CareerBuilder Survey Paints A Darker Picture Of Our Obsession With Staying Connected

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I will start by saying that I REALLY hope that my wife does not read this article! There is no telling what kind of medicine she is going to put me on or counseling she will insist I go to! I am addicted to Mobility. After reading through a Survey taken by CareerBuilder, a darker picture is being painted about our need to stay connected, even at times when we should be focusing in on what is really important in our lives. No with all that being said, I am not going to delve into a lot of depth with this as nothing I could write could compare to our own Dr. Jim’s work on the Psychology of Technology Series he so brilliantly writes for us. But what I would like is for you to take a little quiz. There are 8 different locations or times that have been listed below, ask yourself how many of those you have used your mobile device during:

  1. During a meal  
  2. While in the bathroom  
  3. Lying in bed at night 
  4. At a movie, play, musical, etc…
  5. On a date  
  6. Working out at the gym  
  7. At a child’s event of function
  8. At church

Now, I had already known that I would score badly on any mobility obsessive test, but I was a little pleased that I did not go 8 for 8! How many did you score on? Here is what the survey found on what percentage of people polled used mobility on or where as the case may be:

  1. During a meal – 62 percent 
  2. While in the bathroom – 57 percent 
  3. Lying in bed at night – 50 percent
  4. At a movie, play, musical, etc… – 25 percent
  5. On a date – 18 percent 
  6. Working out at the gym – 17 percent 
  7. At a child’s event of function – 17 percent
  8. At church – 11 percent

You can read the entire CareerBuilder Survey after the break, but I invite you to share your scores with us and leave a comment. Mine was 7/8.

 

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Skype Mobile And Verizon Exclusive Agreement Video

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I think everyone knows about Skype and the value it has given people to keep in touch using their PC’s or what is otherwise know as VoIP, or Voice Over Internet Protocol. I use Skype daily to keep in contact with manufacturers all over the world. But as many of you know, there was also a popular mobile application that worked using your data plan and not your minutes, making it a very cost effective way to keep up with people. That is where there was high speed service because it was very poor call quality otherwise. In a series of Skype news that had Skype pulling their software from Windows Mobile Devices (CLICK HERE) and then announcing Skype available for Nokia’s Smartphones via the OVI Store (CLICK HERE). Skype also announced at MWC that they had reached an exclusive deal with Verizon on Droid and BlackBerry Handsets. (CLICK HERE).

So that kinda brings us to today where Skype and Verizon have released a video on the advantages of Skype on the Verizon network. It is a pretty basic video but with a couple of key changes. First, Skype will not require a Data Plan from Verizon to work and will run in the background, being “always on”. This is a pretty big change for Skype not using Data to work on Mobile Handsets. Check out the video below for some more information:

  • make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype user around the globe on America’s most reliable wireless network;
  • call international phone numbers at competitive Skype Out calling rates;
  • send and receive instant messages to other Skype users; and
  • remain always connected with the ability to see friends’ online presence.

If you want to re-check out the press release from Verizon Wireless and Skype, jump after the break and enjoy. We’ll keep you posted with more information on Skype so stay tuned. You can also check out more at the Verizon website or CLICK HERE

(via)

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Samsung Announces Launch of Highly-Anticipated eReader for the US Market

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With the success of the Amazon Kindle and the interest in the yet to be released Apple iPad, there is no doubt that many manufacturers are trying to figure out the recipe to cash in on Wireless Reading Devices. Samsung is no different and think that they may have found a unique twist on their eReader that may give them a leg up on the rest of the competition. The Samsung eReader comes with:

  • 6” E-ink display (600×800) with 8-Gray scale for easy readability both indoors and out
  • Built-in front speakers or the convenient head-phone jack
  • Samsung’s text-to-speech (TTS) technology
  • Built-in MP3 player
  • Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
  • Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity
  • EmoLink technology (enables users to share content between Samsung eReader devices)
  • 2GB of internal memory
  • Micro SD card slot increases the device’s storage capabilities by an additional 16GB

Stay tuned for more information on release and pricing for the Samsung eReader as we get it and don’t forget to jump after the break for the entire Samsung press release.

 

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Motorola Droid USB Sync and 2nd Battery Charge Cradle Gets Reviewed

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For all you Motorola Droid owners out there, here is something that will really come in handy! A very cool cradle by Wireless Ground that just got reviewed by our friends at Test Freaks (dot com). Bridget does a really nice job reviewing the Motorola Droid USB Sync and 2nd Battery Charge Cradle which actually … Read more

T-Mobile HTC HD2 Unboxing Leaks

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With a device like this, we just can’t get enough leaked goodness! This time BGR’s ninjas score the T-Mobile HTC HD2 just like the rest of us will see it on March 24th. Looks like the basic accessories will be coming with the HD2 with the exception of a skin you can see listed in … Read more

Vodafone’s HTC Magic Coming With Malware Bot

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Some researchers over at the Panda Research Blog have discovered that Vodafone’s HTC Magic has been nicely equipped with the Mariposa Malware bot client. That’s not all, it was also found to have a Confiker and a Lineage password stealing malware. “The interesting thing is that when she plugged the phone to her PC via … Read more

Batterygate II: Exposing Fakes

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In my war against crappy cell phone batteries I’ve been dying to dig into the whole Chinese bathtub battery world as doing so could yield more effective and actionable information to use to shake things up and blow off lids than just fighting on the eBay feedback front would offer. But that’s a dark place you may not find on Google (or Pamela) to get access to and information about, one thing I’m hoping HTC can give me if they take my little email seriously. I want them to help me help them help me help you patronize the right people, you dig? That could take a while so I want to hand some of this off to you in case you ever buy a battery on eBay, either a counterfeit OEM, a crappy battery or a crappy counterfeit battery, as one of you might be able, with the right footwork, to crack their Great Wall of Cell Phone Accessory Secrecy. By they I mean China obviously. And Hong Kong and Singapore too at least have some peripheral involvement but we’re dealing with, primarily and as usual, China.

I bought three batteries advertised on eBay as being OEM/HTC. Two of the three were counterfeits. It seems there is a sea of counterfeit batteries and that ain’t right so I want to waste a ton of time trying to do something about it. If you get burned with a fake OEM or otherwise unsatisfactory battery, here’s how I recommend you handle it: First hit the seller with a negative feedback rating using language like “counterfeit” and “fraud” then contact the seller demanding your money back — but not in exchange for sending the battery back as, and you can advise them of this if asked, sending something that is fake in exchange for money, either normal money or refunded money, may constitute mail fraud. I wouldn’t worry about being prosecuted, but why make the schlep to the post office just so they can make sure there isn’t any loose evidence of their fraud? And you don’t want to mail it back just so they can sell it to someone else. If you’re not sure if your battery is copacetic or not and want to run it by me, I’ll test that sucker for you and even cover the return postage, no problem (but right now I can only charge Tilt 2 batteries, sorry everyone else).

The one legit OEM, by the way, came from Brooklyn.

These people are desperate to protect their feedback rating so you have some leverage here, at least enough to get your money back if not more. Actually by this point you may already have gotten your money back but let’s aim higher: In exchange for retracting your negative feedback in exchange for a neutral rating and not pursuing the situation further with eBay, PayPal, HTC, or if there actually is any, an equivalent their country has of a better business bureau, ask for the contact information of their supplier or the manufacturer. There are so many resellers that it’s pointless to try to report them all but getting information on who’s cooking up the bathtub batteries with the fake labels, now we’re talking. About what exactly I don’t know yet but it just feels like the right direction to head. I could use your help in getting that information in order to have any affect at all on this dirty industry so let us all benefit from your being victimized and not let the deal die in vain.

But it’s a safe bet they won’t cough that information up (at least the two I tried to pressure wouldn’t). So, demand next (in exchange for the bad feedback retraction) that they take the listing down of the fake item along with any duplicates, searching through their other listings for others of the same item. If they won’t do that, for your next counteroffer I would recommend to retract your negativity and stop breaking their balls if they would just remove any reference of HTC, OEM, HTC model numbers and the like — anything misleading buyers viewing the item into thinking it’s OEM. That’s just too much not to feed back negatively over. If they won’t do that, leave the negative feedback intact, sting them with a counterfeit report to eBay and move on in life.

So that’s what I did with Lovely Betty from Hong Kong. It’s both a good how-to for this situation and an amusing read. Sweet girl, so polite and even left me and now you too with a happy ending. Hit more so I can hit you back with the transcript.

Doug Simmons

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The Tough CASIO G’ZONE BRIGADE Hits Verizon Today

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Verizon Wireless and CASIO today announced that the water and shock resistant CASIO® G’zOne Brigade™ is available today. The CASIO Brigade is the perfect device for business customers in industries such as construction, public safety and utilities who need devices that stand up to tough work conditions while still delivering high-performance mobile technology. This rugged … Read more

BirdieSync

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Tags: BirdieSync, calender, tasks, address book, contacts, sync, ActiveSync, Thunderbird, Sunbird It is quite easy to sync your contacts, calendar, tasks, and emails between Windows Mobile Pocket Outlook on your phone and Office Outlook on your PC using Microsoft ActiveSync. However, ActiveSync doesn’t help if you use Thunderbird or Sunbird on your PC and not … Read more

TeamViewer App For iPhone & iPod Touch

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Tags: iPhone, iPod, remote, TeamViewer Who doesn’t know about TeamViewer? It  is the only tool that makes accessing a remote computer hassle free. Until now, TeamViewer was available only for PCs and Macs. And now, you can use this app on your iPhone and iPod touch too. You can use it on your iPhone or … Read more