May 16 2009
Cell phone and mobile phone is not the same
Using mobile phone and cell phone as synonyms is wrong. Cell phone is just one variety of mobile phone. Mobile phone can be cell phone, sattelite phone, car phone etc., as they all are mobile. This needs to be fixed.
This article is not about cell phones only. The problem with renaming it to “Cellular phone” is that cellular technology is slowly becoming obsolete. Some 4G implementations, for instance, don’t use the cellular concept anymore.
Except that the article was converted over from a cellular phone-specific article and still contains a lot of statements that only apply to cell phones. E.g., from the top: The mobile phone (also called a wireless phone or cellular phone) is a short-range, portable electronic device used for mobile voice or data communication over a network of specialized base stations known as cell sites. Then later there’s an entire section on Related non-mobile-phone systems that used to be Related non-cell-phone systems which specfically states that, e.g., satellite phones are not mobile phones. Confusing
I guess the correct name would be “Hand-held terrestrial mobile phone” because that’s what this article is actually about. But that would be an awkward name, and the term “mobile phone” has become synonymous with the above in most parts of the world. –Cambrasa confab 12:25, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
No, because “hand-held terrestrial mobile phone” might well include high powered long range cordless phones, such as those sold by Samsung that have a range of around 100km, as well as various trunk mobile radio systems and DECT.
Isn’t “cell phone” term already obsolete?
I’m certain I’ve read in the past that the original analog mobile phone technology was called “cellular”, but that the digital technology which obsoleted it is not officially/technically called “cellular”.
So although “cell phone” is still widely used colloquially, you’ll never find your telephone company using that term — always “mobile phone” instead.
