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: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
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: • • • • • • • • • • •
Oct 20

UK Police Outfitted with Blackberrys

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

16oct09_britishpoliceEarlier this year, over 1,100 of Bedfordshire’s frontline police force were outfitted with Blackberry cell phones. Sir Ronnie Flanagan of Police Review feels that for the first time, Bedfordshire police will be able to submit written (typed) documents in from the field as well as access data bases and other systems like their crime management system, intelligence database, warrants, Police National Legal Database, and its custom-built briefings application without the need of a computer. The idea behind the program is to decrease the need for the officers to be at their desks and increase their visibility in public.

Before the program was launched, a research team spent time with several Bedfordshire officers on the front lines in order to identify the specific needs of the officers in order to maximize efficiency and meet the officers’ daily demands. A spokesman for the department estimates that the program is currently saving the average officer a half of an hour to an hour of time per day. An hour a day saved multiplied by 1,100 officers equals significant savings, especially during such a severe economical situation as the UK is currently facing.

The significance of the program is being compared to the implementation of walki-talkies to the police force. Bedfordshire police Inspector Jim Hitch says: “I liken this to the change from Police boxes to Police radio. That was a huge step and quite expensive and had its doubters who asked why we needed radios. What we’re moving to now with these devices is a similar sort of scenario. There are people doubting and asking why we need them but I think that will become clearer and we will depend on these devices more and more and wonder how we ever did without them.”

Equipping police with smart phones seems like a no brainer, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar to this come to police forces in the US in the near future. Let’s just hope the smart phones come with a block on Facebook.

Tagged with: • • • • • • •
Oct 16

Solar Powered Cell Phones

By Chris Samaras Interesting Phone Stuff, Phones In The News 5 Comments »

2966132For the first time in my life, I find myself jealous of African technology. Stuff published an article about how solar powered cell phones in Africa are greatly benefiting the country’s people who have very limited access to traditional power sources. The article does a great job of illustrating how local farmers and independent businessmen are benefiting from the solar technology, but what I want to know is: why the hell don’t we have it in America?

Apparently in Uganda, 92 percent of the country’s 32 million plus population do not have access to an electrical power grid, so, obviously, they have an enormous need for a product like solar powered cell phones. But what about us? I mean, we’re trying to go green here, right? Hey Nokia – I would like a solar powered cell phone too.

According to the article, Samsung makes a model called the Solar Guru, which features an FM radio, MP3 ring tones, embedded games, and a torch light that sells for 60 US dollars. How is this not in the hands of Leonardo DiCaprio on the cover of US Weekly? And getting off topic a bit, if a solar paneled cell phone is so cheap, why is it so expensive to solar panel the roof of your house?

The Samsung Guru

The Samsung Guru

I suppose that even though I don’t have access to one yet, it’s nice to know that companies are at least trying to develop more globally conscious products. Sony Ericson and Nokia are developing phones that use lower energy consumption, recycled materials, smaller packaging, and electronic user manuals. Until these products hit our market, though, don’t forget that the best way to go green with you cell phone is to purchase a refurbished cell phone!

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: • • • • • • • • • • • •
Oct 01

Newsweek Says Buy Refurbished Cell Phones

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

Refurbished Cell Phones

Newsweek has recently released a video containing facts that support the fact that purchasing refurbished cell phones is a very Green thing to do. Obviously, purchasing second hand anything is good for the environment as it eliminates the demand for new materials to be usurped in order to produce new products, but most people don’t understand how important it is to purchase refurbished cell phones until they actually see the numbers.

According to Newsweeks’s video, eight out of ten people in US own a mobile phone, which means more people in the US have cell phones than passports and Internet access. Newsweek claims that if mobile phone users made up their own country, it would be bigger than the US, China, India, Russia, Mexico, France, and Japan combined. Because the average life of a cell phone before it is replaced is approximately 18 months, there are more than 500 million cell phones in the world right now that will be thrown away. If these phones were recycled into refurbishment programs, we would save the world more than $40 million in copper, $61 million in silver, and $392 million in gold.

The best part about purchasing refurbished cell phones, besides the fact that it helps the environment so much, is that refurbished phones are of the same quality (functionally wise) as a brand new phone. Sure a refurbished phone may have some minor cosmetic scratches on it, but you can save a boat load of money and help the Earth by purchasing refurbished as opposed to new. Most refurbished phones have brand new housing on them anyway, so the majority of refurbished phones look brand new as well. So if you can’t afford to solar panel your house or purchase a Prius, do yourself and the environment a favor and purchase a refurbished phone the next time you need to upgrade.
Mobile Matters on Newsweek

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,