1. New Technology Update
This material may not appear in the revision book because it is relatively new technology. Edexcel have included all of these items in their latest technology update, which means they may appear on this year’s exam paper.

2. Modular smartphones
A modular smartphone allows you to build your perfect phone because all the different components can be bought separately.
For example some people will want a high power camera whereas others might want more memory.
The Project Ara smartphone is being developed by Google.

3. Wearable technology
Literally, computers that can be worn. This includes:
Smartglasses such as Google Glass
Smartwatches
Fitness bands

4. Single-board computers
These are affordable, complete computers made for education and development.
Examples are:
Raspberry Pi
BBC Micro bit

5. 3D Printers
A 3D printer can create an object by laying down many layers of material until the entire object is created.
A design is first created using CAD (Computer Aided Design). There are loads of videos on Youtube showing 3D printing in action e.g.

6. 3D TV Televisions are now commonly available with 3D as a feature.
Users need to wear special glasses. You need a 3D Blu-ray player and 3D Blu-ray discs.

7. Parallax 3D
A parallax barrier is a device placed in front of an image source to give a 3D effect without the need to wear 3D glasses. It consists of a layer of material with a series of precision slits, allowing each eye to see a different set of pixels. This creates a sense of depth. However, you need to sit in a precise position for it to work correctly.
It can be used for 3D TV and for 3D gaming.

8. Media stations
These are devices that provide video/audio to a television.
Examples include Apple TV and Google Chromecast.

9. Wireless / Inductive charging
An electromagnetic field is used to transfer energy between 2 objects. This is usually done with a charging station.
Ikea is now selling furniture with charging spots built in.
The QI standard is used by Samsung and is presently the
most common system used.

10. Accelerometers
An accelerometer is a sensor that is built into smart phones and tablets. It measures the tilting motion and orientation of the device.
When the phone is turned the screen turns also. Some games make use of an accelerometer, where tilting and rotating the handset can control onscreen action.

11. Near Field Communication (NFC)
NFC is a type of wireless communication that allows the flow of information between 2 devices. The devices need to be no more that 10cm apart. The most common use at present is contactless payment cards which can be used for purchases of less than £30.00.
Manufacturers are starting to include NFC chips in smart phones.

12. Mobile phone networks
There are various technologies for linking mobile phones to the internet. You do not need to know any detail about them, but it is good if you recognise the names:
GSM
Edge 3G
HSPA 4G

13. Powerline network
A powerline network uses the existing electrical wiring in a building to carry data signals for a computer network.
This is an alternative to using a wireless network (WiFi). You get the advantages of a wired network without having to install data cables all over the house.
Powerline adaptors

14. IP filtering
IP filtering prevents data from entering a network. Every computer connected to the internet has an IP address e.g
IP filtering allows you to block data from certain IP addresses. This could be used to prevent access from certain locations for example.

15. Massively Multiplayer Online (MMOs)
An MMO is a multiplayer game which is capable of supporting large numbers of players simultaneously. It is played over the internet.
They usually involve a virtual world – an interactive 3D virtual environment where the users take the form of avatars visible to others.
Examples include World of Warcraft and The Elder Scrolls Online

16. EU cookie law
This is a piece of legislation that requires websites to get consent from visitors to store or retrieve information about them.
Websites that use cookies usually have a pop up asking for your consent.

17. Net neutrality
Net neutrality is the principle that ISPs and governments should treat all internet content and traffic equally.
Not doing so can lead to content or traffic shaping, which is the term used to describe how, for example, ISPs could give preferential treatment to different kinds of internet traffic, such as their own video-on-demand service. They might do this to ensure a good experience for their customers at the expense of the speed of some other services.

18. QR codes (quick response)
QR codes provide a way to link to online services using a camera and a QR reader.
Download and open a QR reader app onto your smart phone or tablet
Hold the phone over the printed QR code and the camera takes an image of it
The app ‘reads’ the code and opens the linked page on the world wide web