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voice recognition to help you to use shortcuts and help to do things on your phone. Siri and Cortana are examples of this

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Your smartphone is a remarkable feat of engineering. It's half a dozen or more gadgets packed into a single slab. Much of it's coolest feats are accomplished with a wide range of sensors -- but what are they and what do they all actually do?
The iPhone 7. Image: iFixit
How does your phone count your steps and replace your fitness tracker? Does GPS use up your data? Which sensors should you make sure are in your next handset?

Here's all you need to know.

Accelerometer
The best use of an accelerometer -- bitmoji cars in Snapchat. (Image: Screenshot)
Accelerometers handle axis-based motion sensing and can be found in fitness trackers as well as phones -- they're the reason why your smartphone can track your steps even if you haven't bought a separate wearable.

They also tell the phone's software which way the handset is pointing, something that's becoming increasingly important with the arrival of augmented reality apps.

As the name kind of gives away, accelerometers measure acceleration, so the map inside Snapchat can put a cute toy car around your bitmoji when you're driving, plus a host of other actually useful applications.

The sensor is itself made up of other sensors, including microscopic crystal structures that become stressed due to accelerative forces. The accelerometer then interprets the voltage coming from the crystals to figure out how fast your phone is moving and which direction it's pointing in.

From switching apps from portrait to landscape, to showing your current speed in a driving app, the accelerometer is one of your phone's most important sensors.

Gyroscope
The gyroscope's extra precision comes in handy for games and 360-degree photos. Image: Screenshot
The gyroscope helps the accelerometer out with understanding which way your phone is orientated -- it adds another level of precision so those 360-degree photo spheres really look as impressive as possible.

Whenever you play a racing game on your phone and tilt the screen to steer, the gyroscope rather than the accelerometer is sensing what you're doing, because you're only applying small turns to the phone and not actually moving through space.

Gyroscopes aren't exclusive to phones. They're used in altimeters inside aircraft to determine altitude and position, for example, and to keep cameras steady on the move.

The gyroscopes inside phones don't use wheels and gimbals like the traditional mechanical ones you might find in an old plane -- instead they're MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) gyroscopes, a smaller version of the concept embedded on an electronics board so it can fit inside a phone.

The first time MEMS gyroscopes really hit it big was with the iPhone 4 in 2010. Back then, it was incredibly novel to have a phone that could detect orientation with such accuracy -- nowadays, we take it for granted.

Magnetometer
Your phone's compass app works courtesy of its magnetometer. Image: Screenshot
Completing the triumvirate of sensors responsible for working out where a phone is in physical space is the magnetometer. Again the name gives it away -- it measures magnetic fields and can thus tell you which way is north by varying its voltage output to the phone.

When you go in and out of compass mode in Apple Maps or Google Maps, that's the magnetometer kicking in to work out which way up the map should be. It also powers standalone compass apps.

Magnetometers are found in metal detectors as well, as they can detect magnetic metals, which is why you can get metal detector apps for your smartphone.

However, the sensor doesn't work alone for its primary purpose, which is inside mapping apps -- it operates in tandem with the data coming from the phone's accelerometer and GPS unit to figure out whereabouts you are in the world, and which way you're pointing (very handy for those detailed navigation routes).

GPS
GPS satellites give your phone a lock on its position. Image: Screenshot
Ah, GPS -- Global Positioning System technology -- where would we be without you? Probably in a remote, muddy field, cursing the day we ditched our paper maps for the electronic equivalents.

GPS units inside phones gets a ping from a satellite up in space to figure out which part of the planet you're standing on (or driving through). They don't actually use any of your phone's data, which is why you can still see your location when your phone has lost signal, even if the map tiles themselves are a blurry, low-res mess.

In fact, it connects with multiple satellites then calculates where you are based on the angles of intersection. If no satellites can be found -- you're indoors or the cloud cover is heavy -- then you won't be able to get a lock.

And while GPS doesn't use up data, all this communicating and calculating can be a drain on your battery, which is why most battery-saving guides recommend switching GPS off. Smaller gadgets like most smartwatches don't include it for the same reason.

GPS isn't the only way your phone can work out where it is -- distance to cell towers can also be used as a rough approximation, as taught us -- but if you've got some serious navigating to do then it's essential. Modern-day GPS units inside smartphones actually combine GPS signals with other data, like cell signal strength, to get more accurate location readings.

The best of the rest
Your phone will adjust screen brightness to match the ambient light, if you let it. Image: Screenshot
You've got plenty more sensors in your handset, though they're perhaps not all as important as the four we've just mentioned. Many phones, including the iPhone, have a barometer that measures air pressure: it's useful for everything from detecting weather changes to calculating the altitude you're at.

The proximity sensor usually sits up near the top speaker and combines an infrared LED and light detector to work out when you have the phone up to your ear, so that screen can be switched off. The sensor emits a beam of light that gets bounced back, though it's invisible to the human eye.

Meanwhile the ambient light sensor does exactly what you would expect, taking a measuring of the light in the room and adjusting your screen's brightness accordingly (if indeed it's set to auto-adjust).

Like the rest of the tech packed inside your handset, these sensors are getting smaller, smarter, and less power-hungry all the time, so just because phones five years apart both have GPS doesn't mean they're both going to be as accurate. Add in software tweaks and optimizations too and it's more reason to upgrade your handset on a regular basis, even if you'll almost never see these sensors listed on a specs sheet.
Hat tips to Live Science, Quora, Virtual Reality Society, iFixit, HowStuffWorks, and RotoView for a lot of the information we've covered.

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All The Sensors In Your Smartphone, And How They Work

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Your smartphone is a remarkable feat of engineering. It's half a dozen or more gadgets packed into a single slab. Much of it's coolest feats are accomplished with a wide range of sensors -- but what are they and what do they all actually do? The iPhone 7.

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Switch automatically from portrait to landscape view

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Switch automatically from portrait to landscape view

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Your smartphone is a remarkable feat of engineering. It's half a dozen or more gadgets packed into a single slab. Much of it's coolest feats are accomplished with a wide range of sensors -- but what are they and what do they all actually do?
The iPhone 7. Image: iFixit
How does your phone count your steps and replace your fitness tracker? Does GPS use up your data? Which sensors should you make sure are in your next handset?

Here's all you need to know.

Accelerometer
The best use of an accelerometer -- bitmoji cars in Snapchat. (Image: Screenshot)
Accelerometers handle axis-based motion sensing and can be found in fitness trackers as well as phones -- they're the reason why your smartphone can track your steps even if you haven't bought a separate wearable.

They also tell the phone's software which way the handset is pointing, something that's becoming increasingly important with the arrival of augmented reality apps.

As the name kind of gives away, accelerometers measure acceleration, so the map inside Snapchat can put a cute toy car around your bitmoji when you're driving, plus a host of other actually useful applications.

The sensor is itself made up of other sensors, including microscopic crystal structures that become stressed due to accelerative forces. The accelerometer then interprets the voltage coming from the crystals to figure out how fast your phone is moving and which direction it's pointing in.

From switching apps from portrait to landscape, to showing your current speed in a driving app, the accelerometer is one of your phone's most important sensors.

Gyroscope
The gyroscope's extra precision comes in handy for games and 360-degree photos. Image: Screenshot
The gyroscope helps the accelerometer out with understanding which way your phone is orientated -- it adds another level of precision so those 360-degree photo spheres really look as impressive as possible.

Whenever you play a racing game on your phone and tilt the screen to steer, the gyroscope rather than the accelerometer is sensing what you're doing, because you're only applying small turns to the phone and not actually moving through space.

Gyroscopes aren't exclusive to phones. They're used in altimeters inside aircraft to determine altitude and position, for example, and to keep cameras steady on the move.

The gyroscopes inside phones don't use wheels and gimbals like the traditional mechanical ones you might find in an old plane -- instead they're MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) gyroscopes, a smaller version of the concept embedded on an electronics board so it can fit inside a phone.

The first time MEMS gyroscopes really hit it big was with the iPhone 4 in 2010. Back then, it was incredibly novel to have a phone that could detect orientation with such accuracy -- nowadays, we take it for granted.

Magnetometer
Your phone's compass app works courtesy of its magnetometer. Image: Screenshot
Completing the triumvirate of sensors responsible for working out where a phone is in physical space is the magnetometer. Again the name gives it away -- it measures magnetic fields and can thus tell you which way is north by varying its voltage output to the phone.

When you go in and out of compass mode in Apple Maps or Google Maps, that's the magnetometer kicking in to work out which way up the map should be. It also powers standalone compass apps.

Magnetometers are found in metal detectors as well, as they can detect magnetic metals, which is why you can get metal detector apps for your smartphone.

However, the sensor doesn't work alone for its primary purpose, which is inside mapping apps -- it operates in tandem with the data coming from the phone's accelerometer and GPS unit to figure out whereabouts you are in the world, and which way you're pointing (very handy for those detailed navigation routes).

GPS
GPS satellites give your phone a lock on its position. Image: Screenshot
Ah, GPS -- Global Positioning System technology -- where would we be without you? Probably in a remote, muddy field, cursing the day we ditched our paper maps for the electronic equivalents.

GPS units inside phones gets a ping from a satellite up in space to figure out which part of the planet you're standing on (or driving through). They don't actually use any of your phone's data, which is why you can still see your location when your phone has lost signal, even if the map tiles themselves are a blurry, low-res mess.

In fact, it connects with multiple satellites then calculates where you are based on the angles of intersection. If no satellites can be found -- you're indoors or the cloud cover is heavy -- then you won't be able to get a lock.

And while GPS doesn't use up data, all this communicating and calculating can be a drain on your battery, which is why most battery-saving guides recommend switching GPS off. Smaller gadgets like most smartwatches don't include it for the same reason.

GPS isn't the only way your phone can work out where it is -- distance to cell towers can also be used as a rough approximation, as taught us -- but if you've got some serious navigating to do then it's essential. Modern-day GPS units inside smartphones actually combine GPS signals with other data, like cell signal strength, to get more accurate location readings.

The best of the rest
Your phone will adjust screen brightness to match the ambient light, if you let it. Image: Screenshot
You've got plenty more sensors in your handset, though they're perhaps not all as important as the four we've just mentioned. Many phones, including the iPhone, have a barometer that measures air pressure: it's useful for everything from detecting weather changes to calculating the altitude you're at.

The proximity sensor usually sits up near the top speaker and combines an infrared LED and light detector to work out when you have the phone up to your ear, so that screen can be switched off. The sensor emits a beam of light that gets bounced back, though it's invisible to the human eye.

Meanwhile the ambient light sensor does exactly what you would expect, taking a measuring of the light in the room and adjusting your screen's brightness accordingly (if indeed it's set to auto-adjust).

Like the rest of the tech packed inside your handset, these sensors are getting smaller, smarter, and less power-hungry all the time, so just because phones five years apart both have GPS doesn't mean they're both going to be as accurate. Add in software tweaks and optimizations too and it's more reason to upgrade your handset on a regular basis, even if you'll almost never see these sensors listed on a specs sheet.
Hat tips to Live Science, Quora, Virtual Reality Society, iFixit, HowStuffWorks, and RotoView for a lot of the information we've covered.

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All The Sensors In Your Smartphone, And How They Work

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Your smartphone is a remarkable feat of engineering. It's half a dozen or more gadgets packed into a single slab. Much of it's coolest feats are accomplished with a wide range of sensors -- but what are they and what do they all actually do? The iPhone 7.

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Connect to other devices using bluetooth.

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Connect to other devices using bluetooth.

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Bluetooth networking transmits data via low-power radio waves. It communicates on a frequency of 2.45 gigahertz (actually between 2.402 GHz and 2.480 GHz, to be exact). This frequency band has been set aside by international agreement for the use of industrial, scientific and medical devices (ISM).

A number of devices that you may already use take advantage of this same radio-frequency band. Baby monitors, garage-door openers and the newest generation of cordless phones all make use of frequencies in the ISM band. Making sure that Bluetooth and these other devices don't interfere with one another has been a crucial part of the design process.

One of the ways Bluetooth devices avoid interfering with other systems is by sending out very weak signals of about 1 milliwatt. By comparison, the most powerful cell phones can transmit a signal of 3 watts. The low power limits the range of a Bluetooth device to about 10 meters (32 feet), cutting the chances of interference between your computer system and your portable telephone or television. Even with the low power, Bluetooth doesn't require line of sight between communicating devices. The walls in your house won't stop a Bluetooth signal, making the standard useful for controlling several devices in different rooms.

Bluetooth can connect up to eight devices simultaneously. With all of those devices in the same 10-meter (32-foot) radius, you might think they'd interfere with one another, but it's unlikely. Bluetooth uses a technique called spread-spectrum frequency hopping that makes it rare for more than one device to be transmitting on the same frequency at the same time. In this technique, a device will use 79 individual, randomly chosen frequencies within a designated range, changing from one to another on a regular basis. In the case of Bluetooth, the transmitters change frequencies 1,600 times every second, meaning that more devices can make full use of a limited slice of the radio spectrum. Since every Bluetooth transmitter uses spread-spectrum transmitting automatically, it's unlikely that two transmitters will be on the same frequency at the same time. This same technique minimizes the risk that portable phones or baby monitors will disrupt Bluetooth devices, since any interference on a particular frequency will last only a tiny fraction of a second.

When Bluetooth-capable devices come within range of one another, an electronic conversation takes place to determine whether they have data to share or whether one needs to control the other. The user doesn't have to press a button or give a command -- the electronic conversation happens automatically. Once the conversation has occurred, the devices -- whether they're part of a computer system or a stereo -- form a network. Bluetooth systems create a personal-area network (PAN), or piconet, that may fill a room or may encompass no more distance than that between the cell phone on a belt-clip and the headset on your head. Once a piconet is established, the members randomly hop frequencies in unison so they stay in touch with one another and avoid other piconets that may be operating in the same room. Let's check out an example of a Bluetooth-connected system.

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Bluetooth networking transmits data via low-power radio waves. It communicates on a frequency of 2.45 gigahertz (actually between 2.402 GHz and 2.480 GHz, to be exact). This frequency band has been set aside by international agreement for the use of industrial, scientific and medical devices (ISM).

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Streaming is a technology used to deliver content to computers and mobile devices over the internet. Streaming transmits data - usually audio and video, but increasingly other kinds as well - as a continuous flow, which allows the recipients to begin to watch or listen almost immediately.

There are two ways to download content over the internet:

Streaming is the quickest way to access internet-based content, but it's not the only way. Progressive download is another option that was used for years before streaming was possible. In order to understand what streaming is, where you use it, and why it's so helpful, you need to understand these two options.

The key differences between progressive download and streaming are when you can start using the content and what happens to the content after you're done with it.

Progressive downloads are the traditional kind of download that anyone who's used the internet is familiar with. When you download an app or game or buy music from the iTunes Store, you need to download the entire thing before you can use it. That's a progressive download.

Streaming is different. Streaming allows you to start using the content before the entire file is downloaded. Take music: When you stream a song from Apple Music or Spotify, you can click play and start listening almost immediately. You don't have to wait for the song to download before the music starts. This is one of the major advantages of streaming. It delivers data to you as you need it.

The other major difference between streaming and downloads is what happens to the data after you use it. For downloads, the data is permanently stored on your device until you delete it. For streams, the data is automatically deleted after you use it. A song you stream from Spotify isn't saved to your computer (unless you save it for offline listening, which is a download).

Streaming requires a relatively fast internet connection - just how fast depends on the type of media you are streaming. A speed of 2 megabits per second or more is necessary for streaming standard definition video without skips or buffering delays. HD and 4K content requires higher speeds for flawless delivery: at least 5Mbps for HD content and 9Mbps for 4K content.

Live streaming is the same as the streaming discussed above, it's specifically used for internet content delivered in real time as it happens. Live streaming is popular with live television shows and special one-time events.

Streaming has traditionally been used to deliver audio and video, but Apple has recently implemented technology that allows streaming to work with games and apps too.

This technique, called on-demand resources, allows games and apps to include a core set of features and functions when the user first downloads them and then to stream new content as the user needs it. For example, a game might include its first four levels in the initial download and then automatically download levels five and six when you start playing level four.

This approach is useful because it means downloads are quicker and use less data, which is especially important if you have a data limit on your phone plan. It also means that apps take up less space on the device they're installed on.

Because streaming delivers data as you need it, slow or interrupted internet connections can cause problems. For example, if you have streamed only the first 30 seconds of a song and your internet connection drops bfore any more of the song has streamed to your device, the song stops playing.

The most common streaming error that crops up has to do with buffering. The buffer is a program's temporary memory for streamed content. The buffer is always filling up with the content you need next. For example, if you watch a movie, the buffer stores the next few minutes of video while you're watching the current content. If your internet connection is slow, the buffer won't fill up quickly enough, and the stream either stops or the quality of the audio or video is reduced to compensate.

Streaming is used most often in music, video and radio apps. For some examples of streaming content, check out:

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What Is Streaming and When Do You Use It?

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Streaming is a technology used to deliver content to computers and mobile devices over the internet. Streaming transmits data - usually audio and video, but increasingly other kinds as well - as a continuous flow, which allows the recipients to begin to watch or listen almost immediately.

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Application software - better known as 'apps' - are seemingly everywhere and being used for everything. But what is an app, and what types are there?

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Use fingerprint or other recognition for log-in

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Use fingerprint or other recognition for log-in

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Fingerprint scanners aren't just reserved for the very top-tier of smartphones these days, even your reasonably priced mid-ranger can come packing in the additional security hardware. Heck, even a number of sub-$150 devices these days coming packing the technology. Technology has moved on a lot from the early days too, becoming faster and more accurate in their readings. With all that in mind, let's take a look at how the latest fingerprint scanners work and what the differences are.

Optical scanners

Optical fingerprint scanners are the oldest method of capturing and comparing fingerprints. As the name suggests, this technique relies on capturing an optical image, essentially a photograph, and using algorithms to detect unique patterns on the surface, such as ridges or unique marks, by analysing the lightest and darkest areas of the image.

Just like smartphone cameras, these sensors can have a finite resolution, and the higher the resolution, the finer details the sensor can discern about your finger, increasing the level of security. However, these sensors capture much higher contrast images than a regular camera. These scanners typically have a very high number of diodes per inch to capture these details up close. Of course, it's very dark when your finger is placed over the scanner, so optical scanners also incorporate arrays of LEDs as a flash to light up the picture come scan time. Such a design is a bit bulky for a smartphone though, where slim form factors are important.

The major drawback with optical scanners is that they aren't difficult to fool. As the technology is only capturing a 2D picture, prosthetics and even other pictures of good enough quality can be used to fool this particular design. This type of scanners really isn't secure enough to trust your most sensitive details to. It's also slowly being phased out these days.

Much like the early days of the resistive touchscreen, you won't find optical scanners used in anything but the most cost effective pieces of hardware these days. With increasing demand for tougher security, smartphones have unanimously adopted superior capacitive scanners, and the falling cost of technology has made capacitive alternatives viable for mid-range products too.

However, with the move towards bezel less displays, smaller optical modules may make a comeback, as they can be embedded underneath the display glass and only require a small area footprint. Synaptics, which develops a range of scanner for smartphones and other products, unveiled its Natural ID FS9100 optical fingerprint sensor with this in mind. This module can operate successfully under 1mm of glass and with wet fingers, something that messes with capacitive alternatives. So don't write off optical scanners just yet.

Capacitive scanners

The most commonly found type of fingerprint scanner used today is the capacitive scanner. You'll find these type of scanner inside various flagships, including the Galaxy S8, HTC U11, LG G6, and others. Again the name gives away the core component, providing you're familiar with a little electronics, the capacitor.

Instead of creating a traditional image of a fingerprint, capacitive fingerprint scanners use arrays tiny capacitor circuits to collect data about a fingerprint. As capacitors can store electrical charge, connecting them up to conductive plates on the surface of the scanner allows them to be used to track the details of a fingerprint. The charge stored in the capacitor will be changed slightly when a finger's ridge is placed over the conductive plates, while an air gap will leave the charge at the capacitor relatively unchanged. An op-amp integrator circuit is used to track these changes, which can then be recorded by an analogue-to-digital converter.

Once captured, this digital data can be analysed to look for distinctive and unique fingerprint attributes, which can be saved for a comparison at a later date. What is particularly smart about this design is that it is much tougher to fool than an optical scanner. The results can't be replicated with an image and is incredibly tough to fool with some sort of prosthetic, as different materials will record slightly different changes in charge at the capacitor. The only real security risks come from either hardware or software hacking.

Creating a large enough array of these capacitors, typically hundreds if not thousands in a single scanner, allows for a highly detailed image of the ridges and valleys of a fingerprint to be created from nothing more than electrical signals. Just like the optical scanner, more capacitors results in a higher resolution scanner, increasing the level of security, up to a certain point.

Due to the number larger number of components in the detection circuit, capacitive scanners can be a little pricey. Some early implementations attempted to cut the number of capacitors needed by using "swipe" scanners, which would collect data from a smaller number of capacitor components by quickly refreshing the results as a finger is pulled over the sensor. As many consumers complained at the time, this method was very finicky and often required several attempts to scan the result correctly. Fortunately, these days, the simple press and hold design is far more common.

Looking forward, Synaptics has also unveiled its latest FS4600 capacitive scanner that supports new UI features. These include soft button support to act as navigation keys, force sensing capabilities, and swipe gesture support. Of course, this isn't the first scanner to support geastures, the Nexus 5X, 6P and Google Pixel support similar features, as does the Huawei Mate S and some Meizu models. In future, many more devices may support a wider variety of swipe and navigation features using their fingerprint scanners.

Ultrasonic scanners

The latest fingerprint scanning technology to enter the smartphone space is an ultrasonic sensor, which was first announced to be inside the Le Max Pro smartphone. Qualcomm and its Sense ID technology are also a major part of the design in this particular phone.

To actually capture the details of a fingerprint, the hardware consists of both an ultrasonic transmitter and a receiver. An ultrasonic pulse is transmitted against the finger that is placed over the scanner. Some of this pulse is absorbed and some of it is bounced back to the sensor, depending upon the ridges, pores and other details that are unique to each fingerprint.

There isn't a microphone listening out for these returning signals, instead a sensor that can detect mechanical stress is used to calculate the intensity of the returning ultrasonic pulse at different points on the scanner. Scanning for longer periods of time allows for additional depth data to be captured, resulting in a highly detailed 3D reproduction of the scanned fingerprint. The 3D nature of this capture technique makes it an even more secure alternative to capacitive scanners.

While this technology is still yet to appear in a commercial handset, Vivo has shown off a concept model that includes Qualcomm's ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner. Although not as snappy as other scanners yet, partly due to the reasons mentioned above, Vivo's prototype manages to hide the scanner under the smartphone's display, which could be a particularly useful feature as handsets move towards smaller and smaller bezels. Speaking of under the screen sensors, both Samsung and LG are working on their own in-house technologies too.

Algorithms and cryptography

While most fingerprint scanners are based on very similar hardware principles, additional components and software can also play a major part in differentiating how products perform and what features are available to consumers.

Accompanying the physical scanner is a dedicated IC that deals with interpreting the scanned data and transmitting this in a useful form to your smartphone's main processor. Different manufacturers use slightly different algorithms to identify key fingerprint characteristics, which can vary in speed and accuracy.

Typically these algorithms look for where ridges and lines end, or where a ridge splits in two. Collectively, these and other distinctive features are called minutiae. If a scanned fingerprint matches several of these minutiae then it will be considered a match. Rather than comparing the whole fingerprint each time, comparing minutiae reduces the amount of processing power required to identify each fingerprint, helps avoid errors if the scanned fingerprint is smudged, and also allows the finger to placed off-centre or be identified with only a partial print.

Of course, this information needs to be kept secure on your device and saved well away from code that could compromise it. Rather than uploading this user data online, ARM processors can keep this information securely on the physical chip using its Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) based TrustZone technology. This secure area is also used for other cryptographic processes and to communicate directly with secure hardware platforms, such as a fingerprint scanner, to prevent any software snooping. Approved pieces of none personal information, such as a password key, can only be accessed by applications using the TEE client APIs.

Qualcomm's take on this is built into its Secure MSM architecture while Apple talks this up as the "Secure Enclave", but it is all based on the same principle of keeping this secure data on a separate part of the processor that cannot be accessed by apps operating in the regular operating system environment. The FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance has developed strong cryptographic protocols that use these protected hardware zones to enable password-less authentication handshakes between hardware and services. So you can log into a website or online shop using your fingerprint without your unique data ever having to leave your smartphone. This is accomplished by passing digital keys rather than biometric data to servers.

Fingerprint scanners - Conclusion

Fingerprint scanners have become quite a secure alternative to remembering countless user-names and passwords, and the further roll out of secure mobile payment systems means that these scanners are likely to become a more common and crucial security tool in the future.

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How fingerprint scanners work: optical, capacitive, and ultrasonic variants explained

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Fingerprint scanners aren't just reserved for the very top-tier of smartphones these days, even your reasonably priced mid-ranger can come packing in the additional security hardware. Heck, even a number of sub-$150 devices these days coming packing the technology. Technology has moved on a lot from the early days too, becoming faster and more accurate in their readings.

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Touchscreens have largely replaced the mouse and keyboard as the most popular input terminal on all kinds of devices. They are usually the only input device on your phone or tablet and even several brands of laptops and point-of-sale terminals are equipped with touchscreens now. The reason for this quick rise in popularity is simple; touchscreens are compact and there's essentially no limit to what you can do with them.
Types of Touchscreens
Touchscreens come in two basic types, capacitive and resistive. Most phones use the capacitive variety because it registers multiple touches and responds quickly. The drawback is that it cannot be activated by non-conducting objects like fingernails or gloves. Resistive touchscreens are often used in car GPS screens and ATMS. Most resistive touchscreens don't have the ability for multi-touch, because of the multiple layers of displays and the larger amount of force it takes to register a response. They are more durable, cheaper and can be used with gloves or fingernails. Resistance touchscreens are rarely used these days on popular smart devices, so this article will be focused more on capacitive touchscreens.

The glass you find on modern smartphone screens is not ordinary glass, but a highly engineered material. Originally, lenses were made from plastic, but were replaced by glass as the technology improved. Today's high-strength glass is chemically tempered and makes for a very thin and tough lens. You may have heard of Corning's Gorilla Glass, the chemically tempered glass used on several popular brands of smartphone and tablets such as Samsung and Google. It is made to be especially hard and tough, but the possibility of breaking still exists. The reason is because the glass still needs to be very thin (less than 1 mm) to reduce size and weight. As material science advances, so will the material used for touch lens.
What is capacitance?
When you touch your smartphone screen, the touch is sensed through capacitive measurements underneath the glass. Capacitance describes the ability of anything to hold a "charge". When you shuffle your feet across a carpet then touch a metal object and experience a static shock, that's your body experiencing capacitance. Your body was acting as a capacitor, and storing the static electric energy picked up from the carpet. When you touch your phone, the screen senses your finger because of the increased capacitance your body introduces around an electrical grid embedded in the display.

The anatomy of a touchscreen begins with a conductive grid made up of horizontal conductors and vertical conductors (as shown in the figure). The grid lines are etched on opposite sides of a thin plastic insulating sheet that is glued to the back of the glass lens. The grid is energized by a voltage creating an electrostatic field. These conductive lines cross and form tiny capacitors. The circuitry in your device senses this and measures it. So, for example, when your phone senses that the capacitance on horizontal line #50 and the vertical line #100 changed, it knows you touched at that intersection on the screen. Actually, when you touch the screen, you register a lot of contact points and your phone has to figure out what you want.
Locating Your Touch
The circuitry inside is virtually transparent, that is why you can't see the grid in your phone. The location of the touch point is determined by the position on the grid where the capacitance is changed by your finger. The "X" position is sensed by the horizontal set of lines, the "Y" position is sensed by the vertical lines. Since your finger contacts many points on the grid forming an area, the microprocessor locates the center of the area to calculate a touch point as shown in the figure below.

Touchscreens are not pressure sensitive, but they require a certain contact area before they register a touch. If you touch the screen very lightly it may not register until you push harder, or form a larger contact area. On the other hand, if you're pushing too hard, and forming too big of a contact area, this is known as fat-finger syndrome. Try again with less force and with more precision. Often this contact area is offset and you learn to compensate by pressing what seems to the edge of a key instead of directly over it.
Touchscreen Drawbacks
Another problem is "ghosting" or "falsing" the touchscreen. This occurs when there are water droplets on the screen that register capacitance and create a touch point. Sometimes if there is a dead spot in the conductive grid, the screen will misread contact in that area. Older devices used to require frequent recalibration to realign the touch points, but this is almost never an issue with today's devices.

A gripe about capacitive touch is that it does not work with a gloved hand. This is because the glove acts like an insulator keeping your (conductive) finger from the glass. Many companies make special gloves that have conductive fibers woven into the finger areas, thereby transferring your finger capacitance to the screen. Some manufacturers have compensated for this issue by giving devices an "increased sensitivity" mode. This mode increases capacitance sensitivity and allows users to use their phone with thin gloves.
Touchscreen Repair
Replacing the lens/touchscreen is a bit more complicated and expensive today than it used to be, because current phones laminate the LCD display to the lens and touchscreen. If the lens is cracked but the conductors are still intact, all you would need is a glass repair. But if the conductors or any other important mechanism of the display breaks, the whole thing must be replaced.

The future of touchscreens is "gesturing" and some newer phones already have it. "Gesturing" is when your phone can respond to a hand waved over the screen without actually touching it. Infrared (IR) sensors located on the display perimeter make this possible but it is only able to collect limited information. While the possibilities with "gesturing" will probably grow, it is doubtful that it would ever replace a touchscreen completely.

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How a Smartphone Touch Screen Works | uBreakiFix Blog

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Touchscreens have largely replaced the mouse and keyboard as the most popular input terminal on all kinds of devices. They are usually the only input device on your phone or tablet and even several brands of laptops and point-of-sale terminals are equipped with touchscreens now.

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A voice assistant is a digital assistant that uses voice recognition, natural language processing and speech synthesis to provide aid to users through phones and voice recognition applications.

Voice assistants are used in help and service phone lines, smartphones and other places to assist users with tasks, including:

Listening to an audiobook.

Requesting information, similarly to inputting a search query.

Making reservations.

Adding items to a shopping list.

Performing mathematical calculations.

Playing music.

Voice assistants are built on artificial intelligence ( AI), machine learning and voice recognition technology. As the end user interacts with the digital assistant, the AI programming uses sophisticated algorithms to learn from data input and better itself at predicting the user's needs. Some assistants are built with more advanced cognitive computing technologies which will allow a digital assistant to understand and carry out multi-step requests with numerous interactions and perform more complex tasks, such as booking seats at a movie theater.

Digital assistants can be contrasted with another application of consumer-facing AI called smart advisors. Smart advisor programs are knowledge-oriented, while digital assistants are task-oriented, although some perform both roles. Popular voice assistants currently include Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, Google Now, Google Assistant and Microsoft's Cortana.

Continue Reading About voice assistant

Margaret Rouse asks:

How can virtual assistants make your life at work easier?

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What is voice assistant? - Definition from WhatIs.com

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A voice assistant is a digital assistant that uses voice recognition, natural language processing and speech synthesis to provide aid to users through phones and voice recognition applications. Voice assistants are used in help and service phone lines, smartphones and other places to assist users with tasks, including: Listening to an audiobook.

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There is plenty of confusion surrounding smartphones and how they access the Internet, so we explain everything you need to know, quickly and easily.
The confusion is largely down to smartphones being able to go online in more than one way, and if you get confused, you can end up with a hefty phone bill.

So to be clear, most consumer smartphones can connect to the Internet in two different ways. Through your cellular network and through Wi-Fi. We'll explain each below as well as the concerns and considerations for each.

Connecting via your cellular network

Connecting to the Internet through your phones cellular network is one possible way of connecting to the Internet via your smartphone, and can be referred to as connecting through a 3G connection, 4G connection or a 5G (coming soon) connection.

Basically you're using your phone's own network to connect to the Internet, and the good thing about this type of Internet connection is that its available almost anywhere you have a normal phone signal. This is because the signal is coming from the same place - your phone networks mast.

You see, your phone network provider has masts that not only give you a normal phone signal so you can make calls, but they also transmit 2G, 3G and 4G signals that your phone can use to go online. If your smartphone supports the 4G technology (it probably can) then you can get a 4G Internet connection if you're close enough to a mast to get a signal (you probably are.) 4G is essentially a faster type of connection than 3G. 3G in turn is faster than the now-rarely-used 2G connection than older phones worked on.

But be aware - lots of smartphone payment plans impose limits on how much "Internetting" you can actually do. Much like you can have a limited amount of "minutes" for calling people, or text messages, you also may have a bandwidth limit. This refers to the maximum amount of data your phone can receive from this type of Internet connection over a period of time, usually a month. Every time you visit a webpage, download a file or stream a video, you're getting closer to that limit, and if you go over it, you will get charged.

So if you have a 2GB monthly limit, you can download 2GB worth of information from this type of Internet connection every month and not get charged. Go over and incur extra costs. Remember, even visiting webpages results in information being downloaded to your phone!

Another problem with this type of Internet connection is that it's slower than traditional broadband Internet, but it is getting faster as technology improves.

Wi-Fi Internet

The other way of connecting your smartphone to the Internet is through a Wi-Fi network. In this case you can think of your smartphone in the same way as your laptop or tablet. Wi-Fi networks are transmitted by wireless modems and can be found in most homes or Internet cafes or any number of public "wireless hotspots".

Basically, your phone connects to Wi-Fi in the same way as connecting to a laptop to Wi-Fi. First you need to be near a Wi-Fi connection (a modem or transmitter) that you have permission to connect to. This can be your own Wi-Fi connection, a friends connection or a public Wi-Fi connection.

Secondly you need to search the available wireless connections and pick the right one. In most places your phone can pick up a number of connections, especially in cities. Once you find the right network you will need the security key to connect to it, unless it is unsecured.

The good thing about Wi-Fi connections is that they are generally much faster than connecting through your cellular network, and with this connection you are not creeping towards your bandwidth limit. The amount of information you can download will depend on the Internet plan associated with whatever Wi-Fi connection you connected with. These generally allow for much larger limits, or may not even have any limits at all, so you don't have to worry as much about the amount of information you download.

This is why if you want to download something, like an app or a large update, it is better to connect to a Wi-Fi connection. It's faster and you don't have to worry about passing your bandwidth limit.

Other than draining the battery a little faster, the other main disadvantage to Wi-Fi connections is you simply need to be in the immediate proximity of a wireless network you have permission to access. If you're not, you can't connect. If you are in the proximity of one, this should - in most cases - always be the preferred method of connecting online.

Hope that clears it all up! Any more questions? Let us know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading. If you didn't know, our site discusses technology and tech news - but all explained really simply and easily so you don't need to be a tech nerd to understand! We were only created in early 2016, so please head over to our Facebook page or Twitter feed to get more interesting articles, FAQS, news and questions on the world of trending technology, all explained simply and easily! It'll be worth it, we promise!

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How do smartphones connect to the Internet? - TechExplained.net

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There is plenty of confusion surrounding smartphones and how they access the Internet, so we explain everything you need to know, quickly and easily. The confusion is largely down to smartphones being able to go online in more than one way, and if you get confused, you can end up with a hefty phone bill.

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Texting on cell phones has become the preferred way of communication amongst the younger generation. Now with more sophisticated phones and smart devices, texting has spilled over into the business world and become a hit with adults. As new cell phones come out, networks are offering better solutions and packages for this new technical obsession. Some may wonder what the technology behind text messaging is or how it is possible. How does text travel over the airwaves and reach its desired destination intact? The technology behind text messaging is SMS (short message service). SMS is used to send and receive messages to and from cellular phones. SMS has its limitations since it only allows for up to 160 characters in the messages. The 160-character limit is only for Latin letters, numbers and symbols. Other languages have a 70-character limit.

Video of the Day

credit: kcslagle/iStock/Getty Images

Introduction

How it Works

Cell phones are always sending and receiving information through signals even when the phone isn't in use. The signals are sent and received from a cell phone tower or control channel. In order for the phone calls and messages to come through, the control channel needs to know which phone belongs to which phone number. Depending on the location of the cell phone, it will communicate with different towers as the user moves around the city, state, country and even the world. If the phone is unable to communicate with a tower, then it will not receive a signal and can't be used. The control channel maps the path for SMS, or text messages. When a message is sent, it first must go through the nearby tower and then the SMS center. The SMSC receives the message and sends it to the appropriate tower closest to the location of the cell phone and then to the destination. So what is the SMS job in the entire process? SMS formats the message in a way that it is able to travel to and from the town, and still be received by the cell phone. SMS also sends data associated with the message, such as the length of the message, destination, format and time stamp.

Pros

There are reasons why users prefer text messaging over other forms of communications. For one, they are more discreet than a phone call because the threat of being overheard is removed. Sending a text message is also quicker than placing a telephone call. SMS provides portability that email and instant messaging over a computer does not (although new Smart phones are on the market that handle these tasks). SMS messages can also be delivered even if the phone is turned off or out of range. Once regular service is once again supplied to the phone, any waiting messages will come through.

Cons

There are certain disadvantages to using text messaging. The SMS technology can easily be attacked. An overwhelming number of text messages sent at once can overpower the control channels and hinder people from receiving their phone calls. Critics have also criticized the cost of text messaging and the sometimes long hold time involved in receiving messages.

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How Does Text Messaging Work? | Techwalla.com

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Texting on cell phones has become the preferred way of communication amongst the younger generation. Now with more sophisticated phones and smart devices, texting has spilled over into the business world and become a hit with adults. As new cell phones come out, networks are offering better solutions and packages for this new technical obsession.

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A smartphone’s built-in GPS
receiver communicates via
radio waves with at least three
global positioning satellites
to pinpoint your location.
It then communicates the
information to the phone’s
software so you can see your
location and get directions
to your destination.

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Imagine driving to a job interview and realizing that you're lost. Your first impulse would probably be to call the business that's interviewing you and ask for directions. But if you're not sure where you are, getting directions can be tricky.

But suppose you use your phone for another purpose -- to figure out exactly where you are and to get turn-by-turn directions to where you're going. New phones that include global positioning system (GPS) receivers can do exactly that. With the right software or service package, they can pinpoint your location, give directions to your destination and provide information about nearby businesses.

In this article, we'll review the basics of how cell phones and GPS receivers work. Then, we'll explore how phones combine these technologies.

Cell Phone Basics

A cell phone is basically a sophisticated two-way radio. Towers and base stations, arranged into a network of cells, send and receive radio signals. Cell phones contain low-power transmitters that let them communicate with the nearest tower.

As you travel, you move from one cell to another, and the base stations monitor the strength of your phone's signal. As you move toward the edge of one cell, your signal strength diminishes. At the same time, the base station in the cell you are approaching notices the strength of your signal increasing. As you move from cell to cell, the towers transfer your signal from one to the next.

In remote locations, towers may be so far apart that they can't provide a consistent signal. Even when towers are plentiful, mountains and tall buildings can interrupt their signals. Sometimes people have a hard time getting clear signals inside buildings, especially in elevators.

Even without a GPS receiver, your cell phone can provide information about your location. A computer can determine your location based on measurements of your signal, such as:

Its angle of approach to the cell towers

How long it takes the signal to travel to multiple towers

The strength of your signal when it reaches the towers

Since obstacles like trees and buildings can affect how long it takes your signal to travel to a tower, this method is often less accurate than a GPS measurement.

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Imagine driving to a job interview and realizing that you're lost. Your first impulse would probably be to call the business that's interviewing you and ask for directions. But if you're not sure where you are, getting directions can be tricky.