Cell Phone News and Reviews

Monday, February 6, 2012

Cell Phone News and Reviews


Question about flashing CDMA phone

Posted: 06 Feb 2012 11:18 AM PST

I buy a sell cellphones online and I have sold a lot of CDMA phones. One of the problems I have with CDMA phones is that sometime they have bad ESN, meaning the carrier has backlisted the phone's ESN and it cannot be activated with the designated carrier. My question is, if I flash the phone to another carrier, can it be activated with the new carrier? For example, when a Verizon phone cannot be activated with Verizon because it has bad ESN, if I flash it to Sprint, can it be activated with Sprint? Another question is, after a phone is flashed, will the ESN still the same?


Cell Phone News and Reviews

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Cell Phone News and Reviews


Unlocked: International vs US? Carrier Unlocked Vs Some guy on Ebay Unlocked? OEM Unlocked? HELP

Posted: 05 Feb 2012 12:23 PM PST

I have a few questions and I hope someone here can give me some advice as I am very confused about the whole locked/unlocked phone issue. I want to purchase an Android smartphone and use it as a prepaid phone kind of like I did with my old TracFone, I really liked NOT getting any kind of bill once a month.

• Does any manufacturer (besides Apple) sell a smart phone that is unlocked?
• For what I want to do (see below) should I get a carrier specific phone with no contract and then have them unlock it?
• Why can't I easily find a new unlocked phone with a warranty? I am not trying to do anything illegal or to try to trick the carrier or the manufacturer.
• I keep reading that Google sells phones directly that are unlocked but maybe they stopped doing this?



• My goal is to find a high end phone (right now it is the Galaxy S II) either from a retailer like Wal Mart where I would get a manufacturer's warranty or someplace like eBay which would not come with a warranty but most have option for Square Trade 2 years for $80, plus no tax and that saves me a bit of money as well.


I am planning on making a full price purchase of a smartphone and I am leaning towards the Samsung Galaxy S II for a couple of reasons, one of which is its large screen as I hope to get a phone with a minimum of 4.5 inch display.

I am very confused with the whole idea of unlocked phones. I read somewhere that Google actually sells unlocked phones and that seemed like a safe bet but from what I can see they do not sell them directly.

I see some on Amazon, and lots of other places but I don't think they have a warranty. I see some on Ebay and I could get a two year Square Trade warranty for $80 and that is fine, although the strange part is if I buy a new one at Walmart then they charge over $100 for some reason.

I also am a bit weary of how the phone was unlocked if it is new, was it done in an authorized way and if now, how would this affect me?

Then there is the issue of International phone vs US phone, warranty issues, will this work with this carrier and little differences in model numbers.

Is a phone unlocked by the manufacturer itself before any branding goes on it better than one from say, T-Mobile that they have unlocked? I have heard that the carrier unlocked ones are still locked a bit as far as the proprietary software frequencies it may have?

My goal is to start out having a high end smart phone and only using it with pre-paid cards as I do not want to start any plan, even a no contract plan, with any type of monthly commitment. I am leaning towards T-Mobile and I talked to one of the customer service reps, and was told that if I purchased one of their phones without contract ( $570 at Wal Mart for the Galaxy S II) then they would unlock it after 40 days of activation.

I was also told that I could just use the prepaid cards, say the $100 one that would give me 1000 minutes and or texts at one text charged as a minute. No data, but for a start this is fine with me.

If I change my mind I can always go with one of their no contract monthly deals for data but for me, I usually have consistent access to wifi so I want to see how it goes with no data plan.

I would love to just purchase a pre paid "data pack" ie a card for x amount of megabytes of data for x amount of money and it would not expire, just decrease as I use it until it is used up kind of like the minutes do, but I have not found a carrier where I could do this.

Any help would be much appreciated. I am planning on spending around $600 (hopefully less if possible) and I don't want to make a mistake and get the wrong phone.

Thanks
Mike


Cell Phone News and Reviews

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Cell Phone News and Reviews


*New person* I don't know much about smart phones and have a couple questions.

Posted: 19 Jan 2012 08:29 PM PST

I've been using cell phones for years but have never had a smart phone. The reason I haven't gotten a smart phone is because I would never use it for internet access. In other words, I have no need for a data plan.

What do I want?

I just want a phone with the following:

1) allows me to make and receive phone calls

2) allows me to send and receive text messages

3) has about an 8.0 megapixel camera

4) can play mp3 files and has at least 32 GB of storage


I tired of carrying a cell phone, i-pod, and digital camera. I just want to carry ONE device but do not want or need internet access.

Please help me out. Thank you!


Cell Phone News and Reviews

Friday, February 3, 2012

Cell Phone News and Reviews


News: Panasonic forecasts record $10.24Billion

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 01:36 AM PST

Panasonic is the latest Japanese TV manufacturer to feel the squeeze, and how — it's just updated its annual forecast to predict a loss of ¥780 billion ($10.24 billion), by far the largest in the company's history and coming close to the record ¥787.34 billion ($10.33 billion) loss Hitachi posted in the fiscal year ended March 2009. Like most other Japanese companies, Panasonic is blaming the strong yen and Thai flooding, although it also wrote off ¥250 billion ($3.28 billion) for the buyout of Sanyo in April. Its quarterly net loss was ¥197.6 billion ($2.59 billion), against average analyst predictions of just ¥3 billion ($39.37 million). Sony's disappointing results from yesterday suddenly look a little less disastrous, with Panasonic expecting to lose well over three times as much come the end of the fiscal year.


Cell Phone News and Reviews

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Cell Phone News and Reviews


Info: Default Applications On The Pantech Burst

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 05:18 PM PST

Calendar

Tap 'Calendar' from the applications menu. Tap a day that you want to view events for the day. A blue dot indicates an event for a day. Press the Options icon and tap Day, Week, or Month.
  • Day: Checks a schedule for a daily basis.
  • Week: Checks a schedule for a weekly basis.
  • Month: Checks a schedule for a monthly basis.
Clock

To add a city to the clock list, tap 'Clock Tools' from the applications menu. Tap 'Add new city' and enter the name of a city. Type the first letter and you can find the city more easily. Select and tap the city.

To use the timer, tap 'Clock Tools' from the applications menu. Tap 'Timer'. Tap the time indicated on the screen, or press the Options icon and then 'Set' for setting the time. Set the hour, minute and second and tap 'Done'. Tap 'Start'.

To add an alarm, tap 'Alarm/Clock' from the applications menu. Tap 'Add alarm'. Enter the hour and the minute and tap 'Set'. Adjust settings for alarm and tap 'Done'. You will see a green bar under the set alarm.

Calculator

Tap 'Calculator' from the applications menu. Enter a number and tap a mathematical sign you want to use. Tap 'C' to delete a number and hold 'C' to delete the whole number.

Converter

Tap 'Converter' from the applications menu. Select a unit type. Length is selected by default. Change the unit type by tapping '<' or '>'. Tap on the box below the unit type, enter value, and tap 'Done'. Select the original unit by dragging the wheel in the middle of the screen. Select a target unit. The changed value promptly appears below.

Voice Dialer

Tap 'Voice Dialer' from the applications menu. Say a contact's name, e.g. "Mike", on the mic. Tap on the message or 'OK'. For example, if you have said "Mike," Call Mike on mobile will appear on the screen.

Weather

Tap 'Weather' from the applications menu. Tap 'Add new city'. Enter the name of the city you want, or flick the screen upwards and tap one. Weather information of the city appears on the list.


How-to: All Things E-mail On The Pantech Burst

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 04:58 PM PST

Setting Up An E-mail Account

Tap 'Email' from the applications menu. Enter your email address and password for the first use. Tap either 'Manual setup' or 'Next'. If you tap 'Manual setup', tap POP3, IMAP or Exchange, set the necessary options and tap 'Next'. Enter a name for the account. Enter your name that will be displayed on the outgoing messages. Tap 'Done'.

Adding A New E-mail Account

Tap 'Email' from the applications menu. Press the Options icon and tap 'More > Accounts'. Press the Options icon' and tap 'Add account'. Follow the steps to set up an email account.

Removing An E-mail Account

Tap 'Email' from the applications menu. Press the Options icon and tap 'More > Accounts' in the Inbox screen. Press and hold the account that you want to remove. Tap 'Remove account > OK'.

Sending An E-mail

Tap 'Email' from the applications menu. Tap 'Compose mail'. Note: If you have added more than two email accounts, the first one is designated as the primary account for sending an email. Enter the recipient's email address, or tap the Contact icon and select and tap the contact. Enter the subject and content of the message. Tap 'Send'.

Adding A Gmail Account

Tap 'Gmail' from the applications menu. Tap 'Next'. Tap 'Sign in' if you have a Gmail account. Enter your user name and password. Tap 'Sign in'.

Sending An E-mail Through Gmail

Tap 'Gmail' from the applications menu. Press the Options icon and tap 'Compose'. Enter the recipient's email address, the subject and the message. Press the Options icon and tap 'Send'.

Gmail Options

Tap 'Gmail' from the applications menu. Press the Options icon and tap 'More > Settings > General preferences'. Adjust the following setting options:
  • Message Actions: Sets to show message actions outside of a message's header among Always show, Only show in portrait, and Don't show.
  • Clear search history: Removes all the search history.
  • Clear "Show pictures": Restores the default setting for all senders in order not to show pictures on a mail automatically.

Adding Attachments

Press the Options icon in the composed message and tap 'Attach'. Tap an item you want to attach among Pictures, Videos, Audio, vCard, vCalendar, Documents, and Location. Tap 'Send' when you are finished.


How-to: Connectivity 101 For The Pantech Burst

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 04:43 PM PST

Attachment 49892

Connect To A Wi-Fi Network

Tap 'Settings' from the applications menu. Tap 'Wireless & networks > Wi-Fi settings'. Tap 'Wi-Fi' to activate the function. Select and tap a network. You should enter the password if the network is secured. The Wi-Fi icon in the upper right corner indicates a secured Wi-Fi network. Tap 'Connect'. Once the network is remembered, the phone will automatically connect to it when in range.

Connect To A Mobile Network

You can use 3G (or EDGE if available) or 4G(LTE) to connect the phone to the Internet and exchange multimedia messages. You will need a data plan to access a 2G, 3G or 4G network. The settings are already preconfigured on the phone, and it is ready to use 3G or 4G services. Please do not change the settings: this may cause services to stop working. If your settings for some reason are not working, contact your carrier to confirm the settings and to see what you can do from your end to fix the issue.

Connect To Bluetooth/Devices

Tap 'Settings' from the applications menu. Tap 'Wireless & networks > Bluetooth settings'. Tap 'Bluetooth' to activate the function. Tap 'Scan for devices'. Select and tap a device from the list. Tap 'Pair' to connect to and pair with the device.

You can also access your Bluetooth connection by tapping and dragging down the top part of the homescreen and tap the Bluetooth icon in the 'Easy Setting' menu. The icon will turn red whenever Bluetooth is active.

Connect Others To The Internet

To tether a device to the Pantech Burst, connect the phone with an electronic device using the USB cable. Tap 'Settings' from the applications menu. Tap 'Wireless & networks > Tethering & portable hotspot'. Tap 'USB tethering' to activate the function. The electronic device that is connected to the phone can now access the Internet.

In order to setup a Wi-Fi hotspot, tap 'Settings' from the applications menu. Tap 'Wireless & networks > Tethering & portable hotspot'. Tap 'Portable Wi-Fi hotspot'. The phone can offer the Internet connection to other devices around you.

Connect To A PC

Tap 'Settings' from the applications menu. Tap 'Storage > USB Mode'. Select and tap a USB mode:
  • Tap 'Media Transfer > OK' if you want to transfer media files between the phone and your PC when they are connected.
  • Tap 'Mass storage > OK' if you want to save large files in the phone.


Tap 'Ask on connection > OK' if you want to select the USB mode whenever the phone is connected. Connect the USB cable to the phone. Connect the other end of the cable to your computer.
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