Gadget Blog for the Mobile World

Has the economy emptied your pockets? Does the Touch Fuze, BlackBerry Storm, or the iPhone require too many Benjamin-Franklins? Would you rather pay your car payment or even eat over buying an overpriced cell phone but just want to get a piece of that 3G action? Well, folks at AT&T want to appeal to the little too. According to BetaNews, AT&T will be adding the Pantech C630 to its holiday 3G collection for a mere $49, with a plan of course.

There was a press party and Pantech showed off the phone journalists but asked them to wait until the “official” announcement in December before publishing photos.  However, PhoneArena was apparently gobbling the hors d’oeuvres or hitting on the waitresses when Pantech requested the hold off –or perhaps they just weren’t there – because they have a photo of this affordable but speedy phone. Now the peasants of America – the majority – can access the wireless babble via Advanced GSM for a price that won’t max out there $100 limit credit cards.

Other specs include a speakerphone, Bluetooth, MP3 player, e-mail, IM, AT&T’s video exchange and Video Sharing, a microSD slot, and a 1.3 megapixel camera – can’t expect 5mp for $49. There’s more to be revealed when AT&T feels the time is right.

BetaNews added that there are more phones AT&T are giving away at the fiddy bones mark. This includes the clamshell Pantech C610 and Slate, which is QWERTY.

 You may have came to this post via a link from a post chattering about how the GPS of a hunter’s cell phone allowed for rescuers to save his life.  Even though the hunter was in difficult terrain, the fact that he was in an open field allowed searchers to locate him.  Another man, who was also in dire need to be located, wasn’t as fortunate. (…Read Some More…)

How good is the GPS on your phone?  When you’re out hunting, perhaps you should know how well your network is accessed from where you’re sight seeing.  43-year-old Michigan hunter, Jim Suwal, fell out of a tree stand and sustained critical injuries early Thursday evening.  He was knocked unconscious and when he woke up he called one of his friends and then 911.  Ottawa County sheriffs and Robinson Township firefighters responded to the call and found the hunter with the help of his cell phone’s GPS. 

By the time the rescuers found Jim he was already a victim of hypothermia with injuries to his head and neck.  He was also incoherent and disoriented, according to Fire Chief Paul VanEssen.  It was estimated that Jim had fallen around 5pm but wasn’t found until 11.15pm.  If it took any longer, he probably would have been found dead.

He was about a half a mile from his truck in an area that is not easily accessible.  They had to transport him out of the area with an all terrain vehicle but had to carry him on a backboard several yards before they could even get to the transport vehicle. 

The state game area he was hunting on is 1,665 acres and has Grand River frontage of 3 miles.  This is not the type of country where a lost person is easily found.

Now credit can’t just go to the great reception his phone must have been getting that night; acclaim must also go out to the Robinson Fire Department and Ottawa County Sheriff Department for rescuing the guy and Spectrum Health Connection, for treating him.

Perhaps a satellite phone would be more suitable for hunters because most of the prime hunting grounds are in the middle of somewhere that Verizon Wireless can’t even reach.

Source:  Grand Rapids Press on Mlive.com

Picture Source:  1cabinfurniture.com

(This site isn’t an affiliate of the picture source but thought it fit the topic well and looked sorta cute.)

FindWhere enables GPS tracking through iFind Mobile service on RIM’s BlackBerry Bold.  This feature will locate the high priced phone should it be lost or stolen.  Let the capers be warned, should you steal a Bold phone with this service enabled, plan on storm troopers barging through your door. The phone also has a panic button for desperate times.  iFind works on all GSM networks across the globe.  If you own the Bold or plan on buying one, check out www.findwhere.com to find out more about this feature.  

Source:  Market Watch

To help Yahoo compete against Google and Microsoft, T-mobile has elected to have Yahoo Inc. as the default search engine for most of their handsets.  Yahoo!  What happened to the partnership of Google and T-mobile with Google’s Android phone? Apparently that’s a different matter and T-mobile is playing the field.

As of September of 2008 Google dominated the cell phone search market with 60.1% compared to Yahoo’s 36.4%.  T-Mobile had said that Yahoo was best suited for their lower end phones.  Not much of a compliment but since these lower end phones make up the bulk of mobile phone sales, Yahoo will take the commendation.

T-Mobile’s new “web2go” portal will be powered by Yahoo and if you buy a T-mobile, plan on seeing Yahoo ads when opening the browser.  Both these chums will share in the revenue.

This is what Yahoo needed since its online businesses are being hit by recent economic troubles.  This is a payoff for Yahoo’s aggressive investing on the mobile services.  They lost the desktop search market but they refuse to let Google dominate the mobile search world.  Yeah, we don’t need a monopoly.

Yahoo also has a partnership with AT&T while Google sides with Sprint Nextel.  Who will Verizon buddy up with?  According the source of this article, Google and Microsoft are now battling for them.  May the best search win?

All this commotion is for the 7.7% of cell phone users who actually use their device to search the Web.  Obviously they are thinking of the future when those percentages will likely increase.

Source:  The Wall Street Journal

So…the difference between normal text and bold text is that bold stands out. The same thing goes for the BlackBerry Bold 9000; it stands out from the rest of the BlackBerry phones.As far as standing out from the rest of the cell phones in the market, you can be the judge.

Now even though it’s bolder than the other BlackBerry phones, it’s still a BlackBerry after all. It still functions like the others but with its own tweaks and updates. The boldness of it is first the price – $640 – $999 unlocked. Now, now, get those eyeballs back in your head and let’s just go over the features and specs before we dismiss this as another overpriced phone.  Read on for the full review. (…Read Some More…)

No matter what your position on the war is, we all can agree that the soldiers need our support. Being an ocean away from family and constantly in harms way, not knowing if their next patrol will be their last, a major comfort for them is being able to talk to their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, wives, and/or children. We take for granted our reasonable monthly rates and being able to reach our family via cell phone in an instant. For our soldiers across seas, talking to their loved ones can get extremely expensive. Click Here to read on.

Teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, Mass started a non-profit foundation called Cell Phones for Soldiers with just $12 of their own money. It has now raised about $1 million. They are hoping to get more cell phone donations this year now that the holidays are upon us and new phones are going to be purchased and old phones are going to be thrown away. It is estimated that Americans will replace around 130 million cell phones in 2008. For each cell phone sold to ReCellular, Cell Phones for Soldiers gets enough money to purchase an hour of talk time for a soldier. The foundation is hoping to get enough for 12 million minutes this year.

So far Cell Phones for Soldiers have given 400,000 prepaid phone cards to soldiers with the money they raised. The Bergquist family has said that they have been overwhelmed by the generosity of donors. Hopefully the word is passed along quickly as new phones are purchased this holiday season. What will you do with your old cell phone? Check out the Cell Phones for Soldiers link below.

http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/index.html

Just when you thought you thought you were cool with the latest BlackBerry, RIM will be coming out with a new version:  BlackBerry Javelin 8900.  More and more pics are being released among the blog-o-sphere as well as on other gadget sites.  Well, perhaps it isn’t coincidence but they do help us with our yearning to see what the hype is all about.

Rumors say that the Javelin 8900 will be available some time in the middle of November.  If you’re a die hard BlackBerry fan, you have a choice to make: spend money on the turkey feast or save it to buy the Curve.   If you have patience, put it on your Christmas list. 

Well, the U.S. will finally get a grab at the Nokia’s 3rd version of the Nokia N85, 7 band capable with 850 – 1900 GSM as well as 850 – 2100 WCDMA.  The FCC gave its blessing for the American Dream to include the option to buy the Nokia N85.  Pricing isn’t floating around the pond yet.

Watching the news all night I have heard the results of the election has a lot to do with the number of young voters.  If you signed up at Barack Obama’s website, you probably signed up to get text messages.  These text messages updated voters of issues that arose, campaign events, and opportunities to volunteer.  On the eve of the election text messages were sent to remind voters that they polls were obligated to allow to vote, anyone who got in line before 8pm.  Even though people of all ages text, the more texting maniacs are the younger crowd.  Can we credit the internet and text messages in contributing the history being made?

post inspired  from:  bloomberg.com

The LG Venus was apparently named in attempt to equal the glamour and awe of the planet, Venus, and the goddess, Venus.  With CDMA technology, this slider phone, with its metallic, mirrored, front-side shine, and its soft gripped back, is sure nice to look at.  But as we pound this in again and again, it’s not just how it looks; the functionality must match the glamour. (…Read Some More…)

Ferrari and Vertu are joining in matrimony to launch a new collection of Ascent Ti phones that have the inspiration of Ferrari’s cars. These phones support Quad-band GSM/EDGE with WCDMA 2100. They are Bluetooth enabled, have a 3.0 megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash, 4GB of internal memory, and talk time is 5 hours with 12 and a half days of standby time.

Three phones: Nero, Rosso, and Gaillo; which are named after their respective colors. The Nero phone is black, the Rosso is red, and the Giallo is yellow. They feature PVD coated keys and battery covers, which have been redesigned to look like the hood of the Ferrari. The ringtones of this car also resemble the Ferrari by sounding like engine is being revved up. Limited edition means limited edition; only 2,009 Vertu Ferrari Ascent Ti Nero will be manufactured. This is truly a collection and although expensive, more affordable than an actual Ferrari.

400,000 downloads in a little over a week. Now that’s success. This is the download statistic that MySpace has seen since the application was made available on BlackBerry smarphones. Such BlackBerries like the Bold, the Curve, the Pearl, and 8800 series have the application available. On the smartphones’ browser, one just has to go to to download the application. Now if you’re wondering about the Storm, well, that will be available on tomorrow.

Now what about Facebook?

Source:  Cell Phone Digest

Cell phones and mobile phones will be a part of this world for a long, long time.  It’s a part of our culture and the kids are taking part in the craze just as much as the adults.  Keeping with tradition to start them out young, Samsung has come out with the Tobi S3030.  This colorful phone is made with teens in mind, available in Apple Green, Bright Oasis Blue, Orange, Loyal Blue, Sweet Pink, and Snow Silver.  For those young adults refusing to get as lame as the rest of us old-timers, this phone may be for them as well.

Keeping eco-friendly hip, this phone is made from recyclable and biodegradable bio-plastic.  We’d like to see more phones made with this type of eco-enthusiasm.

The phone is pretty basic when it comes to features:

Waupaca County of Wisconsin has been added to the list of places where talking and texting on a cell phone while driving in banned.  Hands-free devices will still be allowed.  Violating this ban will cost the perp a fine of $75.  Include court costs and the amount could be well over $200.

According to the ordinance, any use of the cell phone that would keep the driver from having both hands on the wheel is prohibited.  Phones can be used while parked, however.

A problem with this ban is there are no requirements for signs at the gates of the county, warning county visitors who may not even know about the ban.  Perhaps they figure people should just know better.  Could this be entrapment?  Probably not.

The sheriff’s department supports the ban because they have first-hand awareness of fatal and serious injury car accidents caused by the use of cell phones while driving.

source:  PostCrescent.

The Glyde is a practical phone with useful features such as IM, media capabilities, quality calling, and blends touchscreen technology with much appreciated QWERTY keyboard. This slider/touchscreen phone keeps up with other touchphones but fails to come out in front. We expect the second generation of the Glyde to be better and perhaps shadow the hype of the rest if Samsung can magnify its strengths while fixing the Glyde’s weak points. As for now, this phone is a welcome addition to the touchscreen community for those who like to follow the crowds as they go to the iPhone. (…Read Some More…)

No matter what your position on the war is, we all can agree that the soldiers need our support. Being an ocean away from family and constantly in harms way, not knowing if their next patrol will be their last, a major comfort for them is being able to talk to their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, wives, and/or children. We take for granted our reasonable monthly rates and being able to reach our family via cell phone in an instant. For our soldiers across seas, talking to their loved ones can get extremely expensive. Click Here to read on.

Teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, Mass started a non-profit foundation called Cell Phones for Soldiers with just $12 of their own money. It has now raised about $1 million. They are hoping to get more cell phone donations this year now that the holidays are upon us and new phones are going to be purchased and old phones are going to be thrown away. It is estimated that Americans will replace around 130 million cell phones in 2008. For each cell phone sold to ReCellular, Cell Phones for Soldiers gets enough money to purchase an hour of talk time for a soldier. The foundation is hoping to get enough for 12 million minutes this year.

So far Cell Phones for Soldiers have given 400,000 prepaid phone cards to soldiers with the money they raised. The Bergquist family has said that they have been overwhelmed by the generosity of donors. Hopefully the word is passed along quickly as new phones are purchased this holiday season. What will you do with your old cell phone? Check out the Cell Phones for Soldiers link below.

http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/index.html

Source: WPRI

The South Carolina state prison system wants the FCC to grant them and local officers permission to block cell phone signals.  News has been out about the growing problem of them perps smuggling cell phones into prisons for a while now.   Inmates use cell phones as commerce, to implement fraud, smuggle drugs and weapons, and to order hits.  Of course, some may use it to just talk to a loved one any time they can.    

CellAntenna Corp is one of the private companies that are advocating for the FCC to allow local officers and State officials to use technology that blocks the signal of mobile phones.  Their reasoning is that since the Federal Prison systems as well as Federal law enforcement are allowed to use the technology for, say, stopping the detonation of a bomb via a cell phone, then the local law enforcement should be allowed to do the same thing. 

Source:  Greenville Online

It’s always nice to here when consumers get a shot out by lawmakers.  When republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission , Kevin J. Martin, had a proposal that would have effected how phone companies pay each other for communication access.  The proposal called for lower fees for smaller rural carriers to connect calls via giants like AT&T and Verizon.  This would be nice for smaller carriers but the loss AT&T and Verizon would face from the lower fees would’ve been made up by them raising customer fees by as much as $1.50 a month. Consumer groups, like Consumers Union, opposed the plan because of the potential monthly price increase customers would face.  Few were defending the smaller companies in rural America, who would have benefited from this proposal.

Source:  Washington Post

This phone just may take you on a Voyage to dream land with its modern style, nifty touchscreen, great resolution and clarity, and reasonable price for the features it holds.  It is a phone with CDMA technology and high-speed EVDO, for data transmission, that offers Internet using 3G.  The style is similar to that of the enV with features and quality comparable to the iPhone.  To keep with the tradition of being corny; go on a mobile dream voyage with the LG Voyager VX10000!  (Corny joke IS very neccessary.) (…Read Some More…)