The popularity of the smartphone has grown, in large part, because of 3G
technology; 3G is an acronym for third generation mobile technology, which allows
high-speed broadband access to data services, such as the web and e-mail, via mobile
devices. Before 3G systems, mobile phones could not handle both voice and data over
the networks. To get a better understanding of the difference between 2G and 3G,
imagine downloading a song to a mobile phone; a basic 2G phone downloads the song
at 144 kilobits per second, which requires several minutes, while the 3G phone can
download over 2,000 kilobits per second, making it faster and more efficient (Gaylord,
2009). Or, to put it another way, it is similar to the difference between a dial-up and
broadband connection from a desktop computer. Although the term 4G isbeing used in
mobile phone advertisements for Sprint" , it has not yet been clearly defined, and at
this point simply means "faster than 3G," but in the near future 4G phones will emerge