....and that secret is...we're actually pretty dull.

This study is the first one of its kind conducted and consisted of 100.000 cell phone users being unknowingly tracked. The study subjects were randomly chosen from among 6 million cell phone users.

In a report by the New York Times, the researchers from Northeastern University in Boston obtained their data from an unnamed European cell phone service provider.

The study lasted for 6 months and targeted the cell phone user's locations whenever they made or received a call or text message. The result of the study concluded that humans are a basically boring bunch and we rarely travel more than a 20-mile radius from our home base.

The larger goal of the study was to eventually create a computer model through further studies for understanding emergency response, urban planning and the spread of disease.

What do you think? Was it necessary? Was it ethical?

Source : http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2008/Jun08/060208/060608-07.htm

Labels: cell-phone, iPhone

I've off getting an iPhone and now with the new patent that Apple has filed, I may have to change my mind. I was told the iPhone lost charge quickly and well, what good is that?

The new patent will create a solar powered iPhone and that's a very good thing on many levels. It means you can go out where electricity is limited and still be connected just by laying your iPhone in the sun.

The design won't make the iPhone any larger either. Other companies have attempted to create solar powered cell phones and MP3 players, however by the time the necessary solar panel is added to the gadet, there isn't much room to call the item portable any longer.

Apple is putting the solar panel UNDER the touch screen in a thin layer so it will not require any change in the iPhones current sleek design.

Yeah, I may have to get one now....

Labels: cell-phone, iPhone

In today's Wall Street Journal, Google is revving up to start a series of announcements about their gGphone. Google's own mobile phone software which would come bundled with Google's own custom gadgets : maps, search, YouTube, messaging and all received on your mobile phone.

The current buzz on the street is that this will be free to consumers and supported by ads. It's also rumored to run over several different cell phone models. Are the big boys shaking in their mobile phone cases yet? It's also proposed that third-party developers could create applications to run on the gPhone system.

Other buzz about the gPhone includes that it would have very few restrictions placed on it by carriers and would support GPS tracking, Wi-Fi, high-speed 3G cellular networking as well as still and video camera depending on the hardware. According to sources, Google may be ready to name T-Mobile as the carrier in the U.S. due to its being one of the most consumer-friendly carriers in the country.

Stay tuned - more info on this launch as it becomes available!

Labels: cell-phone

Advertisers are going to be clamoring for your cell phone in the near future. It's a no brainer that there are more cell phones and computers than televisions in the world, so why not run ads?

Right now a company called Pay Per Play is running advertisements in America for giants such as HBO, Harley Davidson and Taco Bell. These companies are reducing their mainstream network advertising costs and going to the Internet as a means of advertising their wares. And so far, it's working.

Now from the Internet to your cell phone. In India there is an advertising program called HapAd that is being tested and if it is successful, you can bet it will going gangbusters in America. There is already minor advertising on some United States cell phones while you're connecting to certain value added services but with HapAd, the cell phone user chooses that they want to hear an advertisement and they actually make money for doing so.

In simple terms, at the time of making a call, the subscriber can decide to hear the 20 second advertisement before the call is connected and this will be a subscription based service. There are also several options to subscribers - the type of advertisements they wish to hear, the duration for which they would want to hear it and also the option to skip an advertisement.

Each cell phone carrier can decide how they want to reward their subscribers. With either more airtime or discount on the cell phone bill or just a check for cash back.

The advertisement revenue is to be shared by three parties - Airvoice for the software and for procuring the advertisements, telephone companies for providing their network and the phone subscriber who decides to hear.

India is a massive market to test-drive this program in, in 2007 the industry estimates pegged the total value (of the mobile advertising market) at 250 million (rupies) and growing at a staggering 250%. Airvoice currently has no direct comparison as it offers advertisements in voice and its technology model is completely different, making it appealing to subscribers and clients.

With a mobile subscriber base of 250 million and targeted to grow to 650 million in four years' time, the cell phone is going to become a big advertisement tool.

Watch and see, it will be here in America before you know it!

Labels: cell-phone

How many of you are excited about the potential uses of a dual sim mobile phone?

What is the biggest advantage of a dual sim phone in your opinion?

For me the biggest advantage is being able to have more than one mobile phone number. Great business advantage for sure..!

Man what were the folks at Apple thinking ? Please someone help me understand! A device that does not have a search feature for emails or contacts? How is it possible that someone could build a mini computer like this and forget search functionality. Or simply deliver a product to the public without it having search functionality? Is it possible that they just forgot and it was a huge mistake?


Did they spend too much time designing the cool box and that sleek bag your iPhone gets handed to you in while waiting in line for the coolest gadget to ever be built..? Where the test subjects with a contact list in the thousands? Where were they ? Did they not ever need to search for a contact based on the content in the notes section of a contact? Did they not need to search through email for a keyword because they could not remember who sent the email regarding the house for sale on main street?

DAMN!!! MAN... I feel like someone.. No NO NO! not one but several people should lose their job over this mistake? I don't think its heavy enough for a class action law suit, but damn man... How do you forget this feature in something that is a computer? How? It's like DeWalt forgetting that people need cordless drills that are durable? Or that it need to have the ability to hold a charge for several hours in order for a construction crew to get their job done?

I just don't understand... Did they not have a focus group? Did they pass one out to 5 people and each of those people just tested the device with 5 email message and 5 contacts?

This has nothing to do with Mobileringtones of course, but who cares about ringtones when your expensive mini computer slash telephone doesn't do what you need it to do... I love apple computers and love what they have done in terms of providing a stable environment... But DAMN iPhone crew... Your team really blew it..... Blew it big time...

And why hasn't the software updates given us search capability? At least give us some answers? Some kind of explanation? You at least owe us that...!!!

I guarantee even the cellular phone ring tone and wallpaper creators never realized how popular these add-ons would be; they are so easy to download, it is not surprising some people have hundreds on their phone. Although giving your phone that individual touch is something anyone can do, it is primarily aimed at the younger market place. Because of the entertaining effect of ring tones and cellular phone wallpapers, computer experts and cell phone manufacturers are quick to design software and gadgets that provide easy installation.

To help feed this popularity of swapping information, the ring tone converter was created and has become very popular. These are useful devices that also help with downloading the sound files from special web sites.

There is no need to worry about different models and manufacturers because cellular phone ring tone converters are generally cross compatible. The chances are if you haven't changed your phone in the last few years then this facility will not be available but it may have its own version installed directly. Newer ring tone converters no longer require cables or even infrared connections to transfer these files.

Of course, serious addicts like to create their own using built in composers. Of course once you have your own ring tone, it is a simple matter to edit and change it at any time. For those of you that now want their own cellular phone ring tone composer do not worry because many of the converters have this function built in as part of the package.

The craze is so big now that not only have a huge number of web sites set themselves up purely to deal with this but many now have weekly and monthly update plans available to subscribers. There is a variety of ways these sites can update your phone and they no longer require your phone to be connected to a computer.

The choice is yours, because you can create your own sounds, collect them from others or download them from the internet. All you have to do is check that your phone can use the software supplied and after that whether, it won't matter if it's a new cellular phone ring tone or wallpaper, you probably won't come have any problems.

Labels: cell-phone, mobile-ringtones