define: firmware
What is firmware? Firmware refers to the applications and operating system that control how a cellphone or smartphone operates. It is called firmware rather than software to highlight that it is very closely tied to the particular hardware components of a device. Firmware is generally flashed into a phone's ROM rather than simply being loaded into normal phone storage, where it could more easily be erased and lost in the event of a crash. Firmware updates are sometimes provided by a company as a way to fix bugs or introduce new functionality.
Software (programs or data) that has been written onto read-only memory (ROM). Firmware is a combination of software and hardware. ROMs, PROMs and EPROMs that have data or programs recorded on them are firmware.