more customers that use that data pipeline, the less amount of speed that you're going to attain with the information you getting on your mobile phone via the internet. It's like if you have 100 people in a pool, versus 50 people in a pool. It's about how much water you have between you to disperse and move freely.

What is "malware"?

Malware is malicious software. In the mobile industry, typically transmitted via Bluetooth to phones that leave their Bluetooth on in a mode called "discoverable". When you're in discoverable mode, you're basically sending your signal out from your Bluetooth phone saying "I'm here and this is my name, send me stuff, send me stuff, send me stuff." And people send out malicious stuff, like videos that look like they could be funny, but actually is a script that erases everything on your phone and causes it to crash, or there's certain websites out there that if you navigate to them and you click on them, it runs a whole bunch of processes on your Bluetooth phone and essentially fries it.

What effect does malware have on my cell phone?

With regards to mobile internet basics, malware has the ability to erase information, manipulate information, to do things in the background of your mobile phone without you knowing it. For instance, sending text messages to people in your phone book, and incurring insane data rates for the customer itself.

Why do cell phones make good targets for malware?

With regards to mobile internet basics, cell phones make good targets for malware because everybody has a mobile phone. It's like why Windows has more viruses than Macs do: because the Mac community is smaller than the Windows community. However, everybody has a cell phone, so it's the easiest target.

How are data transmission rates measured?

Data transmission rates are measured in bits. Once it reaches one thousand twenty four measures in one bit, it becomes a kilobyte, which is one thousand units. From a kilobyte, the next step up is megabits. The faster your connection is, the more data you can download at a rapid speed, which allows you to download videos quickly, stream music over the internet very quickly, and purchase music on your handset just as if you were sitting in front of your computer.

What is "encryption"?

Encryption is basically like creating a secret password between you and a friend. Encryption is a language that you made up, that allows you to communicate without any outside sources picking up and being able to decipher what your conversation is about.