Memory and Storage

What is in mobile phone ?

With such a huge range of smartphone
hardware on the market today from vendors
such as Samsung, HTC, Apple, Motorola, LG
and more, it can be very confusing to keep up
with what exactly is inside each of these
devices. There are at least 10 different CPUs
inside smartphones, many different GPUs, a
seemingly endless combination of display
hardware and a huge variety of other bits

1: Processors
2: Graphics
3: Memory & Storage
4: Displays
5: Connectivity & Sensors
6: Batteries
7: Cameras

Memory & Storage

Random Access Memory (RAM)
Internal storage and ROM

Random Access Memory (RAM)

RAM, which is short for random access
memory, is one of the critical components of
the smartphone along with the processing
cores and dedicated graphics. Without RAM in
any sort of computing system like this your
smartphone would fail to perform basic tasks
because accessing files would be ridiculously
slow.

RAM features
This type of memory is a middle man between
the file-system, which is stored on the ROM, and
the processing cores, serving any sort of
information as quickly as possible. Critical files
that are needed by the processor are stored in
the RAM, waiting to be accessed. These files
could be things such as operating system
components, application data and game graphics;
or generally anything that needs to be accessed
at speeds faster than other storage can provide.

TYPES OF RAM IN SMARTPHONE

RAM that is used in smartphones is technically
DRAM, with the D standing for dynamic. The
structure of DRAM is such that each capacitor
on the RAM board stores a bit, and the
capacitors leak charge and require constant
refreshing; thus the dynamic nature of the
RAM. It also means that the contents of the
DRAM module can be changed quickly and
easily to store different files.

WHY NOT SRAM

The advantage of the RAM not being static is
that the storage can change to cope with
whatever tasks the system is trying to
perform. If an entire operating system was,
say, 2 GB on disk, it wouldnt make sense or be
efficient for the RAM to archive the entire
thing, especially when smartphones with low
amounts of RAM (like 512 MB) cant afford to
do that.

CLOCK SPEEDOF RAM IN MOBILE

The clock speed directly affects the
input/output (I/O) speeds of the RAM
modules, with a higher clock speed indicating
that the module is capable of adding more
information to the memory chips per second.
To save power mobile RAM does not reach
huge clock speeds (generally 300-500 MHz),
but for smartphone applications this should
be more than adequate.

GENRATION OF RAMS
While current generation PCs use the third
version of DDR SDRAM (DDR3), smartphone
SoCs mostly use LPDDR2, where the LP
stands for low-power. LPDDR2 is mostly
similar to standard DDR2 except that it uses
less power (hence the name) which does
degrade performance. DDR3 interfacing
capabilities will be introduced in upcoming
smartphone SoCs.

Internal storage and ROM

Like RAM, internal storage is critical to a smartphones
operation; without any place to store the operating
system and critical files there would be nothing for the
phone to do. Even if a phone has no storage accessible
to the user, there will also be some form of internal
storage that stores the operating system. Depending on
the operating system loaded on the device, and the
device itself, there are multiple storage chips inside the
device. These chips may then be partitioned into
several areas for different purposes, such as application
storage, cache and system files. Normally the chip that
stores the system files is called the ROM for read-only
memory; however this is a bit of a misnomer as the
memory here can actually be modified through system
updates, just not by the end user.

Some devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S, have a multi-ROM set-up. One memory chip is
smaller around 512 MB, but faster, and stores the main system files, cache and application data
in separate partitions. The second chip is larger, and is usually a 1-2 GB partition of the user
storage that is slower but allows for storage of applications.
In these systems having a full 2 GB of fast access memory may be too expensive to include, so
lowering the size to just accommodate the operating system and using the cheaper user storage
for the remaining non-user-accessible data is a better option. It creates a good balance between
performance and cost for the manufacturer. The internals of the Motorola Droid Razr; 16 GB
storage highlighted in red (and 1 GB RAM in orange)

Performance of internal storage chips are, generally speaking, better than you would achieve
with external microSD cards. As the chips are directly soldered to the smartphones mainboard
and can be made to specially interface with the SoC used, the read/write speeds attained are
usually quite good: in my testing I usually achieve above 6 MB/s write
Sometimes companies cheat and dont solder user-accessible internal storage to the mainboard,
instead putting a microSD card in a hidden slot that cant be normally accessed by the user. This
was particularly prevalent on early generation Windows Phones such as the HTC Trophy and HTC
HD7 and has few benefits.

User removable storage

Sometimes user removable storage is called external storage due to the fact that it can be
removed, but this is somewhat silly as the card inserted into the device is more internal than it is
external. Nowadays all smartphones that have user removable storage use microSD cards, with a
few tablets offering full-sized SD card slots.
Out of the three major smartphone operating systems (iOS, Android and WP7), Android is the
only one that really supports removable storage. With iOS devices such as the iPhone, Apple
does not include any method for expanding storage, instead giving users generous internal
storage they can use for applications, videos, music and so on.

When it comes to Android there are two implementations of user removable storage: its either
the only user accessible storage or it complements the internal user accessible storage. If it
complements what is already available, there will be a separate system partition for the external
card such as /sd-ext or /mmc that some applications, such as music and video players, can
access. Often applications that download data to the SD card will actually download to the
internal storage in situations where there are both available (unless there is an option).
MicroSD (and standard SD) cards are available in three different size classes. The original SD
specification allowed cards up to 2 GB in size, and then SDHC (SD High Capacity) increased the
size limit to 32 GB. Recently SDXC (SD Extended Capacity) increases the limit all the way up to 2
TB, but SDXC cards are not supported in most new smartphones, meaning the maximum
expansion of storage rests at 32 GB.
Apart from size, the other important thing to consider when purchasing a microSD card for your
smartphone is the speed, which is stated as a Class on the packaging. Luckily the class number
is very easy to understand as it directly corresponds to the minimum write speed of the card in
MB/s. A card that is rated as Class 4 will be able to be written to at a minimum of 4 MB/s, and
Class 10 at 10 MB/s.
Classes can go as high as the manufacturer wishes within the specifications of the card, and
generally a higher class means the card will be more expensive but a better performer. For
microSD cards the best you can get is a 32 GB Class 10, which usually cost around US$40; these
cards will often outperform the internal storage of your device assuming it can handle 10 MB/s
write speeds to the removable storage.
With the right combination of a device with 64 GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot,
such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, you could potentially have 96 GB of user accessible storage
if you added in a 32 GB microSD card.

Android Applications

Top Free Apps on Android

App Name
Category
1 WhatsApp Messenger Communication
2 Facebook
Social
3 Viber
Communication
4 Facebook Messenger Communication
5 Skype
Communication
6 Dont Tap The White
Arcade
7 WeChat
Communication
8 Clean Master
Free Optimizer Tools
9 Instagram
Social
10 Candy Crush Saga
Games
11

1. WhatsApp Messenger
A cross-platform mobile messaging app.
Available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android,
Windows Phone and Nokia.
Uses the mobile phone internet data plan to
send messages.
Users can also create groups, send each other
unlimited images, video and audio media
messages.
500 million active users worldwide.

2. Facebook
Facebook mobile application
Share updates, photos and videos
Platform for texting, chatting and group
conversations
Platform for games and other applications

3. Viber
Free texts, calls, photo and video messages to Viber users worldwide over Wifi or 3G
Calls to non-Viber mobile and landline numbers at low rates
Available on desktop, IPhone, Android, Windows phones, Blackberries, Bada and Nokia
Syncs with the users mobile contact list
More than 200 million users worldwide
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.viber.voip
4. Facebook Messenger
Facebook chat mobile application
Platform for texting Facebook friends and mobile contacts using the phones mobile
data plan
Free calls worldwide
Does not require Facebook to be open
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.orca
5. Skype free IM & video calls
Skype mobile application.
Utilizes the phones mobile data plan
Free instant messaging services
Free face to face video and voice calls over a 3G or Wifi connection
Low cost calls and text messages to mobiles and landlines.
Free photo, video and other file sharing services

Top Free Apps on iOS