Apr 20

Smart Phone Etiquette

By phonemanandy Cell Phone How To's, Cell Phone Tutorials, Interesting Phone Stuff 1 Comment »

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)

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Apr 18

Line2 Leading the VoIP Pack, I think

By Chris Samaras Cell Phone Reviews 1 Comment »

It seems like each time one of these VoIP apps comes out, it’s all hype. I don’t know what the hold up with Skype is, and Google Voice seems pretty cool yet does not seem to be “blowing up,” but now this Line2 seems to delivering more than the rest when it comes to making calls over the internet via Wifi cell phones.

Line2 gives you a toll free number for people to call you on, free of charge, and it lets you make free, unlimited calls via Wifi. If you’re not in a Wifi zone, your calls go through your normal cell mode. The video below does a pretty good job of explaining how it works.

Line2 iPhone User Guide from Toren Ajk on Vimeo.

It seems like business people really enjoy Line2. The downsides, for me, are that it doesn’t offer text messaging via Wifi (why is this so hard?) and that it costs $15 bucks a month. A big plus, however, is that they offer Line2 for Blackberry.

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Feb 09

Google Developing Translation Software to Eliminate Language Barriers

By Chris Samaras Interesting Phone Stuff, Phones In The News 2 Comments »

Phone360_681565aReports have been released confirming Google’s efforts to create software that will translate languages via your new or refurbished cell phone. If successful, this could be on of the biggest breakthroughs in bringing the world together since the Internet itself.

The applications and technologies that Google has released over the past year leave me with no doubt about their abilities to create such a program; the only question is how soon will it be ready. Think about it. Google has already released voice to text translation via Google Voice, phones running Android now have the ability to search via voice, and anyone who has used Google Translate knows that it works remarkably well – in real time! I’d wager that its inevitable Google combines these technologies to eliminate language barriers as we know them.

Franz Och, Google’s head of translation services, commented, “We think speech-to-speech translation should be possible and work reasonably well in a few years’ time.”

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Feb 05

Updates From Google For Your Mobile

By Chris Samaras Interesting Phone Stuff 1 Comment »

google_logoThe good people at Google are constantly providing new services and apps for your new or refurbished cell phone. Here are some of there latest developments:

On Jan. 27th, Google sent out a notice proudly announcing that Google Voice is now available for the iPhone and Palm Web OS. Commenting on the benefits of their new advancements, the release stated: “AppCache lets you interact with web apps without a network connection and local databases allow you to store data locally on the device, so you don’t lose data even when you close the browser.”

On Jan. 29th, Google announced that their Popular Image Search for mobile devices running the Android platforms and for the iPhone. To use the feature, simply go to www.google.com and click on the Images link as you would if you were on your computer.

This past Wednesday, Google released something pretty impressive called personalized suggestions and synchronized starring for Google Maps on Android devices. The idea is that a truly “smart” phone would be synchronized with your computer and know exactly what you are trying to do at all times. The scenario is this: You’re on your computer looking for a bookstore in your area. You find one and Google map its location. Now you can either print the information, write it down, or re-look it up from your phone when you get close. With personalized suggestions, your phone will know what you Google mapped on your computer when you open Google maps on your phone, saving you the time of having to re-search it.

Synchronized starring allows you to star multiple locations in Google Maps on your computer, which will then appear when you open Google Maps on your mobile. These features are available in the new 3.4 version of Google Maps.

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Jan 13

Google Releases Nexus One and Their Online Store

By Chris Samaras Cell Phone Reviews, Interesting Phone Stuff, Phones In The News 2 Comments »

nexus_one_list_ars-thumb-640xauto-10960Well the rumors proved true even in regards to the name of the new Google Phone – The Nexus One. Google fans are overwhelmingly excited about the Nexus one but even more excited about what the Google Store means for the new and refurbished cell phone industry.

The Nexus One is running the newest Android 2.1 software and comes with all of the awesome, pre-loaded apps like: Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube and Google Talk, and additional goodies like Maps Navigation and Google Voice. Its processor is insanely fast, it’s got a five-megapixel camera, and it shoots video as well. The Nexus one also has a really cool new feature, which is a voice-enabled keyboard for any text field. This means you don’t have to type at all anymore. Searching for a YouTube video? Just tell your phone what video you are looking for, and the Nexus One will type the search for you. It works the same for composing texts and emails. You can find more specs for the Nexus One here.

The craziest part of the Nexus One announcement is that it’s for sale at Google’s new web store as unlocked. For the first time ever in the US, you can purchase an unlocked phone from the manufacturer’s website and then pick the phone plan you want from any of the carriers that support the phone. Google’s store could seriously shake the pillars of what is the current mobile phone market in the US. It will be interesting to see how long companies like AT&T play along.

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Dec 03

Verizon’s Mifi Could Save You a lot of Money

By Chris Samaras Cell Phone Reviews, Interesting Phone Stuff 1 Comment »

mifiVerizon has recently released Mifi, their new mobile broadband device, which now allows you to carry your own high-speed Wifi hotspot. At $60 per month, Mifi could save you some series cash by allowing you to consolidate your bills for high speed Internet and your new or refurbished cell phone.

Mifi is about the size of six credit cards stacked on top of each other and unlike other mobile broadband devices, Mifi does not need to be physically connected to any of the devices (you can connect up to five at once) drawing high speed Wifi from it. Think about the possibilities it allows. You no longer need to limit where you eat and drink based on who has Wifi (adios five dollar coffees), you can be online during car trips, you can be online in the park, and, best of all, you can eliminate your Internet bill and reduce your cell phone bill because Mifi gives you the option to use voice over IP calling everywhere you go.

Let me paint you a scenario. You already have Google Voice, which allows you to make free calls and texts over the Internet when you are in a Wifi hotspot. With Mifi, you will always be in a mobile hotspot. Hypothetically, you could reduce your cell bill to the cheapest plan (just so you still have a phone number) and strictly use voice over IP calling.

If you have a Skype account, you don’t even need a cell phone any more. You could just buy an iPod touch and with Mifi, you could make and receive all of your calls via Skype for a fraction of what you pay for your current cell phone bill. After you cancel your high speed Internet bill, which is about $45 per month on average, and reduce your cell bill, which I would assume is at least $60 per month, you could literally save your self almost a hundred dollars a month and never have to worry about where to find Wifi again.

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