Technology
Texting totals...
According to the Mobile Data Association (MDA), people in the UK sent over 4 billion texts in 2006! On Christmas Day 205 million texts were sent (that's an average of 8 million per hour) and on New Year's Day a record breaking 214 million, the highest daily total ever recorded by the Mobile data Association.
Be a film star!
Video calling lets you see people live on screen when you call them. All 3G handsets offer video calling just select 'video call' rather than 'voice call' and you will be connected as long as the person you phone has 3G too.
You can also send videos or photos from your phone to your friends with 3G. Just record a film or take a picture with the camera in your phone and send it as a text. This is called 'MMS' which stands for Multimedia Messaging Service.
Remember - only send pictures you want to send and only send them to friends you know and trust.
- check how much this costs to use as prices from network to network do vary
If you're receiving upsetting calls or messages, tell your parent, guardian or someone you trust, especially if the person:
Internet into your phone...
Getting the internet on a mobile phone is getting more and more popular! The Mobile Data Association say that in December 2006, 15.9 million people in the UK used it in that month alone.
Internet on a mobile is different to internet on a computer - common uses include recording TV shows (via sky+), viewing TV guides and searching for restaurants, taxi firms and hotels while on the move.
Sometimes getting the internet on your mobile is called WAP (which stands for Wireless Application Protocol) and WAP is the system that lets you access the internet from a mobile or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant, a high tech personal organiser like a Palm Pilot or a BlackBerry). It uses a similar technology as computers but needs to be simpler so it works with mobile phone technology. The webpages for computers and mobiles are written in a different way and sometimes complicated designs and functions on a computer cannot be seen on a mobile phone (e.g. you might get text but not pictures or you might get pictures but not animations). You can send emails, look at news headlines, find out sports results and download ringtones from websites wherever you are with internet on your mobile.
Get connected
Bluetooth is a way of connecting and swapping information between mobile phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), PCs, printers, games consols and digital cameras. It uses a short range radio frequency so works over a short distance.
You can use bluetooth to send a text containing a photo or video. Prepare the message and choose send 'via bluetooth'. Your phone will first check if your bluetooth is switched on and you can activate it. It will start 'searching for devices' and will list everything in your range that you can send your message to. To make sure you send your message to your friend, check what they have named their phone. this is free and you can use this method for sharing information. Sometimes you can even send wallpaper and ringtones in this way. Best of all - it's free!
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (also called VoIP, IP Telephony, Internet telephony, Broadband telephony, Broadband Phone and Voice over Broadband) is when you use your internet connection to make a telephone call.
Calling from VoIP to VoIP is usually free but calling from VoIP to other lines is rarely free. VoIP will work wherever you have an internet connection.