DianaTan.net » Cell Phones

Use Gmail for Free Phone Calls to US and Canada

Diana — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:52:12 +0000

Now you can use Gmail for free phone calls to US and Canada. Earlier you could use the Gmail voice and video chat feature but that required both people to be at their computers, signed into Gmail at the same time. Now you can call any phone right from Gmail!
Then…

and now…

Gmail Phone Call Rates

Google promises calls to the U.S. and Canada will be free for at least the rest of the year and calls to other countries will be billed at very low call rates, when compared to local operators —for as little as $0.02 per minute.

Get started with Gmail Phone Calls

The feature is rolling out to U.S. based Gmail users over the next few days. When active, you will see the “Call Phone” link in Gmail Chat. Just click “Call phone” at the top of your chat list and dial a number or enter a contact’s name. Remember you need to install the voice and video plug-in to get this to work.

Free Phone Calls, Voicemails On Blogs with GrandCentral

Diana — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:06:39 +0000

Do you know that you can receive phone calls and post voicemails right on your blog. GrandCentral, a Google service, will let you add these communication options on your blog for free!

Blogger Buzz says that though GrandCentral is currently in a private beta test, bloggers can skip the wait and get a free account immediately. GrandCentral is an innovative service that lets users integrate all of their existing phone numbers and voice mailboxes into one account, which can be accessed from the web. Last year Google acquired GrandCentral Communications.

Add GrandCentral?s WebCall button to your blog, and your readers can easily call your phone or leave voicemails without ever seeing your telephone number. You can screen calls, either accepting them or sending them to voicemail, and you can even block unwanted callers altogether.

At this time, it is only available from within the US and maybe opened up to additional countries in the future. I tried the exclusive Blogger invite, but it doesn’t work from India. However, its a great way for US residents to get entry into GrandCentral and use its revolutionary communication features.

Google’s Nexus One

Diana — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:24:16 +0000

When you first lay eyes on the Nexus One, you can almost hear someone at Google say something like, “Make us something as sexy as the iPhone, but let’s not forget what got us here” — “what got us here” being the G1, which Google worked tightly with HTC to create. Whether you love or hate the iPhone, it’s hard to deny its obvious physical attractiveness, and it’s clear that Google and HTC made strides to bring an Android handset into the same realm of base desirability that Apple’s halo device occupies. For the most part, they’ve succeeded. The phone shape finds itself somewhere between the iPhone and Palm Pre — taking the Pre’s curved, stone-like shape and stretching it into something resembling a more standard touchscreen device (a la the Hero or Instinct). The body of the handset is comprised of what appears to the eye as two interlocking pieces, a main, dark gray housing (coated in a soft-touch treatment) which is intersected and wrapped by a lighter gray, smooth, almost metallic band. The overall effect is fluid, though we’re not crazy about the choice of coloring — we would have liked to see something a little more consistent as opposed to the two-tone, particularly when the choice of hues is this drab and familiar. Still, the shape and size of the phone is absolutely fantastic; even though the surface of the device houses a 3.7-inch display, the handset generally feels trimmer and more svelte than an iPhone, Hero, and certainly the Droid.

HTC has managed to get the thickness of the phone down to just 11.5mm, and it measures just 59.8mm and 119mm across and up and down — kind of a feat when you consider the guts of this thing. In the hand it’s a bit lighter than you expect — though it’s not straight-up light — and the curved edges and slightly tapered top and bottom make for a truly comfortable phone to hold. On the glass-covered front of the device there are four “hardware” buttons (just touch-sensitive spots on the display) laid out exactly as the Droid’s four hard keys: back, menu, home, and search. Clearly this is going to be something of a trend with Google-approved devices.

Unlike the Droid, the Nexus One has a trackball just below those buttons that should feel very familiar to Hero users — the placement feels a bit awkward here, and there’s literally nothing in the OS that requires it. Along the left side you’ve got a volume rocker, up top there’s a sleep / wake / power button on one end, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the other, and along the bottom there’s a micro-USB port, a mic hole, and three gold dots that look destined for some kind of dock (which would jibe with what we’ve seen and heard). Around back you’ll find the strangely pronounced 5 megapixel camera and accompanying LED flash, along with Google’s Android mascot holding up a QR code — a decidedly geeky Google touch that we expect won’t make it to the final retail version. The layout of the phone is solid, though we would have liked a physical camera key (no biggie), and we actually had some real trouble with those four dedicated buttons. Hopefully it was just our review unit, but the target areas seemed to be too high on the row, and we found ourselves consistently accidentally tapping them while composing an email or text message, or missing them when we tapped a little too low. It wasn’t a deal breaker, but it was definitely maddening — especially considering that we don’t have similar issues on the Droid.

Apple iPhone 3GS – The Fastest iPhone Ever

Diana — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 07:11:42 +0000

The Fastest iPhone Ever
The first thing you’ll notice about iPhone 3GS is how quickly you can launch applications. Web pages render in a fraction of the time, and you can view email attachments faster. Improved performance and updated 3D graphics deliver an incredible gaming experience, too. In fact, everything you do on iPhone 3GS is up to 2x faster and more responsive than iPhone 3G.

Video
Now you can shoot video, edit it, and share it — all on your iPhone 3GS. Shoot high-quality VGA video in portrait or landscape. Trim your footage by adjusting start and end points. Then share your video in an email, post it to your MobileMe gallery, publish it on YouTube, or sync it back to your Mac or PC using iTunes.

3-Megapixel Camera
The new 3-megapixel camera takes great still photos, too, thanks to built-in autofocus and a handy new feature that lets you tap the display to focus on anything (or anyone) you want.

Voice Control
Voice Control recognizes the names in your Contacts and knows the music on your iPod. So if you want to place a call or play a song, all you have to do is ask.

Compass
With a built-in digital compass, iPhone 3GS can point the way. Use the new Compass app, or watch as it automatically reorients maps to match the direction you’re facing.

Cut, Copy & Paste
Quickly cut, copy, and paste words with a tap. You can also copy content from the web, then paste it into an email or text message.

Landscape Keyboard
Want more room to type on the intelligent software keyboard? Rotate iPhone to landscape to use a larger keyboard in Mail, Messages, Notes, and Safari.

Messages
Send messages with text, video, photos, audio, locations, and contact information. You can even forward one or more messages to others.

Search
Find what you’re looking for across your iPhone, all from one convenient place. Spotlight searches all your contacts, email, calendars, and notes, as well as everything in your iPod.

Internet Tethering
Surf the web from practically anywhere. Now you can share the 3G connection on your iPhone with your Mac notebook or PC laptop.

Voice Memos
Capture and share a thought, a memo, a meeting, or any audio recording on the go with the new Voice Memos application.

Nike + iPod
iPhone includes built-in Nike + iPod support. Just slip the Nike + iPod Sensor (available separately) into your Nike+ shoe and start your workout.

Stocks
Stocks on iPhone shows you charts, financial details, and headline news for any stock you choose. Rotate iPhone to see even more detailed information.

YouTube
Watch YouTube videos wherever you are. Log in to your YouTube account to save and sync bookmarks and rate your favorites.

Find My iPhone and Remote Wipe
If you misplace your iPhone, Apple’s MobileMe service can help you find it. Log on to me.com to view a map that shows the approximate location of your iPhone. If it’s nearby, have it play an alert sound to help you find it. If it’s not, you can display a custom message, remotely lock it with a passcode, or initiate a remote wipe and restore it to factory settings.

I am contemplating of getting myself an iPhone 3GS. It is a Phone, iPod, and Internet device in one. iPhone 3GS offers desktop-class email, an amazing Maps application, and Safari — the world’s most advanced mobile web browser. My only concern is that if I accidentally dropped it, the glass may be cracked or worse still, nothing shows up as posted in some of the owners’ blogs. At the moment, my clamp shell handphone is quite hardy and I have dropped it a few times without any damages. Should I upgrade to iPhone 3GS?

Sanyo’s A5520SA tracker phone

Diana — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 01:12:04 +0000

Those child tracking phones are great for most situations, but sometimes what your kid might need most in an emergency is just a really loud noise, and Sanyo has their new A5520SA outfitted with a buzzer for that very purpose. You can also pair the phone with a number so that when the alarm button is activated a call is automatically made to you. The phone can also work with a GPS locater service, for a fee, and even has a decent 2.2-inch screen and a 1.3 megapixel camera, so your kid won’t feel like some total lamer toting a ghetto handset — because if there’s anything more important than your child’s safety, it’s her social status.

Hummer Phones

Diana — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 09:08:13 +0000

Looks like the French electronics company Modelabs will be reported making a handset specifically for Hummer. The market demographics for civilian Hummer vehicles are pretty macho and all that, so this handset, understandably, has that same feel from just looking at photos of it (yes, it’s made of “premium materials”). The nice looking slider phone has a 2.2 inch LCD touch screen, 2 megapixel camera and 25MB of onboard memory plus expansion via a micro SD card. A summary of features includes: GSM / GPRS / EDGE (eww), 262K color touchscreen with virtual keyboard, microSD slot, MP3 player and FM radio and a weight of 100 grams.

Nokia 2310 Handphone for Father’s Day

Diana — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 08:16:54 +0000

My dad chose a Nokia 2310 handphone for this coming Father’s day on June 17th 2007, which I paid for. It was a Father’s day gift to him. Since he has some problems with his old Nokia handphone, I decided to buy one for him. The total cost was RM220 and after trade-in his old handphone, he got RM50. So in effect, I only pay RM170 for his new toy. I guess these are the little favors I can do for him to show him that I appreciate what he has done for me all these years. Furthermore, with good income from blogging and paid posts like PayPerPost, Blogsvertise, and others, it is about time that I splurge a little on my parents as they are getting older.

Here are some of the key features of this nifty gadget:

FM radio with Sound Visualization

65,536-color display

SMS and picture messaging

Customizable animated screensavers

MP3-grade ringing tones

Operating frequency – Dual-band GSM 900/1800 only

SizeSizeWeight: 85 g

InPhonic, Inc. – Wireless Industry News

Diana — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 02:09:47 +0000

InPhonic has a unique model for selling cell phones online that has made it’s main website Wirefly.com the industry leader in online activations. It is listed in the wireless industry news. Personally speaking, online selling is the way to go with the internet technology in this era. Using a safe and secure payment gateway, buyers are able to make purchases at the convenience of using the computer at home and with the use of their credit cards. All information transferred is via a https:// path that is safer and will not be encrypted by phishers. With the internet, reach is borderless and global. The merchant is able to sell more cell phones at a reduced cost of advertisements, setting up a retail store and renting space.

As more people are starting to be internet savvy, they are more willing to trust buying online than ever before. Gadgets are the top items and you can just check out Ebay. From second hand stuffs to brand new ones are traded online via PayPal. This form of online selling caters more to the young at heart and the technologically inclined web surfers. However, the older generation and the illiterate ones are the people that you cannot target for your online cell phones sales. For more information, just check out financial news for InPhonic, Inc. on Yahoo.

U-DOO Expands Cell Phone Fun and Personalization

Diana — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 01:35:00 +0000

Nowadays, even schooling teenagers own a cell phone and it is rather common to see youngsters talking or smsing on the cell phones. In Malaysian, teenagers use their cell phones as a social gadget to keep in touch with their friends while the business men use them to secure projects and liaise with clients. The ubiquitous cell phone is something you should not leave behind whenever you go out.

By the way, cell phone personalization features have just been taken to new, cool heights by U-DOO by Wirefly. With U-DOO, users can custom-build some fun talking Avatars, download them to their cell phone or email them to their friends, and have them appear and speak their cheeky messages as custom ring tones. U-DOO by Wirefly is an application that adds a great deal of custom fun to most of today’s cell phone models. It allows users to build custom Avatars, select a message for the characters to speak and send the finished products to a cell phone, to a friend via email or to a MySpace account. The talking characters can then be set to function as custom ring tones.

The first step is to choose an avatar character from among 20 options. Facial features, hair color, clothing, hat, accessories and background can be modified and personalized at the click of a mouse. Avatar characters range from common face and hair types to more outrageously fun ones such as Manga to sumo-wrestlers.