Aug 26

8 Fun Features on Blackberry 6 OS

By alexngross Cell Phone Reviews, Interesting Phone Stuff No Comments »

RIM’s Blackberry smart phones have been pushed around long enough. The capabilities of market giants like Droid and iPhone are gathering appeal at a steady rate across the board and this is pulling customers away left and right. Every piece of technology from MP3 players to Computers are now being shrunken down to pocket-sized devices and there are a lot to choose from. Certain phones are big for those interested in games and media, but others try to hit the social networking niche.

Blackberry has just released its latest operating system for its new devices and, well, let’s just say they’re doing everything they possibly can to keep up. Here are 8 key features of the new OS 6.

1. Universal Search–Much like the iPhone‘s Spotlight search system, a visit to the “Address Book” is no longer necessary. Simply type in a name and the new OS will gather results from your Phone Book, Media, Apps, etc.

2. Enhanced Playback–Album Art and Info can now be viewed on an interactive media carousel to flick casually through albums and navigate in a more fluid manner (rather than point and click from endless lists).

3. Social Networking Feeds–Are you such a hardcore networking fiend that it becomes a hassle going back and forth to Twitter, Facebook, and whatever else you use? The Blackberry 6 fixes that with a a social activity generator that will merge Facebook and Twitter with your Events and Calendar to make for easy planning, communicating, and invitations.

4. RSS Feeds–Blog rolls and web feeds become as easy as a flick of the finger. Simply key in the web address you’d like to follow and choose your favorite feeds. It’s all right there with no data entry or tedious searching.

5.Visual/Fluid Interface–The interface for the new OS may just be the most appealing part. Utilizing floating tiles and optimal screen space, the new interface keeps all interactivity feel fluid and organic.

6. Blackberry Messenger–Yes, Blackberry Messenger has always been a feature that many people can take or leave, but Blackberry 6 takes it up a notch to create a clear and sharp interface with multiple media options. Definitely a must have for communicating with other Blackberry users quickly and effectively.

7.Simultaneous Postings–There are plenty of extra apps and computer programs that do this job fairly well, but Blackberry 6 OS takes care of all posting for you. One status update may (if you wish) update every social networking app that you use–a nifty, time-saving trick.

8. Awesome Web Browser (finally)–Yes, it’s been a long time coming, but finally the Blackberry got its hands on a usable web browser that doesn’t only serve to generate headaches. This browser actually feels like a real internet experience, featuring easy magnification and multiple tabs.

There’s plenty more to know about the new operating system, but these are by-far the coolest. And remember, if you’re in the market for a refurbished Smart Phone, come check us out over at TheBlueDot.net. And if you’re looking to upgrade to a newer model, or just have unused phones lying around your house, trade them in for CASH ($$$) with TheBlueDot!

__Alex

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Apr 11

Remember to Recycle Old Cell Phones

By Chase Buckner Phones In The News No Comments »

Picture via NPR

Today marks the end of National Recycle Your Cell Phone week and over the past seven days, there has been some really good press about helping the environment by recycling old cell phones.

It’s now estimated that 130 million cell phones are trashed every year, which not only pollutes the environment but also sustains the need for conflict components. An awareness video from Sprint states that Americans discard 16 thousand cell phones every hour. Through cell phone recycling, Samsung is hoping to save 1 million phones from a landfill, which would “reap 75 pounds of gold, 772 pounds of silver and 35,274 pounds of copper. It also would save energy and cut water and air pollution, including greenhouse gases,” according to the EPA.

Don’t forget that one of the easiest, cheapest, and most effective ways to reduce waste and damage caused by cell phone consumption is to purchase refurbished phones. They’re a fraction of retail price and are virtually brand new. To find out more about the benefits of purchasing refurbished cell phones, visit this informative link.

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Dec 11

New Green Cell Phone Design

By Chase Buckner Phones In The News No Comments »
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.

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Nov 16

Homer Simpson has a Refurbished Blackberry

By Chase Buckner Interesting Phone Stuff No Comments »

homersimpsonLast night on The Simpsons, Homer got a new position at work and was given a refurbished Blackberry (I figure it has to be refurbished as it appears to be a new looking 7230, and you know Mr. Burns isn’t going to miss the opportunity to save money by purchasing refurbished cell phones for his employees). We can now add Homer to the list of celebrity Blackberry holders. Later in the episode, a refurbished Treo made an appearance as well.

Apparently, Homer now Tweets as there is a Homer Simpson page on Twitter. Judging by the tweets, however, I’m not convinced that it’s actually run by any of the real writers of the show. Matt Groening needs to take some action and get the real Homer behind the Twitter helm of his new Blackberry.

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Nov 03

API Report Shows Importance of Buying Refurbished Cell Phones

By Chase Buckner Interesting Phone Stuff, Phones In The News 2 Comments »

Recycle Cell SymbolABI Research has released a study that shows merely 6% of all cell phones that are replaced per year are recycled (by refurbishment) and that out of the 94% that are thrown away, only 2% are properly disposed of. This means that of the hundreds of millions of cell phones that are replaced per year (many of which contain “conflict components”), approximately 460,000,000 cell phones are just thrown away, which leads to the harmful toxins in the plastics of the phones to seep into and pollute the Earth.

ABI expects the small percentage of recycled phones to grow, however. They expect the percentage of recycled phones to reach 14% by 2014. In order to reach this percentage, they encourage consumers to purchase refurbished cell phones because “refurbishment is the most ecologically sound way of handset disposal, since the device continues to be used and does not go into a landfill.”

You can learn more about why cell pones are refurbished.

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