DIGITAL DEVICES

S/W
MEMORY AND PROCESSORS

CONNECTIVITY
DIGITAL COMMUNICATION
NETWORKS

OPERATING ONLINE
RISKS TO DATA AND PERSONAL INFORMATION
IMPACT OF THE INTERNET
ONLINE COMMUNITIES
THE IMPLICATIONS OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES
ONLINE INFORMATION

ONLINE GOODS AND SERVICES

ONLINE SERVICES
THE CLOUD

APPLYING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

APPLYING ICT

SOFTWARE SKILLS
FILE MANAGEMENT
WEB AUTHORING
DIGITAL DEVICES
These are pieces of hardware that are use computers or microcontrollers.
Types of digital devices
1) Mainframe computers- A large powerful computer that can do a lot of complicated jobs
quickly and can be used by a lot of people same time
-Used by large organizations for complex processing tasks such as statistical analysis and
bulk data processing.

2) Microprocessors- a device that controls what a computer does;

-It takes data as input, does something with it and provides output.
-Used to control washing machines, televisions and other household appliances e.g
digital cameras and home entertainment systems.

Difference between a mainframe computer and a server and a supercomputer.

1) Mainframe-

2) A server-

3) A supercomputer

Personal Computers
These are personal computers (PCs) are common in homes and offices
They come in many different shapes and sizes, such as desktops and laptops.

DESKTOPS
Have more space for components than laptops
Provide users with option to upgrade then additional components.
Has peripheral devices connected to them e.g mouse, keyboard
Some desktops are “all-in-one’’ they combine monitor with PC together.
Upgrade- making a computer better and able to more things, adding new features.
Peripheral device- equipment that is connected to a computer and used with it.

LAPTOPS
Are portable -easily carried around
Have inbuilt keyboard and mouse(a track pad),screen,
Have a rechargeable battery.
Desktop replacement laptops- are larger than other laptops ,have bigger better-quality
screen,higher performance.
Embedded Computing-A computing hardware that is fixed into position and carries out a
specialist task.
Physical computing-interactive systems that can sense and respond to the world around them.
SINGLE-BOARD COMPUTERS (SBCs)
Are affordable computers used in education
MOBILE PHONES
Uses a SIM card to connect to a mobile phone network.
SIM- Subscriber identity module.
Used to identify the subscriber to amobile phone network.

SPECIALIST PHONES
Have special features to provide users with functions to meet particular needs e.g emergency
button linked to emergency contacts.
Discuss which groups of people could need a phone with an emergency button.How would
this phone meet their needs.

Accessibility needs phone-a special mobile phone used by blind people and partially sighted
people

SMARTPHONES
Small computers with wi-fi and mobile phone connectivity to allow them make calls and access
internet.
Includes features such cameras, media players and hand-held games console.
Game console
Are electronic device used for playing computerized video games on a screen.
Have advanced operating systems than smartphone.
Applications-a program that allows a user to perform a task, also called apps.
Are downloaded onto smartphones. which allows user to customize smartphone with
entertainment, educational and business features.
Most smartphones use a touch screen to allow user input information.
A virtual keyboard- used to enter text, numbers and other characters.
Because smartphones combine more features this makes them use more power than other
types of mobile phones thus charged regularly.
Give reasons why smart phone uses more power combined to other mobile phones?

TABLETS
Are bigger smartphones
Have similar features like smartphones
Have a touch screen, apps and Wi-Fi connectivity to provide access to the internet.
Some have SIM card slot to allow internet connectivity using mobile phone network e.g Wi-Fi
signal.

CAMERAS and CAMCORDERS

Both use light sensors to capture images formed by light passing through device’s lens.
Used to capture still images
Camcorders- used to moving images
Most digital cameras now do filming moving images and camcorders can photograph images.
Moving Images- are simply (movies) a sequence of images called ‘frames’ shows how the frame
rate affects the quality of a movie.

The QUALITY of an image captured by the camera depends on the quality of the lens the image
processor and the resolution of the sensor.

1) A good lens allows light to travel through it without introducing any defects, it allows
users to chose how much light can travel through it, which affects the final image.
2) A good image processor can compensate for poor lighting conditions.
3) Digital images are made up of a small dot called pixels. Better -quality sensors can
capture more details and produce images with a greater number of pixels. The sensor
resolution of a camera is expressed as the number of pixels that can be captured.
4) Resolution- the number of pixels used by a screen to display an image pixelated (losing
focus) an effect that creates an unclear image consisting of large individual pixels that
are visible to the human eye.
5) Maximum Displays size at different resolutions.
Resolution Maximum displays size of image
(Number of pixels) (in pixels, width x height) before
pixelation occurs.
1.3 megapixels (1.3 million pixels) 1280 x 960
2 megapixels 1600 x 1200
3 megapixels 2048 x 1536
4 megapixels 2272 x 1704
8 megapixels 2560 x 1920

HOME ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEMS

TELEVISIONS.
Displays still and moving images on the screen.
Quality is set by the number of pixels used to display an image which is called screen resolution.
HD-High-Definition television screens contain larger number of pixels-have a higher resolution
tha standard definition tvs.

Resolution of tv is stated as horizontal pixels x vertical pixels e.g 1280 x 720

UHD-Ultra High Definition -tvs screens also referred as 4k or 8k coz have a pprox 4k or 8k
pixels.
Stream- playing a file on your computer while its being downloaded from the internet,rather
than saving and playing later.
Smart- ability of a device to use data from sensors to perform a programmed action
independently; smart devices are often able to connect to internet.
Media player-electronic device that can store and play digital music,videos and show digital
photographs.
USB-Universal Serial Bus a standard for wired connectivity that can also supply electric power.
Bluetooth- wireless connectivity that allows devices to connect overt short distances.
Set-top box (STB)-A device that sends video and audio received from a broadcaster to a
television.
Smart TV-Tvs that use apps and can download and stream content from the internet.

SOUND SYSTEMS.
1) Sound systems produce loud, rich sound using high-quality speakers and amplifiers
(built-in amplifiers)
2) Plays music from local storage and CDs
3) Can connected to personal devices like smartphones, media player, tablet using
Bluetooth and by wi-fi online music store.

PERSONAL VIDEO RECORDERS. (PVR)

Is a device that records broadcasted content so that it can be watched at a later date.
Multiple categories e.g satellite tv contain both set-top box and PVR.

BLUE-RAY AND DVD PLAYERS

They connect to tvs in order to play films and other content that’s stored on DVD or Blu-ray
disks.
Blu-ray disks plays DVD disks but DVD players will not play Blu-ray disks.
Blu-ray disks stores HD Movies with higher quality picture and sound.
Newer 4k Ultra HD Blu-ray players can play 4k content on 4k

GAME CONSOLES
Gadgets designed to enable users to play video games on a tv screen.
Games are provided on disks or as downloads from internet.
They use controllers often wireless to control the characters,vehicles na dobjcets in the game.
Avatar- a figure representing a person ina computer game or other virtual environment
Some game console use motion sensors to allow player control the game with gestures and
body movements.
Other games use virtual reality control and headsets to immerse the player in arealistic gaming
experience where their own movements in the real world are replicated by an avatar in the
virtual world of the game.

VIDEO GAMES
These are modern consoles which are multifunctional.
Have apps and connectivity that provides access to local network and internet as well as the
option to play movies and music.
Some have disk drives to play films and other content o DVD,Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
media.
Data- values that represent information.
Handheld versions of games consoles provide mobile gaming.
Handheld consoles have a built-in screen an dles storage than a full size console. Games playing
on these devices have reduced image and sound quality. Reduced complexity and limited
storyline in order to reduce the amount of data that needs to be stored.
Media Players
Media players-provides video and audio content to atv, this content could be streamed directly
from the internet or accessed from a networked or local storage.
Can be connected to a tv directly or using a wired or wireless network.
They are controlled using a remote control or in cases a smartphone app.

SMART TELEVISIONS.
A Raspberry Pi Zero single board computer and free software can be used as a media player,
Makes it a very affordable alternative to a television and media player, or a smart tv.
Have streaming and networking functions of a media player built in.
Personal media players are compact, portable devices with local storage to hold media files for
playback.
Useful when traveling or exercising due to their small size and long battery life.
Network attached storage (NAS) devices often have media streaming capabilities built in.
They use solid state flash memory SSFM storage.
It is not affected by being moved or shaken.

Navigation aids.
1) Calculates the best route between two or more locations and can provide updates to
the route if it is not followed accurately.
2) Are commonly used in cars, delivery vans and ships.
3) They provide visual prompts and alerts to help drivers take the correct route as by
taking taking a particular turning.
4) Are specialist devices with audio alerts and waterproof and shockproof e.g
walkers,cyclists.
5) Uses information from GPS satellites to determine the exact location of the device on
earth.
6) Uses orientation sensors to know to which way device is pointing, device displays user’s
position.
7) Maps are either stored permanently or downloaded from the internet when needed.
GPS works without internet but navigation needs internet for connectivity.
Smartphones are now replacing specialist in-car navigator aids.
There are many navigation apps for smartphones which have a range of features.
GPS satellite orbit more than km above Earth. They are accurate to within 5 meters.
Home Automation devices is an emerging technology that can used to create smart homes. e.g
home automation connecting digital devices which sense and control functions in the home e.g
temperature and lighting.