Nat Jay is actively involved with trends in the cell phone industry. Get the latest deals, reviews and specifications at http://www.freewebs.com/lookfirst
GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communications. And an Unlocked Phone is a GSM cell phone that accepts the SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) card of any compatible network carrier.
Which means, if you have a GSM phone like Sony Ericsson P990i or Motorola RAZR V3 from Cingular (a GSM-compatible carrier) and you decide one day to shift to T-Mobile (another GSM-compatible carrier), all you have to do is to remove the SIM card allotted to you by Cingular and load in any active SIM card from T-Mobile.
That way, you don't need to buy a new phone if you plan on using a different carrier. All you do is change the SIM card and you're on the other network, seamlessly using their services.
However, this system doesn't work with CDMA or iDEN phones -- the two other kinds of wireless services. That's because, when you purchase these kinds of phones (from Verizon, Sprint and Nextel), your phone is basically "locked into" the service provider's database system and parameters. The phone and the service are, in a way, connected to each other and each other only. So if you're on the CDMA / iDEN network and want to shift from say Verizon to Sprint (or to Nextel), the most direct option you have is to buy a whole new cell phone for that new carrier.
It's for this reason that those who continually "hop" between multiple carriers and do not want to be bothered with compatibility issues, Unlocked GSM Phones from Cingular or T-Mobile are the way to go. The only downside to this is, if you buy your phone from Cingular, all the features, services and buttons on the phone are already pre-configured to those offered by Cingular. So when you decide to use that same phone with T-Mobile, those features (from Cingular) would technically be disabled on that new network.
But that's a minor downside to the flexibility and convenience that unlocked phones offer. And with the number of free cell phones (and almost free cell phones) available in the market, it shouldn't be hard to find the perfect fit between using your phone as-is with your default carrier, and making it work with other services as well.
- Related Videos
- Related Articles
- Ask / Related Q&A
- Used Cell Phones: GSM Versus CDMA
- A510+ Dual SIM Dual Standby Iphone Style TV Cell Phone
- Cell Phones: To Commit or Not to Commit?
- MP7 Cell Phone: The Mobile Phone of the New Era
- Cell Phones Mania - Motorola Razr V3
- Buy an Unlocked Cell Phone - Know the Difference CDMA Vs GSM
- Unlocked GSM cell phones to stay connected globally
- Domination of GSM Cell Phones
Trace Cell Phone Numbers Free
By: Keyi Cansa | 04/12/2009Type "trace cell phones free" into your favorite search engine and you will probably get pages of results. But are the searches really free?
Cell Phone Number Search - How to Reverse Lookup a Cell Phone Number
By: Keyi Cansa | 04/12/2009When it comes to reverse phone number searches, one common question I see a lot on the internet is whether or not it it possible to to do a free reverse cell phone lookup. The person asking the question may be getting calls from an unknown cell phone number, or getting prank calls.
Unlisted Phone Number Searches
By: Keyi Cansa | 04/12/2009When we're using new services and tools, often we're bothered about the costs. These days you'll note that it's like a rule that every new service is costly, and most of us don't even bother to use it until the price doesn't go down.
Unlisted Phone Number Searches
By: Keyi Cansa | 04/12/2009When we're using new services and tools, often we're bothered about the costs. These days you'll note that it's like a rule that every new service is costly, and most of us don't even bother to use it until the price doesn't go down.
Reverse Look Up Phone Number Directories
By: Keyi Cansa | 04/12/2009Doing a reverse phone number search can be much easier than you think! There is no need to contact a Private Investigator if you simply need to find out the owner of any phone number. Save your money, there is another way!
Free Cell Phone Number Search
By: Keyi Cansa | 04/12/2009Are you looking for a way to trace cell phone numbers free? To do this, is not exactly difficult as you can imagine, but still most people do not know how to do this, especially for free. This used to be very expensive to conduct as the only way to trace a cell phone number was to use the service of a private investigator that could be as much as $300. But with the technology of internet available to us, any one can trace a cell phone number.
How To Trace Cell Phone Numbers
By: Keyi Cansa | 04/12/2009Your wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, fiance, spouse, or whatever you call them is going behind your back and cheating on you - or so you think.
What is the Best Reverse Phone Directory?
By: Keyi Cansa | 04/12/2009The very concept of discovering someone's identity through a reverse cell phone number search has become possible only recently. Although cell phones now seem almost necessary for everyday life, it wasn't always like this. Prior to that, even seemingly small conveniences such as standard Caller ID to tell us who was on the other end of the line were simply unheard of.
How Cell Phones Saved 2 Lives in a Vietnamese Hospital
By: Nat Jay | 10/05/2007 | Cell PhonesWhat happens when smart thinking meets common sense. Unusual use of technology in a Vietnamese hospital.
Is your Cell Phone Battery Failing?
By: Nat Jay | 10/05/2007 | Cell PhonesThe simple, often overlooked ways in which your cell phone battery tends to underperform - or maybe even fail.
How to Unlock your Gsm Cell Phone
By: Nat Jay | 10/05/2007 | Cell PhonesWhat you need to know before you unlock your cell phone.
What's an Unlocked Gsm Phone?
By: Nat Jay | 10/05/2007 | Cell PhonesWhat you need to know about unlocked cell phones - and why unlocking is possible only with GSM phones.
How Mobile TV Technology Works
By: Nat Jay | 10/05/2007 | Cell PhonesThe story behind the concept and technology of mobile tv - how watching television on your cell phone is a current reality.
Free Cell Phone - What Exactly is it All About?
By: Nat Jay | 10/05/2007 | Cell PhonesThe "Free" in Free Cell Phones - revealed, explained and deciphered.
Cell Phone Basics - About your Wireless Buddy
By: Nat Jay | 10/05/2007 | Cell PhonesThe cell phone basics that very few know about; presented as a technological overview.