Personal Technology Tips in Plain English
Archive for November, 2007
Lost Your Cell Phone? Keep Your Voicemail
Nov 30th
I recently misplaced my Samsung Blackjack cell phone and it went missing for days.
After reconstructing the disappearance, it eventually was found by a friend, but I had to endure a week without a phone before I could get it back.
One of the largest issues besides not having a phone to make outbound calls on demand when I’m out and about was the fact that I get tons of business and personal calls on my cell phone directly (vs. home #). And retreiving voicemails can be a pain in the neck – calling my phone each time, multiple times a day, logging into the voice mail system, checking to see if there are new messages, etc.
But I remembered a great website that I used for my VoIP Vonage line that I could use for my cell phone as well to solve this problem . . . Read the rest of this entry »
GPS without the S – Adding GPS Capability to Non-GPS Cell Phones Free
Nov 29th
Google has done it again. I love using Google Maps on my cell phone. I look at it as a poor-man’s GPS for when I don’t have my Mio210 GPS device with me.
Why “poor-man’s”? Because if you don’t have a GPS-enabled cell phone, Google Maps can’t auto-update the map screen based on your movement, but if you’re mapping directions, you can manually page forward to the next action step on the directions (hitting a key will jump to the next “turn” or “exit”, etc). It’s usually good enough and better than wandering around aimlessly in towns that you’re unfamiliar.
Now, Google has basically done the best with what they have. End result: Your non-GPS enabled phone becomes a GPS-enabled phone (kind of). Here’s how. . .
Read the rest of this entry »
GhostBuster: Norton Ghost Price Disappears (Free!)
Nov 28th
Norton Ghost is the industry standard for back-up utilities. It’s a robust program that does what is says it will do and can restore every last bit of data you had on your drive when you need it.
But at $70+, you might question if it’s worth the money for something that’s so transparent (sorry, I couldn’t resist!).
Right now, you can jump on the opportunity to get it for free, albeit, you’ll have to 2 little hoops to jump through – the classic rebate form.
It’s on sale for $50 from Buy.com right now and there’s a $30 straight-forward rebate and then another $20 rebate which requires you to send in a CD, proof or purchase or first page of manual of ANY previous version of antivirus, spyware, internet security tools, back-up, utility, etc from ANY manufacturer…pretty easy — time to dig through your tech dust at the back of the shelf!
LINK TO DISCOUNT ON NORTON GHOST
New Unlocked Apple iPhone Price Tag: $964.00 + plane ticket to France
Nov 28th
We already know the wholesale manufacturing cost for the Apple iPhone: $280.
We know the cost of the unlocked fully operational iPhone from T-mobile in Germany: $1483.
And now we know the “discount” unlocked iPhone cost from Orange in France: $964.00
And we’ll call it the “discount” price because it comes with some real usage limitations. . . Read the rest of this entry »
Reality: Use Any Cell Phone on Verizon Wireless – even the iPhone
Nov 28th
Today’s wsj.com reported that Verizon Wireless is opening up its network to allow for any cell phone to be used on their network. No longer do you have to pay through the nose for locked phones from Verizon stores. You will now have unlimited choices in which handsets you can use with Verizon Wireless. This is a big welcomed step toward moving the US market inline with the rest of the world.
This is one of the last holy grails in cell phone use in the United States. Verizon has the best network in the country. But sometimes their handset selection is limited. Thus, you have to choose between phone and network.
Downside? The carriers will still try to rip you off for direct sales of handsets. Case in point: T-Mobile will sell the Apple iPhone completely unlocked for $1,483.00. WHAT?!?!@#?!?
For some it’s an inferior phone on the Verizon Wireless network. For others like me, it’s a great phone like my Samsung Blackjack on AT&T Wireless — who’s network has a bad reputation, but I’ve fared pretty well with their cellular network. There’s only a couple of dead cell spots that I have issues with, and rarely do I have dropped calls.
Now you can have both – best network and best of breed cell phone if you wish. The last key is getting Verizon’s pricing down from the stratosphere. Anyone have any ideas on that one?
Are You Tired Of Doing All The Talking?
Nov 26th
There’s so much content out there that you need to read and consume.
Wouldn’t it be great if someone could just turn those long memos into mp3 audiobook files so you can just listen to them on your ipod on your way home from work? What about if you could have all of your emails read to you? Reading the Bible every day? Couldn’t you absorb more if you had it read to you instead?
Free WiFi In Manhattan From Times Square To Central Park
Nov 23rd
If you live or work or go into New York City in the mid-town area, from Central Park all the way down to Times Square (between 6th avenue and 8th avenue), today is your day.
CBS is now providing free wifi throughout the midtown zone from now on. They are even passing out free routers to local businesses to help boost signals in the area. Of course you’ll see ads on the home page when you first connect to the wifi network, but isn’t that a great trade-off for free wifi?
I wonder how all the Starbucks in the area and other hotspots in paid Wifi Networks like T-Mobile Hot Spot will fare in that zone. Why would you pay $9.99 for 1 day’s wifi service when it’s free 24/7/365? Even the hotels like the NY Hilton in that same zone can now basically stop relying on WiFi revenue for their bottom line!
Has anyone used the free network yet? Speed? Reliability? Please leave a comment below.
I love tech, gadgets and the web. Hope you pick-up a useful tip or two here today that helps you use technology to your advantage! Better yet, why not share your own expertise in a comment on a post today to help the other readers that land here for answers!