New Communications Technology

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2004-2-24

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VOICE ONE:

This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with
EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about new
technology that makes communication faster and easier.

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VOICE ONE:

Our report begins high in the mountains of northern California's
Shasta-Trinity National Forest. A man and his son have reached an
area called Little Mount Hoffman. It is more than two-thousand
meters high in the beautiful mountains.

The two are camping. They carry all their clothing, food, water
and other things they need on their backs. They have come to this
area of the great national park to enjoy the outdoors.

VOICE TWO:

It is late in the day and both are hungry. They build their camp
for the night and cook their evening meal.

After their meal, the man reaches into his pack and pulls out a
special kind of telephone. It can be used from anywhere on Earth. It
does not use wires. It links with a system of satellites in orbit
high above the Earth.

Minutes later, the man talks to a business partner in Japan. They
discuss developments that are important to their company.

A few minutes later, the young boy uses the telephone to talk to
his mother. She is at home, in Miami, Florida. He tells her not to
worry. The two of them are having a good time. He tells her he will
call again tomorrow night.

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VOICE ONE:

Satellite telephones are not really new. But now they can be used
anywhere in the world. Also, satellite telephones were once very
large. Now, they are not much larger than any other small telephone.
And, they are no longer as costly as they once were.

A company called Iridium produces
a satellite telephone. It also supplies the link to satellites. The
Iridium company uses more than fifty satellites that provide
communications for their telephones.

Iridium and several other companies in the United States offer
satellite telephones for less than four-hundred dollars.

Most satellite telephone companies charge money each month for
the service. They also charge money for each call made on the
telephone.

VOICE TWO:

The satellite telephone is without equal as an emergency
communications or business tool. It is possible to link a satellite
telephone with a computer. The computer can be used to send large
amounts of information very quickly to anywhere in the world.

The telephone can also be linked with cameras and video cameras
that can link with computers. People who travel to Tibet to climb
Mount Everest use this kind of technology. These mountain climbers
have made the satellite telephone an important part of their
equipment. They often use these special telephones to send
photographs and videos and to talk to family members from the
highest mountain in the world.

VOICE ONE:

The satellite telephone is only one of many new telephones that
have recently appeared on the market. Perhaps the most changes have
been made to the wireless cellular or cell phone. A cell telephone
is very different from a satellite telephone. It can not be used in
areas that do not have the necessary receiving equipment.

New cell phones can send voice communications, color photographs
and written information called text messages. They can even receive
electronic mail. Like the satellite telephone, the newest cellular
telephones keep getting smaller.

In fact, the N-E-C Corporation announced recently that it will
soon market the smallest camera-equipped cellular telephone. It is
eighty-five millimeters wide and only eight-point-six millimeters
thick. It weighs only seventy grams. It has a color screen to show
the photographs it takes and to show photographs that have been sent
to it.

Critics of such devices say they can be used to take photographs
of people who do not know they are being photographed. However this
has not stopped the sale of cell phones equipped with cameras.

VOICE TWO:

Gartner Dataquest is a research company in Amsterdam, the
Netherlands. Recently, Gartner Dataquest reported that more than
five-hundred-million cell phones were sold around the world last
year.

This number is far higher than what industry experts had
expected. The Gartner company says they expect more than
five-hundred-sixty-million new cell phones will be sold this year.

VOICE ONE:

Cellular telephones have become extremely common throughout the
world. You can see people talking on cell phones as they walk along
the street. You can see others talking on cell phones as they drive
their vehicles.

They have become extremely popular in Asia. In two-thousand-two,
Business Week Magazine reported that India had fewer than
eight-million cell phone users. However, the magazine reported that
the market for cellular telephones in India was growing at more than
eighty percent each year.

The magazine said India will have forty-four-million cellular
telephone users by two-thousand-six. India is reportedly becoming
the third largest market for cell phones in Asia after China and
Japan.

VOICE TWO:

Communication industry experts say Americans spent about
one-hundred-thirty-thousand-million dollars on all wireless
communications last year in the United States. Wireless means
communications devices that are not connected or linked to anything
using a wire. This includes computers, cell phones, satellite
telephones and other devices.

The experts say that by two-thousand-seven, Americans will spend
more than one-hundred-ninety-thousand-million dollars each year on
wireless communication.

The experts say wireless communication will continue to expand in
the future. They say people will use wireless communications devices
to play games and send fast messages. They may also be able to watch
movies with a small hand-held device.

VOICE ONE:

One company says it already produces a device that experts say
will be part of the future. The device is called a Blackberry.

A Blackberry is a cellular telephone. It can also send and
receive written messages. It has four different ways to send and
receive electronic mail from the Internet communications system. A
Blackberry has the same kind of keys as a typewriter to enter
information. It has a memory that holds names and address
information. It has a calendar and space for a list of tasks. It
will immediately tell you if you have a phone call or e-mail
message.

The Blackberry's cell phone can be used in almost any country.
The newest Blackberry costs about three-hundred dollars. It costs
about seventy dollars a month to be linked to the services that a
communications company provides.

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VOICE TWO:

Radio technology has also improved recently. Many people have
problems listening to the radio while driving long distances in
their cars. They lose the broadcast signal when they drive too far
from a radio station.

Two American companies have solved that problem. They have made
it possible to drive a car across the country and listen to the same
radio station during the whole trip. The Sirius and X-M Satellite
Radio companies broadcast their signal from a satellite in orbit.

The two companies provide more than one-hundred different
programs. The choices include many kinds of music, like jazz,
country and western, classical, hip-hop, rock and bluegrass. Their
satellite communication system also provides news broadcasts
twenty-four hours a day. The car radio that receives the satellite
transmission costs as little as one-hundred dollars. Both X-M and
Sirius charge a small amount of money each month for their service.

VOICE ONE:

Communications experts say satellite telephones, cell phones,
devices like the Blackberry and satellite radio are just the
beginning.

The experts say new cell phones permit users to watch television
and to record and send video pictures. Still other devices will
provide any kind of music on demand. These new devices are changing
the way we do business, have fun and communicate with each other.

(THEME)

VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Paul Thompson. It was
produced by Mario Ritter. This is Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for another
EXPLORATIONS program on the VOICE OF AMERICA.


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