Personal Technology Tips in Plain English
Windows Mobile
How To Get 1 Year Free With Yahoo!Music Unlimited mp3 Music Downloads
May 23rd
If you’re hooked on mp3 downloads and you have a Windows Mobile cell phone like the Samsung Blackjack, you should consider the Yahoo! Music Unlimited service for 6 bucks a month for unlimited music. Now, there’s a better bang for the buck with Yahoo Music’s current promotion for 1 full year of free service that’s not publicly advertised outside their website right now it seems. . . Read the rest of this entry »
Is that HSPDA in your pocket? Why Yes it is!
May 18th
These days, just to be the “average guy” on the street, you have to know your alphabet: GPS, GSM, CDMA, TDMA, WIFI-B, WiFi-G, Pre-N, mp3, WAN, RAW, HDTV, HDMI, FiOS, and now HSPDA.
Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal shares your pain, and he recently explained some of the techno-babble out there.
Here’s Walt’s definition of HSDPA:
“HSDPA: An awkward name for a new high-speed cellphone network being deployed in the U.S. by Cingular Wireless. Its full name is High Speed Downlink Packet Access, and it’s intended to compete with successful high-speed networks from Verizon and Sprint called EVDO, or Evolution Data Only. All of these new networks allow Internet access at about the speed of a slow home DSL line, which is a big boost for cellphones. If you care about email and Internet access on a phone, and you are using Cingular, get a phone that can handle HSDPA.”
Luckily the Samsung Blackjack is the first HSDPA capable cell phone in the US. In practical terms, it means the Blackjack is “capable of data transfers of up to 1.8 Mpbs five times faster than existing WCDMA” according to Digital Chosun Illbo. That’s near DSL Speeds for web surfing and media streaming on your Blackjack smartphone. That’s why I’m able to watch streaming video on my Blackjack via Windows Mobile Media Player.
And if you want to surf the web on your laptop instead of the Blackjack’s Internet Explorer, you can! This hi-speed data capability has come in especially handy when I’m using the unlimited data plan and my Blackjack as a celllular modem for my laptop. No more looking for WiFi hotspots, I just use the Blackjack for a near DSL speed internet connection.
Yes, That’s LIVE Streaming TV & Video On My Cell Phone
May 17th
I’ve been playing with my HandiTV application that I recently purchased and downloaded onto my Samsung Blackjack. It set me back $20, and I’m still questioning if it was worth it. But video-casting or clip-casting is about to break free of technical burdens and is here and now it seems from all the major carriers.
Everyone has their own flavor of video streaming to the cell phone, some are video-clips updated throughout the day, and other services provide live or delayed broadcast TV (NICE!). But of course, all this eye-candy isn’t cheap, costing you at least $120/year for the convenience of watching tv on that tiny screen of yours.
Cingular actually has a service through the same software maker as the application I purchased, offering several more channels. But I opted for the one-time purchase of $20 vs. $10/month every month after month.
Both of them really does require you to have a nice clean 3G signal at the very least unless you want to watch really jerky video and/or hear broken up audio/video signals throughout a segment.
For Verizon Wireless, the 8 packaged channels are Fox Mobile, CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, MTV, NBC, NBC News, Nickelodeon, & ESPN. There’s an option for “V Cast Mobile TV LIMITED PACKAGE” which is $13/month (only $2 cheaper!) and has only NBC, NBC News, CBS Mobile & Fox Mobile. On the other end, for $25/month, you can get all that plus unlimited video clips, “Mobile Web 2.0″ airtime & email.
Verizon’s Vcast Mobile TV has a very limited number of channels, but they claim it’s “REAL TV”. And by the looks of the programming guide, it looks like you can find stuff that you’ll actually watch.
The other carriers offer similar services. Here’s a summary of what the major carriers like Verizon Wireless, Sprint/Nextel & Cingular are offering their customers for video over the cell towers:
There’s actually other avenues to access free streaming content on the Samsung Blackjack and other Windows Mobile cell phones (that’s another story for another day…soon). However, they don’t package it all up as nicely as any of these carrier’s own services, which shouldn’t be underestimated. When you’re on the go, sometimes it’s worth it to be able to quickly drill down menu options and get to what you want quickly.
2007 is the Year of Video and cell phone are definitely invited to that party.
How To Change Ringtones on the Samsung Blackjack or any Windows Mobile Device
Apr 30th
I dug this up from a Windows Mobile Reviewer’s Guide today since someone asked me how to change the ring tone for specific people in their addressbook. I’m going to try and record my kids’ voices today saying “THE PHONE! THE PHONE!” (like “da plane! da plane!”) and then assign it to “Mommy’s” cell phone number, so that when my wife calls, their voice clip plays instead of the standard ring. With Windows Mobile 5.0 you can assign individual ring tones to each of your friends, business associates or other contacts. Here’s how…
How To Find Audio Books To Load Onto Your Windows Mobile Cell Phone (like my Samsung Blackjack i607)
Apr 28th
One of the great features of the Samsung Blackjack and many other Windows Moblie smartphones now is the ability to play mp3 files. Most people associate mp3′s with music. But another GREAT source of content for you to play are audio books. There are now tons of titles available and they are a great way to make your downtime productive instantly (like when you’re waiting in line as you always find yourself).
Audible.com is one of the major sources of audiobooks on the web. It’s easy to find many of the best seller books in audio to download. And basically since you can burn the audiobooks to CD in mp3 format, you can just copy the files to your Blackjack. You play them back using Windows Media Player Mobile which is found on the Samsung Blackjack pre-installed.
Another REALLY BIG REASON to use Audible is that it can be integrated with iTunes. Which means getting your audiobooks onto your iPod and PC is a cinch.
Audible.com has a cool option to sign-up for a subscription which gives you discounted credits for new audiobooks every month. And you also get an extra 25% off every other audiobook title in their catalog. A real benefit to the discount subscription is that you get a free audiobook every month that the editors select as well as you get a free audio newspaper subscription to The New York Times or Wall Street Journal delivered daily.
ESSISTME.COM TIP >> I really suggest that you upload the audio files (and any other media files you push to your Samsung Blackjack) onto your removeable microSD memory card vs. the device’s built-in memory. This way, you can easily use the microSD card to put into your USB card reader on your computer to copy files back and forth easily as well as you keep the device’s memory from filling up so fast.
2 Million Songs On Your Cell Phone (like my Samsung Blackjack) for $5.99
Apr 15th
Lately I’ve been trying to explore different ways to use my Samsung Blackjack to exploit the fact that it handles various media files very well. Music mp3 is one of them. I started with iTunes and ripping my own CD’s to get mp3 files onto the Blackjack (TIP: don’t load them into your device’s memeory, instead copy them onto the microSD card so you don’t run out of room on your device.). Then I found out that eMusic has the same catalog of songs for MUCH cheaper — think of it as a discount iTunes.com
But then there’s Yahoo!Music, which I never really gave much thought too, until someone told me that it supports Windows Mobile devices like the Samsung Blackjack on AT&T Network. . . Read the rest of this entry »
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!