Sep 28

“Tweens”, the Fastest-Growing Cellphone Market

By AndroidMan Interesting Phone Stuff No Comments »

I remember when I was in middle school and I got my first cellphone in 8th grade. It was an old Nokia with a green and black interface, fat antenna on top and was barely able to fit into my pocket. Best of all it had “Snake” built in! I was 14 at the time and seeing a 14 year old with a cellphone back in 1999 was out of the ordinary. During the late 90′s and even the early 00′s, cell phones were considered an adult device. It had the stereotypical attachment to businessmen and soft top sports cars. Now anyone with a few bucks and a prepaid card can get a cellphone from Walmart and be connected instantly. Of course children can’t just go ahead and do that, but the visual of a teenage with a cellphone is now common place.

According to a report done by The Republic, more than 75% of teens going back to school have cellphones and that number continues to grow. but one market is growing even faster, and only recently became an officially named demographic, “Tweens”. Tweens are the ages between 9 and 12, not quite a teenager but not a child either. This market was exploited by businesses the most, with boy bands, MTV and, more recently, romantic vampires. With cellphones getting cheaper, not to mention having gps tracking features, parents are giving their children phones earlier and earlier in life.

But does your child “need” a cellphone? You only need to ask yourself a few questions to know for sure. Do you want to be able to contact your child 24/7, and vice versa in case of emergencies?  Can you trust your child with a phone? Or will he or she lose it? How much do you want to spend? Do you want to get a smart phone with GPS tracking and several bells and whistles? Or a simple clam shell phone only for calls. Perhaps buying a used or refurbished cell phone? The National Consumers League has a guide with some of these questions they want you to keep mind when deciding on what phone to purchase for your child.

Next you’ll want to decide on some ground rules. Do you want to set up a limit of texts per-day? Or just accept teens, and tweens, text more than adults and just purchase the unlimited texting plans? You’ll want to explain the dangers of “sexting” and riding a bike while on the phone (just as, if not more dangerous, than driving your car and doing the same).  You’ll want to explain strict rules when bringing their phone to school, not just by you as parents, but by the schools rules themselves. Some phones even allow you to set limits to incoming and outgoing phone calls.

The age for cellphone use is only going to get younger and younger. Our phones are turning into more than “just a phone” and soon enough, seeing tweens with cellphones will be just as commonplace as seeing a teenage or adult with a cellphone. The best advice we can give you is to go phone shopping with your child. Just like an adult, you want to be sure they can use the phone, handle it correctly, and like the phone they’ll be getting. Everyone has different opinions on when a child, tween or teen is ready for a phone. But they are your children, so make the decision yourself, and keep the questions above in mind. Happy shopping!

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Oct 20

How to Properly Dispose Your Used Cell Phone

By Chris Samaras Cell Phone How To's, Interesting Phone Stuff 1 Comment »

There are 3 things certain in life: Death, Taxes, and needing new cell phones. The average person gets a new cell phone every 18 months. This means that in the past decade, the average person has had at least six different phones. So what do people do with the cheap cell phones that are no longer in the starting lineup?

The sad truth is most people either let them collect dust in a drawer, or they simply throw them away. Continue reading »

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Sep 24

Step Toward a Green Cell Phone

By phonemanandy Phones In The News No Comments »

Now that we’ve come stumbling blindly into the 21st Century, flailing our arms, and screaming at the top of our lungs to be satisfied and pampered until we can melt into a state of irreversible serenity, mobile devices and cell phones have surpassed luxury items and become a necessity to properly function within a harsh and judgmental society. But as this metamorphosis occurs, another movement pushes through: the Green movement. And while it’s no secret that cell phones, mobile devices, and computers are not “green,” many seem to turn a blind eye to the increased level of plastics and metals and choose in favor of productivity.

Well that’s fine. A society needs to be productive to advance, and nothing screams productivity like having access to global communication and networking at the touch of a handy button.

First of all, there are the materials. From plastics to the rare, powdery precious metal tantalum (mined primarily in Central Africa, where it’s become implicated in local exploitation and violence and is now known as a conflict material), cell phone materials present a variety of environmental and even human rights issues. Kinda like “blood diamonds,” but in higher demand.

Then there’s energy use. Smartphones are especially notorious energy hogs, with most models rarely getting more than a day of usage without some pretty drastic energy-saving strategies. It’s not just the obvious charging that takes up electricity and energy that increases a carbon footprint, but the cell usage and data transfer when multiplied millions and millions of times can drastically increase energy output.

All of this electricity consumption adds up to greenhouse gas emissions. Of course, this all depends on how often you use your device, but with great apps comes great responsibility–and telling an iPhone user how often and to what extent he can use his Applications is like trying to take guns and Bibles away from rednecks.

Aware that cell phones have an eco image problem, nearly all cell phone manufacturers, U.S. wireless carriers and office supply or electronics vendors now offer recycling programs (both in-store and mail-in) where they’ll take back your used phone for free and recycle the materials as much as possible.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides links to many vendor-sponsored programs.

Keeping your used cell phones out of landfills is one important way to green your cell phone use. But green is the color of money, too. You can make money by selling your used cell phone for reuse, either directly to a friend or charity, or through a verified Trade-In program.

An even greener (and generally cheaper) option is to buy a used cell phone rather than a new one. If you don’t absolutely need all the latest features, you can probably get a good price on a model in good condition that’s a year or less old.

This summer, the UK wireless carrier O2 presented its first eco ratings of popular mobile phones. This effort proved controversial because Apple (maker of the iPhone) and Research in Motion (maker of the world’s most popular smartphone, the BlackBerry) declined to participate.

However, RIM says it will participate next year. And some are questioning why several smartphones made it onto O2′s eco-friendly phone list.

Back in the U.S., it may soon get easier to tell which cell phones are really green. UL Environment Inc. (part of Underwriters Laboratories) is designing its initial sustainability standards for cell phones. The draft standards are due out in late 2010.

While we wait to discover new ways to increase the quality of our mobile devices while decreasing our carbon footprint, keep a few things in mind: When using your cell phone, keep in mind that texting is your most energy-efficient (and thus eco-friendly) communication option. Or if possible, call from an old-fashioned land line instead — that uses far less power to transmit calls.

Sources: CNN

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Sep 09

Recycle Your Used Cell Phones for Cash

By phonemanandy Cell Phone How To's, Interesting Phone Stuff No Comments »

During these rough economic times, many are searching for a quick way to earn some easy cash–but a large percentage of people have no idea just how valuable that used cell phone sitting in their drawer, collecting dust, can really be.  If you have a used phone collecting dust some where (like most people do) check out our Used Cell Phones for Cash at TheBlueDot.net.

Most people do not realize their used cell phone may be worth a significant amount of money.

According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in 2007, approximately 130  used phones ended up in landfills in the US. Only 14 million Americans recycled their used cell phones. Today, donating or recycling cell phones, PDAs, chargers, and batteries has never been easier.

By bringing awareness to the matter, we can make a huge difference. Right now the number of people properly disposing their cellular devices is right around 10%. If more people knew how simple it were to trade-in their device the affects on the environment could be substantial.

Sources: EPA.gov

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Sep 09

The iPad for Green Business

By phonemanandy Cell Phone How To's, Interesting Phone Stuff No Comments »

As we are all pretty much aware–if we dare admit it to ourselves–the Apple iPad is an overpriced toy that, while maintaining some practical purpose, has very little (if any) edge on, say…a laptop or Netbook. Perhaps future generations of the iPad–or when companies like Google, Android, Amazon, etc get their “pad” products out–will be a virtual must-own for many consumers. As the market changes, as does the technology, and once we see a major flux in the social necessity for a notebook-size-touch-screen device, we’ll likely see more nay-sayers like myself rushing out to own one.

Like I said, there are some practical applications for the iPad that often go overlooked, and–for the purpose of this discussion–we’re going to take a look at several uses that may increase productivity in the workplace while substantially decreasing your office’s carbon footprint (that is, of course, if you don’t count the endless quantity of iPads bound to show up in a landfill or lining the streets of a small Chinese village).

There already exists a program called WritePad, which is essentially a note-taking app similar to any computer software that you would get for free. This one will cost you about $9.99.

On the other hand, there’s SoundPaper, a much cooler application (in both practicality and title). SoundPaper (Now SoundNote) is a note-taking application, yes, but it also records audio for personal notes or recording meetings. Not only does this allow you to play back key moments you may have missed, but also allows you to tap a certain portion of your notes to jump right to the recorded audio concerning that topic. Pretty neat.

The key to a “green” office is using less and less throw-away materials. After all, even if you recycle, the carbon footprint is fairly significant. Rather than setting up messy fax machines and an interconnected IT department, a free iPad program called BoxNet or DropBox allows for easy file sharing and transfers across multiple computers and devices–all within a virtual cloud of information.

It’s common knowledge by now that printing virtually anything has become a thing of the past. In any office or home, the only elements that tend to be physically printed out are things that need to be printed out. Otherwise, it’s much faster and easier to use your computer or portable device for all of your reading and viewing pleasure. If you’re on the go, an app called Instapaper may be of use (if you find you’re printing articles and emails to read later). InstaPaper allows the user to bookmark virtually anything with text to read at a later date without the stress of having to remember who the e-mail was from, which website you visited, or why you found that latest Marmaduke strip so hilarious.

The iPad (or any e-reader) practically eliminates the need for printed works. Certainly, a few books or magazines lying around will do you no harm, and some people prefer the physical element of having pages to leaf through in this overwhelmingly technological existence. But if you’re on the go, carrying around reference materials can make you feel like you’re living in the Dark Ages.

The iPad has a plethora of fine applications and reading material to choose from depending on your interests or career. For example, if you need to keep up with The Wall Street Journal, it’s free. That’s right. Free–on the iPad. If you need computer text books, medical encyclopedias, catalogs, or tutorials to get you through your busy schedule as a Computer Engineering Fashion Marketing Doctor on the go, hey–there’s an app for that.

Apple wants the iPad to be your friend and personal assistant (for a price). The Control4 app–if your office or home is set up with Control4–will allow you to automate every electric element using the iPad. Forgot to turn off your work PC or the office lights? No worries, iPad‘s got you covered.

So there you have it. If you spent the money on one of these futuristic toys, you have every opportunity to make the best of it and use it to its fullest potential. And there’s no time to start like the present–because we all know that the clock is ticking on when Apple, Google, Android, or whoever, will render the piece of technology on which you just blew your entire savings obsolete. Anyone not liking their used apple ipad and ready to move on to a different device? The BlueDot will offer top dollar for your used devices.

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May 11

Google’s Android in favor of iPhone

By phonemanandy Interesting Phone Stuff, Phones In The News No Comments »

The official results are in, and the first quarter sales figures for 2010 are significantly in favor of Google’s Android smart phone. The war has waged for quite some time between Apple’s iPhone–with apps that pale in comparison to the amount of hype backing it up–and Google’s Android which has dedicated its operating system to various phone models and carriers across the board.

The iPhone, as many of you know, is paired only with AT&T service–and while Apple pushes its weight around the market, it rests firmly in the corner where only AT&T users and Mac Geeks dwell.

AT&T is big–really big. But Verizon is much bigger. You know those “coverage maps” you see in all the ‘Verizon VS AT&T‘ commercials? Those attempt to illustrate a whopping 92.8% of Verizon’s customers enjoying a relatively limitless wireless coverage zone.

iPhone’s biggest claim to fame is the App Store, featuring obscene numbers of user and professionally created applications for just about everything you’d ever want to do–from grocery shopping, to making fart-noises on the bus. The Google Android is gaining speed, however. They’re up to a healthy 50,000 applications and counting–and I believe they’ve even hosted their own fart-noise apps, so…good news there!

Because of Verizon’s dominant network, they have become a huge sponsor of Google’s Android–providing them with lots of advertising and marketing funds.

The last–and probably most important–factor that pushes the Android ahead is the pricing. Where the average price for a smart phone in 2010 is around $599 (retail price), the top-tier iPhones can be as pricey as $999 (used iphones for less than $200 and cheap droid phones). Because Google has the freedom to pick and choose its carriers and hosts models in varying price ranges, they have the potential to dominate every market.

The Android’s sales have outfoxed the iPhone, but not by much. With the first quarter percentages for the Android being 28%, and the iPhone’s being 21%, it is still a close race…but it is still only a race for 2nd place.

It should be no surprise that Reasearch in Motion’s Blackberry is still king of the smart phones with a first quarter sales rate of 36 percent. Across the board, new and refurbished Blackberrys make a huge impact on smart phone sales. They are efficient, inexpensive, and part of the largest networks in the country.

So, for now, Blackberry watches as Google and Apple duke it out–but there’s a lot more time left in 2010–and something tells me that the iPad won’t be the last tech gadget people are talking about this year.

Sources: Yahoo! Finance | ARS Technica | Android Community | Boy Genius Report

–Alex

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