Word: handset
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Named after the frequency of the radio wave (measured in billions of cycles per second) that carries the signal between the handset and the base station, 5.8-GHz phones promise more clarity because there are fewer devices that operate on the same frequency and thus fewer to cause interference. If you have a cordless phone that is a couple of years old or even a new one that costs less than $50, chances are it is a 900-MHz model that is highly susceptible to static or buzzing from baby monitors, wireless speaker systems and your neighbors' 900-MHz phones...
...companies sell the new models, and they don't come cheap. Uniden's TRU5865 costs $149, while the Vtech 5831 is $179. I preferred the Uniden because it was static free both inside my apartment and up to a block away. Its compact design hides the antenna inside the handset, and the glowing orange keys and display look sharp. The VTech got equally clear reception indoors, but I could stray only a few buildings down the block before buzzing...
...model, I could hear other conversations and even music coming through the phone. I got much clearer reception with the Motorola MA351, a $60 2.4-GHz model--except when I turned on my microwave oven and was assaulted by weird vibrating noises coming through the handset. Still, the Motorola is a decent option at a fair price...
...less-receptive consumer add another complication: cut-throat competition. In an effort to grab market share, China Mobile and China Unicom are already circumventing government price regulations through handset subsidies and other backdoor give-backs. According to CSFB analysts, China Unicom even appears to be cannibalizing its existing customer base of GSM subscribers because of incentives designed to attract users to its new high-speed wireless network, based on a transmission technology called CDMA...
...background would target him as a prime suspect. Amrozi was a self-taught auto mechanic and tinkerer who ran a workshop in his backyard; those skills would have been invaluable in assembling and transporting a bomb. He was also known to repair mobile phones; police believe such a handset may have been used to set off the bomb in Bali. He was a former hell-raiser who had turned devout in recent years. And, above all, Amrozi was a man with strong ties to Islamic radicals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities. His eldest brother co-founded the village...