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.

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Mar 09

Nokia Files for Patent of Self Charging Phones

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

nokia_logoLast week, Nokia filed to patent technology that will charge your new or refurbished cell phone from the motion of the phone in your hand, pocket, etc. The technology is similar to that of watches that are charged from kinetic energy harvested from the movement of the wrist.

From what I’ve read, the heavier internals of the phone (the battery, transmitter, etc.) will sit on a pair of rails, allowing it to slide up and down as the user moves. That energy is then collected and sent into the battery.

Kinetically charged phones should be great for people constantly on the go. Might not be worth it if you’ve got a desk job though.

More at New Scientist

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Mar 04

Making Your Body a Touch Screen

By Chris Samaras Interesting Phone Stuff 1 Comment »

dn18591-2_300More crazy technology that will most likely change the new and refurbished cell phone industry. It’s called Skinput and what it does is allow you to turn your body, specifically your arm, into a touch screen allowing you to control your phone or your iPod by tapping your skin.

Apparently, tapping different parts of your arm creates different frequencies of sound/vibrations that radiate through your body, which can be detected by this technology. Something called a pico projector, which is a micro sized projector, can sync with Skinput and project a virtual screen onto the surface of your arm.

So what’s the point, right? Well, the scenario that seems to make most sense is someone jogging with their iPod strapped to their arm. With this system, you could control the iPod by simply tapping different parts of your arm. Check out the video to get a better idea of what it’s all about.

Full article at NewScientist

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Feb 26

Recycling Machines Will Pay You For Your Old Cell Phones

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

ecoATM.jpegThis is wild. A new company called ecoATM has developed an ATM machine that pays you cash to recycle your old cell phones. In addition to buying refurbished cell phones, recycling your phone is a great way to cut down on the need for conflict components and reduce the world’s waste. These ATMs make it really easy to do your part – and they pay you!

This is how it works: You walk up to the ATM and plug your phone in via a cord attached to the machine. The machine then scans your device to determine how much it is worth and then makes you an offer. If you accept, you deposit your phone and the machine spits out your cash. The average payment from machines in San Diego is $20 per phone.

ecoATM is based out of Sand Diego but has been sending test machines to Midwest, San Diego, Boston, Dallas and Seattle. Apparently, people have been lining up to recycle their old phones. ecoATM has also secured investors, so it shouldn’t be long until you see these machines in your city.

Full Article at Reuters

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Feb 19

Google Releases Google Shopper App

By Chris Samaras Cell Phone Reviews, Interesting Phone Stuff 2 Comments »

google-shopper-1Yet another ridiculous application from Google for your new or refurbished cell phone. Google released a new app called Google Shopper today for Android devices. The app allows you to quickly and easily locate product information by using your phone’s camera. Simply take a picture of product or of its barcode, and you will be provided with information about the product, about how much it should cost, and about where you can buy it. The app also recognizes cover art for books, CDs, DVDs, and Video Games.

The shopper app also allows you to search by voice if, say, there is no barcode on a product. You can also star products in order to save the information to be viewed at a later date. Because starred information is saved, you can view it whenever you like, even if you have no service on your phone. To download the app, just search for “shopper” from your Android device.

As usual, Google has provided a nice little video demonstration. Enjoy.

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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.

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