Technology is part of our everyday lives now, and with that we have to accept that accidents do, and will, happen. Cellphones are probably the number one casualty in electronics accidents. Water, Dirt, Drops, shock, all those things we, as people, may run into every single day and since cellphones are right there with us, they can fall prey to such enemies of electronics. Besides being here to help with getting you a replacement phone, we’re here to help possibly save the phone, or other electronic device, you already have. Here’s a list of accidents, and reactions, that may help you save your precious device.
Oct 24
Technology has grown pretty quickly the past 20 to 30 years. This generation back to generation X of the 80′s are more accustomed to quickly changing tech, which gives them an edge when something new comes along. The generations before were more accustom to calling a specialist when something goes wrong, while more recent generations tend to search Google before giving up and finding a specialist. Since there are rarely any Cellphone specialist on hand for your parents, the children tend to be the tech experts, when in reality they simply know where to look on Google. My parents both recently got Droids. My father owns a Droid X for Verizon, like myself and my mother owns an LG Vortex for Verizon. Whenever I come home they always try to spend an hour with me asking questions about their phone and how they can make it work for them. In the time I have spent with them going over some basic tools for their smart phone, and some more complex, I think I can safely give you all a few things to tell your folks when they leap into the smart phone world.
Jun 30
Below we take a look at some of the various cell phone connectors that we currently sell in our store. There has been some confusion as to what connectors are compatible with which phones and we wanted to clear up any confusion for our customers or potential customers looking for the right charging device for their phone. There are many chargers to choose from but luckily all the newer phones coming out on the market are required to go to the new Micro USB charging standard by 2012. If you have an older device using a proprietary charger, don’t worry – we have you covered.
Micro USB Connector
For the last few years the GSM Association has been trying to get a charging standard across all mobile phones. Finally, the new standard has emerged with microUSB being the new way to connect a charger to your mobile phone.
Companies such as LG, Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Research in Motion (Blackberry), HTC, NEX, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments have all starting moving to the Micro USB standard. By 2012 all cell phone devices will be required to use the Micro USB cable. Luckily the new Micro USB connector is said to withstand 10 times the amount of plugins and pullouts of other chargers already on the market.
Compatible Micro USB Cell Phones
| Amazon: | Kindle 2 |
| BlackBerry: | Bold 9650, 9700 / OnyxCurve 8520, 8530 Aries, 8900Pearl 3G 9100 / Pearl 2, 9105 / Pearl 2
Pearl Flip 8220, 8230 Tour 9630 Niagara |
| Google: | Nexus One |
| HTC: | Desire, Droid Incredible (Verizon), Google Nexus One, Legend, Leo / Firestone / HD2, Aria, EVO 4G, MyTouch 3G Slide (Does not fit previous MyTouch 3G) |
| Kyocera: | E1100 Neo, E2000 Tempo, S1300 Melo, S4000 Mako |
| LG: | AX155, AX265 / UX265 Banter, AX300, AX500 Swift, AX585 Rhythm, AX830 Glimmer, AX840 / UX840 Tritan, AX9100, BL40 New Chocolate, CF360, Chocolate Touch VX8575 / AX8575, CT810 Incite, GM750, GR500 Xenon, GT500 Puccini, GT505, GW520, KF750 / CF750 Secret, LG830 Spyder, LN510 Rumor Touch, LX265 Rumor2, LX370 / AX370 / UX370, LX400, LX600 Lotus, LX610 Lotus Elite, MT375 Lyric, Shine II GD710, UX280 Wine, UX300, UX585 Rhythm, UX830 / Glimmer / Vantage, UX9100, VN250 / Cosmos, VS740 Ally, VS750 Fathom, VX11000 EnV Touch, VX5500, VX5600 / Accolade, VX7100 Glance, VX8360, VX8560 Chocolate 3, VX8610 Decoy, VX9100 enV2, VX9200 enV3, VX9600 Versa, VX9700 Dare, Sentio |
| Motorola: | IDEN Series i9 StatureA455 Rush 2 / Rival, A555 Devour, A855 / Tao / Sholes / Droid, CLIQ / CLIQ MB200 / Morrison / DEXT MB, Cliq XT / Zeppelin, Crush, i465 Clutch, i776, MB300 / Motus / Enzo / Backflip, QA1 Karma, QuenchQ Series Q Global, Q9, Q9h
QA Series Evoke QA4, Hint QA30 RAZR VE20 RAZR2 V8, V9, V9m ROKR E8, U9 V Series Adventure V750, Rapture VU30, Renegade V950 Z Series Krave ZN4, Z9, Zine ZN5 |
| Nokia: | 1006, 1606, 2605 Mirage, 6205, 6350 Snapper, 6500 classic, 6750 Grouper / Mural, 7705 Twist, 7900 Prism, 8600 Luna, 8800 Arte, 8800 Carbon Arte, 8800 Sapphire Arte, N8, N85, N900, N96, N97, N97 mini |
| Palm: | Pixi CDMA / Eos CDMA, Pixi GSM / Castle / Eos GSM, Pixi Plus, Pre Plus, Pre Plus GSMTreo 800W, PRO 850 |
| Samsung: | GT S8000 Jet / Cubic, GT-i8000 Omnia II, i7500 / GT-i7500 / Galaxy, i8910 HD / Acme / Omnia HD, Instinct 2 / Instinct S50 / Instinct HD, M8910 / GT-M8910 / Pixon 12, S5600 / GT-S5600 / Preston Gallery, SCH-i920 / Omnia II CDMA, SCH-R350 / SCH-R351 / Freeform, SCH-R460 Myshot 2, SCH-R470 TwoStep, SCH-R560 Messager 2, SCH-R850 Caliber, SCH-U820 Reality, SGH-A687 Strive, SGH-A797 Flight, SGH-A897 Mythic, SGH-T939 / Behold 2, SPH-i350 / ACE II / Intrepid, SPH-M220, SPH-M320, SPH-M350 Seek, SPH-M540 Rant, SPH-M550 Exclaim, SPH-M560 Reclaim, SPH-M630 Highnote, SPH-M850, SPH-M900 / Instinct Q / Moment |
| Sanyo: | Incognito SCP-6760, Katana Eclipse, Katana Eclipse X, Katana LX SCP-3800, Pro-200, Pro-700, S1, SCP-2700, SCP-3810 |
| Sony Ericsson: | Vivaz / U5 / Kurara, Vivaz ProXperia X10 / Rachael, X10 Mini, X10 Mini Pro, X2a |
Mini USB Connector
The mini usb connector is often confused between different devices. Devices such as the HTC have a slightly different looking port however all standard Mini USB connectors do fit HTC Mini USB compatible devices. The majority of Blackberry phones and Motorola phones as well as Garmin and TomTom GPS units also use Mini USB connections. HTC, Motorola, and Blackberry have all recently moved over to the the newer Micro USB standard mentioned above.
 |
 While the HTC port looks slightly different than the standard Mini USB port,Mini USB connectors fit all HTC devices that are compatible with Mini USB. Just not the other way around. For example, HTC Original Mini USB Cables will not fit into a Blackberry. Mini USB Blackberry cables will fit into Mini USB HTC devices however. |
Other Connector Types
Apr 20
We’ve all been quite attached to Cell Phones for a while now. It’s time for us to learn some of the rules–or commandments–of phone etiquette. Phones have changed. People have changed. It’s high time for the two to be in sync with one another to a degree at which we can all be comfortable.
You should all know the key rules by now:
Speak quietly in public, avoid extremely personal conversations, avoid a call while in mid-conversation with another human being–and if you must take the call, let them know before you pull the phone out of your pocket. Avoid texting when you’re talking with someone face-to-face as well.
Put your phone’s ringer on silent when in a theater or restaurant. Or better yet, just turn it OFF. Accessing your phone in a dark theater makes everyone else cringe.
Here are some more recent etiquette ideas to think about when customizing your social networking existence:
Some phones and software allow you to control the picture that appears on other devices when you call.
Avoid embarrassing profile pictures through Facebook, Blackberry, AIM, or Twitter.
Don’t look up answers to debates or questions on Google. We’re all guilty of this, but some people find it both annoying and pretentious. Companies like KGB and Cha-Cha offer a fun way to ask anonymous questions that may produce interesting results. Try them instead.
Only use call screening for business. Close friends and family shouldn’t have to go through a Google Voice or business filter to get to you on your cell phone. It’s inconsiderate, and they may disown you.
Don’t play the blame game with dropped calls. Chances are it’s either nobody’s fault, or it could be yours. Blaming the other person for a dropped call is ridiculous–so stop it.
Lastly, compensate for delay. We live in a world of instant gratification now, but with some advancements in technology come minor inconveniences that we have to live with for the time being. Many new and refurbished smart phones have a slight (or perhaps significant) delay that may cause some awkward moments during conversations. Always pause for a moment to give the other person time to receive your voice or text before beginning to speak again. Believe me, it can work wonders–and bring an end to frustrating overlapping conversations.
Following these simple steps will not only bring you into a peaceful and civilized 21st Century of technology, but also make you a much better person for it.
–Alex G. (The Blue Dot)
Feb 25
This post is for our friends who need to catch up with technology. Judging from several conversations I’ve had this week, the general public is not aware of what an RSS feed is or does, which is sad for us as we hope that everyone signs up with our feed in order to effortlessly follow along with our updates.
Basically, signing up for an RSS feed (which usually has an orange icon with the little wireless symbol in it (as is seen at the top of our column to the right) enables our blog to automatically send each update to you via whichever of the several available methods you choose. The benefit of RSS feeds is that you don’t have to actually go to all of the blogs/sites that interest you everyday to see what’s happening. Instead, their updates come to you, which is great because you don’t have to waste time checking sites that haven’t updated anything in a few days.
Don’t like getting lots of updates sent to your email account? Me either. That’s why you need to sign up for iGoogle. iGoogle is a digital dashboard (which you should make your homepage) that manages all of your social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, etc. as well as your Gmail account and RSS feeds. You can customize your iGoogle page to your liking so when you sign on, you get to see all of your updates from all of your different accounts in one place. It’s awesome, trust me.
Ok, so now you have iGoogle. The next time you are at a blog or a website that you find yourself visiting frequently, sign up for their RSS feed. When you click to sign up, it will ask you how you want to receive the updates, and you can now click to receive via Google/iGoogle. Signing up for a site’s RSS feed really means a lot for the website as it tells Google that their content is so good, you want it sent to you every time it’s updated, so be sure to sign up for all of your friends RSS feeds (and ours of course!).
Enjoy iGoogle. Class dismissed.
Jan 20
Mini USB (left) and Micro USB (right)
One of the most frequent issues that we deal with in the world of refurbished cell phones is confusion about Mini USB chargers verses Micro USB chargers. Most cellular manufacturers are moving towards using a common charging/data port, and Mini USB and Micro USB ports are definitely the two most common choices at this time.
Mini USB
Mini USB – The Mini USB port has been the standard charging/data port for most phones produced over the past five years, especially for Blackberrys, HTC phones, and Motorola phones.
Micro USB
Micro USB – The Micro USB port is newer technology towards which many manufacturers seem to be moving. Micro USB ports can be found on the newest Blackberrys, Motorolas, Nokias, and Samsungs.
Adding to the Micro USB/ Mini USB confusion is HTC. Virtually all HTC phones use a mini-usb charger; however, the chargers that HTC provide are shaped slightly different than a standard mini-usb charger so that you cannot use an HTC charger with a different, say Blackberry, phone. Customers purchasing a replacement charger for an HTC phone should not be alarmed when they receive a Mini USB charger that does not look exactly like their original HTC charger.
