2G: Second generation mobile telephone technology. 2G cannot normally transfer data, such as e-mail or software, other than the digital voice call itself and other basic data such as time and date, although SMS messaging is available for data transmission for some standards.

3G: Third generation mobile telephone technology. 3G provides the ability to transfer both voice data (such as making a telephone call) and non-voice data (such as downloading information, exchanging e-mail, and instant messaging.

4G: Fourth generation mobile telephone technology. 4G will feature high-speed mobile wireless access with a very high data transmission speed. It also addresses the notion of (hypothetical) pervasive networks, in which the user can be simultaneously connected to several wireless access technologies and can seamlessly move between them.

Bluetooth: An industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PAN) using radio frequencies to link enabled devices.

EDGE: Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution. A digital mobile phone technology that acts as a bolt-on enhancement to 2G and GPRS networks. EDGE is a superset to GPRS and can function on any network with GPRS deployed on it.

GPRS: General Packet Radio Service A mobile data service available to users of GSM mobile phones. It is often described as "2.5G"—that is, a technology between the second generation (2G) and third generation (3G) of mobile telephony. It provides moderate speed data transfer & high-speed "always on" data connections.

GPS: Global Positioning System A satellite navigation system used for determining one’s precise location and providing a highly accurate time reference almost anywhere on earth.

GSM: Global System for Mobile telephones The most commonly used cell phone standard in the world. GSM systems are used in nearly two hundred countries, with six hundred million subscribers worldwide. It originated in Europe and can now be found in Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America.

IM: Instant Messaging A client (software program) that hooks up a user to an instant messaging service. Instant messaging conversations happen in real time.

MP3: An audio compression format that reduces the amount of data required to reproduce audio.

MMS: Multimedia Messaging System Allows subscribers to compose and send messages with one or more multimedia (digital photos, audio, video) parts. Mobile phones with built-in or attached cameras, or with built-in MP3 players, are very likely to also have an MMS messaging client — a software program that interacts with the mobile subscriber to compose, address, send, receive, and view MMS messages.

PAN: Personal Area Network A network for communication among computer devices (including telephones and personal digital assistants) close to one person, where the devices may or may not belong to the person in question. The reach of a PAN is typically a few meters. PANs can be used for communication among the personal devices themselves (intrapersonal communication) or for connecting to a higher-level network and the Internet.

RFID: Radio Frequency Identification A method of remotely storing and retrieving data. An RFID tag is a small object, such as an adhesive sticker that can be attached to or incorporated into a product. RFID tags contain antennas to enable them to receive and respond to radio-frequency queries from an RFID transceiver.

SMS: Short Messaging Service Enables the sending of short messages between mobile phones and other handheld devices.

Smartphone: Handheld devices (eg mobile phones and PDAs) that integrate personal information management and mobile phone capabilities in the same device. Features may include Internet access, e-mail access, scheduling software, built-in camera, contact management.

WiFi: Wireless Fidelity A set of wireless LAN standards developed by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee.