Mar 17

New MagicJack Gives You Free Cell Phone Calls

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

I just came across this article from January, and I’m really curious to see if anyone has any new information. Apparently, the company that makes MagicJack (the little thing that plug into your computer that gives you unlimited phone calls from your house phone) is now making a similar product that allows you to make unlimited calls in your home from your new or refurbished cell phone.

After plugging the device into your computer, it recognizes any phone brought within a radius of eight feet. It then calls the phone and prompts the user to enter a short code. After that, the MagicJack recognizes that phone any time it is within a 3,000 sq. foot radius of the device and allows the phone to make unlimited calls from within that radius (that do not come off of your cell phone plan’s minutes) via VoIP. A year’s subscription for the device is reported to cost the same as the original MagicJack, which is about $40.

Obviously, several cellular providers are not happy about this product, and I’m curious to see what the current status of this new Magic Jack is. If anyone could provide any new details in the comments section, it’d be much appreciated.

The original article can be found at Digital Trends.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • •
Feb 18

Google Working to Add Translator to Google Goggles

By Chris Samaras Cell Phone Reviews, Interesting Phone Stuff, Phones In The News 1 Comment »

goggles_landmarkIn December, I did a post about what Google Goggles can do for your new or refurbished cell phone. I just read a post from Google today that was pretty impressive. Google is working to integrate their translator program into Google Goggles so that you can take pictures from your phone of things written in a foreign language, and, within a fraction of a second, Google Goggles translates the text for you.

In the video below, you can actually see it working with a menu written in German. According to Google, German is the only language that Goggles can translate as of now, but they plan on making it compatible with 52 languages in the near future.

Google’s online translator does work incredibly well (with, I believe, 52 languages), but Google Goggle with the translator will save you the time of having to enter the foreign text, and, being an avid traveler, I can tell you that the few seconds it takes to enter the foreign text into your phone usually costs you the entire conversation.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • •
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.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Dec 11

New Green Cell Phone Design

By Chris Samaras Phones In The News 1 Comment »
Image via fastcompany.com

Image via fastcompany.com

Did you know that the energy it takes to produce a cell phone is greater than all of the energy the phone will use during the average cell phone’s lifetime? Just Barber, a green warrior in the fight against unnecessary consumption of planet’s resources, has come up with a new concept for cell phone design, providing another option, in addition to recycling your old phones and purchasing refurbished cell phones, for doing your part in saving our planet.

Barber’s idea is to create a durable cell phone made of materials that are 85% recyclable, which is designed to facilitate constant internal upgrades as technologies improve. Although well intentioned, I don’t really see how Barber’s plan is really making much progress, unfortunately. The majority of the problem with cell phones, in terms of waste, lies in the constant need to update the internals of a phone as technology increases, which leads to the toxic materials from which the internals are made being thrown away and thus polluting the earth. The plastic housing of a cell phone is easily replaceable with greener materials; it’s the speed at which phones are becoming outdated that is the source of the problem.4173723527_652f0a6373_o

Until we make a phone (or maybe Apple’s already made it) that can be constantly updated to keep with the break-neck speed of technological advancement, the best way to go green in the cellular world is purchase refurbished.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • •
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.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • •
Oct 09

Three Reasons You Need a Wifi Cell Phone

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

WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) is a technology that lets devices, like your cell phone or laptop, connect the Internet without using wires. WiFi is becoming a standard feature with all new, high-end electronics and for good reason. Here are five of the best reasons for why you need to purchase a Wifi Cell Phone.

Number 1 – UMA, S1208185285896971921coredump_Glassy_WiFi_symbol.svg.hikype, and Google Voice.

UMA is a technology that allows you to make phone calls over the Internet. The benefit of using UMA is that when you are making calls over the Internet, you are not using your regular cell phone plan minutes. Companies like T-Mobile are now offering plans built around UMA, which give you unlimited calling when you are within range of your home Wifi network or any T-Mobile Wifi networks of which there are over 8,000 across the US (T-Mobile has set up accounts with companies like Starbucks and Borders). The best part about T-Mobile’s Wifi plan is that all calls initiated within T-Mobile Wifi hotspost are free for the entire duration of the call, even if you walk outside of the hotspot and your call switches over to T-Mobile’s network. The switch is seemless, so you don’t have to worry about your call being dropped and you save a ton of minutes.

Companies like Skype and have cell phone applications that allow you to make phone calls over the internet from any Wifi network, not just your own. While using Wifi from your cell phone, Skype will allow you to call anyone else on Skype for free at any time, and Google Voice allows you to call any number (land line or cell) within the US for free any time. Think about it; with Wifi calling, you don’t need minutes any more.

Number 2 – Apps

Apps, or applications, are changing the world as we know it. There are apps for everything from using maps and directions, streaming music, and planning trips to finding the closest pizza joint and then finding the closest public toilet. All the most popular social media sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter have apps, so you can constantly keep your virtual world updated. Most apps are free and with Wifi, you don’t have to pay to use them. Check out more at Blackberry App World.

Number 3 – Price

Although Wifi is a fairly new technology, especially in the cell phone world, some of the greatest Wifi models have been out long enough to where they are being recycled and refurbished. This is great news for consumers as you can now purchase refurbished cell phones that have Wifi for a fraction of the price of what they cost new.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • •
Previous Entries Next Entries


Copyright © 2007-2010 TheBlueDot, LLC and BlueDot.
All Rights Reserved. BlueDot and the BlueDot logo are registered trademarks of TheBlueDot, LLC,