Cell Phone

AT&T offers Pantech C630 — AT&T is currently offering its Pantech C630 cell phone that comes in a candybar format, featuring specifications that you normally won’t expect from a $39 handset (tethered to a 2-year contract, of course). Underneath the C630’s hood, you will be pleasantly surprised to find the following :- 3G connectivitiy aGPS and AT&T Navigator Bluetooth support microSD memory card slot 1.3 megapixel camera AT&T Video Share capabilities AT&T Mobile Music It is nice to see deviated number keys that glow white when depressed for a change, while the C630 is also made from a mixture of materials including a rubberized back-panel,... [Tags: 3g, agps, amp, candybar, capabilities]

There's No Zune Phone Coming; But Even If It Was, Would It Be Big News? — Once again, rumors have re-surfaced that Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is going to launch a Zune phone—this time at CES in January. I've held off reporting on the rumor because I don't think it is true, but more importantly, if it were true, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. The rumor has been around for years—well, since the Zune first launched. But it seemed it was squashed for good in October, when Microsoft's own Steve Ballmer said the Zune software may become a component of Windows Mobile devices in the future, but not a standalone phone. A spokesperson elaborated:... [Tags: barron, cell phone, ces, cnbc, device codenamed]

Finally! An anti-radiation sticker for phones! — If you’ve been worried about getting too much electromagnetic radiation from your cell phone, you can finally take off that tinfoil hat! A Belgian firm has announced that they have finally created a gadget that blocks your phone’s harmful rays, or “signal.” Supposedly, their little dime-sized sticker will emit “a quantum physical information wave” to counter your phone’s lethal radiation. The firm responsible hasn’t released any other information about the product as of yet, or else it’s in a language I can’t read. Whatever, it’s all science, am I right? So if you believe that this product may do... [Tags: belgium, cell phone, electromagnetic radiation, gadget, harmful rays]

CNET News Daily Podcast: Making sense of the changing cell phone constellation — Motorola's pain has been Apple and RIM's gain. Meanwhile, Android continues to pick up new adherents. It's part of a bigger, interconnected story.... [Tags: adherents, apple, cell phone, motorola, rim]

Your Cell Phone Can Be Good for You — Various apps are out there to monitor your health on your cell phone.... [Tags: apps, cell phone, health]

What Is Your Favorite New Cell Phone of 2008? — Continuing on with our Best of Polls for the year, I must say that 2008 was a battleground year for cell phone superiority; usual nemeses iPhone and BlackBerry pulled out the big guns — Apple released the iPhone 3G and RIM responded to the challenge with the Bold and Storm. Not to be outdone, a little company named Google (maybe you've heard of it) launched its first phone, the G1, running on the Android platform, and made by HTC, which also launched the Touch Diamond. And just this week, Nokia came out, guns blazing, with its new N97. I know... [Tags: 3g, apple, battleground, big guns, blackberry]

Life-Saving Surgery Performed via Text Message Instructions [Sms Surgery] — Using text message instructions from a colleague, a British surgeon in the Congo successfully amputated the gangrenous collarbone and shoulder blade of an unfortunate teenager who had his arms torn off in an accident. The surgeon, David Nott, texted his colleague back in the UK as he was far more knowledgeable about the procedures required for such a delicate operation. The colleague, Meirion Thomas, responded with ten steps he needed to follow in order to carry out the procedure properly. Then signed off with a simple "Easy! Good luck!" Personally, I would have felt better having him on a regular... [Tags: british surgeon, cellphone, cnn, collarbone, colleague]

Short URLs Equals Expanded Browsers? — If you have ever used Twitter (and who hasn’t, these days), you already know about the service’s famous 140-character limit.  Similar to a cell phone text message, that’s all you get before you hit ‘send.’  Of course, you could break your message up into multiple short messages but the real effects of this limitation are two-fold: It forces Twitter users to think of brief, hopefully elegant ways to transmit (or ‘tweet’) their thoughts. It forces creative solutions to common problems such as sending an accompanying web address (or URL) with a tweet. I could probably add a few more... [Tags: bas, benefit, cell phone, character limit, conversations]

Talk-powered Cell Phones Won't Need Batteries — alphadogg writes "It's possible that in the future conversations on your cell phone could generate enough electrical power to run the phone, without batteries. That's one possible outcome of recent work by a team of Texas researchers, who appear to have discovered that by building a certain type of piezoelectric material to a specific thickness (about 21 nanometers, compared to a typical human hair of 100,000 nanometers), you can boost its energy production by 100 percent. And the technology could power not just phones, but a whole range of low-power mobile devices and sensors. The breakthrough is an example of... [Tags: batteries, breakthrough, cell phone, cell phones, conversations]

Talk-Powered Cell Phones Won't Need Batteries — alphadogg writes "It's possible that in the future conversations on your cell phone could generate enough electrical power to run the phone, without batteries. That's one possible outcome of recent work by a team of Texas researchers, who appear to have discovered that by building a certain type of piezoelectric material to a specific thickness (about 21 nanometers, compared to a typical human hair of 100,000 nanometers), you can boost its energy production by 100 percent. And the technology could power not just phones, but a whole range of low-power mobile devices and sensors. The breakthrough is an example of... [Tags: batteries, breakthrough, cell phone, cell phones, conversations]

What Is Your Favorite TV Tech Show of 2008? — It is a great year for TV Tech, kids! To get this Best of 2008 party going, we'll be looking at the geeky goings-on of the boob tube. There's always a cell phone trade-up on Gossip Girl, not to mention a profusion of posts on the namesake blog and secrets passed around on flash drives, while on Lipstick Jungle, the well-connected ladies vie for the latest Apple product. And let's not forget the BlackBerry bunnies of The Hills! But less likely veterans made a play for the geekiest show honor as well; 30 Rock integrated iPhones, while The Office geeked-out... [Tags: apple product, blackberry, bluetooth, boob tube, bunnies]

Cell Phone Rant: Why Texting Is Just As Bad — I suppose it would be OK to text in certain places that it's not appropriate to be using a cell phone; while you're in a drive-thru, or happily tapping away in the backseat of a taxi cab, but in most scenarios, it is just as rude to be clicking your thumbs through texts as it is to be flapping your lips on your phone. I don't mean to be ageist, but there's a younger demographic that I've encountered that thinks this is OK — I say this because I found myself chewing out my 20-year-old sister several times (I still... [Tags: abstinence, baby girl, backseat, cell phone, college students]

The Book To Use If You Shave In Your Car And Don’t Understand The Internet — My roommate found a book from the mid-90s "Computers For Busy People" series in a thrift store this weekend, and I couldn't believe how dated and insulting the advice read, like a quack anthropology textbook from the 30s or something (the negroe's cranium is that of a more criminal nature...) My favorite part, though, was the 90s-ass cover illustration showing "Busy People": How To Use The Internets Rule #1: Do not shave in your car while driving and talking on a cell phone, no matter how busy you are. Rule #2: Now that you're alive, the rest of the internet... [Tags: anthropology, cell phone, cranium, criminal nature, illustration]

Unlock doors with your cellphone — Ever lose your hotel keycard? Ever have it get de-magnetized? Both of these are simple to resolve - just go to the front desk - but wouldn’t it be better if you didn’t need to worry so much about the darn things? Nokia is working with VingCard to allow you to use your cellphone to open your hotel door. As described in the video above, the goal is to allow frequent guests to bypass the front desk for check-in altogether. The guest can register online and get an SMS sent to their phone from which they install a small... [Tags: cards, cell phones, cellphone, doors, field communication]

Cutting Costs but Still Want a Fancy Phone? — The U.S. economy's worst crisis since the 1930's depression may have some consumers questioning the wisdom of buying a fancy new cell phone just yet, but those who can't wait just might find some deals out there. Now that cell phones are more of a necessity than a luxury for most, the questions are: Which one to buy? How many fancy features do you want? And which service provider fees can you afford? - NEW YORK (Reuters) The U.S. economy's worst crisis since the 1930's depression may have some consumers questioning the wisdom of buying a fancy new cell phone... [Tags: cell phone, cell phones, consumers, depression, economy]

The YETI Portable Security System — A full alarm system that is installed isn’t really feasible, so finding alternative ways to protect your things as well as your family is at times necessary.  Well this YETI Portable Security System is one option to keep your home safe.  It’s of course nothing all that advanced, but it is portable, so it would be great for anyone that likes to travel but wants to feel a little extra safe. The self contained security system has motion and bump sensors.  When set off it has high intensity lights and a siren to scare off whoever activated it.  One... [Tags: alarm system, amazon, bump, cellphone, gadgets]

Cutting costs but still want a fancy phone? (Reuters) — Reuters - The U.S. economy's worst crisis since the 1930's depression may have some consumers questioning the wisdom of buying a fancy new cell phone just yet, but those who can't wait just might find some deals out there.... [Tags: cell phone, consumers, depression, economy, reuters]

Material Turns Sound Waves Into Electricity — Just when you thought that engineers have run out of ideas for harvesting power from mundane human activity, a scientist from Texas A&M invents a piezoelectric material that can turn sound waves into electricity. His idea? Stick it in a cell phone. Piezoelectric materials generate an electric voltage when subjected to some sort of mechanical stress. When you read about harvesting energy from footsteps or dancing, for example, piezoelectrics are involved. What’s novel about this application is that it exploits nanoscale piezoelectric properties. When such a material is precisely between 20 and 23 nanometers thick, it can capture 100%... [Tags: amp, cell phone, electric voltage, electricity, footsteps]

Research In Motion Cuts FY Q3 Revenue, Profit Outlook; Cites Currency, Macro Factors, Delayed Pdt Launches — The great cell phone slowdown has rolled right over Research In Motion (RIMM). The BlackBerry maker late Tuesday chopped its guidance for its fiscal third quarter ended November 29. The company now sees profits of $2.75 billion to $2.78 billion, down from previous guidance of $2.95 billion to $3.10 billion. The company said profits will be 81-83 cents a share, below its previous forecast of 89-97 cents a share. RIMM said a third of the reduced forecast reflects currency factors. The rest is due to “lower than estimated unit shipments of existing products,” which the company blames in general economic... [Tags: 6 million, cell phone, currency, customer response, earnings]

CyberSynchs is a new NYC-based startup looking to help you if you should ever lose your cellphone. What they offer is a backup service that takes the data from your mobile device and moves it online so you can access it if you mobile device is lost or stolen. Mashable has a good review of the service from last month. The service is only available for Windows Mobile devices currently but they are working on iPhone and BlackBerry availability. The service costs $2.99/month during the beta period. Founder Amos Winbush sat down with Web2NewYork organizer Peter Verkooijen to discuss CyberSynchs... [Tags: backup service, beta period, blackberry, bonus, business cards]