A mobile phone, also known as a cellphone, smartphone, mobile , or handphone, is an electronic telecommunications device with the same basic capability as a conventional fixed line telephone, but which is also entirely portable and is not required to be connected with a wire to the telephone network. Most current mobile phones connect instead to the network using a wireless radio wave transmission technology. The mobile phone communicates via a network of base stations which are in turn linked to the conventional telephone network. Cell phones are now capable of connecting to the Wireless Internet, although the content is displayed in a different format, due to the phone's miniature LCD.
In addition to the standard voice function of a telephone, a mobile phone can support many additional services such as SMS for text messaging, packet switching for access to the Internet and MMS for sending and receiving photos and video.
Some of the world's largest mobile phone manufacturers include Alcatel, Audiovox, Kyocera (formerly the handset division of Qualcomm), LG, Motorola, Nokia,
Panasonic (Matsushita Electric), Philips, Sagem, Samsung, Sanyo, Siemens, SK Teletech, and Sony Ericsson.
There are also specialist communication systems related to, but distinct from mobile phones, such as satellite phones and Professional Mobile Radio. Mobile phones are also distinct from cordless telephones, which generally operate only within a limited range of a specific base station.
