Learn the world of the smartphone, that little technological wonder we all carry in our pockets
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| Keith: Hi, I’m Keith. |
| Sadia: Hey, and I’m Sadia. The focus of this Buzzwords lesson is the term, |
| "smartphone." |
| Keith: Cool! Well, in a previous lesson we talked about the |
| Blackberry and also the iPhone. |
| Sadia: The Crackberry and the iPhone. Both of these devices, these very popular devices, are |
| considered "smartphones," or phones that are more |
| "intelligent" than standard cell phones. |
| Keith: Genius phones, even! |
| Sadia: [laughs] Yes, exactly. "Smartphones" have advanced capabilities |
| that make them seem more like miniature PCs than |
| cell phones. |
| Keith: Mini computers. |
| Sadia: And they make regular cellphones seem like useless |
| toys! [laughs] |
| Keith: Hey, I got a regular cell phone. |
| Sadia: Yeah, just kidding, just kidding. |
| Keith: [laughs] Tell me this. What makes a phone so "smart," anyway? |
| Sadia: Well, there are no specific requirements that a phone |
| has to meet in order to be considered "smart," but |
| phones that are called smartphones |
| generally share a few important features. I think you know what they are. What are they? |
| Keith: Well, they've got |
| an operating system (often the ability to add |
| application), they've also got email functionality, and, uh... What |
| else? I think I'm forgetting some stuff... |
| Sadia: Oh, they've also got an interactive calendar, and the |
| ability to read all these different document formats-- |
| Keith: And the ability to send and receive |
| messages that include media like photos or music-- |
| Sadia: AND greater memory capacity! |
| Keith: Let's not forget the feature that some people can't get |
| enough of. Sadia, do you know? |
| Sadia: Mm-mm. |
| Keith: The camera. [laughs] |
| Sadia: The camera, of course. Many smartphones also include |
| low-resolution cameras that allow users to snap |
| photos on the go. |
| Keith: And, I read somewhere that the first smartphone was the |
| IBM "Simon," which was introduced to the public in, |
| I think, the early 90s at some point. Maybe 1993. |
| Sadia: I read that it could do all |
| kinds of crazy things, especially for 1993. It could even send faxes! |
| Keith: Send faxes on a phone. |
| Sadia: In 1993. |
| Keith: I don’t think phones can do that now. |
| Sadia: AND the Simon had a |
| touch screen! But the drawback -- I mean, it could do all this stuff -- but it was probably the size of my head-- |
| and I have a pretty big head! |
| Keith: [laughs] So it’s not a cell phone. It’s basically a huge device, bigger than a computer. |
| Sadia: Mm? Bigger than a computer? I don’t know. But, as big as my head, perhaps. |
| Keith: Well, you’re right - I mean, about the Simon being large. It’s probably not the size of your head, but it was probably large. |
| Sadia: Today smartphone technology gets more |
| advanced as the years go by-- |
| Keith: Yeah that and the manufacturers are constantly coming |
| up with ways to fit more and more features into |
| smaller phones. |
| Sadia: Hmm, how smart will smartphones get? And how small? |
| Keith: Hmm... I wonder. |
| Keith: Let's take a look at some the vocabulary for this lesson. What’s the first word? |
| Sadia: smart phone [natural native speed] |
| Keith: a mobile phone with advanced capabilities |
| Sadia: smart phone [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: smart phone [natural native speed] |
| Next |
| Sadia: mobile phone [natural native speed] |
| Keith: a wireless, cellular telephone |
| Sadia: mobile phone [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: mobile phone [natural native speed] |
| Next |
| Sadia: advanced [natural native speed] |
| Keith: beyond the basic level |
| Sadia: advanced [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: advanced [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: capability [natural native speed] |
| Keith: ability to do something |
| Sadia: capability [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: capability [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: miniature [natural native speed] |
| Keith: of reduced or smaller size |
| Sadia: miniature [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: miniature [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: standard [natural native speed] |
| Keith: acceptable level of quality, normal |
| Sadia: standard [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: standard [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: useless [natural native speed] |
| Keith: having no use |
| Sadia: useless [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: useless [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: ability [natural native speed] |
| Keith: the power or skill to do something |
| Sadia: ability [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: ability [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: send [natural native speed] |
| Keith: cause a message to go or to be delivered |
| Sadia: send [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: send [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: receive [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to get or be given something |
| Sadia: receive [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: receive [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: memory [natural native speed] |
| Keith: storage capacity for computers |
| Sadia: memory [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: memory [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: capacity [natural native speed] |
| Keith: maximum amount that can be held |
| Sadia: capacity [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: capacity [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: on the go [natural native speed] |
| Keith: while traveling |
| Sadia: on the go [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: on the go [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Sadia: manufacturer [natural native speed] |
| Keith: maker |
| Sadia: manufacturer [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: manufacturer [natural native speed] |
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