A cellular modem can make or break the smartphone experience. If the cellular modem is fast and reliable, you’ll be able to do fun things quickly—load webpages, share photos on Facebook and be less likely to drop voice calls. But speed isn’t the only feature—the modem should also be power-efficient or else the fun will come to an abrupt end.

If you’re excited about the new BlackBerry Q10 LTE and its traditional, physical QWERTY keyboard, you’re not alone. In the UK, it’s already been selling like hotcakes, with one retailer reporting it to be their fastest selling consumer electronics product ever. Like the British already seem to know, the QWERTY keyboard is the only thing traditional about the Q10. It’s packed with cool new features.

AT&T is now following in the footsteps of Sprint and T-Mobile by creating a separate service for customers who are wary of signing up for a two-year mobile contract. Like Virgin Mobile and Ultra Mobile, AT&T’s Aio Wireless will offer relatively low-cost options without requiring a long-term commitment. This affordable, no-contract option is becoming increasingly appealing for both customers and carriers.

We hope that by getting to know some basics of mobile processing, you will better understand how all the work going on inside helps deliver the experiences you love on your smartphone and tablet, and you’ll be able to shop for your next device with complete confidence. We’ll have you talking in gigahertz and GPUs in no time.