Cell Phones

Cell phone spoofing is also known as caller identification fraud and it represents a method of altering identification of a caller's number so that a when he makes a phone call, a different number will appear on the receiver's caller ID. In 2004, a company started offering such services to anyone who was willing to pay a price, but since, people have realized that this thing is morally wrong and laws took shape to diminish spoofing. Laws can do only so much so you’ll have to know how to protect yourself against such practices. There are two main ways to protect yourself from spoofing.

Cell Phone Spoofing (Source: posterous.com)

The first method implies restricting incoming calls. This means that you’d have to save all the phone numbers you regularly use to your phone’s contact list. Make sure you enter all the potential phone numbers that might call you, including institutions like banks and other such places. Then, you have to change your phone's security settings so it will allow incoming calls only from the contracts from your address book. The calls that don’t appear in your contact list will be rejected or sent to voicemail. If you do have a voicemail, before calling back the person who left a message, make sure you know who you’re calling.

The second method implies a bit of social skills, but nothing too out of the ordinary. You’ll have to tell the caller you're busy at the moment and ask for their contact information so you’ll be able to call them back. Customer services for the businesses or organizations always have valid numbers, so you can call that company and ask someone from their client relations division if the number is a valid number for their company. If the number is invalid, it means you were about to get spoofed. Also, when receiving a call, listen for background noise. In many cases the background noise gives you the indication if the person calling you is really calling you from where he says he’s calling from.

Cell Phone Spoofing (Source: img.ehowcdn.com)

Finally, ask the caller to send you the information you need by mail. If they refuse, it means something is fishy and you shouldn’t give them any information over the phone.

There are many stores, offline and online, that offer services and products from the mobile phone world and I plan on telling you all about the major players from this league. Step by step, in time, we’ll make a list with all of them so you’ll know which of them are the best, what are their ups and their lows, and finally conclude if they’re worth visiting. This time it’s CellHut’s turn to get in the spotlight.

Cell Phone Hut (Source: cellhut.com)

CellHut is an online store that deals with everything related to mobile phones and electronics, offering a wide variety of products at affordable prices. They advertise themselves as being a store that carries a large variety of international unlocked GSM phones that can be used worldwide with almost any GSM carriers. In addition to offering unlocked phones, they also have a complete line of accessories for most cellular phones. All these accessories are genuine and they come with the manufacturer’s warranty, so they should be really trustworthy. They stock all of their products in-house and they ship them directly to the customers, which means the orders will arrive in the shortest time possible.

The great thing about Cell Hut is that they ship their products anywhere in the world, which means you can buy from them even if you’re not a US citizen. They ship everywhere, from the Americas, to Europe, Asia, and even the middle east.

For you to make an idea about the prices they practice, I’ll choose a few random products and name their prices, so you can decide if their worth visiting. For instance, an HTC Evo 3D, comes at a price of 800$, which is about the same as you would get from other stores, like Best Buy. A great price offer is for the Samsung B3410, which has a considerable discount. For the pink version of this great smartphone you’ll have to pay only 199$, the price being for the unlocked version of the phone.

Cell Phone Hut (Source: cellhut.com)

If you want to purchase a laptop, you can get an HP Pavilion dv7 for just over 800$. The price is good, as at this time they offer a 100$ discount for this particular model.  If you are not convinced by what I’ve said, go down to their website and take a look for yourself to see if they emit the right kind of vibe that will make you be a loyal customer.

The usage of mobile phones while driving is common among most drivers, but not many people realize the dangers behind this. Due to the large number of accidents related to mobile phone usage while driving, some states have made the use of a cell phone while driving illegal. Most states however,  enacted laws to ban mobile phone use, but allow the use of such a device with use of a handsfree device. In some states restrictions are only made for minors or for those who are beginners when it comes to driving a vehicle.

Cell Phone Driving Laws (Source: statehighwaysafety.org)

Some studies show that driving while using such a hands free cellular device is not much safer than using a hand held mobile phone. These studies show that phone users are not distracted by the fact that they have to hold the device in their hands while driving. The distraction comes from the conversation itself, which in 36% of cases makes the persons brain activities focus in other directions than driving the vehicle.

Another test, made by Plantronics, showed that test subjects used the breaks much faster and steered much better while using a hands free device against those who held the phone in their hands. Because of the inconsistency between these types of tests, no common agreement was made and that’s why each state and each country in the world has its own laws when it comes to talking on the phone while driving.

Cell Phone Driving Laws (Source: handsfreeinfo.com)

Many studies have shown that in some of the cases it’s not the speaking that’s causing the driver to lose concentration while on the road, but the moment in which they make the actual call. This lead to the conclusion that even more dangerous than speaking on the phone is the typing of a text message while driving. Most people agree and studies are backing them up, that text messaging while driving makes the driver loose almost all of his focus regarding the traffic and the surrounding environment.

In most states in the United States, calling or texting while driving is against the law, especially if there is no use of a handsfree device. Some states only apply this law to beginners or bus drivers, but in many cases, a policeman can pull over a driver just for speaking on the phone, without him breaking other traffic regulations.

Even though virtual keyboards are the new craze among smartphone users, some people still prefer the old school physical keyboards on mobile phones. In this article, we’ll take a look at some Android phones that have a newer operating system version installed, who also come with a physical keyboard.

Android 2 Physical Keyboard Phones (Source: st2.gsmarena.com)

First on our list is the all too popular Samsung Galaxy 551 a great smartphone that combines in a perfect way the abilities of a touchscreen phone, with the physical keyboard most IM fans crave for. This model has an Android 2.2 operating system installed, which means that it’s capable of doing a lot of cool things. With basically the same capabilities as the Samsung, we have the HTC Desire Z. The main difference between the two is the design and shape of the phone and the fact that the HTC has a much smaller keyboard that slides from under the touchscreen.

As you probably noticed, most users who use instant messaging services a lot prefer this type of phones and if we take a close look at these phones, we can conclude that most of them contain the word “Pro” in their names. If you hear of a phone that has the word “Pro” at the end of its name, it’s very likely it will be a touchscreen phone that has a keyboard under the screen or a keyboard that slides out from under the screen.

To go on with our list, we’ll take a look at the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Pro. This recently released phone model, comes with an Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and an 8 megapixel camera with a lot of features that will make sure your pictures will turn out at a great quality. It maintains the same design with the physical keyboard that slides from under the screen.

Android 2 Physical Keyboard Phones (Source: st2.gsmarena.com)

The last phone on our list, differs a bit in design, as it has a keyboard on the bottom of the screen, not under it.  The Motorola FlipOut is an older and cheaper phone that still comes with an Android 2.1 operating system. It’s not as good as the previous models, but it’s still a decent phone that will work great for those who like the feel of a physical keyboard on their smartphones.

Unlike other articles I’ve written, in this one I’m not going to tell you how to find apps for a certain model of Sony Ericsson mobile phone, instead I’m going to tell you how to install apps that will work on your phone and where to find them. Sony Ericsson has been flirting with a lot of operating systems, starting from own operating systems that could run only Java, then moving up on the latter and making phones that ran Symbian operating systems. On the more recent Sony Ericsson models we can find operating systems like Android and even Windows Phone which means their phones are smartphones that can run almost anything.

Apps For Sony Ericsson Phone (Source: sonyinsider.com)

Before surfing the web in search for applications to install on your Sony Ericsson mobile phone, you must ask yourself some questions and determine exactly what type of phone do you have, Is it a feature phone or is it a smart phone? If it’s the first category, it means you can probably install only java applications, but only if the phone is a more recent model that has some sort of a memory and Java support.

If you are the lucky owner of a smartphone, you will have a lot of apps to choose from, all you have to do is find out what type of operating system is installed on your phone. The operating system should be shown in the manual of the phone or in the user’s guide. If you bought the phone from someone and you don’t have the manuals, you can always check out the internet to find out which is on your phone.

Apps For Sony Ericsson Phone (Source: sonyinsider.com)

If you have a phone that’s compatible only with Java apps, you can check out websites like www.java-phones.com or www.m.getjar.comstraight from your mobile phone or from a computer. If you are the owner of a Symbian phone, you should check out websites like www.symbian-freeware.com or www.60symbian.com.

If you own a high-end smartphone with a Windows Phone operating system, you can get apps straight from Microsoft’s site. Many of the apps are free, but this is because the operating system isn’t. And finally, Android users are the luckiest when it comes to apps for phones, as Android apps can be found on a large number of websites, many of them being free. Out of the bundle of app containing sites I mention only Android Market, which is the official marketplace for Android applications.