Android Archives - Code Curmudgeon

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Review

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Code Curmudgeon

As you can guess from the title, I’m way behind on my mobile device reviews. But in some sense, this is a benefit since...

Map Ado About Nothing

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Code Curmudgeon

It’s amazing how much noise in mobile technology is created for issues that are at best marginal. For example, there was the iPhone 4...

What Are You Doing With Android?

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Code Curmudgeon

I’m trying to get a better feel for the Android development community from a testing perspective? If you’re creating Android apps or plan to...

Lies, Damn Lies, and Hardware Specs

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Code Curmudgeon

With the plethora of new mobile devices constantly coming out, consumers are bombarded with geek-speak on which ones are best. From the geeks perspective...

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Definitioner

CAN (Controller Area Network)

Controller Area Network aka CAN aka CAN Bus is a wiring standard for vehicles that enables communication between various components and devices without having a host computer. For example doors, brakes, transmission.

GPU

A Graphics Processing Unit or GPU is a logic chip that perform computations related to graphics. It does the graphical work for the CPU in a traditional computer. This includes things like rendering shapes and putting output onto the screen.

CPU

The CPU or Central Processing Unit is the key brain of the computer, it's the part where most computation is actually done.

processor (CPU)

The CPU or Central Processing Unit is the key brain of the computer, it's the part where most computation is actually done.

WiMax

A long-range wireless technology for high-speed internet access. Originally it was classified as a 3G technology, but because of it's improved performance can also be classified as 4G, albeit slower than LTE. Supported by Sprint in the USA.

LTE

LTE or <i>Long Term Evolution</i> is one of the most common methods of supporting high-speed 4G wireless standards. It uses 3GPP technology and can work with both CDMA and FSM. In the USA Verizon and T-Mobile use it, while AT&T have used different 3G hybrid technologies but have planned LTE rollouts.

HSPA

HSPA is <i>High Speed Packet Access</i> and normally refers to 3G networks. Some companies such as AT&T have built what they call HSPA+ networks with speeds approximately double traditional HSPA networks.

The 4th generation of cellular wireless standards - it's the successor the 3G. There is a vast difference between how carriers interpret and implement 4G at the current time, ranging from HSPA to WiMax to LTE, each has difference performance characteristics. The standard requires peak data rates from 100 Mbit/s for high mobility to 1Gbit/s for low mobility.

early-adopter

Someone who likes to have the latest and greatest things. They upgrade because something is newer, bigger, faster, has better numbers, etc. Sometimes they're right, but frequently the benefit of the new numbers is not measurable.