Jan 20
Mini USB (left) and Micro USB (right)
One of the most frequent issues that we deal with in the world of refurbished cell phones is confusion about Mini USB chargers verses Micro USB chargers. Most cellular manufacturers are moving towards using a common charging/data port, and Mini USB and Micro USB ports are definitely the two most common choices at this time.
Mini USB
Mini USB – The Mini USB port has been the standard charging/data port for most phones produced over the past five years, especially for Blackberrys, HTC phones, and Motorola phones.
Micro USB
Micro USB – The Micro USB port is newer technology towards which many manufacturers seem to be moving. Micro USB ports can be found on the newest Blackberrys, Motorolas, Nokias, and Samsungs.
Adding to the Micro USB/ Mini USB confusion is HTC. Virtually all HTC phones use a mini-usb charger; however, the chargers that HTC provide are shaped slightly different than a standard mini-usb charger so that you cannot use an HTC charger with a different, say Blackberry, phone. Customers purchasing a replacement charger for an HTC phone should not be alarmed when they receive a Mini USB charger that does not look exactly like their original HTC charger.
Tagged with: htc usb • micro • micro usb • mini • mini usb • usb
Nov 03
The term “unlocked” refers to GSM phones that have been universalized, or unlocked, so that they may be used on a variety of cellular phone companies that use GSM, as opposed to simply one. In areas like the United States where cellular carriers offer free or deeply discounted phones with cell plans, the phones are commonly locked so that they will not work with other carriers. Once unlocked, however, the phone should work with any GSM carrier once a SIM card has been inserted into phone.
Tagged with: unclocked • unlocked cell phones
Nov 03
GSM stands for Global Systems for Mobile Communication. GSM is the European standard, which has recently spread throughout the world. It is now the most popular system for mobile communication in the world. GSM technology also pioneered the SMS, or text message, which has changed the world of telecommunication as we know it.
For the average consumer, the key feature of GMS technology is its use of the SIM card. A detailed explanation of the SIM card is available in its own link on www.FindBlueFindValue.com; however, here is a brief explanation of the advantages of GSM and SIM technology: The SIM card allows you to store your personal information and contact information on a removable card or “chip,” which can then be swapped from GSM phone to GSM phone. This meaning that you can transfer your account, your personal information, and all of your phone numbers to a different phone by simply removing your SIM card from one phone and placing it in another.
GSM uses a variation of Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and is the most widely used of the three digital wireless telephone technologies (TDMA, GSM, and CDMA). GSM digitizes and compresses data, then sends it down a channel with two other streams of user data, each in its own time slot. GSM networks operate in four different frequency ranges. Most GSM networks operate in the 900 MHz or 1800 MHz bands. Some countries in the Americas (including Canada and the United States) use the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz bands because the 900 and 1800 MHz frequency bands were already allocated.
GSM is the wireless telephone standard in Europe. GSM has over one billion users worldwide and is available in 190 countries. Since many GSM network operators have roaming agreements with foreign operators, users can often continue to use their mobile phones when they travel to other countries. Many of today’s GSM cell phones are “tri-band” or “world phones,” which means they can operate on three or more types of GSM frequency (i.e. American and European), allowing consumers to take advantage of this ability to use their own phone throughout many of the countries in the world.
Tagged with: gsm • gsm cell phones • unlocked cell phones
Nov 03
A SIM card, or Subscriber Identity Module, is a portable memory chip for GSM cell phones. SIM cards are used to store personal information, phone numbers and addresses, as well as information like text messages. SIM card technology allows GSM customers to quickly transfer their entire account, address book and all, to a different GSM phone by simply switching the card. An example of what a SIM card looks like can be found below. SIM cards will vary in color and logo but are uniform in shape.
Tagged with: sim card
This post is for our friends who need to catch up with technology. Judging from several conversations I’ve had this week, the general public is not aware of what an RSS feed is or does, which is sad for us as we hope that everyone signs up with our feed in order to effortlessly follow along with our updates.
