Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

What if you could use your cell phone as your credit card? It’s convenient enough as everyone has a cell phone, and nowadays, no one leaves home without it. Well, Nokia, Cingular, Citibank and Mastercard have announced that they are going to do a trial of a credit card based cell phone system in New York City.

Skeptics have already said that it will be easier for thieves to get the phone out of your pocket (than to steal a credit card alone) and there have also been reports of security flaws in the system reminiscent of the Paypass Mastercard system currently available.

Signing up will be on a selective/limited basis but if you do get picked, you’ll get a trendy NFC (near field communications) phone to tap into your bank account when you start spending. To sign up, go to www.nyctrial.com by December 20th. You must be a Cingular subscriber and a Citibank account holder.

Read [Gear Log]

A new mobile music and social networking service called phling! lets cell phone users access and listen to all of the music stored on their PCs at home via wireless streaming to your phone. Phling! also lets you share your music library with up to six friends, who can then listen to the music on their cell phones. Lastly, phling! allows you to to browse the profiles and music libraries of other phling! users anywhere in the world, enabling them to see how these users rate certain songs or albums…and how the entire phling! community has rated music.

Unlike other mobile music services currently available, Oxy Systems’ new service is the first one to be completely wireless. Users no longer need to connect their phones via cable to their PCs to sideload music. Instead, subscribers can listen to their music by wirelessly streaming these files to their handsets. An added benefit of listening to music in this manner is that subscribers no longer need additional storage capability on their handsets. Plus, if a subscriber ever loses his handset, he can easily reconnect his new phone to the service without worrying about losing music or photo files.

Read [Phling] Via [Phonemag]

No real tecchie has just one gadget. Heck my grandmother carries around a cell phone, PDA, iPod, and MP3 recorder, and digital camera, but she gets to put them in a big bag. Men don’t tend to have a bag to carry their gear around, so check out
Scottevest -a line of technology-enabled clothing (a.k.a. clothes with lots of pockets).

The Scottevest’s Tactical 4.0 System pairs a fleece and a ski-style jacket. Both the jacket and the fleece come with collar loops allowing you to run headphones for a MP3 player on one side your head and headphones for a Bluetooth device on the other. Headphone wires can also be run through the lining of the Tactical jacket.

The SeV shirt, which sells for $34.99, has a pocket up near the shoulder designed to hold an iPod while you go out for a run. The headphones loop beneath the shirt. Two additional pockets can hold smaller objects.

Now you never have to leave your gadgets behind because your wife complains that your camera vest makes you look like a nerd.

Read [Travel Gear Blog] Via [Boston Herald]

Wireless customers have grown increasingly dependent on their cell phones to stay connected on the go, but often they aren’t aware that their conversations can disturb others. While most of us can attest to having witnessed rude wireless behavior first-hand, few will readily admit to having been a culprit. To combat this issue Sprint is encouraging cell phone users to tune in and brush up on their manners during this month of July (which happens to be National Cell Phone Courtesy Month!).

In 2004, Sprint released a Wireless Courtesy Report detailing trends and perceptions of wireless phone behavior. The report was based on a nationwide survey of 723 adult wireless subscribers. The study’s major finding was that while the overwhelming majority of Americans said people were less courteous when using a wireless phone than five years earlier, they themselves were not at fault. Additional results revealed that 80% of Americans think that wireless callers have become less courteous but 97% don’t think they’re part of the problem.

Get some steps to avoid offending others.

According to Jacqueline Whitmore, one of the nation’s foremost experts on etiquette and protocol, wireless phone users can take steps to avoid offending others. The first four are:

1. Be all there. When you’re in a meeting, performance, courtroom or other busy area, let calls go to voicemail to avoid a disruption. In some instances, turning your phone off may be the best solution.


2. Keep it private. Be aware of your surroundings and avoid discussing private or confidential information in public. You never know who may be in hearing range.


3. Keep your cool. Don’t display anger during a public call. Conversations that are likely to be emotional should be held where they will not embarrass or intrude on others.


4. Learn to vibe. Use your wireless phone’s silent or vibration settings in public places such as business meetings, religious services, schools, restaurants, theaters or sporting events

and please remember NOT TO SCREAM!

Read [Sprint]

Your dreams have finally come true! Don’t want your pre-teen strolling around flashing a cell phone? Uneasy about saddling them with the responsibility of a cell phone? No problem. Just introduce them to the brand new Willcom Nico. Their begging and pleading for a cell phone will have to cease when you announce that this is the only phone you are willing to buy them.

These “fun phones” will be available July 13th and come in Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink, and Chocolate (say it isn’t so).

Read [MobileMag]

Have a cell contract with many months left and a huge penalty for leaving early? No one us want to feel like we are tied into anything, we want to be free to do what we want, when we want. If you have ever wanted to get out of your cell phone contract with out having to pay an early termination fee, then you know that the easiest way to do that (and one of the only ways) is by transferring your contracts responsibility to someone else. CellSwapper and CellTradeUSA are services that help you find people to transfer your contract over too, or conversely, they assist you in finding someones contract to take over.

So go on, trade away...can’t stop us now!

Read [Chip Chick]