We rely on many different accessories to extend the functionality of our mobile devices. In this video, you’ll learn about mobile headsets, credit card readers, microSD storage, and more.
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A headset is one of the most popular accessories for your mobile device. It allows you to put earbuds in your ear and have a microphone connected to the headset so that you can have both hands free to drive a car or perform any other function instead of holding the phone to your ear. Wired headsets commonly connect to a 3.5 millimeter TRRS connector. That stands for Tip-Ring-Ring-Sleeve. Sometimes you’ll see this referred to as an analog audio jack.
Some iPhones don’t have this analog audio jack. But they do have a lightning connector. So you can get wired headsets that plug into the lightning interface as well. If you have a Bluetooth headset, then you don’t have to worry about any wires or any audio jacks. You simply connect your mobile device to the wireless headset using Bluetooth.
Here’s a closer view of this TRRS connector that stands for Tip-Ring-Ring-Sleeve, where the connection at the end is the tip of the connector. And the connection closest to the other side is the sleeve connector. If you don’t have a microphone, it’s probably a TRS connector. But with the additional microphone, you have an extra connection in the middle for TRRS.
The speaker that’s inside of our mobile devices are usually very small and difficult to hear. So it’s nice to have an external speaker that you can connect. These are usually battery powered. And they connect to your mobile device over a Bluetooth connection. Because you can have these larger speakers, they’re obviously easier to hear. And you get more of a stereo sound from these external speakers.
If you like playing games on your mobile device, you may find that that flat screen doesn’t provide the best gaming interface. So you may want to use an external gaming pad. This looks very similar to a gaming console. But you can connect it to a phone or a tablet, usually over Bluetooth connectivity. And now you can use a traditional gaming controller to play games on your mobile screen.
We know that our mobile devices rely on a battery source. And if we’re running low on a battery, then we may have problems using this device over a longer time frame. If your device does allow you to swap batteries in and out, it’s sometimes useful to carry an extra that’s always going to be charged.
My mobile device doesn’t allow me to swap out the battery. But I can connect to an external power source that allows me to connect through lightning or a USB connection. These external sources will be pre-charged. And then I can simply connect to the normal power connection on my mobile device and be able to charge that up very quickly.
Our mobile devices have very large screens. And these screens can be easily scratched. So it’s very common to get a screen protector that would go over that glass and protect it from being scratched.
You might also want to consider getting a protector that might go around the entire device, like this one. It’s going to protect the entire device, both the front and the back, from scratches or breaking. There are also options to get cases that are waterproof, so you can protect it if you’re out in the rain.
Your only problem might be if you want to plug this device now into a docking station, you may not be able to reach the interface on the bottom if this device protector is on it. This device protector might also create a conflict with wireless charging systems. So you want to be sure when you’re buying a device protector that it does support wireless charging if that’s a feature of your device.
Our mobile phones and tablets are powerful devices that connect to the internet so they can be used as a point of sale terminal. That means that you can accept credit card payments from your phone or from your tablet. These credit card readers might connect through the audio jack that’s on your system. Or they might connect to the lightning port if you have an iOS device. There are also external credit card readers that connect to your phone through Bluetooth.
This means you can scan the magnetic stripe on a card. You can have someone insert their card so you can read the chip. Or you can accept an NFC transaction. Then your phone will use the internet, and you’ll get an instant approval for that transaction.
Your phone or tablet screen can also be used if somebody needs to sign for the transaction. And once the transaction is over, you don’t need to print a receipt. You can simply send it to someone’s email.
This is an example of one of the external credit card readers. There is a slot on the side that someone could insert their card. Or they can use this NFC connection to perform the transaction.
There never seems to be enough storage space on our mobile devices. And if you have an Android device, you can increase the amount of storage by installing an SD or a micro SD memory card. Apple’s iOS devices don’t provide a way to increase the amount of storage. But many Android devices do support this removable memory.
If you have an older, larger device, it may support these SD cards. But you can see the micro SD cards are much smaller. And as our phones and our tablets are getting thinner and smaller, that may be a better form factor to use than this larger SD type of memory.