Cell Phone Batteries

Cell Phone Batteries
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To Charge or Replace? The Question of Cell Phone Batteries

When it's vacation time, deciding how best to keep your cell phone charged may very well become a question of whether to take a charger or simply take extra cell phone batteries. For the most part, recharging cell phone batteries is the most cost-effective way to keep your cell phone ready to use. But there are some times when recharging is not an option and taking extra batteries - including disposable batteries - might be your best option.

Most people with cell phones have two ways to recharge their cell phone batteries. They can use the AC battery charger in the house, or use the DC battery charger in their vehicle. As cell phones have become so much more common, the cost of both phones and chargers have become less significant. Today, it's possible to purchase chargers for almost any brand and model of cell phones for around $20. Most cell phones and their accessories can be purchased from several sources. Mall kiosks selling Cell Phone Accessories are more common than ever, and they always sell cell phone chargers as well as cell phone batteries. There are cell phone stores in almost every city that carry a large selection of chargers and batteries. Online sources are easily accessible and offer chargers for home or travel that are compatible with any cell phone. So with the ease of purchasing cell phone chargers, why would anyone need to purchase extra cell phone batteries? There are two major reasons.

The first is that cell phone batteries are just like any other rechargeable battery. They simply wear out. The life span of cell phone batteries, however, is significant and there will likely be no need for you to replace your battery within the two or so years that cell phones are usually kept before trading them in for a newer model. But if you keep your phone for significantly longer than the traditional two-year service contract term (at the end of which time most companies offer an upgraded phone free or at a great cost reduction), you might find yourself needing to replace the battery in order to continue getting optimum performance from your cell phone.

The other reason some people need extra cell phone batteries - extended travel. When you travel to a destination without the possibility of recharging the phone, for example, if you plan to take an extended hike, having the cell phone could be a great safety measure. Even if you are sometimes in places without cell service, you will likely occasionally come into an area of service and could use those times to make contact with family and friends to let them know you are okay, or to call for help if you aren't. Since there are likely to be no places to use your charger, extra cell phone batteries ensure that you'll have power for your phone when you reach a service area.

Today's Cell Phone Batteries Articles
HKC Pearl is the Ultimate Knockoff Phone (It Runs Android!)

You have to respect any phone that takes its brand name and styling cues from HTC, model name from RIM and then throws Android on it. Because that's exactly what the HKC Pearl did.

Ok, maybe its not the ultimate knockoff when you look at the tech specs, but the phone actually isn't too shabby, all things considered. It has a 624MHz processor, 128MB RAM, 2.8-inch touchscreen and a 2MP camera. It also runs both WinMo 6.1 and Android (those are actually real...shocking!)

There are other specs, like the fact it runs on EDGE networks, but since it will never see the light of day in the US, it's kind of irrelevant. Just wanted to point out another hilarious instance of shaaaaaaaameful copycatting. [Engadget China]

LG Touchscreen Watch Phone Will Support 3G, Speech Recognition, Little Girl Fingers

Details of a new LG watch phone, likely to be announced at CES, have trickled out through the company's Korean site. And surprise! It looks hard to use. But not—and this is important—unusable.

The first thing to notice is the specs: unlike last time around, they're actually pretty solid. The GD910, as it's called, will support 3G, HSDPA, Bluetooth, text-to-speech and speech-to-text, and finally, videoconferencing via a front-mounted camera.

These capabilities, far from being the useless feature bloat that we see on gimmicky hardware like this, seem to be geared toward making this wrist piece bearable. Don't want to fiddle with little watch buttons to make a call? Use the touchscreen. Don't want to type on a tiny on-screen keypad? Talk to your phone. Don't want to walk around with a watch to your face like some kind of portly, neckbearded, wolfshirted FBI agent? Hook up a Bluetooth headset and you'll just look like a nerdy soccer dad. And videoconferencing, mercifully built in, is probably the most important feature to have on a quasi-spy gadget like this.

That said, there are still a few problems that will be unavoidable in this form-factor, the largest of which LG has implicitly acknowledged with their product photos: unless you are a young child with young child fingers, don't plan on having an easy go of it. [UnwiredView]

Sprint to Pay More to Virgin Mobile for Customers

Sprint is upping the amount it pays to Virgin Mobile USA from $2.50 per new customer to $4.50 per new customer that Virgin Mobile signs up. The agreement runs from July 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2009 and has ...
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Nokia N96 NAM Receives Major Firmware Update

Nokia has made a firmware update available to the North American version of the N96. Aside from some major bug fixes (including Bluetooth compatibility, stability, and camera performance), the update also makes the N96 compatible with Nokia's newly-launched Mail ...
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HTC Brings S740 to US

HTC today announced the S743, a version of the S740 with support for US 3G networks. The phone is a non-touch Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard device with a bar form factor and numeric keypad, plus a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. ...
(follow link to read)

Bestmodo 2008


Here's a list of the very best gear we've seen this year. It's more bragger's guide than buyer's guide—if you have any of this, you can officially tell your friends to suck on it.

The year winds to an end and every product worth a damn has already hit store shelves—there's not going to be any new shiny coolness until next month's CES. We were lucky enough to have a look at most of the best gear out there, and we've passed judgment on all that we saw. Here's a complete list of great products, yanked from our first looks, reviews, and epic Battlemodos:

TV & HOME THEATER
TVs:
Panasonic 65VX100U Plasma
Pioneer Kuro Elite PRO-111FD Plasma
Sony Bravia XBR8 LCD
Panasonic PZ850 Series Plasma
Samsung 650 and 750 Series LCD
Honorable mention for value: Toshiba Regza RV535 Series LCD

Surround Bar:
Yamaha YSP-3050 Sound Bar

Blu-ray Player:
Pioneer Elite BDP-09FD
Samsung Netflix BD-P2500
Sony PlayStation 3

Blu-ray Movies (with iTunes/WMV Digital Copy):
The Dark Knight
Wall-E

CAMERAS & CAMCORDERS
DSLR Cameras:
Nikon D300 and D700
Canon EOS 5D Mark II with HD video
Nikon D90 with HD video
Canon Rebel XSi and Rebel XS
Honorable mention for value: Sony Alpha A900 and Alpha A300

Point and Shoot Camera:
Canon SD790

Crazy Hybrid Camera/Camcorder:
Casio Exilim EX-F1

Mini Camcorders:
Kodak Zi6 HD
Pure Digital Flip Ultra

COMPUTERS & ACCESSORIES
Laptops:
MacBook/MacBook Pro
Lenovo X300
MSI Wind

All-In-One PC:
Vaio LV

Routers:
Linksys WRT610N Dual N-Band Wireless Router

Router/NAS:
Apple Time Capsule

NAS:
HP MediaVault mv2120

Mouse:
Logitech MX 1100 Mouse

Keyboard:
SteelSeries 7G Pro Gaming Keyboard

iPod/iPhone USB Dock:
Griffin Simplifi iPod-iPhone Dock/Card Reader/USB Hub

PHONES & PORTABLE DEVICES
Phones:
Apple iPhone 3G @ AT&T
Sidekick 2008 @ T-Mobile
Samsung Instinct @ Sprint (after firmware update, it's officially better than Verizon's LG Dare)
LG Decoy with docking Bluetooth earpiece @ Verizon
Sony Ericsson W890i @ Europe only; unlocked may be available

Phone Stereo Headsets:
Maximo iMetal iP-HS2 Isolators
Shure Music Phone Adapter
to use with your current earphones

In-Ear Headphones:
Etymotics hf5
Shure SE110
Ultimate Ears metro.fi 2

Pico Projector:
Aiptek PocketCinema V10

GPS:
Garmin Nuvi 785T with lane guidance
Garmin Nuvi 880 with speech recognition

ASSORTED CRAZY STUFF
Flashlights:
Wicked Lasers Torch Flashlight
Duracell Daylite CR123

Toy Robot:
U-Command Wall-E

Cheap Night Vision Goggles:
Jakks Pacific EyeClops

Unmanned Vehicle:
Draganfly X6 UAV

Spy Gadget Book:
Spycraft by Robert Wallace and H. Keith Melton

Water Guns:
Super Soaker Sneak Attack 4-Way

—With reporting by Erica Ho

Apple Patent Shows Nifty Keyboard Gestures for the iPhone

While many non-imminent Apple patents can edge into the realm of wishful thinking, this one is pretty doable: useful little gestures for the iPhone, which are received over the phone's onscreen keyboard.

According to the patent application, simple input commands like delete and space would be controlled with simple back and forward-swipe motions. While remapping something that is already readily available through a screen key is of minor value, this technique could also be used to introduce completely new functions, and augment the iPhone's somewhat gimped text manipulation.

To this end, the patent describes customizable functions, which could lead to multitouch gestures that trigger the deletion of entire words, switching of keyboards, or quick input of specific characters. While many users would never take to a gesture system like this, it wouldn't get in anyone's way and could be silently slotted into the next firmware update without much effort or controversy, providing a nice little feature-add for iPhone and iPod Touch users. [MacRumors]

RIM's Foldout Keyboard Patent Sorta Misses the Point

It's likely to be one of those defensive patents, but RIM's patent application for a fold-out smartphone keyboard forgets why you might want a fold-out keyboard.

Because while Blackberries are historically known for excellent emailing on huge keyboards, their newer SureType (two letters per key) system has turned off many users to smaller models like the Pearl.

But then you see this new patent mockup and you think, ooh, foldout keyboard! Death to SureType! Full QWERTY on the Blackberry Pearl! Unicorns live!

And then you realize that RIM's mockup doesn't add more buttons, it just puts two letters on each key. SureType just gets bigger. [US Patent Office via Engadget Mobile]

Leaked BlackBerry Storm OS 4.7.0.85 Update Should Have Been Here Yesterday

At least that's what the CrackBerry folks who got their hands on the latest Storm OS seem to think anyway. Install at your own risk (unofficial update), but the changes appear to be pretty solid.

Just to be clear again: Update OS 4.7.0.85 is unofficial at this point, so proceed with caution. That said, sources at CrackBerry indicate this evening that this release might have the chops to get official approval by Verizon. Eventually.

I haven't played with the OS too much just yet, but it definitely feels much improved, even over 4.7.0.83 which leaked on the 19th. Some bugs have been fixed, the accelerometer action is definitely quicker and typing feels a bit more responsive.

Says Crackberry poster Kevin Michaluk, "This is what the Storm should have launched with. Definitely worth an install if you're a 9530 Storm owner."

Not necessarily a ringing endorsement of what the phone came equipped with thus far, but it sounds like RIM is on top of things after the fact. Very Apple iPhone 3G of them, don't you think? [CrackBerry via CrunchGear]

Android-Powered OpenMoko FreeRunner Spotted

OpenMoko built the first 100% open-source smartphone—hardware and software both—when Android was but a glimmer in Larry and Sergey's eye. But now, the FreeRunner hardware is officially kissing its open-source cousin OS, Android.

Whether it's viewed as a natural move forward in the name of openness or a sign that no one in the world will ever use OpenMoko's own open-source OS—iMAndroid have some blurry-as-hell shots of the FreeRunner hardware running Google's open-source OS alternative. Either way, huge credit is due to OpenMoko, for fighting the good fight early on.

Still, the reliance on only 100% open hardware components means the FreeRunner is still hobbled by a GPRS-only data connection; that's late-90s tech, and for a data-heavy platform like Android, could be a monumental pain. Or maybe it will be the first Android phone with a battery that can last more than 12 hours without needing a reboost? Rounding out the specs is more typical smartphone fare: wi-fi, AGPS, Bluetooth, microSD slot, and a 400 MHz Samsung processor.

Price and availability are not yet available, but I would reckon CES will shed a bit more light on things. [iMAndroid]

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