Posts tagged Cell Phones
Another free service for your cell phone
Jun 2nd
ChaCha
A couple months ago we spoke about a service called 4Info that lets a person get news and sports updates– among other things– sent through text messages to your cell phone. Today we got another free service called ChaCha. Also a free service– aside from standard texting rates — it allows you to text any question you may have to the “ChaCha guides,” and within a few minutes, they text you back an answer they found. The number you use for this 242-242 (or ChaCha), and I must say that after using it for the past few days, it worked pretty well. Asking it questions ranging from who scored for the Yankees yesterday to when Iron Man is playing at a near by theater, I received accurate answers in a couple of minutes.
Check it out for yourself, and let us know what you think of it in the comments.
How to Make Your Own Ringtones for Free
Jun 1st
We have something here that many of you will like… making your own Ringtones for free. Using a program called Audacity (download here), any of your unprotected music— those not purchased through iTunes (check your songs in iTunes by right-clicking on a selected song, clicking Get Info, and then looking at the bottom of that first tab) and such, or in Mp3 or ACC format— can be shrunken down and subsequently placed onto your phone. For a full guide, see this ATT forum I found. This should work for most ATT phones—unfortunately excluding the iPhone or any other smartphone— and possibly for T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint.
But don’t be disappointed iPhoners. In iTunes, you’ll see the option to convert to ringtone for an iPhone—though only for an iPhone—for an additional $1.
Future of Cell Phone Shopping?
Apr 18th
ATT and Microsoft have released today in a few select ATT stores a whole new way to shop for a cell phone. This new way is through a Microsoft product called Microsoft Surface. What it basically is, is a huge multi-touchscreen table computer, that in this case, would make your shopping for a new cell phone easier (seeing features of a phone, comparing multiple phones, shopping for accessories, etc.). Right now it is only released in 5 ATT stores in New York (2 stores), San Antonio, Atlanta, and San Fransisco (though more will be in other ATT stores soon). If you want some more info including store locations (for those of you who want to see this in person and/or are getting a new phone), photos of the new giant computer table in action, or video of that giant computer table in action see some of the links below. (Also by the way if your thinking that you want to get one of these as your next computer you may wanna start saving up for 2 reasons: 1. This will cost a whole lot of $$$ when it is released to the general public, and 2. It wont be released to the general public till 2011- or so they say).
Links:
Video courtesy of Gizmodo.com- Here
Store Info courtesy of Boygeniusreport.com- Here
Photos (including one above) courtesy of Engadget.com- Here
Top 5 Cell Phones- T-Mobile
Apr 14th
Here are the top 5 regular cell phones to get if your getting a new cell phone for T-Mobile, in the “free with contract” to $250 price range. Ratings provided from the Editor reviews at www.cnet.com . Pricing information is provided from the T-Mobile website www.tmobile.com.
1. Nokia Xpress: Music 5300. The Nokia Xpress: Music 5300 is a nice slider phone with some nice features. Those features include 1.3 megapixel Camera with ability to record video, available in multiple colors, Mp3 Player with external rubber controls, and a memory card slot. Another great thing about this phone is its price. It’s price as listed on T-Mobile.com is only $29..99 with a 2 year contract.
The Xpress 5300 is $29.99 for both of the available colors (black and lilac- think purpleish) with a 2 year contract, received an 8.3 out of 10 rating from the editors at Cnet.com.
Nokia Xpress: Music 5300 (in black)
Free Baseball Text Message Alerts for your Cell Phone
Mar 31st
As we all know (or should know) the 2008 MLB season is underway. Of course with most of the opening games taking place early during the day, it may be hard for some of us to keep up. I have recently discovered a site which can help Fantasy fanatics and sports fans everywhere (like me, I’m a big Yankees fan and found this site while trying to get scores for opening day game). This is a site provided by 4INFO.net that basically sends free baseball and sports text messages to your phone regarding score changes, inning-by-inning updates, player stats etc. (it also has other features like weather, news and other sports updates like March Madness, NBA). What makes this so great though is that unlike mlb.com’s text message updates (which are also free from the TeamTXT page), the user has more options to pick what they want—instead of just score and team news, a person can also choose lead changes, inning by inning etc. To sign up for this service from 4INFO all you need to do is create a free account with your email, cell phone number and carrier and phone type (RAZR, iPhone etc.), and then set up the updates you want. Mlb.com’s offer is similar but there you’ll need to only enter your cell phone number and team.
Just something to keep in mind: while these services are free from their respective companies, they do send text messages which cost money. This means that if you want something like score changes, then you should get a big texting plan because you never know how many runs will score in a game (remember last year’s 30-3 Texas vs Baltimore game), also if you want to stop the messages, at any time you could reply stop or stop all to a message sent to you. To get a texting plan may cost more money based on your wireless carrier, and you should check to make sure it is what you want before you buy it and sign up.
Enjoy and Go Yankees 
Example of 4Info from Yesnetwork.com
New tech from CES: Cell Phones
Jan 23rd
There were many new cell phones announced at CES from many companies, but here are some of the more interesting ones that we saw.
From Motorola: The Z10 and Rokr E8. The Z10, in terms of looks, looks like many simple slider phones, but it is actually very different. This phone slides out to, in a way, look like a banana in terms of shape (see picture below for better idea). It is also loaded with features like a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, ability to record movies in regular TV quality, a 2.2 inch screen, ability to add a micro SD card to increase the phones memory to 32 GB ( just a note: at this point cards in that high a memory range don’t run cheap), an FM radio, and Motorola’s Crystal Talk technology for better phone conversations. Unfortunately though according to Motorola this phone will not be launching in the US in this particular design, but will be available to purchase unlocked (buying the phone without a contract, this is usually at much higher price because it has no carrier to bring the price down).
The Rokr E8 is another new phone announced by Motorola at CES, and this is a phone that is generating a lot of attention. It is looking so good that Cnet.com gave it one of its Best of CES awards. What makes this phone so cool and different from other phones? For one it is running a completely different keypad. This keypad is not like other phones in that it stays in “phone mood” regardless of what your doing like listening to music, or taking pictures. The Rokr E8′s keypad actually changes from phone to music controls to picture controls based on what your using it for (see pictures below for greater detail). It’s also is promised by Motorola to be a better music player than regular music only devices. Other features on the phone include a 2 inch screen, 2 GB of built in memory with memory card slot to add more, Motorola’s Crystal Talk technology, and a interesting new feature that will let you read text messages while dialing or on a call.
The Z10 and Rokr E8 (in keypad and music controls)
Best new tech from CES
Jan 17th
CES and Macworld are now pretty much done (just like our finals Thank G-d). Many new things were released, from keypad changing cell phones, to a 150 inch TV, to a 3.0 lb Macbook, as well as much more in between, and we’re here to help break down all of the information that you would need to know. Since there is a lot of things that happened at CES that we would like to cover, we plan to break down the posts into 3 sections: cell phones, Mp3 players, and Video Games. Talk to you then.
Top 5 Cell Phones- Sprint
Jan 3rd
Here are the top 5 regular cell phones to get if your getting a new cell phone for Sprint, in the “free with contract” to $250 price range. Ratings provided from the Editor reviews at www.cnet.com . Pricing information is provided from the Sprint website www.sprint.com.
1T. Sanyo Katana DLX ( High end up date to Sprint’s exclusive Sanyo Katana line which includes the original Sanyo Katana and Katana 2, flip phone, 1.3 megapixel camera, Sprint 3G, Sprint TV (Sprint’s version of ATT Cellular Video and not live VCAST video), Sprint Navigation, MP3 Player, Sprint Music Store, multiple colors: Pink Satin, Champagne, and Platinum Ice).
Rated 8.0 out of 10 by Cnet, price is $79.99 for all three colors online with 2 year Sprint contract.
Sanyo Katana DLX in all three colors
Top 5 picks for a Cell Phone- Verizon Wireless
Dec 17th
Here are the top 5 regular cell phones to get if your getting a new cell phone for Verizon Wireless, in the “free with contract” to $250 price range. Ratings provided from the Editor reviews at www.cnet.com . Pricing information is provided from the Verizon website http://www.verizonwireless.com/ .
1. LG VX8350 (flip phone based on the popular VX8300 just without the antennae, MP3 Player, EV-DO, V CAST, 1.3 Megapixel Camera, available in red or gray colors)
Rated 8.3 out of 10 on Cnet, Price is $49.99 when you buy online with 2 year contract.
LG VX8350 Red
2T. Samsung SCH-U740 (dual flip phone, flip straight for standard phone, sideways for phone with a full keyboard, EV-DO, V Cast, 1.3 Megapixel Camera with flash, MP3 Player, available in black)
Rated 8.0 out of 10 on Cnet, Price is 129.99 online with 2 year contract.
Samsung SCH-U740 (Gold, though is now only black color listed on Verizon’s website)
