Tablet PC Glossary

A-GPS

Assisted Global Positioning System is a technology that can improve the start up performance of GPS with the help of assistance server. A-GPS takes assistance from GPRS or service provider network to get the current position of the user and has the capability to provide turn by turn directions. Since the load on the CPU is reduced as almost all the tasks are shared by assistance servers, the time taken to get the location information is comparatively less than that of standard GPS.

AirPlay

Airplay, is a wireless technology developed by Apple Inc. which allows music, video and photo streaming between Apple devices. Also this protocol stack is licensed to stream audio with third party hardware devices.

AirPrint

AirPrint is a wireless printing feature available in Apple devices like the iPhone and iPad that enables the user to print the documents, Photos and graphics on any AirPrint compatible device.

Ambient light sensor

It is used to automatically control the brightness of the display on Smart Phone and Tablet screens depending upon environmental light. This can help users to have a clear view of the screen, without any eye strain.

Android

Android is an Smart phone and Tablet Operating System developed by Open Handset Alliance led by Google. Android 4.0 is the latest version of this Operating system.

Capacitive Touchscreen

It has the similar functionality as that of Resistive Touch screen. The difference lies in the way it functions. When the user touches the screen with the finger or Stylus, the relative difference in charge is calculated by the Computer. Simultaneously it sends the information to the touch screen drive software. Once the information is transmitted to the driver, the device get to know about the location of the touch and the necessary operation is performed. Capacitive Touch screen has the capability to transmit 90% of light from the monitor thereby has more power than that of Resistive Touch screen which can transmit only 75%. Devices which has Capacitive Touch screen includes Apple iPhone 3GS, Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing is a technology that allows users to store and manage data, applications and other information in the cloud. User's data is backed up automatically and is available to access from anywhere. Ex: iCloud, DropBox, etc.

GPS

GPS- Global Positioning System is a satellite based navigation system that provides information about weather, location and time from anywhere across the globe using an Internet connection.

HDMI

HDMI stands for High Definition Multimedia Interface which is used to transfer uncompressed digital data and acts as an interface between an audio or video source like DVD player, Digital Television, PlayStation and so on. It can transfer data at a speed of 10.2 Gbps.

iCloud

iCloud is a Cloud Computing service offered by Apple Inc. to help its users to seamlessly sync and back up data from their Apple devices. Data shared from one Apple device of the user can be accessed by the user's other Apple device without needing to download again.

iOS

iOS, originally known as iPhone OS is a considered to be one of the Most advanced Mobile Operating system created by Apple Inc. specifically to be used in Apple devices like the iPod, iPhone and iPad. iOS 5 is the latest update of this Operating system.

iTunes

iTunes is an easy to share software that allows to sync any Apple device like iPhone, iPod or iPad with a PC or Mac. It is used to convert music and video to iOS readable format and transfer files to the Apple devices. It was also used for installing software updates until the release of iOS 5.

micro-USB

Micro USB was developed by USB Implementers Forum, Inc. and is smaller and thinner when compared to mini USB. It is available in almost all the portable electronic devices like Tablets and Smart Phones to transfer data using USB cables.

MotoPack

It is an application from Motorola which allows Motorola devices to directly access the Android app market. With MotoPack, just tap the application from Android Market that you wanted to download and it will be available to the Tablet.

MotoPrint

MotoPrint is an application designed for Motorola devices to print directly from Motorola devices using Wi-Fi. It can detect printers without even installing the drivers required for printing and supports files like Microsoft word, PDF, e-mail, pictures and so on.

NFC

NFC- Near Field Communication is a wireless technology used for secure communication between two electronic devices and used especially for making payments using Smart phones and Tablets.

QNX OS

QNX RTOS is a Real Time Operating System built for high reliability and performance in the embedded space which was developed by QNX Software systems and later taken over by Research in Motion- a Canadian based Smart Phone (BlackBerry) manufacturer. Every operation in QNX is controlled by individual servers, thereby increasing. BlackBerry Playbook runs on the QNX OS.

Resistive Touchscreen

It has multiple layers separated by thin spaces. When a pressure is applied either by Stylus, hand or finger on the resistive touch screen, electric circuit is completed which in turn guides or interacts with the screen to perform or to activate an application from the device. It normally requires more pressure comparatively with that of capacitive touch screen. Few Devices that uses the Resistive Touchscreen technology are- Nokia N900, LG Optimus, etc.

SD Card

SD – Secure Digital is a small sized memory card developed by SD Card Association to store large amount of data in Portable devices.SD Card can store up to 2GB and SDHC which falls under the High-Capacity card group can stores up to 2TB of data.

Silk Browser

Silk is a “cloud-accelerated web browser” created by Amazon which works on split architecture to increase web page loading performance. It was first released with the Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet. The browser was questioned for retaining the web-history for 30 days, to achieve faster browsing speeds.

WhisperSync

Whispersync is a service from Amazon that allows the users to Sync data between kindle devices and other mobile devices. The major advantage of the service is that it is capable of playing an audio or video from where it has been paused for transfer in the earlier device.