At the same time as all the innovation offered by the iPhone, other companies (Samsung and Nokia) have improved the interface of their mobile terminals. Research in Motion has also released the 9000 version of its mobile terminal, the famous BlackBerry, with major improvements in web browsing in an attempt to imitate the success of the iPhone. The growth of mobile use, and not only to make calls or send messages, has been such that it has helped to extend the Information Society, even if the phones have more features than users really demand. For example, in the case of the camera and the bluetooth, over half of the consumers who have these features do not use them.

Television sets as Information Technology Access Terminals

The television is still the device that has the highest penetration in industrialized countries; for example, 96% of all households in the European Union countries have at least one television, and the rate is even at 100% in three: Malta, Cyprus and Luxembourg. Sweden and Finland curiously held the lowest positions, just the opposite of most indicators related to the Information Society, which could suggest some cultural differences with regard to this medium. The high levels of penetration in most countries led to long term speculation that this device could be the star in terms of access to the Information Society. However, by 2007, only 2% of televisions had access to the Internet gateway.

The renaissance of the television in modern technological terms is drastically changing the nature and appearance of these terminals in homes. Today, new technologies such as plasma, TFT, and OLED have completely displaced the old cathode ray tube, which has stayed on as a residual at the lowest levels, while the smaller sizes and a continuous drop in prices have advanced the popularity of the newer models. Although sales of more traditional models have almost disappeared, television sets typically do remain installed within homes for longer periods of years; though there is also starting to be a good number of households with both models.

These terminals are starting to include multiple other functions like a DTT tuner, which already outnumber the TVs that don’t include it; a hard drive or USB port; or in the most advanced cases, wireless, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

In 2008, Samsung and Sony announced the release of 31 inch OLED TVs that were just 8 millimeters thick. The technology allows them to achieve a sharp image and a range of colors and intensity that far exceeds any other product today. Another important development is the move to 200 hertz screens.

Another phenomenon that is taking place is the entry of HD (High Definition) in many new terminals. There are two families of HDTV formats: 1920 pixels by 1080 lines, and 1280 pixels by 720 lines. Often the names of these formats are abbreviated without the horizontal pixel number as 1080p and 720p. They are also identified according to their frame rate, the number of video frames per second. The resolution of computer screens is generally much higher than that of traditional television sets. This has started a process of convergence between both types of screens.

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Author Bio: Visit the website at www.UDIG.com for more information. Visit our Richmond IT jobs section for career openings.

Category: Computers and Technology
Keywords: Technology, Career, Business