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.

Millions of children are using cell phones now; some as young as 4 years of age are becoming ritual talkers and texters. How young is too young? (I'm using this argument disregarding any health effects phones may have, because while at this moment studies have been done to correlate phones with radiation and cancer, there has been no official proof.)

Parents typically look at the issue in one of 3 ways:

1. Phones can help children learn responsibility. However, it is a privilege that can be taken away.
2. Phones are a nuisance. They can be a distraction to children when they should be doing homework or being otherwise productive. They also lead to destructive habits.
3. Phones are a necessary lifeline for children in emergencies, but not to be used for social reasons.

The earliest age I will consider my children having a cell phone is at 8 years old, to be used for idea #3; in other words, they will only have a phone when they are not at home, and even then it will only be prepaid with 30 minutes or so on it. Text and internet will be blocked, and I will enable Fixed Dialing so they can only call people we want them to. Strict? Perhaps, but 8 years of age is too young for my child to have a relevant cell phone.

I will consider changing them to idea #1 (privilege but also responsibility) when they are 13 or 14. At this time they can start taking responsibility for their phone. They will still have restrictions, but those restrictions will ease up as they begin proving themselves. If they prove they can still handle their schoolwork and other chores without the phone being a distraction,
then shall I consider giving them more privileges with the phone.

Texting is one big example of having privilege. Having worked in the wireless industry for 3 years, every day I see kids who are texting 10,000+ times per month. That is 333 texts per day! Don't get me wrong -- I do enjoy texting, and often will do it in place of calling someone. But I don't have whole instant messaging conversations on them (hello. hi. how r u. good and u? doin gr8); I just think that's wasteful. 10 texts could be covered by a 1 minute phone call. But again, this is all privilege. Children can still communicate effectively these days without texting!

I just don't like the idea of my kids spending all their time at home, at school, on breaks, and everywhere else using the phone. Plus, I just read a recent story where 30 kids were charged with sending pictures of their own private parts and inappropriate acts as MMS to each other.

Not to over-protect my kids, but I want to keep them safe. I want to keep them focused on what's really important. While I have a passion for phones and gadgets, they are privileges and not essential. This may be a controversial subject, and everyone is entitled to have a different opinion than me. But this is the way I shall approach cell phone use with my own children.

It's hard to get your battery to last a long time. Most phones in this day and age are only expected to have roughly 4-5 hours of talk time. And that counts all the extra stuff we like to do on our phones. With most phones acting as cameras, music players, GPS systems and portable internet, it's no surprise the battery life of our phones are pure junk. Thus, I'd like to give you a few tips on how to get the most out of your battery.

1. Turn off Bluetooth
The Bluetooth radio can contribute to a quickly draining battery, so whenever you are not using your Bluetooth device, turn off bluetooth power in the settings menu. Some phones will allow you to set up a shortcut to do this much faster.
2. Lower Screen Brightness
Don't have the screen on its brightest setting, but don't have it on its lowest either. There is rumor that having it constantly on lowest setting will cause you to strain your vision.
3. Decrease backlight time
Similar to screen brightness, whenever the backlight is on it is using up much-needed battery power. Best thing to do is to have it turn off faster when the phone is idle.
4. Turn off 3G or dual mode
The chips in UMTS or HSPA phones are HUGE drainers of your battery. IMO there are a couple very good reasons to turn off 3G if your phone gives you that option. First, if you never use internet, save your battery. Second, turning 3G off will reduce the amount of dropped calls that could occur when going from a 3G area to EDGE. On my phone I find that there may only be one bar of 3G but full bars of GSM strength. Still, since the phone is set up to look for 3G first it doesn't bother to see how good the reception really is, thus causing dropped calls.
5. Stay in areas of good reception
While it may sound odd for saving battery life, this is actually very important. When your phone is in areas of little or no reception, the phone is constantly searching for a better signal. The act of actively searching for a new signal quickly drains your battery.
6. Recharge when 1/3 full
About 90% of the sites I researched considered this a great way to lengthen the overall lifetime of your battery. Generally it is bad to completely discharge the battery (let it totally die) every single time before you charge it again.
According to Asia's Cnet.com:
"A lithium battery can be charged whenever it needs it. Full discharges are not needed--indeed, they are not advisable. Instead, let the battery run down to around a third of its capacity and charge it on a regular basis rather than running the battery completely flat.
If your phone is not displaying the correct amount of energy left in your battery, then let it run completely flat and this should solve the problem."
7. Turn off phone when not needed
Explanation not necessary; however this isn't possible for everyone as some people are on call for business.
8. Keep battery cool, keep out of sun
Lithium batteries are built with protection from overheating, so charging the phone overnight or for 2 days doesn't damage your battery. If, however, it is overcharged for up to a week, the battery will heat up. Overheating will cause permanent damage to your battery. So, don't leave it on the charger and don't keep it out in the sun.
9. No more vibrator
The vibration mechanism on your phone takes quite a bit of power. Keep it on there only when absolutely necessary. Like meetings or quiet shindigs.
10. Lower ring volume and keypad sounds
Similarly, ringtone volume and the "beep-beep" sounds every time you press a button are power users.
11. Take off screensavers and moving wallpaper
This one was a bit of a surprise to me. But, alas, the movements do use up power.
12. Packet data access "only when needed"
When packet data access, typically found in the settings menu under "connectivity" or "network", are turned to Always Online, it means the phones are constantly searching for internet and making sure a connection is enabled. While this doesn't charge your bill for internet usage, it does strain your battery life.
13. Fully discharge battery once every 30 charges
Related to #6, optimal battery life is achieved when for 29 charge cycles you begin the charge when the battery is only 1/3 full, and on the 30th charge you let the battery die completely before charging. Repeat every 30 cycles.
According to batteryuniversity.com:
Although lithium-ion is memory-free in terms of performance deterioration, batteries with fuel gauges exhibit what engineers refer to as "digital memory". Here is the reason: Short discharges with subsequent recharges do not provide the periodic calibration needed to synchronize the fuel gauge with the battery's state-of-charge. A deliberate full discharge and recharge every 30 charges corrects this problem. Letting the battery run down to the cut-off point in the equipment will do this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate.
14. Turn off active applications
The more multi-tasking you do on your phone, the faster your battery will reach Empty.
15. Clean the battery contacts
Many websites advocate the practice of occasionally cleaning the contacts of your battery with a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol. This maximizes efficiency of energy transfer from your battery to your phone.

Thank you for visiting my website. YourCPR stands for Your Cell Phone Resource; My purpose in creating this site is to help you along each stage of the process of buying a mobile phone by providing resources and links to other sites that contain essential information concerning each specific phone.
Stage 1 : Shop. Compare different phones, look at reviews, judge which phone works best for you.
Stage 2: Buy. Finding a carrier and website to purchase the phone you choose, choosing accessories to complement your new phone.
Stage 3: Learn. Try to figure out how to use your new phone, download software that enables you to get the most out of the phone.

This website will provide links to assist in these 3 stages, not to mention inform the reader of the newest phones that haven't even been released yet.
Granted, it will take some time to turn YourCPR into a full comprehensive resource, but with new technology this seems to always be a work in progress.
Stay tuned! Some great things are on the way for YourCPR.
If you have questions or comments please send me an email to yourcpr@yahoo.com.

Welcome to my new blog. I'm planning on getting this blog up and running in the very near future. Stay tuned!