All Things CD-ROM/DVD and More

In this article we’re going to discuss what is arguably the greatest invention since the first telephone was made over 100 years ago, the cell phone.

The telephone was certainly a great invention. No question about it. We could make calls to our friends to invite them over for dinner, our boss to tell him we’d be out sick and our spouses to tell them we’d be home late for dinner. But once we were out of reach of a phone, our communication with the outside world came to a complete stop. If we had to make an emergency call while out on the road we had to either find a pay phone or some business kind enough to let us use theirs, which wasn’t likely.

Today, that has all changed with the invention of the cell phone. Actually, the concept of the cell phone began in 1947 when researchers looked at crude mobile car phones and realized that if they used small cells they could increase the traffic range of mobile phones. Unfortunately, the technology needed to do this did not exist yet.

It wasn’t until 1973 when a man by the name of Dr. Martin Cooper, a former GM for Motorola, made the first call on a portable cell phone in April of that year. He made the call to a rival of his, Joel Engel, who was Bell Labs head of research. Ironically, though, it was Motorola that were first to incorporate to the technology into a portable device, the first one to be designed to be used outside of the car.

In 1977 AT&T and Bell Labs constructed their first cellular system. A year later were the first public trials of this new system with over 2000 trial customers. Two years later, in 1979, the first cellular system was put into use in Tokyo.

It wasn’t until 1982 that the FCC finally authorized commercial use of cell phones in the United States. One year later the first cellular phone service was established in the United States called the Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS). It was made available in Chicago by a company called Ameritech.

In spite of the incredible demand for cell phones, it took cell phone service 37 years to become available in the United States. But by the year 1987 there were over one million cell phone subscribers and the airwaves were already overcrowded. Because of this, improvements needed to be made, which included increasing frequencies allocation, splitting of existing cells and improving the technology.

Today, we have probably the most sophisticated cell system that anyone could ever want, including cell phones that even take photos. But this hasn’t come without many prices to the consumer and the general public around them.

Aside from the high cost of cell service, especially if you go over the minutes allocated to you, there are the increased hazards and annoyances that these phones cause to others, such as going off in the middle of the big finale at a Broadway play or the danger of people using these phones in places like hospitals where the operation of sophisticated equipment can be affected.

Yes, we have our cell phones and all the wonders and headaches that go with them. Like they say, you don’t get nothing for nothing.

——————————————————-
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Telephones
——————————————————-

Comments Off

Mobile phones have come along way. They are no longer just for making phone calls. People now use them to send text messages and surf the internet.

Everyday more features are being built in to the new models so that you carry fewer and fewer gadgets with you as you go about your day. They are now used as personal data assistants (PDA), digital cameras, for playing music - whether as a radio or as an mp3 player. The latest favorite is video on your mobile.

Mobile phones that are capable of showing videos have been out in the market since 2004. Mainly people have been watching videos sent to their unit by family or friends who used their own handsets to shoot the video. This has been a major improvement but not everyone shoots great videos so these shows truly are for a limited audience.

Thanks to the addition of expandable memories for the phones and some great software from really helpful creators, it is now possible to watch movies on your phone. The main requirement is that your phone is capable of playing videos. The next requirement is that you have the necessary memory space, the smallest being a 128 MB flash memory card. After that the next step is to just convert your personally owned movies to the format that your phone can read and storing it into the card. With that done, you’re all set to go on a long road trip. You can carry your favorite movies with you without having to log along any additional equipment. You just need to have enough memory cards and battery charge.

Now that movie viewing is possible, people are wondering if television shows will come to mobile as well. It would be really convenient so that people don’t miss their favorite shows. Getting news in real time with a live reporter is a more fun experience than just reading the news.

Some countries, like Japan and the United States of America, already provide this service. Though it isn’t really like watching regular television, more like watching short video clips. This is great for people who are following a particular show and don’t want to miss it but can’t access a TV from where they are. You can already get video clips and previews from MTV, ESPN, and Disney just to name a few.

Among the current difficulties of video watching on mobile phones is the display quality. With the screen so small, a lot of detail gets lost such as bon fire scenes or where the ball is in a baseball game or tennis match. It won’t be a surprise if soon there will be TV and movie shows that are made especially for mobile.

Currently, most mobile TV or videos are sent out over the internet. This basically means you need to download a clip which is usually in streaming format, and then play it. It unfortunately means that sometimes you do get choppy shows, just as you do on your personal computer (pc). In some countries though like South Korea, they go by Satellite while in Japan, they now have special handsets capable of receiving regular TV signals. Most though, rely on the 3G system at this time so you’d need to check if your phone, as well as you service provider does have the feature and additional service.

While Video on mobile isn’t perfect yet, it can sure be entertaining. If you have an interest in videos, why not try to create your own shows? You never know; if the organizations behind the emmy pushes through with the new category, and you have great skill, you may just bring home an award.

Ringtones.lt is a site specialising in the different genres of ringtones, mobile videos and Nokia wallpapers.

Comments Off

Internet business in general has a reputation for being
impersonal due to the very nature of the internet. Although when
you are in business on the internet, you can often get away with
automating your business and providing minimal personal contact
and attention to your customers, providing personalized service
and using traditional person-to-person sales techniques can truly
set you apart from the competition making your internet business
more appealing to your target audience.

The use of internet friendly technology and sales tools, such as
a web phone and other nifty devices can make a world of
difference in the effectiveness of your sales and service
processes and can save you money as well.

There are different types of web phone technology and some may be
beneficial to your internet business. The main advantage of using
a web phone rather than a traditional telephone to make and
receive calls for your business is that with most web phone
services, PC to PC calls made using your web phone are free from
long distance charges no matter where you call and phone calls
made from a web phone to a regular phone generally have much
lower long distance rates than traditional phone services and
with some services, they are even free.

Most web phone services also use wireless technology which makes
you accessible to customers even from a remote location when you
are away from your office. So, the advantages to using a web
phone is that you can stay in touch with your customers globally
without excessive phone charges and in most cases; you can do so
while you are mobile which eliminates the need for you to be in
the office.

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology used for web
phone services. There are a number of web phone service providers
that provide web phone services using VoIP technology that
enables clear connections and quality digital voice capabilities.
Some web phone services have to have a broadband connection while
others are compatible with dial-up services.

Another technology that is similar to a web phone that can really
benefit your company in regard to your sales process is web
conferencing. Web conferencing can be used as a sales tool to
conduct seminars, to hold press conferences, to conduct training
sessions and meetings with sales representatives and affiliates,
and to make sales presentations to customers.

Web conferencing enables participants in the web conference to
share real time data over the internet. Web conferencing is
accomplished either through the use of a web conferencing service
or web conferencing software and the conference can generally be
accessed using either a computer with an internet connection, a
telephone or a web phone.

The use of a web phone and web conferencing technology enables
you to provide more personalized service to your customers and
they are great options to be used as sales tools. A web phone and
web conferencing can save you money on telephone expenses as well
as travel expenses since they enable two way communications
between individuals and groups without regard to geographic
locations.

While web phone services are not yet widely used, web phones are
up and coming technology that is sure to become more popular as
the technology improves and becomes even more affordable than it
is already. As with any newly introduced technology, it will take
some time for people to recognize the vast benefits of the
technology and to move toward the use of a web phone rather than
standard, traditional telecommunication devices and services.
However, web phone usage is sure to increase as businesses and
consumers alike begin to realize the benefits and the cost-saving
features associated with web phones.

Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope,
fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketing
advice you’re getting? Whether you are new to internet marketing,
or a website owner who wants to make more money from your
website, learn the proven strategies that will sky-rocket your
internet business at http://BiznessTips.com

Comments Off

With fresh hi-tech improvements like that of digital TV, Hi Def Telly, Freesat & home cinema sound, if you’re most recent television device is greater than 5 years old, then its an excellent time to get a new television. However, as equipment is improved roughly almost every day, getting a brand new telly set may be exceedingly complex & confusing.

This TV guide endeavours to provides an insight on all the most modern developments that will help to take your telly pleasure to an amazingly new intensity.

Hi Def Telly: Conceivably the most important innovation to telly since the beginning of colour technology, High-Def (HD) TV provides detail, clarity & colour, with images characteristically four times as sharp as those from usual television machines. To see the advantages of Hi Def telly you have got to own a High-Definition Ready television. Sky and Freesat have already begun to transmit hi definition television programmes meaning you can now get pleasure from a choice of your much-loved TV programmes, movies and sporting occasions with outstanding life-like images.

Built In Digital Tuner: A TV with an integrated digital tuner (more commonly known as idTV) lets you take a look at all free to air digital TV stations, for example: E4, BBC3, Sky News & various more without the need for another set top box. John Lewis sells Cheap TVs from top brands such as Sony and Panasonic.

Freesat: A brand new digital satellite telly service offered by joint venture between the BBC and ITV, giving you free Hi-Definition TV programmes at no extra cost. Freesat has no twelve-month contract, no members fee, just a one-off expense for the television, satellite dish & installation. Plus because Freesat is transmitted via satellite, it is obtainable to roughly almost every household in the United Kingdom. Freesat television is at this time only obtainable with Panasonic TVs.

LCD or Plasma Tellies: Though LCD and Plasma televisions function in very different ways, the benefits of both are very alike. But, it’s important to remember that when picking between a Plasma or LCD TV, it is in actuality simply a question of size. LCD is at its optimal performance up to and including thirty two inches, whilst Plasma TVs deliver optimal performance at 37 inches & higher. With this in mind, if you need to get a smaller flat panel TV, then (short for Liquid Crystal Display) offers the far superior performance, while on the other hand if you require a larger panel size, Plasma is the best choice.

In conclusion, it is critical to keep in mind when selecting the right television for you, to consider your actual funds, your viewing distance, the appearance you yearn for and if it’s to be an LCD or Plasma TV.

Comments Off

One of the really awesome things about modern cell phones is the capacity they have for being personalized to suit you. With personalized ringtones, with coloured or designed or sparkly or light-up faceplates and holders, with all the great gadgets that make them really yours, cell phones are more than just a communication tool. They’re a fashion accessory.

So why not go all the way and personalize your cell phone wallpaper? That’s the part of your phone you’re going to be looking at the most anyway. You can go classy with scenic wallpaper, or with pictures by French mpressionists. Or you can go total coordination with cell phone wallpaper that matches your faceplate. Or you can download pictures of your favourite stars and movies.

Celebrity Mobile Wallpaper for Your Cell Phone : Whether you prefer Christina Aguilera or Aishwarya Rai, you can find your idol in celebrity mobile wallpaper. Why not have cell phone wallpaper that matches your ringtone - if you use Madonna’s new song for your ringtone music, download a picture of the star to go with it? Or you might just want some eye-popping eye candy. Whatever you want, you can find it.

Dress Up For the Holidays : What about a picture of Old Saint Nick coming down your chimney with a bag of toys just for you? Or maybe a classic snowscape, or even a snow globe with animated snow drifting down for you. Don’t forget the appropriate ring tone - a hearty Ho! Ho! Ho! might be nice, or some classic holiday tunes. Your mobile wallpaper can be more dressed for the holidays than you are. You can get holiday cell phone wallpaper for any holiday you choose: Chinese New Year, Halloween, Passover, Yule - your choice.

Moving Pictures: Animated Mobile Wallpaper : It’s not supported by every cell phone yet, but if you don’t want a boring static picture on your phone, you can find great animated mobile wallpaper with a variety of subjects online. Think about having flickering flames on your phone just behind your latest romance’s name.

Cell Phone Themes : If you’re one of those people who like to match all the time, you can find cell phone themes that include mobile wallpaper too. Each
theme is specific to your cell phone’s brand, so be sure you choose the right one. Cell phone themes are currently available for Nokia, Motorola and Sony Ericsson mobiles.

Philip Nicosia is the webmaster of Ringtones.lt, a site specialising in the
different genres of ringtones, including polyphonic ringtones, true tones and mp3 ringtones.

Comments Off

A person’s choices of ringtones speak about his individuality or personality. These days’ people don’t follow the rules of common calling courtesy. They love listening to polyphonic ringtones or real ringtones but do not take care of the environment in which their phone rings. At some places, it is required that you keep your ringing volume low so that people around you don’t get disturbed. Don’t worry about your ear not catching the low volumes of your mobile ringtones. Program it to start from near silent and gradually up the volume. You can also use silent or vibrating phone ringers whenever you are in meetings or don’t prefer loud ringtones.

So try selecting environmental friendly mobile ringtones. Clearly the increasing use of mobile phones at work has an effect on your workplace like the loud mobile tones may interfere with your work as well as others. When in theaters, churches, weddings and funerals, it’s a good idea to keep your mobile phones in a silent mode or on vibrators. Always consider what your ringtone says about you and the environment in which it rings. Your kids may love your loud ringtone but it might not be a hit in a meeting.

Many mobile phones offer environment settings that are intended for specific experiences like the boardroom. If your phone supports this feature, ensure that you activate the setting to the right environment before you head into an important discussion. And if your phone does not have this feature, environment friendly ringtones can be activated.

Mark Bishop is the webmaster of Ringtonezshop.com, a site specializing in the different genres of monophonic ringtones, including polyphonic ringtones and mobile phone games, Themes and Mobile Logos… etc.

Comments Off

Refurbished laptops are PCs that have been bought new by a consumer and has been used between 1 day and 3 months(depending on the store). The customer returns the laptop to the store for any number of reasons. At this time the store cannot sell it “as new”. It must be returned to the original manufacturer for refurbishing- which means, “to make bright, or fresh again, renovate”. Most stores offer a 30 day money back guarantee and within that time period is when most of the laptops are returned for a refund and sent back to the manufacturer. Thus refurbished laptops are born.

Refurbished laptops are not new, but the closest thing to it because most are within a couple of months old. Refurbished laptops will have fast processing speeds, mega system memory, newer Windows OS like XP and the most up to date technology.

Big name companies like IBM, Dell, Compaq and others recondition notebook computers, but they don’t put much effort into selling them. They focus on the new and latest technology computers and they spend a lot of money doing it. That’s in part why new laptops cost more than refurbished.

By purchasing refurbished laptops one doesn’t have to pay for the latest technology and the new price. Someone else already paid for that and you get some awesome savings. Savings of more than half off the original list price.

When refurbished laptops are reconditioned by the original manufacturer by trained professionals it’s easy to assume you are getting the best mobile computer in the world. Top quality craftsmanship and detailed work go into each laptop computer because the big name companies stake their reputations on their product, new or refurbished.

Here’s what you get when buying refurbished laptops: fast speed, loads of system memory, updated software like XP, DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drives, updated technology and a cheap price. Refurbished laptops offer so much for so little. There is little need to worry about quality. Refurbished notebooks are tested and re-tested before leaving the shop. The technicians give each one a thorough test to make sure it functions as new.

Refurbished laptops have been around for a long time and will remain so because people everywhere are catching on to the incredible savings. The need for a laptop is almost endless, but you can connect to the internet from almost anywhere, they replace big bulky equipment with lightweight equipment, take them to work, school or play. Imagine doing your homework at the beach, or doing your job at the park. Laptop computers make this possible and refurbished laptops enable great savings and value.

Online Crazy Deals specializes in new and refurbished mobile computing equipment such as laptops, palm pilots and accessories. Offering factory reconditioned merchandise at a discount price so you can get mobile again.http://www.onlinecrazydeals.com

Comments Off

This is part of the request we received for articles: Mobile-Audio-Video - Articles on automotive video and sound systems belong here, including suggestions and tips as well as system reviews.

Auto audio is a big thing here in Idaho if you visit a huge city like Twin Falls so I’m glad to oblige the webmaster.

The main drag of Twin is Blue Lakes Boulevard. Blue Lakes is the traffic-light center of South Central Idaho. That’s when you get to evaluate the auto audio systems. That’s exactly what our leader wants (see above).

Remember the Boom Boxes that teens carried on their shoulders blasting out rock music at 150 decibels? Anything above 100 decibels is considered to be damaging by our government who knows about such things.

That’s why you see jackhammer operators, airport workers, and shooters wearing those things that look like plastic earmuffs.

That’s also why I leave my swimming earplugs in when driving down Blue Lakes.

The Super Auto Boomer is found on Blue Lakes. I’m not sure where they are sold, but I think you can find one on the Internet like anything else you need.

I went to http://www.carstereo.com/ where auto audio sellers are listed and systems compared. I didn’t find Super Auto Boomer but I’m sure it’s on the Internet somewhere. Under Amplifiers I found the Kicker KX-Series KX2500.1 1-Channel Amplifier - 2500W RMS x 1 @ 2-ohm. It is the highest priced ($689.00) so you need to look no further.

Here is part of the description of that ear-buster as given on the site: KICKER’s KX2500.1 Class D Subwoofer Amplifier delivers 2,500-plus watts to your woofers. KICKER supplies jaw-dropping power in a single amplifier. It’s a fact. This brute serves-up the ridiculous power that other amps claim but can’t deliver. At 2-Ohm loads, the breakthrough KX2500.1 produces more than 2,500 ground-pounding watts for bass that lets ‘em know your coming.

I’ve decided what I’ve been calling the Super Auto Boomer is really this baby. It sure in Hades lets you know that it is coming.

The first time I heard one of those audio brutes was from a 1989 Chevy. The car had been in a few fender benders. I decided that these collisions occurred when old ladies had the besednics scared out of them and rammed him.

I invented the word “besednics” for this particular phenomenon.

Anyway, I was about two miles away when I first heard the KABOOM BOOM KABOOM of his woofers. He pulled off the road and then shot out of McDonalds with a coke and a Big Mac®. I caught up with him at the next stop light.

I yelled out the window :”CAN’T YOU TURN THAT THING DOWN?”

He couldn’t hear me of course.

He gave me a big smile with the special sauce running down his chin. He turned the volume down and said, “Thank you! It cost me a month’s wages.”

Then he turned it back up to SUPER VOLUME and drove off. That’s when my conversion van started to shake, shutter, and vibrate.

My bumpers fell from my van to the street. It was that 2,500 ground-pounding watts for bass.

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com, a retired VP of R&D for Lenox China, is author of detective & western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering, humor), poetry, etc. Former editor of Ceramic Industry Magazine, Jones is Executive Representative of International Wealth Success. He calls himself “Taylor Jones, the hack writer.”

More info: http://www.tjbooks.com

Business web site: http://www.bookfindhelp.com (IWS wealth-success books and kits and business newsletters / TopFlight flagpoles)

Comments Off

Have you priced a laptop computer lately? Buying a new laptop is a big investment; and just how big of an investment you want to make is entirely up to you. Look in your Sunday newspaper flyers to see countless models on sale each week. Initially selections were made by looking at the specifications and the general appearance. However that’s not the sole criteria any longer. Everyday more and more people are now stepping inside the mobile world. With so many models of laptops now available, how can you be sure about the choice you make? Below are several factors you should consider: CPU (Central Processing Unit), Video Card, hard disk, noise, battery life and RAM (Random Access Memory).

CPU is the main component which determines the performance of your computer and also the heating and the battery life. There is a trade-off between the CPU performance and the battery-life and power consumption (heating). If you want a laptop which would replace a desktop and if you are not planning to travel with it a lot then there are several different offers with desktop CPUs integrated in the laptop main board (such as a P4).

If you are fond of mobility and are going to use your new laptop for your business purposes or school, then you should consider buying a laptop with more suitable CPUs. AMD Athlon can be a solution: Athlon processors are designed for users who are looking for economical solutions, both purchase and usage. Older models of Athlon are no where near Intel Pentium products from the point of performance, and yet new models like 2800+ are potent enough to compete with P4 2.8 GHz.

There is one more model of CPU that many of the customers prefer: Centrino. Centrino is the new attempt of Intel to balance the tradeoff between the performance and mobility issues. With the 2 MB second level cash, the Pentium CPU is modified for the laptop which eases the burden of the CPU and implicitly pulls down the levels of heating and power consumption.

RAM and the graphic card are also two important factors for the quality of the laptop. There are two kinds of RAM on the market: SD RAM and DD RAM. In any case, there is no tradeoff, no comparison: DD RAM is better, and yet, you still have to be careful about the clock specification of the RAM. If you buy a RAM with 3.0 MHz clock speed, you will see the performance improvement it supplies to the whole system. Another thing to consider is that some computers have 512 MB RAM with two slots (256 x 2) which is not very good for the new laptop you are going to buy. Overall, if you want a good laptop, you should consider one equipped with a 3.0 MHz, 512 MB, DD RAM.

There are various video cards on the market today. The first thing you should check is the “ON-Board” specification in the video card. These cards are integrated into the main board and generally use your main RAM as for the video memory. If you are going to use your laptop for general purposes, not for gaming or 3-D design which would require 3D hardware acceleration, these laptops with onboard video card are for you. However, if you are a professional Counter Strike player, you would be disappointed with the screen delays and freezes.

The last technical detail is the hard disk. While buying a hard disk there is a detail which is much more important then the capacity: RPM. Rotation Per Minute determines how fast the data transfer rate is to the CPU to be processed so this specification also plays a huge role while dealing with multimedia stuff.

So if you’re in the market for a new laptop computer, one suggestion is to consider buying a Centrino laptop with an onboard video card with a big RAM if you are planning to use it for school or business purposes and also randomly for movies and music. Nevertheless, Pentium computers with AGP or PCI Express video off-board video cards would give you the performance of a desktop if you don’t mind the weight, noise and the heating of the laptop.

With so many decisions to make, take your time; do your homework and invest wisely.

Scott Morris manages the site on beautiful models.

Comments Off

What if you want to catch up on the morning TV news passing the time away on your morning train commute into the city. Stuck in line somewhere and want to find out what your favorite sport team is doing. Well, an alternative that is coming soon instead of TiVo or videotaping your favorite TV program is watching cell phone television.

“Cellular carriers are banking on the fact that Americans love TV,” said Neil Strother, an industry spokesperson with In-Stat/MDR Inc. “By delivering these new video applications, carriers think they will be able to lower customer turnover and develop new revenue streams.” In fact, Nokia just recently acknowledged wireless television pilot program in Finland.

Cellular manufacturers have been toying with this idea for some time but the technology just wasn’t there. It will require a combined effort on the part of cell phone manufacturers and television programming providers. Nokia, Samsung, and Motorola’s headsets are leading the pact by providing phones that include tuners that have the capability of receiving television programming.

Some milestones are still need to be reached including the capability of watching TV on a cell phone for long periods of time without the battery running out. As well, the video quality just isn’t there yet and needs to be worked out.

Cell phones aren’t just for talking anymore.

Catherine Kenyeres is a free lance writer and publisher for Best-4u-Cell-Phones.com. Catherine provides the latest information, reviews and comparisons for her cell phone clients.

Comments Off