Internet is becoming more and more accessible on our mobile phones, and it is quickly growing in popularity. Apple, the trendsetter that it is, is using the iPhone series to help our society become more mobile. Apple has become a catalyst in the popularity of mobile internet.

According to RCR News, there are currently 577 million people using the internet on their cell phones; this number is predicted to increase to 1.7 billion by 2013. I believe a large part of this is due to what I call the iPhone Revolution.

Web Made Ridiculously Simple and Accessible

While it may be difficult to know exact numbers at this point in the game, the skyrocketing sales of the iPhone worldwide will provide internet and email access to millions of users in the coming years.

One million iPhone 3G units were sold in the first weekend alone to 22 countries, roughly one-third of the countries that will actually release the device in 2008. Launching it in an additional 48 countries between now and December 31 will only make that number grow exponentially. Each iPhone accesses the internet and email on a consistent basis.

This isn't to say that nobody was surfing the internet or retrieving their email before the age of the iPhone. Far from it -- any smartphone on the market could do all of that. Heck, even non-PDA phones could access web and email. So why am I arguing that iPhones are the catalyst for the increase in mobile internet usage?

They are the catalyst because Apple has made the mobile web mainstream. Before, most mobile web and email users were only using it for business; the iPhone has made it readily available to regular consumers.

Hence, Apple has turned mobile internet into part of a lifestyle. They've made it ridiculously simple to access internet, and added the App Store and MobileMe to make it more useful to the average phone user. Now the mindset of the consumer is changing from "it would be nice, but for $30/month I don't need it" to "I can't live without having it, it will be worth the money to have it."

The Revolution

Not just that, though -- a couple weeks ago I wrote about how the iPhone drives competition to come up with a new unique idea that will completely trump Apple's flagship device. Other manufacturers have come out with iPhone-like devices that also access the internet as well. That's why I referred to this as the "iPhone Revolution", it's because everyone is trying the same thing, thus causing millions more to latch on to the mobile internet concept.

It's easy to browse the internet on your phone now. Beyond the iPhone specifically, new browsers are popping up to give you the same experience on your phone as you would get on your computer.

Society is becoming more and more mobile. Phones are becoming like computers, computers are getting smaller to accomodate travel, and the capacity for these devices continue to grow. What the iPhone did was make a statement; Apple handed the world a clever handheld device that makes us capable of being 100% mobile.

Conclusion

Having the world at our fingertips can certainly make us more productive. It sure beats lugging a phone, mp3 player and large 200-page planner around all the time. Granted, it's not for everyone. Some people have a system in place that works well for them, and there's nothing wrong with that.

But the popularity of the iPhone shows what people really want. Competition will now come out with ways to outdo Apple; T-Mobile is rumored to be planning an App Store of its own that mimics Apple's. With 3G coming to T-Mobile soon, this will likely be a huge hit.

Everyone is buying into mobile internet and discovering how useful it can be on a mobile phone. All the iPhone did was convince everyone that mobile web is a product worth buying into.

Post your thoughts here in my comments section!

UPDATE: This morning the Wall Street Journal released an interview it had with Steve Jobs. In just one month the App Store tallied more than $30 million in sales! Jobs is predicting the future of phones will rely on software to differentiate themselves (much like the PC a decade ago). And frankly, a lot of this software may become more reliant on the mobile internet.

Related Posts

The Good About iPhone Exclusivity
How did Apple Underestimate iPhone Demand?
Why is Phone Innovation so Difficult?

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Just a couple weeks ago I wrote a piece about Apple's demand (and lack of correctly estimating it). The article somehow got noticed by MacSurfer (a very popular Mac news site) and was featured on their front page.

Because of the success of that article I have begun to work with MacSurfer more and establish a good relationship with them. I would be very ungrateful to not take the opportunity to voice how appreciative I am of their interest and the links they have provided to my site.

For all of you who are here for the first time from MacSurfer, welcome! Thanks for checking my site out, feel free to stick around for a while, and add my feed to your RSS reader. I hope to see you again soon.

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For every career or goal we choose to pursue in life, certain steps need to be taken before we become successful. We typically need to attend school or get special training to become certified or to know what to do to achieve success.

Olympic athletes get where they are because they train for hours each day, 365 days a year. They give complete focus and sacrifice many of the common pleasures the rest of us take for granted, all to become the best in the world.

My Dream

In the year and a half of my blogging experience, I have worked to build this website mainly relying on the wisdom of such blogging gurus as Darren Rowse, John Chow and Lorelle on Wordpress, to name a few.

It has become my dream to make PhoneWisdom a success, and I refuse to give up on it. However, to take my blog to the next level I need some extra training that I cannot receive through daily perusal of problogger sites.

The training and focus I want to have every single day is much akin to that of an Olympic athlete. I want to be the best at what I do.

My Opportunity

To be successful one must set and achieve short-term and long-term goals. One of my short-term goals is to make it to the BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas September 19-21 of this year. This is known in the blogging world to be the largest blog convention in the world, and many major players give training to hopefuls such as myself.

Fortunately John Chow has given some of his readers that golden opportunity they desire -- free tickets to the BlogWorld Expo, a $400 value. He has asked us to post why we want to go, what we plan to get out of it, and why we deserve to go.

The ability to sit in company of some of the world's best and converse with legends is an incredible once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. What better way is there to learn and grow? I intend to use it to my advantage and work toward my goal of being the best!

I deserve to go because I know what I'm capable of and am willing to prove I have what it takes. While I have far to go before being compared to an Olympic athlete, I have my sights set on the gold.

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Sometimes paying your cell phone bill can hurt. And the worst part is, most of the time you may not even realize why it's higher than you were originally quoted.

My goal is to help bring your bill down as much as possible. Here are some factors that may come into play:

1. Overage

This is the achilles heel of the cell phone bill. If your bill is double the normal amount, it most likely means you went over on something; typically it's minutes, text messages, or internet use. When you go over your monthly allotment, these charges will add up very quickly. Most rate plans will charge between 30 and 45 cents per minute.

Most bills will show upfront what your overage charges are -- just make sure you dig deeper into the fine details of the bill to find out what you went over on.

Way to lower your bill: choose a higher minute plan or unlimited text/internet. You think adding to your plan will bring your bill up, but keep in mind that your per-minute overage is probably a lot higher than what it costs to get higher allotments of minutes.

If you don't want to pay for a higher rate plan, simply monitor your minute or data usage throughout the month; if you are trending higher than what you get every month, then stop using your phone. It's that simple.

2. Third Party Subscriptions

These guys are like the unwelcome uncle who never leaves your house. They just don't go away, no matter how many class action lawsuits are thrown at them.

Third party subscriptions can range from a "free ringtone of the month" club to "horoscope of the day". Generally you subscribe through sending a text to them first or typing in your phone number into their website. But I've seen way too many mysteriously appear without either.

Most cost around $9.99/month, and in most cases are not required to inform the customer that they have subscribed (whether purposefully or on accident). So the only way to tell for sure is to look at the "direct bill" portion of your bill.

AT&T recently settled a class action suit about this very same situation. They agreed to notify the customer via SMS every time a subscription was being added to the account. If the customer does not reply to the notification, no subscription would be charged. We hope the other mobile providers adopt this practice as well!

3. One-time fees

Lastly, there are the fees you will see only one time on the bill. These may include activation fees, upgrade fees, or non-payment fees. Most companies charge a hefty restoral fee in order to get service turned back on, once the account has been suspended due to a past due bill that never got paid.

Only in rare circumstances will these fees be waived or credited. If you are employed by a specific company, ask the rep if employees receive a discount or waived fees. Otherwise, you can always attempt persuading customer service to credit your account. They may be more flexible with you on it if you're a longtime customer in good standing and have always paid your bills on time.

Strategy

If you do a lot of talking during the early evening, one strategy to add minutes without paying a lot extra is to pay a few dollars for early night and weekend minutes. T-Mobile offers a Hotspot @ Home service which allows you to make calls via your home's WiFi connection, thus saving a lot of your minutes.

Also, ALWAYS ask if your company gets a discount; if you are a student, ask if that university gets a discount. If you are retired, ask if the company you retired from gets one. Heck, if you're self-employed, put the account under your business's name to qualify for a business discount!

And if the bill is so high that you can't pay it all at once, make sure you call customer service to make payment arrangements with them. If you're a customer in good standing, they typically offer a one-time courtesy arrangement so you don't have your service turned off because you can't afford it.

Just a few thoughts. I invite you to post a comment and add your thoughts on how to save money on your monthly bill.

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In light of recent news that Apple and AT&T have extended their exclusive partnership until 2010, I want to throw in my two cents on the issue.

In the U.S. exclusive contracts between phone makers and carriers are nothing new. These agreements have been around for years. In late 2004, for example, the RAZR was an AT&T Wireless exclusive. It is a standard of competition between carriers.

Almost every article or opinion on the subject of exclusivity puts it in a very negative light. Most people feel it is a way to snub the consumer and force them to switch carriers.

Well, that's the point.

Sorry folks -- that's just the hard truth of business. Each company is attempting to steal customers away from each other, and what better way to do it than offering a handset that cannot be purchased on any other mobile provider?

Competitive Advantage

It's never really been a huge topic of conversation until the iPhone came out and became such a giant. Now the T-Mobile and Verizon customers who like their cell phone service have to make a choice: do we stick with what we know and like, or do we want the iPhone bad enough we're willing to change our mobile provider?

The market in the US is completely saturated -- in other words, every customer who wants a cell phone has one. In order to gain the edge, every carrier offers exclusive deals on certain phones in hopes that the unique offering will bring interested people. Outside the iPhone, we will witness such deals this year with the Blackberry Bold (AT&T) and the touchscreen Blackberry Thunder (Verizon). The Palm Centro had exclusive rights on Sprint for a few months.

In most cases these carriers will receive a few thousand new customers here and there that they may not have received without those deals, thus making it worth the agreement. The iPhone is the unique phone that has the potential to attract millions of new customers to AT&T.

Talk about a huge competitive advantage! That's why AT&T was willing to do whatever Apple said in order to get the deal.

Exclusive is Like a Beta Test

Anyone who wants the iPhone but does not want to use AT&T is stuck right now. Resourceful T-Mobile customers could unlock the device and make it compatible with their EDGE network (not 3G...yet). But perhaps it's not so bad.

Consider the exclusive time a great beta test for phones. Those that get the phones right away are the ones that find all the bugs, experience frustration, and discover how to fix it and make it work. Generally the phones come out of the exclusive period rolling and ready to go, without as many headaches from that point on.

Thus, when the time comes for the iPhone to be released on other carriers, everything will have been greatly tested and tried, all the bugs worked out and secrets figured out, and the new versions will be even better with greater capacity than the very first model.

Exclusivity forces innovation

My bold statement in this article is that exclusive deals force additional innovation. Innovation has been my theme the last couple weeks because I feel strongly that we need more of it in this industry!

In what way does it force additional innovation? Obviously if Sprint cannot sell the iPhone it will turn to other phone makers and demand something similar, yet different enough to entice customers.

This is what happened with the Samsung Instinct -- instead of getting all down and sad from news of the first iPhone's success, Sprint fought back. The extra competition forces each carrier to find a new way to get customers interested. The iPhone's awesome, sure, but what other awesome phones are out there waiting to be discovered or invented? TONS.

Without competition, innovation takes a back seat. What's the point of thinking of cool new stuff if people are satisfied with the status quo? Our market can stand a greater variety to choose from, and exclusive deals force the competition to get creative.

Is it healthy?

Some may argue that exclusive deals such as the iPhone deal only brings unhealthy competition. AT&T has too much leverage it can use to gain customers.

The biggest losers, critics claim, are the rural carriers. Having few customers compared to the big four, these companies rarely get exclusive contracts. This means that when phones such as the iPhone hit it big, the rural telecoms dwindle even more in size as their customers leave to go with AT&T.Thus the big companies get even bigger and more monopolistic.

I understand this argument. Competition is good, and absolutely essential. Exclusive contracts help generate extra competition, but at the same time it shouldn't be completely unfair. It's just that rural carriers don't have enough customers or revenue to interest phone makers.

Conclusion

In order to attract customers, a critical balance of offerings must exist. Exclusive deals are great, but they aren't the only thing that will help a mobile provider achieve success.

In addition to unique phones a telecom company needs to attract customers by offering a solid network, good customer service, and unique features that no other telecom offers.

While I feel exclusive deals on phones such as the iPhone are essential to achieve optimal competitive advantage in the wireless industry, I do believe 3 years is too long. That amount of time makes AT&T feel more like a monopoly. My concern is that similar monopolistic tendencies are what contributed to AT&T's breakup in the 80's.

Six months is the maximum amount of time any phone carrier should have exclusive rights on any particular handset. This still gives the carrier plenty of competitive advantage, still forces innovation and variety in the market, yet gives other telecoms a fighting chance on game-changing devices such as the iPhone.

The only time I could see 3 years as acceptable is if Apple comes out with a different kind of iPhone for different carriers. Say -- iPhone 3G for AT&T, maybe iPhone Nano for T-Mobile for example?

Just an idea.

Now, sound off. You can agree or disagree with me however you want. Fire off your comments to me!

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After being in stores for a week, let's now look into the Motorola V750 for Verizon, aka the "Adventure" and see how well it stands. In my post on how the market desires durable phones, this is one of the handsets I mentioned as the most durable.

The Adventure meets military specs for dust, shock and moisture (not water) resistance, which means it can handle a lot of bad stuff. Not invincible by any means -- no phone is -- but it will definitely perform better than most normal phones.

This phone features a 2 MP camera, PTT capability, music, high-speed internet, and email.

Now, the reviews.

CNet Editor Review - 7.6 out of 10

- Call and music quality were excellent
- Photo/Video quality were average
- PTT could be improved
- Speakerphone, meh
- Lacks Motorola's CrystalTalk feature
- Could only read email via web browser


PhoneScoop User Reviews - 4.05 out of 5

- Meets military specs, but not water resistant by any stretch of the imagination
- New VZW menu is easy
- PTT didn't experience any drag or delay
- Plastic flush battery cover is nice
- Capable of 8 gb MicroSDHC


So overall, seems like a great phone with some nice features thrown in besides the military specs. As always, I encourage any comments you may have on this device - whether you have tried it or want to try it, let me know what you think.

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Folks, there is now a world of iPhone accessories beyond the land of car chargers and carry cases.

For most of the original iPhone's existence, clever accessories didn't seem to be important nor essential to the phone's success. Fortunately that has all changed with the launch of the 3G version -- obviously, manufacturers have realized there is definitely a cash cow at stake now.

So, here are some accessories that we've all wanted for a very long time but did not have as options.

FM Transmitter



This will be essential for every iPhone owner that uses it as an iPod and has been frustrated because they could not listen to it in their cars. Finally, Belkin announced a iPhone FM transmitter certified by Apple.

This transmitter, when attached to the phone, turns into its own limited-range FM station that you can tune your car radio to and listen to your music. Just make sure you choose a frequency that is not currently occupied by any other stations to avoid interference.

These transmitters will also double as car chargers. They can be found as low as $50.

Stereo Bluetooth Headphones




Yes! You heard me correctly. This does not mean the iPhone 3G magically got an update with A2DP (stereo bluetooth) support, just that an adapter has been made specifically for the iPhone to enable stereo bluetooth headphones to work with it.

This in essence requires 2 accessories: the adapter and the headphones. If you are lucky you may find them together in a nice package. Grabbing the adapter by itself will cost $50.

External Battery Booster



These battery-life extenders will be crucial if you are using the internet, Wi-Fi, multimedia or any other battery drainer on a constant basis. You may not need them all the time, but it's better to be safe, just in case.

At the moment they are only available for iPhone 2G, but the company has announced plans to release a 3G version. The current models sell for $99.

Video Projector




This is a brand new concept for cell phones that is slowly gaining support. This video projector will enable you to play movies from your iPhone directly onto any wall. This is wonderful for any movies you may own or rent from the Apple Store.

More details at Honlai's website.

These are just a few great ideas for iPhone accessories, whether it be as gifts or if you just can't wait until the next gift-giving holiday. All I have to say is, it's about darn time some clever stuff came out.

Related Articles:

How did Apple underestimate iPhone demand?
Does the market desire durable phones?

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In my post today I want to focus on what the market wants. What a crazy idea!

Perhaps with me being just one person I can't speak for the entire market. I can, however, speak for those customers I have worked with the past three years, which is a more accurate representation of what the market wants.

When a customer comes in looking for a new phone, one of the most common inquiries is: "what is your most durable phone? I'm pretty hard on my phones."

Everyone needs a durable phone -- who doesn't?

My first impression is - that's because we tend to treat our phones according to the price we pay for it. We get a new phone for free or super-cheap, kick the living trash out of it, and yet expect it to survive for 2 years. And when it doesn't, we complain that the cell phone provider sold us a piece of junk. Truth is, we get what we pay (or don't pay) for.

Sadly, even those who are extremely careful with their phones and take good care of them are susceptible to bad things happening -- putting it in the wash, being pushed into a pool with phone in pocket, children treating the phone as an action figure.

In a previous post I discussed pros and cons of insurance. Such scenarios I just described would be survivable with insurance. Without that insurance, however, we have to grit our teeth and buy a new phone for a much larger sum of money than we paid for it originally.

The market is tired of this. We want a phone that can handle the extremes. The ability is out there; in fact, two phones with such a capability just landed in Verizon stores, the G'zOne Boulder and the Motorola Adventure. We will discuss these in a later post.

Why aren't durable phones more popular, then?

But the question becomes -- are we willing to pay the extra cost of these hefty and rugged phones? The Boulder is $130 after $50 mail-in rebate, while the Adventure is $100 after rebates. These are the discount prices when signing contracts. If you want the durable phones that will last 2 years, don't be looking in the free section.

In addition to being pricey, most of the durable phones are HUGE. Nextel phones, for instance, have the distinction of being the least stylish phones on the market. But that's because they are made to last, not made to be pretty.

Everyone wants pretty phones, though. That's the problem! Nobody wants the awkward-looking phones that will actually make it the 2 years (if not a lot longer). The market desires the cake and eat it too. That's what it really boils down to.

A free, fashionable phone with great reception that will last the whole 2 years? I don't think such a phone even exists!

So does the market it want it THAT bad?

Perhaps the market doesn't desire it enough after all. The general population isn't willing to make the sacrifice necessary to get it. Obviously if there were enough demand for these phones, they would be sold in more stores and provided by more carriers. Since they aren't sold everywhere, it can then be assumed only a small group of people truly buy these types of phones.

When customers ask me to point them to the durable phones, I show them and explain why they are durable; but when the customer looks at the price tag they shudder and move on to a less expensive and more breakable phone. They decline insurance. And five months later, with broken phone in hand, they yell at me because I won't provide them with a new phone for free. "But we're under contract," they say. "Why don't you provide us with phones that will last the whole time?"

I use Dish Network and have a contract with them. If I were to poke around with my satellite dish and break it, they will not come fix it for free. They will not provide me with a new one to get through the rest of the contract unless I pay for a new one. Same concept with phones. You break it, you accept the consequences. It doesn't matter if it was on purpose or on accident. I empathize with you because I've been there. But there's nothing I can do.

Buy a durable phone. Pay the extra cost for a phone that's more likely to last the entire term of the contract. You get what you pay for.

The market doesn't desire a durable phone enough. But it really should.

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This month Verizon customers celebrated the launch of the Chocolate 3. The newest phone in the series comes as a flip instead of a slide, but it did add a few extra top-of-the-line features that blow most other phones out of the water.

One such feature is the inclusion of 1 GB of internal memory. This large amount of space is unique to any US phone that is not called the iPhone. The other feature is a built-in FM transmitter.

What the heck is that?

What FM Transmitters do

When my wife uses our iPod in the car, she carries a FM transmitter with her. Instead of having a direct "line in" to plug our iPod into the stereo, we plug the transmitter into the cigarette lighter and tell it to broadcast the music from the iPod at a frequency that's not taken up by a radio station already.

Let's use 98.5 as an example. Since there are no radio stations already broadcasting at that frequency in our area, we have no chance of interference. Conventional FM transmitters broadcast a few meters, just far enough for your car's antenna to pick up. Thus we can listen to our iPod without worries and without someone else listening to our new radio station. The concept is the same for built-in FM transmitters in mobile phones.

Why Not Have Zunes in our Phones?

How convenient would it be to use our phones as music players also? But few people do because most people have music players already, with tons more memory than our phones. So what's the point of having a music player in the phone then?

Exactly the point. So let's boost the amount of available memory, and make it easy to listen to our music in cars and other convenient places.

The FM transmitter does that. Not only does it assist us in listening to music in more places, it also allows us to talk on the phone and have the speakerphone broadcast into the car stereo for handsfree use.

Worldwide Charm

While a brand new concept for phones in the US, Asia and Europe have already been making plenty of phones with this same feature. For good reason -- it just makes sense!

Consumers are already paying $300+ just for a portable media player such as the Zune or the iPod, and another $100+ for a phone that includes similar capabilities. Why not put the two together?

Many new phones worldwide are coming out with the capability of holding up to 8 GB or more of external memory. So instead of shelling out $300 for a whole new media player, shell out $60 for a 8 GB media card to put in your phone.

In the coming years 8 GB will turn into 16, and 16 will turn into 32. It is inevitable that the chips will just keep expanding in capability to compete with rival companies. And when this happens, I predict portable media players will fade away into the darkness as they get replaced by a tiny chip that can do the same thing.

FM Transmitter = Innovative?

This is where the FM transmitter comes into play. Having it built into the phone itself gives the consumer another incentive to purchase the phone and a media card to put in it. Viola -- the consumer is now carrying one device instead of two!

Since such a basic concept could conceivably change the entire market for mobile phones, I will say yes, the FM transmitter is an innovative concept. Hands-down. The real question is whether or not the consumers feel the same way.

Readers -- let me know your thoughts on this.

Recent Posts:

LG Chocolate 3 Review Roundup
Samsung Innov8 is Phone of the Week
Why is Innovation so Difficult?

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The cell phone industry is well-covered and well-liked in the blogosphere. In my travels around the internet world, I have found that the mobile phone business is completely saturated.

This is a difficult thing for me as a new blogger. I have, for the past few months, been wondering how I can fit in. What IS PhoneWisdom.com all about? I love phones, gadgets, and technology in general, and have been involved in them as a full-time career for the past 3 years. I enjoy learning about new technology and sharing my passion with others. This is the main reason why I began this blog in the first place.

So what can I do to make this blog a little different than the rest of the crowd? How can PhoneWisdom stand out? These questions have plagued me for some time now.

The rest of the crowd likes to focus more on the most recent news in the industry. I do freelance writing for Unwired View which is mostly a news site, and it does very well. UV does a good job of broadcasting the news, yet doing it in a unique enough style to draw thousands of daily visitors. It also helps me become a better writer.

But I don't want to do just news; that's what everyone else is doing. It doesn't challenge my mind, doesn't make me want to learn new concepts within the mobile industry, and only helps those who know tons about phones. And quite frankly, these same people are going over to Gizmodo or Engadget for their news fix. I've decided it makes more sense to focus on phone concepts, innovations, and reviews of brand new phones. I want to help those who want to know more about cell phones.

Doing so will help me learn to explain concepts of technology to others better, challenge my mind and knowledge of the subject, and make me become a better writer overall. So yes, there are some selfish motives involved, but I want to make sure that you as a reader will get something out of every article I write.

Over time I may change some things around. I think every blogger evolves over time. But each change I make, I want it to be for the better. And I really want you to stick around with me. Let's find out together what PhoneWisdom IS.

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Not the iPhone 3G, just the original iPhone.

I had been waiting for the originals to go down in price as soon as the 3G model became available. I figured that everyone would be scrambling to sell their old model at around the same price as the new one, as to not incur extra costs in the new phone.

This was an incorrect assumption. Even now iPhone 2.5G is selling for $300-400 on eBay. What in the world? Thus, I knew the only real option to get my hands on one was to purchase it from someone selling a 4 GB model. Frankly, that's all I really need at this point, and it's easy enough to change out playlists whenever I need to listen to something new.

Personally I think the old iPhone is just as good. Some love the 3G model, some hate it. But the original has been a proven model that has the same exact firmware as the new one, just without faster internet or GPS.

And really, that's fine for me. The way my schedule is, I'm either at home or work, both of which have fast Wi-Fi connections. Between point A and point B, I commute and don't need internet. As for GPS, I still have Google Maps which triangulates an approximate position for me.

So why would I need to pay a bunch of extra money for the new one? No point -- right now, that is.

I can still download the best games and apps from the App Store. I can still get my corporate email. I can even import SIM contacts now, which I couldn't do on the iPhone before 2.0 came out. Firmware 2.0 has all the goodies I need.

There you go. I got a great deal, and have an awesome phone. And I'm perfectly happy with not having the 3G yet.

I know quite a few of my readers and passers-by don't really care about the iPhone. Too much hype, they say. Big whoop. But I have to say that before 2.0 it was a cool and amazingly innovative phone; after 2.0 it became a much more relevant phone.

Read more on this article...

The blogosphere was all abuzz with news this past week about the Samsung Innov8 (aka i8510). This little guy had some rather impressive stuff on it -- so impressive, in fact, that it is my phone of the week.

In light of my recent post on innovation in cell phones, I will begin honoring new phones that are doing their best to be in that category. The edgier the phone, the better. Any phone that pushes buttons (not just keypad buttons) or gets people to think will be a phone worth focusing on.

Laptop Mag just did a hands-on review of the device, slated for release in Europe this week, on its blog. They also have a video showing some of the unique features it has.

Here are some specs:

• 8 MP Camera with automatic shutter and video recording (will do slow-mo)
  
• 16 GB internal memory with MicroSDHC port (allowing up to another 16 GB memory)
  
• Quad-band GSM/EDGE with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps 900/2100
• Wi-Fi
  
• Optical sensor, which allows you to move around the menu simply by moving your finger above the pad. No touching necessary
• a-GPS
• FM Radio with RDS
• Accelerometer
  

These are a few of the impressive features I really like a phone to have.

The reason I want to focus on this phone is because, while not wholly "innovative", it has brought everything to the table. It's upsetting to get excited about a hyped-up new phone only to find out that one or two crucial features were left out. With the Innov8 Samsung has made everything in the phone state of the art.

You can't find many phones with 8 MP cameras; name a phone other than the iPhone that offers 16 GB of internal memory; simply bringing GPS and Wi-Fi together is a rare event; and I have not seen an optical mouse or sensor in a phone before this point.

What this phone is doing is raising the bar for other manufacturers. Samsung is challenging its competition to come out with phones that can do as much as the Innov8. The best thing that could happen for the wireless industry is for this phone to become a huge hit in Europe. It will then spread to other parts of the world and inspire other brands to make exciting new phones that push the boundaries of what we're capable of!

Read more on this article...

The iPhone 3g is a hit. Big surprise. Apparently the only people that were surprised work at Apple -- or so they want us to believe.

Even 2 weeks after the release of the iconic gadget, shortages are being reported all over the world. AT&T and O2 are both reporting very limited amounts in stores and recommending that customers use direct fulfillment orders to ensure they are guaranteed a phone within 10-15 days. Apple stores seem to get a small shipment in each day, but most people do not welcome the idea of spending 2-3 hours in line at this point.

Apple reports that the shortages happened because they underestimated the demand of the iPhone 3g.

Seriously???

This is only the biggest phone launch ever. Apple planned to launch in 22 countries the first week, and 70 countries by the end of the year, hopefully. Any phone carrier that allowed pre-orders had to shut down their websites within an hour or two because of the excessive traffic. Apple has even given itself a goal to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008.

Frankly, they wouldn't have such a goal if it were not attainable. And in order to attain it, they need to make that many phones available to the public. Kind of hard to sell 10 million phones when you don't produce 10 million phones, isn't it?

It is quite odd to me that Apple seems to continue sending shipments to their own stores while shunning the carriers that provide the phone service for Apple. I believe it makes sense in the US, where AT&T reportedly has offered an additional $100 commission to Apple for each iPhone sold in Apple stores. So of course Apple would favor its own stores in order to get more revenue per phone. What about the rest of the world, though? Does Apple require additional commission from every iPhone carrier in other countries?

Interesting that it's been announced another 20 countries will be launching the iPhone 3g sometime in August. With such a shortage, where will those phones come from? It'll be interesting to see if a large shipload of phones magically comes to those countries right in time for launch.

Apple knew the demand would be high. I don't buy the "underestimated the demand for the iPhone 3g" for one second! Apple decided to take a lesson from Nintendo when it launched the Wii...the short supply causes riots and forces little old ladies to punch defenseless teenagers, if that's what it takes to get their hands on one. The Wii has been out for months, but with no supply to be found anywhere, it keeps demand and prices higher. If it's so hard to find one, it's worth paying more to get one.

That's all it is. Apple knows 10 million people will buy the product no matter what. But these little tricks will help the company achieve higher revenues. It bugs the heck out of me and it upsets the 10 million others who really want one (They'll still buy it when the phones come in, but they're very upset nonetheless).

So lay it on me -- am I completely off on this one? Or have I hit bullseye? In my research I have found that Dan Moren from MacWorld agrees with my assessment that this is all part of Apple's strategy.

Recent Posts:

Should I Buy Phone Insurance?
LG Chocolate 3 Review Roundup
6 Must-Have Music Accessories for your Phone
Why is Innovation so Difficult?

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Many cell phone providers offer insurance to protect that phone you just bought, typically around $5/month per phone. Such insurance amounts to $60/year for each phone you put it on. Is it a good or bad buy? Let's weigh the pros and cons.

Good buy

One thing insurance does well is establish a peace of mind. If you lose your phone, put it in the washer, or drop it just the right way, it's nice to know there is a way to replace the phone with the same exact model for a small deductible.

With the popularity of phone subsidies, most phones are pretty inexpensive when first bought in the store or online. However, if the phone gets lost 2 months later, it costs a lot more to replace it the second time around because there is no subsidy involved. Cell phone providers will only let consumers get new phones at subsidized prices once every 20 months, so make them count. Insurance makes it possible to spend $50 for a phone replacement instead of $300, and they allow up to two claims each year.

No matter if you are clumsy or not, mistakes can always happen in a 2-year span of time. It's always smart to protect your investment.

Insurance for your phone is a good idea, especially for the first year and a half of the contract. After this point wireless providers are more willing to look into giving you another subsidized phone in exchange for renewing your contract. If you plan on leaving that provider at the end of the current contract, definitely keep insurance on all the way to the end.

Bad Buy

When so many other options for buying replacement phones exist, why add an extra $5 to your monthly bill? If something happens to your phone and don't have insurance, it doesn't mean you have no more inexpensive ways to get another one.

Every phone manufacturer provides a one-year warranty on each phone. These warranties cover any manufacturer defects that may occur, as long as there is no physical or liquid damage. Most phone issues usually fall under this category. If it is not covered, however, it's time to look for a replacement.

Phones can still be purchased at full retail, generally $150-200 more than what you initially paid for it with contract. However sometimes mobile providers will offer early upgrades to get a new phone at a lower price.

Many carriers offer alternate phones in situations where yours is rendered useless. For instance, at the time of this writing AT&T Mobility offers a Nokia 2610 for $40 when you go in and tell the rep something happened to your phone. It's a basic phone that does not have a camera or bluetooth, but is a great temporary solution just so you can make important calls while you find a better one. Check with your current mobile provider to find similar alternates.

In a future post I will cover the large range of options available to anyone who loses their phone.

And frankly, as long as you take good care of your phone, the phone will last the whole two years. If you never need the insurance you paid for, that's $120 that could have been saved.

Overall, I think insurance is a great way to protect your investment, especially when you buy a PDA. But if you don't want to spend the extra cash each month, there are other ways to get a new phone.

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So...you got an awesome new phone decked out with a MP3 player. Now what?

Just because you have the capability to use your phone as a music player doesn't mean it actually comes with music or the accessories you need to get the best audio experience.

Here are the 6 accessories you may need to turn your new phone into a makeshift Zune or iPod.

3.5 mm headphone adapter

It is a travesty that so many so-called music phones get released with 2.5 mm headphone jacks. Some of these phones do come with a pair or headphones in the box, but they aren't always the most comfortable pair. Sometimes it's just nicer to be able use a pair you've already broken in. Since the universal standard for regular headphone plugs is the 3.5 mm, this just means another accessory you have to buy.

Fortunately most 3.5 mm adapters are pretty inexpensive, running anywhere between $5-10.

Stereo Bluetooth headset

One alternative to purchasing a separate adapter is to go wireless. Most new music-capable phones come equipped with A2DP support. A2DP in English is ability to use stereo bluetooth. This is great if you want to simply buy a wireless headphone set because not only can you listen to your music, you can also answer the phone and use it as a hands-free earpiece.

Memory Chip

Most phones don't have a lot of internal memory. PDAs typically come preloaded with 128 or 256 MB of internal space but that's not reserved just for music -- it's also reserved for applications, pictures, videos, and any documents you may need. Non-PDA phones usually only come with less than 50 MB. That's not a whole lot of space to put music on.

Thus there is a need for external memory cards. Most phones can handle MicroSD cards up to 2 GB in size, and some higher-end models can handle special Micro SDHC cards that currently go up to 8 GB.

A 1 GB card can hold around 150-200 songs at the most; an 8 GB card can hold 1200-1600. It all depends on the file size of each song.

Also, while most phones have MicroSD ports, you may want to check the stats of the phone to make sure you have the right type of card. For instance, Sony Ericsson Walkman phones require a proprietary Sony Memory Stick (Pro Duo or M2).

Memory cards can be found online for pretty cheap; 1-2 GB will cost between $10 and $20, while 8 GB will be around $60-80. Sony Memory Sticks can also be more expensive.

Data Cable/Card Reader

Now that you have a memory card to put your music on, you need a way to transfer the music from your computer to that card. There are few different ways to do this.

The first way is to purchase a data cable that can connect your phone to your computer. When your phone is plugged into your computer it generally shows up as an external hard drive, making it easy for you to click, drag and drop files directly into the phone.

The second way is to purchase a USB card reader. With these, simply insert the memory card into the reader and plug the reader into the computer. Similar to the data cable, this will allow you to click, drag and drop your files into the card itself.

Another method involves having a port for the card directly in the laptop or desktop. Many computers have a media card port that acts as the card reader, and you just insert your card into the computer that way.

Finally, the last method involves transferring files via Bluetooth. Which brings me to the next accessory:

Bluetooth USB Dongle

A common misconception is that Bluetooth is just a headset, and only used for chatting it up as a hands-free device. Actually, Bluetooth is capable of so much more. One such thing it can do is transfer files wirelessly, just as you would with Infrared ports. Many computers don't have Bluetooth, so one idea is to purchase a Bluetooth dongle that, when inserted into a USB port, will act as a Bluetooth port for that computer.

Thus when you have Bluetooth enabled on the computer with the dongle, simply transfer the music over wirelessly.

Data cables, card readers or Bluetooth dongles can range from $20-40.

Software

The last but not least accessory you may need to transfer music is software. I mention that you may need this because not all manufacturers require it with their phones. The phones that do require it will not transfer music unless special software is installed on your computer.

If you plug your phone into the computer and it still won't transfer music, you know this software is required. Sadly the software doesn't usually come included in the phone box, so you will need to find the website of the manufacturer. On the website, locate the specific model number and it should help you find what you need. Fortunately, the software is usually free.

Get to it!

Still awake? Is your head spinning with all the stuff you'll need? It can be a little overwhelming, but you'll definitely be glad you made the effort when you put those headphones on and out comes the beautiful sound of your favorite song....on your phone!

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Innovation is a wonderful concept. We as a general society thrive upon it; we are always striving for the latest and greatest thing. Technology as a whole is typically the driving force for almost everything we do, everything we see, and everything we are. It seems rather logical that with the rapidly growing popularity of mobile phones, the technology would keep up.

So why, then, are cell phones so far behind on innovation?

Mobile phone technology is definitely progressing. But not very fast. This doesn't make sense to me because cell phone popularity is growing leaps and bounds. Almost everyone has a cell phone now, and many people have replaced their home phones with a cell phone. I, for one, do not have a home phone. What's the point when both my wife and I have our own personal cell?

As such a popular item, cell phones have become more of a need than a want. With so many people using one, it would only be logical to start using the phone for all our digital needs. Like I said before, this is happening but at a slow pace.

Innovation = Success

Frankly, in the last 3 years the only real innovation has been brought about by the iPhones. Plenty of cool phones have come out, but nothing groundbreaking. Every cell phone manufacturer is trying to come out with an "iPhone killer" but the problem is that almost all of them are copying the iPhone interface to some degree. Some phones will perform better than the iPhone in certain features, but they are the same exact types of features. Nothing new, nothing mind-boggling. Just improving, perhaps, what's already been done.

Before the iPhone, the last big trend-setting phone that came out was the Motorola RAZR V3. This was innovation at its best! Nearly four years later, we take a look at the RAZR and think "wow...that was a piece of junk." But at the time it was the coolest new device to have, and its innovative look and feel is what made it so popular.

This is what's weird to me, though...innovation = popular. The RAZR has sold over 50 million units during its tenure. The iPhone 3G sold a million units during the first weekend alone! Every store selling the iPhone had people camping out for days in order to be the first in line. Doesn't it pay to innovate? Is it THAT hard to come up with a fresh idea that everyone wants to copy?

Status Quo

A large part of the market still doesn't care about the latest and greatest gadget, though. I believe the reason is that with the requirement of 2 year contracts, customers get as basic a phone as possible, get used to it for those 2 years, and then don't want to bother with the hassle of learning a new phone with new cool features. They've adjusted to life without these features on their phones, so they don't know what they're missing out on. They're happy with the status quo.

Why Innovation is Scarce

My belief is that it's too difficult and too draining on resources to come out with innovative stuff. The risk far outweighs the reward in their eyes. It involves years of R&D, several prototypes, surveys and focus groups, and millions of dollars in marketing on a device that may or may not be successful. If people don't like it, the reviews are bad, the device flops, and millions upon millions of dollars have been wasted.

Apple scored on the iPhone because it knew the reward would definitely outweigh the risk. The business is structured in such a way that no matter what, millions of devices will be sold simply because it is made by that company. So Apple was willing to take extra time to come out with a fresh OS with all the cool innovative features to make it even more desirable to those who are not Apple fanboys.

Apple also knew the competition to this device would be severe, thus the iPhone essentially would serve as a launching pad for further innovation. Sadly, we haven't seen any other creative genius come as a result...yet.

Motorola's RAZR came out at a period in time that customers yearned for the thinnest and smallest device, with a cool futuristic look. No prior phone had been as thin as the RAZR. I admit, the first time I saw it in person the "wow" factor definitely made a difference. I immediately wanted one. At the time, everybody felt exactly the same way. It only died down when EVERYONE had one. Every other phone maker came out with thinner phones and tried to corner the market. That's when the RAZR slipped out of the limelight. Motorola put so much into the landmark phone, the frustrations came when it couldn't duplicate its prior success. Now the company is struggling and is looking to spin off the wireless division just to survive.

The key in innovation is finding something everyone wants to copy. It shows that you have truly come up with something unique and serves a huge need in the market.

Will it be another 3 years before we see another truly innovative phone come out? We certainly hope not. Everyone tries, but very few actually succeed. The key is in finding something that serves the interest of the target demographic and presents it in a unique and creative fashion. With enough phone manufacturers out there, it shouldn't be that difficult. It just goes to show that there are a lot more followers than leaders in this industry.

Let me know your thoughts.

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Recently Verizon customers were blessed with the debut of the LG Dare -- a Prada-like touchscreen phone. How does it match up with the competition? Is it worth all the Washingtons?

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For the week of June 15-June 21, there are a few notable releases. Sprint clearly comes out the winner this week as they release not only the anticipated Samsung Instinct, but also a couple Qchat devices to officially launch their new PTT service.



Nokia 6205 (Dark Knight)




Nokia E66 and E71



LG Decoy


Toshiba G810




LG LX400




Samsung SPH-Z400



Samsung Instinct

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Some of my posts on Unwired View this past week. Click and enjoy!

FCC Chair Proposes ETF Regulations

3G iPhone to Cost AT&T $1 billion This Year

Sprint to Simplify Rate Plans June 15

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There were quite a few phones announced or leaked this week, aside from the new iPhone. So here I begin a new weekly series to summarize what you may have missed in the world of wireless. Each phone shown has its name and info directly underneath it.

Samsung i900 Omnia
From MobileWhack: "this sleek touchscreen device has a huge 3.2-inch WQVGA touchscreen display to see some of Samsung's TouchWiz technology in full glory running on some WM 6.1 Pro sweetness and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash...GSM 850/900/1800/1900 network support, HSDPA at 7.2Mbps, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and TV-out. The i900 will be available in two variations of 8 and 16GB but if that doesn't suffice you, the microSD slot can fill that void for you." Anticipated August release date.


Samsung SCH-W480
7.2 Mbps HSDPA for high speed downloading, WCDMA/GSM global roaming, Bluetooth, MP3, Video playback, Up to 8GB of expandable memory, 5 MP Camera with autofocus.

Nokia E66 and E71
Click the above link to go to my post on these upcoming devices.

Nokia 7510 Supernova
The 7510 Supernova is an auto-opening quad-band GSM clamshell, Symbian S40 operating system with 2.2-inch QVGA display, 2-MP camera, FM Radio with RDS, Bluetooth, and a microSD slot.

Nokia 7610 Supernova
From IntoMobile: "Like its Supernova siblings, the Nokia 7610 Supernova relies on EDGE data to serve up the fastest wireless data speeds with S40 running the show. But, with a 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash, FM radio with RDS, microSD card slot, and 64MB of internal storage, and swappable XpressOn cover-plates, the Nokia 7610 Supernova is sure to find a niche among the fashion-forward."
Nokia 1508
Very basic candybar for developing CDMA markets. Comes with FM radio and speakerphone, along with 500 phone number and 400 SMS message limit.

Sony Ericsson Alicia
Check out the link to see a video showing off the unannounced-yet-very-leaked new Walkman phone.

Sony Ericsson C905
This new unannounced slider is rumored to sport a 8.1-MP camera; expected announcement June 17th. Again, the link will treat you to a video!

Motorola ZN200
Just approved by the FCC, this new slider may be making its appearance in the not-too-distant future. Unwired View reveals some of the specs to us: "It comes equipped with 2 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom, video recording, features Windows Media Player 11 for your mp3s, FM Radio, 2.5 mm headset jack, Bluetooth and mini USB connector."

LG Secret KF755
This will be the same as the LG Secret KF750 but without 3G support; it will likely be sent to Latin America for a less expensive price than the KF750.

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With all the hype surrounding the new iPhone, let me know if you're thinking of getting one! In my personal opinion, the first iPhone was awesome -- but the new one is going to be even better!

• Faster Internet
• Lower price to get one
• GPS
• Inclusion of third party apps

And I'm sure there will be a lot more to it, but that is plenty to get my point across. I know a lot of people are sick of the hype; anytime there is a lot of hype about ANYTHING, people are going to get sick of it. This happens to be anytime a summer blockbuster is about to come out and we must endure the 50 gazillion trailer commercials (thank heavens for DVR!). But once the hype dies down and the reviews come out, chances are those same people will warm up to the device.

Here's the thing: let's say you're shopping around for a nice smartphone at the local AT&T store. You can choose a 3G iPhone with 8 GB total memory for $199, or you can choose the AT&T Tilt, a similar 3G touchscreen, for $299 (AFTER rebate, thus bringing out-of-pocket totals to $399). So you're paying twice as much for very similar functionality.

I am interested to see what will happen to the competition. Will the other smartphones in the market feel forced to drop their prices simply to stay afloat? Or will there be enough iPhone-haters willing to pay extra for a Windows or Blackberry? Perhaps that will be the subject of a future poll.

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Recently I have been offered a position as a breaking news blogger at UnwiredView.com. I feel this does not conflict with PhoneWisdom, as UV is more about the big phone news of the day while my site focuses more on upcoming phones, phone reviews and Op-Eds.

As a way of thanking the blogger who hired me, I would like to give him some link love each week. Thus I introduce my new weekly feature showing my favorite posts from UV. Since I recently began I have not done too many posts, but I'll start with a few and have more for you next week.

Apple to Allow iPhone Subsidies, Lowers Revenue Sharing

FranceTelecom interested in Buying Swedish TeliaSonera

T-Mobile Bringing Unlimited Minutes to Family

Samsung F480 Known By Many Different Names

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Thanks to BoyGeniusReport, we have actual pics of the Thunder. Complete with diagrams showing what the buttons are and what they do. So enjoy, folks. Here you go.

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Not everyone likes a complicated phone that can do everything short of cleaning your house. Many cell phone users use their phones only as ways to talk to other people.

Most importantly, even the most basic cell phones can be difficult to understand if you aren't part of the younger generation. For these people, the Pantech Breeze is the newest and best solution for AT&T.

Cnet has rated the Breeze an awesome 7.7 out of 10, which is actually an excellent rating from them. The Breeze gives us large buttons and a display with big fonts. It also provides a standard VGA camera and quad-band capabilities to use around the world.

The Breeze has a lot for an entry-level phone, but the bottom line here is what's important -- that anyone, even those in the younger generation, will find this a pleasant phone if they don't need all the bells and whistles of a fancier phone.

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PhoneArena got some personal time with the Sanyo PRO series that will use Sprint's forthcoming QChat service. Two phones are available currently in limited markets and will be available nationwide at the time of QChat's launch. This is the next-gen PTT (Push to Talk) service that will replace the current Direct Connect plans.

What's so great and new about QChat? Once it launches coast to coast June 15, Sprint and Nextel users will be able to connect with each other; it finally fuses iDEN and CDMA technology, thus uniting Sprint and Nextel in a way.




Sprint will begin with the PRO-200 and PRO-700, and then expand later with phones from LG, Samsung and Motorola.

via PhoneArena

Related Posts:

Upcoming Sprint Phones

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Thank you all for your patience with me as I work on my site. My posts have slowed considerably the past couple weeks due to new baby and extra duties that need to be looked after. As I work into a new schedule over the next week or two my posting should become more regular. In the meantime, I encourage you to leave comments!

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My question for this week's poll was inspired by a genuine interest in improving the content of my site. I know much of my traffic comes here looking for information on the latest and upcoming phones, but I want to know what else interests you. What else do you want to know about? Please comment here and fill me in!

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Here is the second part in the Coming Soon series. Today I am touching upon Nokia's Classic and XpressMusic series. Excluded from the list are the 2600, 6124, and 3120 Classics because they have already been released. Here is part one.

Classic Series

1680

Basic entry-level candybar phone with VGA camera, 32 MB internal memory and video playback. Least expensive of the bunch.

6212
Quad-band GSM with dual-band 3G (850/2100). 2 MP camera, FM radio and MicroSD capability. Capable of Bluetooth-enabled Near Field Communication, which enables you to transfer data by simply touching the phone with another NFC-capable device. Check the link to go to Engadget for more information!

6220

Powerful S60 phone with 5 MP camera with video record, GPS geotagging, and quad-band GSM/ dual-band 3G support. Anticipated release in July 2008.


ExpressMusic Series

5220

Tri-band phone with FM Radio, Music player with 24 hours playback time, 30 MB internal memory, and the ability to sideload music directly to the phone. Release in Q3 2008.

5320

140 MB internal memory with MicroSD expandable to 8 GB. Sports voice recognition "say and play" feature, enabling you to simply say the name of the song you want to hear. HS-USB support for fast music transfer. Release expected in Q3 2008.

Related Posts:

Coming Soon: Nokia N and E Series
Upcoming Verizon Phones
Upcoming Sprint Phones

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I've put up the weekly poll. I am interested to know how useful the mobile internet is. I personally find it very useful on my Blackberry because of the ability to use RSS readers and am able to visit other random websites I frequent every day. But please, let me know how it works for you!

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This is the first post in a series I'm putting together that will show all of the anticipated phones that have been announced. In this post I will cover some of the flagship Nokia phones. Some may come to the US with a major carrier, and some may not even get to the US at all. But as more information comes out I will keep you updated.

Each phone has a link provided.

N96

This is one of my most highly anticipated phones at the moment. Check out the stats on this one: 16 GB internal memory (PLUS MicroSD slot), 5 MP camera, WiFi, 3G, Flash support, GPS for navigation and geotagging, video acceleration chip for advanced 3D gaming, and video record. While this seems to be only a slight upgrade from the N95, this is still an amazing device that will be difficult to beat!

N78

There are quite a few good specs on this one - 3 MP camera, 3G, GPS for geotagging, etc - but one innovative spec, a FM transmitter, stands out above the rest. The transmitter allows the user to broadcast music to a nearby radio. A FM transmitter is common as an accessory for MP3 players such as the iPod, but building it into phones is a new concept. This will become more popular as phones begin holding more and more memory, allowing for more music.

"Tube"

Okay, so it hasn't been called a N or E series phone, but it is certainly going to become a Nokia flagship device. Set to come out in the second half of 2008, this phone is Nokia's official answer to the iPhone. The specs look just as good as any of the other N-series phones; high resolution camera, HSDPA 3G, WiFi, etc. The phone will also use a "revolutionary variety" of haptic feedback. I am intrigued.

E66 and E71

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Thanks for your participation in this week's poll! It looks like touchscreen phones are the style of choice (I really wasn't too surprised; nor was I surprised that candybars came in dead last). Was anybody surprised by the findings?

Keep an eye out for the next poll coming out soon.

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The wireless industry is beginning to change for the better! As of Sunday, May 25, AT&T will be offering pro-rated cancellation fees. This means that the further you are through your contract, the less you have to pay to get out of it.

Here's how it works: for each month of the contract you have gone through, $5 is subtracted from the Cancellation Fee. So if you are one year through your two year contract, you only pay $115 per line to get out. With 6 months left, it costs $85 to get out.

This is great news for wireless customers, since most people do not like being bound in contracts at all; this is certainly a step in the right direction!

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Cell phones are no longer just phones. A large majority of cell phone users only use their devices for calling and sending texts, but the latest cell phones are capable of doing so much more! The wireless industry has sought out to combine phones with other electronic devices for your benefit. This way you won't need a backpack full of all your gadgets anytime you leave your house.

In this article I am going to touch upon several features currently available in phones but either underrated or unknown. These features may help make your life incredibly more efficient and convenient.

1. Bluetooth
Bluetooth is best known for the increasing popularity of wireless earpieces. The use of earpieces is becoming more popular as states begin enforcing laws prohibiting use of phones in cars without them. The state I live in doesn't have a law for this (yet), but I personally couldn't drive my car and talk on the phone without a bluetooth (my car's a manual). It's just too difficult and unsafe.

However, this is not the only thing Bluetooth technology is capable of. Quite the contrary, in fact. Bluetooth utilizes several "profiles" that each serve a unique purpose. I will touch upon each profile in another article, but I will highlight a few.

Most bluetooth phones are capable of file transfer; in other words, sending pictures or music from one phone to another without using a MMS. The transfer is free and downloads much faster than MMS. Also, you can purchase stereo headphones to listen to music on your phone (see #2).

2. MP3 Player
Don't have an iPhone but wish you could use your phone to play music? You certainly can!

Any phone with some sort of memory card capability can be used as a MP3 player. The number of songs you can play all depends on the size of your card and the file size of each MP3. One of the most recent SD formats to come out, SD High Compression (SDHC), packs a lot more disk space in a MicroSD card and enables you to use cards containing 4 or 8 GB of space. This will net you 600-1200 songs at least.

Not all phones will accept the SDHC format; be sure to check the specs of the phone before you make the purchase. Phones that do not accept SDHC should still hold up to 2 GB cards, however.

3. Google Text
Disclaimer: to take advantage of this feature you will be charged for texts, so I highly recommend adding a text package first.

Google has set up their own texting service with which you can send queries and receive a response within seconds. You can use it for directory assistance; translate words to other languages; check stock quotes, sports scores, and weather; convert measurements; and you can even check the status of a current flight. To check out all the other things you can do with google text, visit www.google.com/sms.

4. Video Messaging
Multimedia messages aren't just for sending pictures back and forth; they are for sending videos and audio clips as well. If you have a camera phone capable of video capture this is highly beneficial! Whatever important event is going on, capture it on your phone and send it to friends and family without any problems.

5. WiFi
WiFi gives you the ability to connect to wireless networks. Whether it be hotspots or your wireless router at home and work, WiFi gives you faster internet access than you can get through the cell phone towers.

This also is a free alternative to accessing the internet on your phone, unless the particular hotspot you are using charges a fee. However, make absolutely certain you are using the internet through WiFi and not your phone's internet, otherwise you may be charged per kilobyte.

6. Memory Card Slot
Similar to #2, memory cards actually do more than just allow you to listen to music. You can store most types of files on these cards; my personal memory card holds 3 different movies that I can play on any multimedia PDA phone, and plenty of pictures.

Even if you don't use a memory card for much, it's a good idea to supplement your phone with at least a 1 GB card if your phone has limited space. This keeps your phone's performance optimized.

7. Voice Dial
Some phones have voice command, which asks you to "say a command". At this point you can tell the phone who you want to call, or which application you'd like to view. This can be a nice time-saving shortcut for you if the application you need is buried in menus or if you need to call someone not on your speed dial list.

8. Organizer
Phones have a few organizer functions installed to make your life easier. Tools typically included are to-do lists, calculators, memo pads, alarm clocks, and calendars that will remind you when appointments are approaching. PDAs will allow you to download extra organizational tools as well.

9. GPS
GPS can be found on phones in different forms. Some cell phone services offer a service in which you can keep track of your children by their phone, while others offer navigation services when you pay a monthly subscription. Yet others will only utilize GPS through 911 services, so if you call for an emergency you can be found more easily.

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