Technology Is Among Us

Where there are people, there will be technology, because the world needs it to survive. In the present, technology is all around us. Every where you go you run into some type of technology, whether you know it or not. Advancement in technology makes everyday things easier than they have ever been before. But as an evolving society, new technologies are what drive the world today: 3G mobile communications, Voice over Internet Protocol, Bluetooth, and connecting your home to the internet are the new driving forces, but where will they take us?

3G mobile communications

3G is one of the latest technologies in mobile communication networks. You might ask yourself, what is "3G". Well, 3G means third generation. Analog phones are considered first generation, digital phones are second generation, and third generation is basically really fast digital phones. According to phonescoop.com, 3G offers high data speeds, always-on data access, and greater voice capacity.

3G technology is primarily being used in mobile devices such as cell phones and laptops. With more bandwidth, 3G offers many new services. One of which is video conferencing and video messaging. Another is the ability to email large attachments including video email. One company has already jumped on board with 3G. Verizon with its V-Cast offers services such as, streaming music videos, 3D video games, and news and entertainment videos. V-Cast is also going to offer TV shows exclusively for your 3G phone. Another use of 3G technology is for your laptop. Using a 3G PC card, you can connect to the internet and use applications that require broadband speeds.

The 3G technology standards are dependent

upon the country. Different countries use different standards but all the standards are compliant to the International Mobile Telecommunication 2000 (IMT-2000) initiative from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). In general there are only a few standards that represent Europe, Japan and North America, Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA-2000) and Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) which is the basis of both the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and the Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access (FOMA). All of these standards offer about the same data speeds which range from 128 Kbps (over twice the speed of dial-up) to 2Mbps (over 35 times the speed of dial-up) depending if you are stationary or on the move.

W-CDMA is or will be used through much of Europe through UMTS and FOMA is the standard for Japan. W-CDMA was developed by Japan and was used to create their FOMA service. W-CDMA is based from a 2G standard of CDMA by using the general multiplexing scheme, per Wikipedia. In May of 2000, W-CDMA was accepted by ITU. FOMA is the first 3G service and was launched in Japan on in 2001. UMTS is the widely used standard in many European counties. UMTS is managed and standardized by 3G Partnership Project (3GPP). UMTS has not been very successful in taking off in the US because the spectrum allocated for UMTS is supposed to be 1900 and 2100 MHz. Both of these in the US are already in use. 1900 MHz is used by 2G PCS, and 2100 MHz is used by satellite communications.

North America's answer to 3G is CDMA2000, which is also based from CDMA technology. CDMA-2000 is compatible with older CDMA technologies where W-CDMA is not. CDMA2000 is a competing standard to UMTS. There are many versions of CDMA2000 but the one currently being put into effect is CDMA2000 1xEV-DO (1x Evolution-Data Optimized.

3G is the next step in mobile technology and opens the doors to a number of possibilities. As bandwidth usage becomes even more efficient, the amount of data that can be sent to mobile devices will grow. Some future applications could be centered on emergency services, research, commerce, and entertainment. An example of an emergency service application would be downloading maps, floor plans, and schematics to firefighter's or rescue personnel's mobile device giving them the information that is needed.

Many companies are now involved in 3G. Vodafone offers 3G service and claims they have the world's largest mobile community. Vodafone operates in Europe. They also operate in the US under Verizon. T-mobile plans to begin offering 3G in mid to late 2006. NTT Do Como's, one of 3G's pioneers, coverage of 3G services already covers nearly all of Japan and is looking into 3.5G technologies. AT&T Wireless has begun development of UMTS networks in some US cities. Verizon, Sprint Nextel, Bell Canada are all developing EV-DO networks.

Voice over Internet Protocol

Have you ever looked at your telephone bill and wondered how you could lower the cost? Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) may be your answer. This emerging technology is gaining popularity with companies, individualism and the gaming industry. The technology isn't new, but was developed around 1996. Vocal Tec is one of the pioneering companies and the first to produce VoIP software. Though use of this relatively slow growing technology is starting to build momentum, it is still hampered by poor to little regulations and government intervention.

Voice over Internet Protocol allows your internet connection to replace your phone line by turning analog signals into digital data transmitted over the internet. The only things you need to get started are an internet connection (preferably high speed), a converter, software, and someone using the same service. The big advantage of the service is potential savings, but the implementation for large companies is not painless.

Currently, there are three different types of calls that can be placed. The first is an analog telephone adaptor (ATA). This is a converter that connects your standard phone to your computer and converts analog signals to digital data. The second type is IP Phones. They look just like a regular phone, but instead of plugging into your wall with a standard RJ-11 phone connector it plugs into your router using a RJ-45 Ethernet connector. The third type of call is made by computer - to - computer. This is usually a free service needing only the software, headset, and a high-speed internet connection.

What makes this technology so different from landlines is its use of transmission time. Using a landline phone creates a connection between two parties that is in use for the duration of the call, virtually tying up that circuit until the end of the callers' conversation. With VoIP there isn't a dedicated line. Compressed data is sent in packets over multiple paths in a network, called packet switching, which flow along until the reaches their designated IP address. This works much like downloading a website. Compressing the data and only