The New York Times has an interesting article talking about Cell Refuseniks which is what it calls those people that refuse to use a cell phone. Can you believe that’s happening? In this modern day and age where communication is so important, the cell phone is no longer a luxury item but a necessity. We want to talk to our friends, send SMS messanges and emails, Twitter and update Facebook profiles as often as possible. Cell phones can get us out of various jams and I wouldn’t leave the house without my handest. But not everybody will agree with me!

I will have to admit that I was such a person a long long while ago. I saw cell phones as the enemy, a thing that will allow others to track me down whenever they felt like it. And I certainly didn’t want that. But now I can’t imagine not having a cell phone around.

How about you? Have you ever considered not using a cell phone anymore?

via New York Times

Tags: Cell Phones, Cell Refuseniks, handsets, Mobile News, mobile phones, Portable Devices, smartphones

Consumer Cellular has announced the addition of two senior-friendly mobile phones with the inclusion of the Doro PhoneEasy 345 and 410. These new phones boast of enlarged, raised buttons and easy to read text, making it easier for the older folks to make calls or send text messages. They also come with loud and vibrating ringers, soft-touch surfaces and the usual Bluetooth interface. Here are the pricing for the said phones including activation fees from Consumer Cellular:

• Doro PhoneEasy 345: $40 (plus $35 activation fee)
• Doro PhoneEasy 410: $50 (plus $35 activation fee)

(Source) Press

Tags: activation fee, activation fees, Cell Phones, Cell Phones, Doro, inclusion, interface, Mobile News, mobile phones, ringers, surfaces, text messages

For laptop and notebook users, the life of their laptop battery is critical. Especially for the ones who are always on the go and making use of their laptop as part of their daily routine, it is apparent that they either have to stop and recharge or purchase an additional battery to avoid their batteries from dying at times when they need them the most.

But now, LaptopBatteryExpress.com aims to change all that. To ensure that laptop owners don’t miss a beat and enjoy the continuous use of their laptops, they have released a new external battery aimed at frequent laptop users. This includes aims to cover businessmen and students who are now relying heavily on their laptops for mobile computing assistance.

The good thing about these external batteries from LaptopBatteriesExpress.com is that they are normally universal. They are compatible with nearly 10,000 different laptop models. Rather than rely on you internal battery which is normally good for only 3 to 4 hours, this is a great backup solution if you are going on long trips or don’t have immediate access to sockets for you to plug in.

As a bonus, an external notebook battery will have a USB port enabling the charging of other small, portable devices like cell phones, iPods and more.

(Source) Press

Tags: Accessories, backup solution, Cell Phones, external batteries, external battery, external laptop battery, internal battery, ipods, laptop models, laptop owners, laptop users, Laptops, Laptops, mobile computing, notebook battery, notebook users, sockets

China has been a known alternative destination when it comes to getting mobile phones in the market and apparently this new site will be something to check out. With the launch of ILoveChinaShopping.com, consumers who are looking for quality yet affordable mobile phones can do so at the best possible price in the market today.

ILoveChinaShopping.com is an online wholesale site for mobile phones which is certain to have the mobile phone of your preferences. Catering to the popular brands of today, if you want a sweet deal on a reliable mobile phone, this is the place to be. They cater to both personal and commercial customers.

So if you want to get some savings and good deals on any mobile phone, check them out. People can make single unit purchases as sample products but the real price discounts can be experienced when they start buying in bulk, a familiar practice that retailers give to their customers for large orders.

(Source) Press

Tags: best possible price, Business, buying in bulk, Cell Phones, Cell Phones, China, commercial customers, consumers, good deals, launch, mobile phone, mobile phones, price discounts, single unit, sweet deal, unit purchases, wholesale

The Verizon Wireless CDM8950 is a phone that will meet anyone’s general needs. It does not have any fun or fancy features to take advantage of and it does not have the ability to get your e mail for you as it is not smart phone capable, however it will do its job.

It does have a camera and allows for up to 280 minutes of talk time on one charge. The camera has 1.3 megapixels, it can store up to 500 names and numbers and it is also blue tooth capable. You are able to download different applications for the phone as well.

Tags: Cell Phones, Cell Phones, Verizon, Verizon, Verizon Wireless CDM8950

Have the gifts of technology truly gone out of hand? As far as understanding the benefits and enumerating their benefits, it seems that owners have failed to put the fine line between honesty and cheating. Worst, the scenario only makes us look like spoon-fed individuals who may at some point act like robots. In short, the robust influx of mobile devices and the Internet seem to have swayed us in the way of failing to make use of our cognitive knowledge. We are unaware that are building cheaters among ourselves.

The study made by Common Sense Media is helpful. But seriously, we all see it today. There are things such as plagiarism, data storage and even leaked answers to exams that can be easily hidden and distributed via the web and mobile devices. In short, we are forgetting the ethical way of learning, only focusing on goals such as passing and honors as the main objective.

Kids have always found ways to cheat, but the tools they have today are more powerful than ever. In this poll, kids reveal that they’re texting each other answers during tests, using notes and information stored on their cell phones during tests, and downloading papers from the Internet to turn in as their own work. Because the digital world is distant, hard to track, and mostly anonymous, kids are less likely to see the consequences of their online actions, especially when they feel they won’t get caught.

With this in mind, have we been victims of our own discoveries? While we cannot stop technology from evolving, the human effort of knowing when and when not to use these technologies should be made clear. It is either this or we are making the next generation look like dumb individuals who may be relying too much on gadgets and advancements.

Other Facts:

• 41% of teens say that storing notes on a cell phone to access during a test is a serious cheating offense, while 23% don’t think it’s cheating at all.
• 45% of teens say that texting friends about answers during tests is a serious cheating offense, while 20% say it’s not cheating at all.
• 76% of parents say that cell phone cheating happens at their teens’ schools, but only 3% believe their own teen has ever used a cell phone to cheat.
• Nearly two-thirds of students with cell phones use them during school, regardless of school policies against it.
• Teens with cell phones send 440 text messages a week and 110 a week while in the classroom.

(Source) Press

Tags: Cell Phones, Cell Phones, cheaters, cognitive knowledge, common sense media, data storage, discoveries, dumb individuals, gadgets, honesty, human effort, influx, mobile devices, Mobile News, mobile phones, Next Generation, plagiarism, robots, spoon fed, teenagers

If you happen to be one of the many subscribers affected by the termination of services by United Mobile, then fret no more. United Mobile international cell phone customers can receive a free OneSimCard SIM by mailing their United Mobile SIM to OneSimCard.com To request the free SIM card, an online form is available at OneSimCard.com.

OneSimCard provides an international SIM card for international cell phone travelers that can be used in over 160 countries at savings of up to 80% over international roaming with traditional domestic carriers. Receiving calls is free in over 60 countries, including most of Europe.

Additional services unique to OneSimCard include personal local and toll free second numbers in the US, UK, and Canada, as well as data capability, translation services and more. Cell phones for use everywhere in the world as wll as international mobile phone service rentals are also available through the OneSimCard website.

(Source) Press

Tags: additional services, Business, Canada, Cell Phones, Cell Phones, Europe, free sim card, international cell phone, international roaming, mobile international, mobile phone service, phone customers, subscribers, translation services

Mobcast Inc. dips its hands in the iPhone app mix with the launch of the Photo Aquarium App, a game application for the iPhone and iPod Touch, on 31 March 2009.

Photo Aquarium, which is also available from the major US cell phone company, Verizon Wireless, is a popular cell phone game that simulates the care and feeding of tropical fish, using the users’ photos taken with their cell phones as food. mobcast inc.’s 31 March release of Photo Aquarium for the iPhone includes a wide range of additional features.

Photo Aquarium is a game application, where the users raise tropical fish, using the iPhone’s camera functionality. Whenever the users run the game’s Feed the Fish command, the game activates the camera and then uses whatever photograph the users take as feed for tropical fish, all seamlessly and within the context of the game.

To enable gameplay on the iPod Touch as well, the fish will happily eat any images stored on the iPod Touch, too. As the beautiful tropical fish swim against a background of the users’ favorite photos, the iPhone becomes a decorative accessory for the interior of the users’ home or office.

(Source) Press

Tags: Apple, aquarium, cell phone company, Cell Phones, Cell Phones, game application, Images, iPhone, iPhone, iPod Touch, Mobile Software, photograph, photos, tropical fish, Verizon Wireless

LG has decided to concentrate its efforts on touchscreen and QWERTY mobile phones instead of laptops this year. The South Korean manufacturer seems more interested in the handset business considering the low demand for laptops. Would you rather buy a touch-friendly smartphone instead of a new laptop from LG? Or would you simply choose other laptops instead of those made by LG? LG is the third largest cell-phone supplier so this move is rather logical. By the end of the year LG is said to introduce more phones in order to complete its previous declared goal.

via Mobile Today

Tags: Cell Phones, handsets, Laptops, LG, LG, Mobile News, Notebooks

In an effort to curb the rising problem of electronic waste from gadgets and mobile phones, ReCellular and Terracycle have launched a new program to help put old and unused mobile phones up for proper disposal and for a good cause at that.

By the end of the year, the partnership hopes to have over 1,000 brigades that collect and donate cell phones, raise funds for local causes and keep e-waste out of landfills. The companies have also committed to expand the relationship through additional upcycling opportunities in the future.

The partnership provides a convenient solution for TerraCycle to expand their upcycling efforts to include consumer electronics. TerraCycle first launched the Brigade concept in 2006, paying schools and non-profits to collect 20-ounce soda bottles.

TerraCycle’s Brigade concept quickly became a grassroots phenomenon, with more than 20,000 participating locations by the end of 2008. In just two years, the programs raised more than $100,000, primarily donated to public-school organizations, and rescued and reused tens of millions of soda bottles, yogurt cups, and snack wrappers.

(Source) Press

Tags: brigades, Business, Cell Phones, Cell Phones, consumer electronics, electronic waste, gadgets, landfills, Mobile News, mobile phones, recellular, terracycle

Amazon recently announced that the books it sells for use on its electronic Kindle application will soon be available for cell phones as well. In 2008, the Japanese, who have for years used their cell phones more like personal portable laptops and gaming devices, have been eagerly reading books on their phones on the way to work and on breaks. The books are delivered in mini-installments just long enough to fill up ten minutes or so of down time.

Now Amazon is looking to bring this application to the American market. Google Inc. has also announced that titles available from its Book Search service can now be read on Apple Inc.’s iPhone or a phone running its Android operating system–that phone right now would just be the G1, which is sold by T-Mobile.  Yet another e-book provider, Mobipocket, which is owned by Amazon, already sells titles that can be read on numerous smart phones. Last year Amazon sold out of the Kindle reading device after it was endorsed on the Oprah Winfrey show.

Tags: Amazon, books, Business, Cell Phones, Kindle

According to a study recently conducted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, young children who talk on cell phones while crossing the street at pedestrian crosswalks are at a higher risk for traffic injury or death than children who do not have the phones. “Cell phones clearly offer convenience and safeguards to families, but they also may pose risk,” the researchers said, “particularly when children attempt to multitask while conversing on the cell phone and have reduced cognitive capacity to devote to potentially dangerous activities such as crossing streets.”

The study used 77 children ages 10 to 11 and employed virtual simulations to test the children’s reaction times. Children who were on a cell phone took 20 percent longer to begin crossing the street, and they were 43 percent more likely to be hit by a vehicle or have a close call in the virtual environment.

Tags: Business, Cell Phones, Child Safety

If all goes well, new software will be integrated into Smartphones that can save lives. The patent-pending software is the world’s first fully functional wireless video security system built into cell phones, using video, photo and audio and GPS monitoring capabilities.

For a nominal monthly fee, JTrek users have a full-time personal surveillance protection device. All that is required is a Smartphone, Internet service and a small network of emergency contacts.

With this cutting-edge technology, text messaging notifications and video/photo imagery is recorded and transmitted by the Smartphone to the JTrek web servers. Even if the phone is taken by an attacker, the images remain stored on JTrek’s servers and emergency alerts are sent automatically.

(Source) Press

Tags: attacker, Cell Phones, Cell Phones, cutting edge technology, GPS, internet service, jtrek, Mobile News, Mobile Software, new software, personal surveillance, smartphones, text messaging, video security system

According to a newly released report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans now spend more on their cell phones than on land lines services. The typical U.S. consumer spent $1,110 on telephone services in 2007 (the most recent year in which statistics are available), with $608 going for cell phones, $482 for landlines and $20 for other services. The older the user, the more likely that person was to maintain a landline. The younger the user, the more likely that person was not to have a landline at all.

On average, users under 25 spent 75% of their phone service money on cell phones. For people over 65 that figure dropped to 33% of money spent. Since 2003, land lines have been declining in popularity, with more and more people choosing cell phone service or internet phone service as their main mode of communication. In the single year from 2003 to 2004, land line use dropped 60%, with another drop of 53% between 2004 and 2005.

Tags: Business, Cell Phones, charges, Landlines

Samsung is another big name in the mobile business and not only that decided to start a big reorganization. Yes is the “great” economy that caused the whole move. The company will split into two divisions, a Digital Media and Communications division responsible for phones, TVs and other electronics and a Device Solution division which will work on components, semiconductors and LCDs. Samsung’s CEO, Lee Yoon-woo will keep the title and he will lead the Device Solution division and the president of the cellphone unit, Choi Gee-sung will get the Digital Media and Communications division.

Is anything good to come out of this? Hopefully the cell phone business will stay afloat, ready to fight Nokia and the others in 2009 too. We wouldn’t want to see less Samsung cell phones out there, would we?

via Yahoo

Tags: Cell Phones, LCDs, Mobile News, Samsung, Samsung

A bill introduced by Colorado Senator Claire Levy (D-Boulder) and Representative Bob Bacon (D-Fort Collins) on Monday if passed into law will prohibit teens, school bus operators, cab drivers and any other motor vehicle carrier regulated by the Public Utilities Commission from using a wireless phone while in motion. All other drivers would be allowed to use a cell and drive at the same time so long as they did so through a hands-free device like Blue-Tooth or a speaker phone.

The bill would make driving while talking on a cell phone a ‘Class A’ violation punishable by a fine of as much as $100. Several recent studies have shown that drivers who talk on their cell phones while driving are more likely to get into accidents than those who put their full attention on the road. The bill is likely to gain broad support but may die in the house before ever coming to a vote. Either way, this could be a good time to invest in that headset you’ve been wanting.

Tags: Business, Cell Phones, driving, Headsets, law

When it comes to products and development, competition between rivals is always a good thing, right? Not when it comes to cell phone service. According to a recent article in Parade magazine data transmission in Europe and Asia is much faster than in the U.S. The Japanese have long been able to use their cellphones on the subway or use their handset like a credit card, both impossible anywhere in the United States.

The reason is simple. Europe and Asia decided long ago to adopt a single cellular network—GSM—whereas the United States still has two competing networks—GSM and CDMA. Because Europe and Asia have a single unified infrastructure underlying their cell phone service, different companies have been freed up to improve other aspects of their phones while the infrastructure takes care of itself. Maybe it’s time to turn the page on the battle of the cell phone signals and give American users a break.

Tags: CDMA, Cell Phones, GSM, Mobile Software

An entire generation of young people has now grown up without any familiarity with black Bakelite Bell Phones that weigh more than a stack of phone books and feature a rotary dial. A cell phone is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity, and it’s especially a necessity if you are under 21 and all you friends have one. If you don’t have a credit card or a credit history, and you can’t live without a cell phone (of course you can’t!), Virgin mobile is not a bad way to go.

Virgin sells an entry level flip phone, the Kyocera TNT, for only $19.99 that comes with a 30 day guarantee. Shipping and activation are free, and when you buy a phone from Virgin Mobile there are no contracts to sign, no credit checks, nothing to deal with except the phone itself and however many minutes you want to buy. Prepaid minutes are not the cheapest way to go, but until you can afford to get involved in horribly complex cell phone service contracts that will leave you swearing at the corporate overlords who concoct them, prepaid minutes are definitely the easiest way to go. Details are available at virginmobilusa.com.

Tags: Cell Phones, Cell Phones, Pre-paid, Virgin Mobile

Here’s a question I encountered one too many times. Is any form of cancer related to the use of cell phones? We’re about to find out soon. Interphone researchers have a large study to fully analyze. They are studying 6,400 tumors in patients from 13 countries. Early next year we will find out the results but we have a hint to what the study will say.

So here are some sneak peaks while we wait the final results. Regular cell phones users have a 50% more likely chance to get brain tumors than non-users. Are there any non-users? UK and Scandinavian cell phone users have a 40% greater tumor risk in people that have used the phones for 10 years than those that haven’t gotten that far. I’ve used mine for less than 10 but I am sure I’ll use cell phones for a lot of years to come no matter what the results will be!

via Gizmodo

Tags: Cancer, Cell Phones, Mobile News, news, Study

Here’s an interesting concept for protecting your teens and improving their driving skills. The car key in the picture will render every cell phone useless while your kids are driving the car.

The idea is really cool to a certain extent. Don’t you think your kids should still be able to dial a safe number of some sort? Just in case something goes wrong? Hopefully we’re going to see an upgraded idea of this whole concept, one that will let you and your kids stay in contact even when they’re behind the wheel.

via psyorg

Tags: Auto, car, Cell Phones, Cell Phones, concept, Mobile News