(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
This is Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember withEXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about newtechnology that makes communication faster and easier.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
Our report begins high in the mountains of northern California’sShasta-Trinity National Forest. A man and his son have reached anarea called Little Mount Hoffman. It is more than two-thousandmeters high in the beautiful mountains.
The two are camping. They carry all their clothing, food, waterand other things they need on their backs. They have come to thisarea of the great national park to enjoy the outdoors.
VOICE TWO:
It is late in the day and both are hungry. They build their campfor the night and cook their evening meal.
After their meal, the man reaches into his pack and pulls out aspecial kind of telephone. It can be used from anywhere on Earth. Itdoes not use wires. It links with a system of satellites in orbithigh above the Earth.
Minutes later, the man talks to a business partner in Japan. Theydiscuss developments that are important to their company.
A few minutes later, the young boy uses the telephone to talk tohis mother. She is at home, in Miami, Florida. He tells her not toworry. The two of them are having a good time. He tells her he willcall again tomorrow night.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Satellite telephones are not really new. But now they can be usedanywhere in the world. Also, satellite telephones were once verylarge. 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 producesa satellite telephone. It also supplies the link to satellites. TheIridium company uses more than fifty satellites that providecommunications for their telephones.
Iridium and several other companies in the United States offersatellite telephones for less than four-hundred dollars.
Most satellite telephone companies charge money each month forthe service. They also charge money for each call made on thetelephone.
VOICE TWO:
The satellite telephone is without equal as an emergencycommunications or business tool. It is possible to link a satellitetelephone with a computer. The computer can be used to send largeamounts of information very quickly to anywhere in the world.
The telephone can also be linked with cameras and video camerasthat can link with computers. People who travel to Tibet to climbMount Everest use this kind of technology. These mountain climbershave made the satellite telephone an important part of theirequipment. They often use these special telephones to sendphotographs and videos and to talk to family members from thehighest mountain in the world.
VOICE ONE:
The satellite telephone is only one of many new telephones thathave recently appeared on the market. Perhaps the most changes havebeen made to the wireless cellular or cell phone. A cell telephoneis very different from a satellite telephone. It can not be used inareas that do not have the necessary receiving equipment.
New cell phones can send voice communications, color photographsand written information called text messages. They can even receiveelectronic mail. Like the satellite telephone, the newest cellulartelephones keep getting smaller.
In fact, the N-E-C Corporation announced recently that it willsoon market the smallest camera-equipped cellular telephone. It iseighty-five millimeters wide and only eight-point-six millimetersthick. It weighs only seventy grams. It has a color screen to showthe photographs it takes and to show photographs that have been sentto it.
Critics of such devices say they can be used to take photographsof people who do not know they are being photographed. However thishas not stopped the sale of cell phones equipped with cameras.
VOICE TWO:
Gartner Dataquest is a research company in Amsterdam, theNetherlands. Recently, Gartner Dataquest reported that more thanfive-hundred-million cell phones were sold around the world lastyear.
This number is far higher than what industry experts hadexpected. The Gartner company says they expect more thanfive-hundred-sixty-million new cell phones will be sold this year.
VOICE ONE:
Cellular telephones have become extremely common throughout theworld. You can see people talking on cell phones as they walk alongthe street. You can see others talking on cell phones as they drivetheir vehicles.
They have become extremely popular in Asia. In two-thousand-two,Business Week Magazine reported that India had fewer thaneight-million cell phone users. However, the magazine reported thatthe market for cellular telephones in India was growing at more thaneighty percent each year.
The magazine said India will have forty-four-million cellulartelephone users by two-thousand-six. India is reportedly becomingthe third largest market for cell phones in Asia after China andJapan.
VOICE TWO:
Communication industry experts say Americans spent aboutone-hundred-thirty-thousand-million dollars on all wirelesscommunications last year in the United States. Wireless meanscommunications devices that are not connected or linked to anythingusing a wire. This includes computers, cell phones, satellitetelephones and other devices.
The experts say that by two-thousand-seven, Americans will spendmore than one-hundred-ninety-thousand-million dollars each year onwireless communication.
The experts say wireless communication will continue to expand inthe future. They say people will use wireless communications devicesto play games and send fast messages. They may also be able to watchmovies with a small hand-held device.
VOICE ONE:
One company says it already produces a device that experts saywill be part of the future. The device is called a Blackberry.
A Blackberry is a cellular telephone. It can also send andreceive written messages. It has four different ways to send andreceive electronic mail from the Internet communications system. ABlackberry has the same kind of keys as a typewriter to enterinformation. It has a memory that holds names and addressinformation. It has a calendar and space for a list of tasks. Itwill immediately tell you if you have a phone call or e-mailmessage.
The Blackberry’s cell phone can be used in almost any country.The newest Blackberry costs about three-hundred dollars. It costsabout seventy dollars a month to be linked to the services that acommunications company provides.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Radio technology has also improved recently. Many people haveproblems listening to the radio while driving long distances intheir cars. They lose the broadcast signal when they drive too farfrom a radio station.
Two American companies have solved that problem. They have madeit possible to drive a car across the country and listen to the sameradio station during the whole trip. The Sirius and X-M SatelliteRadio companies broadcast their signal from a satellite in orbit.
The two companies provide more than one-hundred differentprograms. The choices include many kinds of music, like jazz,country and western, classical, hip-hop, rock and bluegrass. Theirsatellite communication system also provides news broadcaststwenty-four hours a day. The car radio that receives the satellitetransmission costs as little as one-hundred dollars. Both X-M andSirius 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 thebeginning.
The experts say new cell phones permit users to watch televisionand to record and send video pictures. Still other devices willprovide any kind of music on demand. These new devices are changingthe way we do business, have fun and communicate with each other.
(THEME)
VOICE TWO:
This Special English program was written by Paul Thompson. It wasproduced by Mario Ritter. This is Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS program on the VOICE OF AMERICA.