We have been seeing some customers have issues with the WiFi on their Motorola Devour, far too many to be normal. So we did some research and found out that this isn’t an unknown issue. Thankfully we found a fix, though it takes quite a few steps and may seem intimidating at first. But trust me, once you do these steps your WiFi should work!
Nov 20
Mar 01
Well hello there, all you good looking android using Bluedots! Are you tired of your super cool phone not making it through a busy work day or long car ride? Well then maybe it’s time to learned how to get the most out of your Android phone’s battery. Before we do that though, let’s take a look at some of the things that cause the drain on your phone’s battery.
Sep 23
A strange thing happened on the way to a Technology Review keynote the other day. Four like-minded panelists unveiled their favorite gadgets; and before you jump to any conclusions, it was neither the iPad nor the super-awesome new iPod Touch (which I prefer to call the iPad Mini).
No–as it turns out each one of the panelists exhibited varying portable base stations used to boost wireless signals.
It’s no surprise that we’re aggravating ourselves toward a mentality of instant gratification and southern-style “demanding” of “satisfaction,” however, how many of us would go the extra step to further clutter our already massively cluttered landscape and rooftop scenes with more towers and machinery? All of us? That’s correct.
Wi-Fi and signal strength can be very unforgiving and frustrating for anyone who is used to enjoying rapid-paced internet and phone service in their equally rapid-paced Starbuck’s-fueled lives. One moment we’re enjoying the unprecedented speed of a mobile application for…well…let’s say…the iPod Touch, or any cell phone. The next minute you’re lost in an unrelenting sea of No Service. Sure, you could stand outside of a coffee shop, desperately pacing back and forth trying to pick up their signal, or you could introduce yourself to the Future.
Actually, we’re already there…and we might be able to un-clutter our landscapes and rooftops at the same time. Qualcomm’s senior vice president unveiled a portable femtocell base station that generates a signal over a 10 meter radius–and it’s about the size of a TV remote.
Imagine these bad boys simply planted around the city, or office, hidden in plants or trees, scattered about public parks, and now imagine them to have almost limitless signal strength and reach for miles and miles. OK, now you’re dreaming too big…for now.
The corporate head honchos expect to see a gigantic spike in cell phone use over the next five years. Alice White, a vice president at Bell Labs, expects that 40% of phones will be smart phones simultaneously running any number of apps, and if something is not done to prepare for that kind of usage, consumers will be tearing out their hair–so to speak.
The wheels are in motion to begin planting these portable cell phone towers in key areas. If no power source is nearby, the devices can be rigged to run on solar power. Mmm…green.
If all goes according to plan, we will inevitably see a huge increase in the ability to view, create, and share large multimedia files with ease and peace of mind. According to a CEO at Sprint, “Wireless has been the fastest adopted technology in history. There are more cell phones in use today than TVs, PCs and cars combined.”
Femtocells are designed to fill in “coverage holes” that often occur in homes and small businesses, Jonathan Segel, executive director of Alcatel-Lucent’s CTO Group, noted during his EmTech presentation Wednesday about mobile apps. In addition, he pointed out that cities have begun to turn to “metro cells” (which provide a range of several kilometers…okay now you can start dreaming big again) to offload data traffic in densely populated areas.
The trend over time is for mobile phone cells to continue to shrink while providing better service to wireless users. “Because your phone isn’t having to shout [to reach a cell tower], your battery life is better,” according to Rupert Baines, vice president of marketing for picoChip, a maker of chips used in femtocells. “If the signal doesn’t have to go too far you’ll get better quality, you’re covering less people with each base station and each person is getting more capacity.” PicoChip recently introduced a new processor designed to boost even small portable base station signals so they can be used in a variety of public spaces, including shopping malls and airports.
Sources: Scientific American | e! Science News
Feb 17
Well, kind of. It is true that Skype Mobile is now available for new and refurbished cell phones but until March, you need to have an iPhone or a Nokia Symbian phone. For the iPhone you just download the app, but I’m not sure how it works for Symbians. Maybe someone can comment with more info. If you have the iPhone app, you can now make free Skype to Skype calls from any WIFI zone.
What’s most exciting for Blackberry enthusiasts is that in March, Skype mobile will be integrated with Blackberry via Verizon Wireless. One-upping the iPhone, Skype for Blackberrys on Verizon will be fully integrated, meaning you can make free Skype to Skype calls anytime, anywhere – not just from WIFI. I know I keep saying this but if Skype remains free, I don’t see how Skype mobile won’t totally change the cellular industry as we know it. It can’t be long until Skype mobile is available for all devices.
To promote the release of Skype Mobile, Skype has launched an interesting (and kind of strange) promotional campaign. Basically, they have five artists from around the world on stand by, waiting for you to call them and via Skype and tell them something. They then take your message and transform it into art. There’s a little video about it at http://outside.skype.com/.
Jan 27
Well, I’m not quite sure what this means for the new and refurbished cell phone industry, but Apple released their newest product, the iPad, today. The iPad is basically a cross between and iPhone and a Macbook, allowing the user to access the web; email; manage pictures, music, and videos; and play video games.
The iPad is 0.5 inches thin, weighs 1.5 pounds, has a 9.7 inch display, has a 1.4 GHz Apple A4 Chip, has WIFI, has Bluetooth 2.1, has an accelerometer & compass, and is available in 16GB – 64GB Flash storage. The battery has a reported 10 hours of usage time and over a month of stand by time.
You can sign up for data plans for the iPad through AT&T. The rates are: 250MB of data a month for $14.99 or unlimited access for $29.99 a month. It can be used via WIFI for free at any AT&T Hotspot, and the iPad requires no contracts. The prices are shown below.
What seems to have most non-“Apple” people excited is that the iPad is going after the Kindle market. Apple has partnered with Penguin, Macmillion, Simon & Shuster, and others to deliver iBook, which allows you to download and read books on the iPad, navigate pages, and alter fonts. The iBook store functions just like iTunes, so it should have no problem digging into the Kindle market.
The only thing the iPad doesn’t do, as of now, is make phone calls. With companies like Skype eager to take Voice over IP to the next level, however, it probably won’t matter for long.
Dec 03
Verizon 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.
