Get me out of here with Getmooh!

The dreaded Monday morning has come yet again, as it’s been doing every week, putting a sudden stop to your utopian weekend like a 10-ton truck ramming into a sports car on a slippery mountain road would. You leave for work, anticipating the most boring and useless Monday morning meeting with the rest of your team, and beg for someone to call your cell phone shortly after the meeting’s begun so that you can fake an emergency and maybe get away with it…

I sincerely hope that your life is more exciting than this - but if it’s not, or if you’re just looking for an excuse to make a prank call to your friends, know that it is possible to schedule a call with Getmooh, a free service that will allow you to get out of some sticky situations easily. Simply sign-up with them for an account, and then you’ll be able to schedule up to 2 automatic calls daily with various messages.

I haven’t tried it myself - I’m a bit reluctant to enter telephone numbers anywhere on the internet. But if some of you try it, leave a comment below to let us know how it went!

So, you’re looking forward to the new iPhone but you don’t want to let your old cell phone rot on a shelf? Did you know you could donate old cell phones? They’ll be refurbished, you’ll contribute to saving the environment and maybe make someone who’s looking to buy a used cell phone happy.

The battery in your cellular phone contains many toxic agents that are very harmful to the environment. By recycling your old cell phone, you are preventing these agents from contaminating the soil.

If you want to donate old cell phones, the following organizations are dedicated to refurbishing them. They make a donation to charities for every cell phone you send them.

1. Charitable recycling
2. Collective Good
3. Wireless Recycling

Also, many cell phone carriers will actually give you a rebate for returning your old cell phone. Get in touch with them, you might be surprised.

Using a sugar cube, Instructables shows us how to remove unwanted logos from a cell phone. The idea behind it is to use a sugar cube to scratch off the stickers on the cell phone. The sugar should not leave a mark on plastic or metal. Process with the following steps at your own risk - in the worst case, you could damage or leave a scratch on your phone.

1. Place tape around the area you’re going to scratch. This is important because you don’t want sugar to get in the phone.
2. Scratch the sticker with a sugar cube until it has disappeared completely. Repeat until the cell phone looks clean.
3. Remove the tape and clean up the remaining sugar with a dry cloth.

If all went well, you will have a clean unbranded cell phone, with those pesky stickers from your carrier gone forever. Apparently, this trick will not work on some cell phone covers though - the sugar cube will leave a mark.

While most cellular phones now support all three types of ringtones, it is good to know the difference between monophonic, polyphonic and true tone ringtones before spending bandwidth (or worst, money) on a ringtone version of the latest James Bond theme.

Monophonic ringtones

In the early days of cellular technology, most cell phones were only able to emit basic tones on different frequencies. The monophonic ringtone uses basic sequencing technology to play a song: it’s a one instrument, one note at a time thing. Monophonic ringtones are a good choice if you are looking for a clear, easy to discern ringtone for your cellular phone. Most monophonic ringtones are available for free or for very little money because they have since been outclassed by the more popular polyphonic and true tone ringtones.

Polyphonic ringtones

Like the monophonic ringtone, the polyphonic ringtone employs sequencing technology but to a much higher level. Instead of playing only one note at a time, up to 40 notes can play at the same time. Polyphonic ringtones can also emulate different musical instruments, simulating a digital orchestra in your pocket when your phone rings. Polyphonic ringtones lack one thing: the ability to use digitalized audio samples.

True tone (or real tone) ringtones

True tone ringtones, also called real tone or full music ringtones, can play actual music. Addressing the issue of instrument samples limitation, the true tone ringtone can play fully digitalized audio samples such as MP3s, including the vocals. While true tone ringtones can be highly personalized, they are often quieter and harder to discern in a busy environment so they might not be the best choice for someone who works in a shopping center. True tone ringtones gave birth to the most annoying ringtone ever created, the Crazy Frog ringtone.

The ringtone business is currently flourishing: worldwide, it’s a $4 billion market. With over 50% of all US cell phone users having downloaded a ringtone at least once, ringtones are also a great marketing tool for audio products. Do not be fooled by the possiblities a true tone ringtone offers you though: nothing will ever replace the stunning clarity of a monophonic ringtone!

CDMA vs. GSM: the two major network technologies are fighting each other worldwide. The CDMA vs. GSM debate has many advocates on both sides, since CDMA and GSM both have their advantages. When choosing a cell phone carrier you may have to figure out which of these two technologies is the best for you. Hopefully, this article will help you pick a side in the CDMA vs. GSM war.

CDMA vs. GSM: Breakdown of the technologies

CDMA vs. GSM

The Origins

CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is a technology developed by Qualcomm in the United States, and it is currently the dominant network standard in North America.

GSM: Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) was invented in 1987 by the GSM Association, an international organization dedicated to developing the GSM standard worldwide.

There is no clear winner in the CDMA vs. GSM debate here; it all depends on your needs. CDMA was established earlier in North America and thus has a bit more coverage than GSM. GSM on the other hand is an international standard backed by an international organization.

Coverage

CDMA: CDMA is mostly used in America and some parts of Asia. It is currently making progress in other parts of the world, but the coverage is still limited compared to the GSM technology. Its support is currently non-existent in Europe because the European Union mandates the sole use of GSM. In North America however, CDMA generally offers a better coverage than GSM in some rural areas because it was deployed earlier. The CDMA network reaches over 270 millions users worldwide.

GSM: GSM being an international standard, it is better suited for international roaming, provided you own a quad-band cell phone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz). The GSM network is also well established in North America, but not as much as the CDMA network yet. The GSM network reaches over a billion users worldwide.

CDMA is prominent in North America, but GSM reaches a lot more users worldwide (about 270 millions for CDMA and 1 billion for GSM). In the CDMA against GSM debate, GSM wins if you plan to travel to foreign countries but CDMA might have a better coverage in your area.

Data transfer

CDMA: The best data transfer technology CDMA has to offer is the EVDO technology, allowing for a maximum download speed of about 2mb/s (about 700kbps in practice), which is similar to what a DSL line has to offer. EVDO is not available everywhere yet and requires a cell phone that is EVDO ready.

GSM: GSM on the other hand offers EDGE, allowing for a maximum download speed of 384kbps (around 140kbps in practice). More technologies are being developed on top of EDGE such as HSDPA to boost the transfer rate to over 384kbps in practice. This technology requires an EDGE-ready cell phone.

CDMA offers faster data download. GSM is catching up fast, but its EDGE technology is subject to interferences. CDMA would therefore be the favored choice for data transfer.

Phone Identification (SIM cards)

CDMA: On a CDMA phone, your account information is programmed into your cellular phone. If you want to change your phone, you have to contact your carrier and have them reprogram your new phone. You will also need to re-enter your contact list and calendar information into your new phone. If you have a lot of contacts, your carrier might be able to help you perform this task.

GSM: On a GSM phone your account information along with your contact list and other personal data are stored on a SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module) which is a small chip you can freely remove from your phone. When you get a new mobile device, you can simply insert your SIM card into it and it will work with your current account information and contact list. If you travel to another country, it might even be possible to purchase a prepaid SIM card which you can use to avoid roaming fees.

GSM is a clear winner here. The SIM card technology offers many advantages.

Which technology is the best for me?

When asking yourself which technology to choose between CDMA and GSM, first ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is international roaming important to me? If you travel a lot to foreign countries, you might want to opt for a GSM phone for a better coverage.

2. Am I going to transfer a lot of data using the phone? Currently, CDMA offers the best data transfer speed with its EVDO technology and is the clear winner for now. If you intend to use the phone for mobile web browsing, watching television or downloading MP3s, you might be better off with a CDMA phone.

3. Do I plan to change phone often? If you do, a GSM phone is best for you since you can swap the SIM card to a new device without having to re-enter your personal data.

Once you have established your basic needs, compare CDMA and GSM signals in your region. Also compare the carriers offering both services in your area. Talk to your friends and colleagues and ask them if they are satisfied with their cell phone carrier and how good their signal is.

Remember, when choosing between CDMA vs. GSM, preferring a network technology over another also means limiting your choice in carriers.

One day at the pool, the inevitable happens: you get thrown into the water by a bunch of your drunken buddies. In any case, the $300 cell phone that was in your pocket got wet. Unless you own a water proof cell phone, you’ll want to know exactly how to dry out a wet cell phone, because you might still be able to repair it.

1. Remove the battery. This is the most important part! Damage in wet electronic devices mostly comes from short circuits. Removing the battery quickly will prevent electricity from further damaging the phone. Resist the temptation to test the phone while it is still wet!

2. Remove the SIM card (if applicable). The SIM card should have survived, but make sure you don’t use it again until it has dried completely.

3. Disassemble the phone. Use the required screwdrivers to disassemble the phone as much as you can. Note that disassembling the phone will probably void your warranty, but then so will dropping the phone in water. You’ve got nothing to lose. The reason for the disassembly is simple: the phone will dry up much faster once it is disassembled. You could skip this step, but water can remain inside the phone for weeks if you don’t do it.

4. Dry the phone as much as possible using q-tips or paper towels or a similar material. This will prevent water from getting further into the phone. Two ideas to help with the drying:

• Heat the phone. Heat will help water evaporate. Leaving the phone under a desk lamp for 24 or 48 hours might help. WARNING: Do not overheat! Just a little warmth is enough. Heating the phone too much can further increase the damage done to it.

• Use a fan. Leave the phone under a desk fan for 24 or 48 hours.

5. Test the phone. After a few days (usually two or three), the phone should be clean and dry. Reassemble the phone and put the SIM card and battery pack back in. If it doesn’t work, there is a chance your battery has died from water damage. Try an alternative power source. You can get another battery for cheap if your phone still works.

As always, be very careful when disassembling electronic devices. Know you warranties and insurances well before attempting anything, and make sure you note how to reassemble the phone. Repair a wet cell phone at your own risks.

Hopefully, you will manage to save your wet cell phone from drowning!

The various acronyms used to describe the different kind of text messaging services are not always intuitive and can be confusing to new users. Hopefully the following breakdown of the three most popular messaging services will help clear things up.

1. SMS
SMS stands for Short Message Service and is the most widely used type of text messaging. With a SMS, you can send a message of up to 160 characters to another device. Longer messages can be split up into several parts. Most cell phones support this type of text messaging, and sending a SMS is usually very cheap. SMSs can also be used to access various services from a portable device, such as Google and MSN. Spam sent as SMS is also becoming more common.

2. EMS
EMS means Enhanced Messaging Service and is an extension of the SMS. It provides SMS with functionalities such as text formatting (bold or italic fonts) and limited picture and animation support. If an EMS is sent to a phone that doesn’t support it, it will display as a standard SMS. EMS will probably be rendered obsolete by MMS.

3. MMS
MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service and this type of text messaging is an evolution of the SMS. With a MMS, you can send a message including pictures, video or audio content to another device. It is very useful to send a photo taken with a camera phone to another phone. Most new cell phones with multimedia capabilities support MMS. Because the size of the message is defined in kilobytes, a MMS can contain a lot more information than a SMS. Be careful, carriers can sometimes charge high fees for data transfer over their network if it’s not included in your plan.

Now get to your keypads and start typing!

Today I received a brand new credit card because my old one had expired. To activate the new card, I had to call my credit card company so they could verify the card was indeed in the hands of the rightful owner. Having dropped my land-based phone line recently, I made the call from my cellular phone, and I had to type in my credit card number on my cell phone keypad. After the call I had the idea to check if my card number could be found anywhere on my cell phone - it was indeed very easy to find.

It is important to realize how sensitive information on a mobile device can be. If your mobile phone is stolen, such information can be leaked and at worst lead to identity theft. There are basic tips you can follow to help prevent it from happening:

1. Beware of your phone’s history of dialed numbers. On all cell phones you have access to the list of recently dialed numbers and received calls. These numbers may contain information you typed on the keypad of your phone - information such as credit card numbers. It is important to clean up such information after making a private call. Keep in mind that not all cell phones record information at the same place. My RAZR V3c from Bell Mobility has a Notepad feature which records the key I press during a call. This feature can be a danger to your privacy.
2. Keep contact list information simple. Do you really need to keep your family member’s addresses on your cell phone? If your cell phone is stolen, the thief will not only most likely learn who you are, but he will also learn who your family member’s are and where they live. Keeping your contact list simple and stripped of important information will definitively help protect your privacy.
3. Remove important information from your agenda. Most cell phones have a calendar feature which can also act as an electronic agenda. If you keep your appointments in there, a potential stalker will know about your next appointment if he can have a look at your phone. I’m not saying to forget the feature, but you might want to keep the information basic if you’re concerned about your privacy.
4. Erase sensitive text messages. If you are using special text message services like Paypal Mobile or even MSN Mobile, make sure you delete the history of sent and received messages containing information such as passwords or personal information.
5. Disable the GPS feature. Some cell phones have a GPS tracking feature, allowing for example automatic time change when you travel between timezones. This might be a little far fetched, but if you are concerned about someone tracking you, you may want to turn off that feature. However, keep in mind that the GPS tracking feature can be important in the case of an emergency, as it allows 911 services to track you easier.
6. Put a password on the cell phone. Adding a password to your cell phone and locking it can help prevent information thieves from accessing your information. It will not stop a dedicated person from cracking the password, but it certainly will slow him down.
7. Make sure you erase all personal information before you give the phone away. If you want to give your cell phone away for recycling or sell it to another person, make sure you erase all information from the phone. Most cell phones have an option to erase all information and reset to factory default buried deep into their menu system.

Cell phone privacy is something we should all be concerned about. While these tips are aimed at cellular phones, they can also be applied to other mobile devices as well. If you’re concerned about your cell phone’s privacy, take steps to help protect yourself. Better be safe than sorry!