Mobile phones work by using electromagnetic radio waves. Understanding how they work will give you more ideas on how you can use them and manipulate them for your project.
This is a useful guide from ‘How Stuff Works’ (accessed 2012) that gives the basic understanding of one of our most common place technologies – the mobile / cell phone.
How Cell Phones Work by Marshall Brain, Jeff Tyson and Julia Layton (accessed 2012)
Millions of people in the United States and around the world use cellular phones. They are such great gadgets with a cell phone, you can talk to anyone on the planet from just about anywhere!
Smart cell phones provide an incredible array of functions, and new ones are being added at a breakneck pace. Depending on the cell-phone model, you can:
- Store contact information
- Make task or to-do lists
- Keep track of appointments and set reminders
- Use the built-in calculator for simple math
- Send or receive e-mail
- Get information (news, entertainment, stock quotes) from the Internet
- Play games
- Watch TV
- Send text messages
- Integrate other devices such as PDAs, MP3 players and GPS receivers
More than you think offers this explanation that also talks about the concept of cell to cell communication.
The OfCOM guide (UK agency) gives a very brief guide explaining some of the jargon regularly used.