Jan 12

Google Launches Near Me Now

By Chris Samaras Phones In The News No Comments »

mylopp_blogLast week, Google launched yet another feature that will not doubt make your life easier. “Near Me Now” is Google’s newest feature, for iPhones or new and refurbished cell phones running Android software, which allows you to very simply find information about a specific business in your immediate vicinity or about several businesses around you.

There is a video on Google’s blog that illustrates how Near Me Now is useful when you’re standing outside of a restaurant, wondering if it’s good. With Near Me Now, you just go to Google.com, click Near Me Now, then click restaurants, and a list of the restaurants closest you appears. Just click the name of the restaurant you’re standing in front of, and their information appears including contact info, menus, and user reviews – all without having to type or say anything.

Near Me Now also makes things like finding a coffee shop after getting off an unfamiliar train stop simple. Just click Near Me Now, then Coffee Shops, and you get results for all of the coffee shops near where you are. Gotta love Google. They make everything so simple.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • •
Jan 11

Economist Article Offers Interesting Stats About Cell Phones

By Chris Samaras Interesting Phone Stuff No Comments »

200545827-001The Economist did an article at the end of December that offers some interesting statistics about our new and refurbished cell phones. According to them, in one decade the World has gone from 500 million mobile phone subscribers to 4.6 billion subscribers. The Economist also claims that humanity is now using over 1 trillion minutes per month on mobile phones – that equates to 2 million years.

The article goes on to discuss some interesting cultural differences when it comes to the mobile phone industry. I was surprised to see the extreme difference is monthly minute usage between cultures. Apparently, Americans use an average of 788 minutes per month whereas the Germans only use, on average, 89 minutes. According to the article, Puerto Ricans are the most talkative people in the world, using 1,875 minutes per month.

Another part of the article I found interesting explains that in the US, we call mobile phones cell phones where as the British and Spanish refer to them as mobiles. Germans and Finnish people refer to them as “Handys,” and the word that the Chinese use for their mobile phones translates as “hand machine.” You can find the article in its entirety here.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • •
Dec 15

Google Goggles Review

By Chris Samaras Cell Phone Reviews, Interesting Phone Stuff, Phones In The News 4 Comments »

goggles_landmarkGoogle never ceases to blow my mind with what we will soon be able to do from our new and refurbished cell phones. Google has recently released Google Goggles (currently available for only Android phones like the Motorola Droid), which allows you to use the camera on your cell phone to perform Google searches.

All you have to do is open Google Goggles, point at the building, book, business card, painting, etc., snap a picture, and the Google search results appear. It gets even better when you use it with local businesses. Just open Goggles, point your camera at the business and without even having to take the picture, Goggles will display the name of the business, which you can tap for more information like contact info and reviews. There is a nice little video on the Google Goggles page, where you can get more information about Goggles.

There has been some backlash about Goggles, however, as Google has been working to incorporate face recognition into Goggles. Face recognition means you could literally point your camera phone at someone walking by and if there is information about that person online, the search results for them would pop up. I admit, I’m not sure if this feature is scary or cool. Maybe scary cool.

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

Be Careful With Your Text Messages

By Chris Samaras Phones In The News No Comments »
Photo via The New York Times

Photo via The New York Times

I’ve been reading a lot of articles lately about text messages sent from people’s new and refurbished cell phones being used as evidence in court, especially in divorce cases. Text messages can now be used to prove infidelity, which can lead to the loss of some serious cash so if you’re a cheater, watch what and to whom you text.

If you are sending incriminating texts, there are some things you should know about how your phone works, especially if your carrier uses GSM and SIM cards. Apparently, when you delete a text message, it doesn’t actually delete the message from your SIM. Instead, it frees up the space used to store the message so until that space is actually replaced with new data, the text message can still be retrieved from your SIM.

In addition to your SIM card, text messages (even if deleted from your phone) are stored with your carrier for up to a few weeks. An article from The New York Times shows that AT&T stores text messages for seventy-two hours and Verizon stores messages for five to ten days.

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 07

University of Michigan has a Mobile Phone Orchestra Course

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

iphoneuniorchestraWhen I first came across this article, my first reaction was to snicker and scroll on. After watching the video on the U of M’s website, however, I have to say it’s kind of impressive how people are beginning to use their new and refurbished cell phones to express themselves creatively.

I’ve seen some other “cellular orchestras” before, and they were horribly annoying. Because the iPhone is so advanced, however, this group of grad students at the U of M has been able to manipulate the phones in some really interesting ways. The course that they are enrolled in, which seems to sparking a new field as universities like Stanford will soon be adding similar programs to their course catalog, teaches the students to design, build, and play instruments on their iPhones. The music they are making is definitely different but if you’re a fan of Phillip Glass, you might be into it.

Georg Essl, the instructor of the course, feels that, “The mobile phone is a very nice platform for exploring new forms of musical performance,” because “we’re not tethered to the physics of traditional instruments. We can do interesting, weird, unusual things.” If you are into what they have going on, they are putting on a concert December 9th.

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,