Europe/UK - Mobile phone manufacturers and operators have agreed upon a Micro-USB port as the new standard for mobile phones.By 2012, most mobile phones will support the universal charger according to the GSM association.Members include LG, Motorola, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson.Operators that have agreed in clued 3 group, AT&T, KTF, Mobilkom Austria, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telenor, Telstra, T-Mobile and Vodafone.The reason for this change? Environmental groups have campaigned for mobile phone companies to be made from recycled materials.Another solution would be to consolidate the chargers into one to reduce waste.Another push is to have solar-powered cell phones.The benefits of a universal cell phone charger? Not having to ask around for the right charger and also a 50% reduction in standby energy consumption.ZTE, China's largest mobile phone manufacturer, and mobile phone network Digicel has begun showcasing such a product.LG said it would remove brominated flame retardants from their phone and pledged to use green packaging across its entire line of mobile handsets.Their new solar line utilizes solar technology; exposing the phone to the sun for 10 minutes gives it enough power for a 3 minute call.Nokia sees the reduction of waste as the biggest advantage of the initiative but isn't ready to say when it will ship its first universal charger.The company will provide both the universal charger and standard charger during this transitional period.Until a universal cell phone charger standard becomes available in the United States, a multi tip universal charger for all cell phones is the solution.The average user needs to charge their phone everyday and some people almost 2-3 times a day.It makes sense to have chargers everywhere.Has your cell phone died when you needed it most? Free charging stations should be at every restaurant, bar, hotel, and cafe in the world.This is a pressing problem and often times people are in serious situations where a dead cell phone battery can lead to problems or danger.If this has happened to you, you've probably told your story online through Facebook or Twitter.A significant amount of research has been done linked to cell phone usage..Interesting statistics about the usage of from the Pew Internet & American Life Project..- 83% of American adults own some kind of cell phone.- 40% of owners said the found themselves in an emergency situation in which having their phone help.- 42% of owners used their phone for entertainment when they were bored.- 29% of owners turned their phone off for a period of time just to get a break from using it.- 13% of owners pretended to be using their phone in order to avoid interacting with the people around them.- 73% of owners use their phone to take and send pictures.- 54% of owners send videos - 44% access the internet.- 35% own a smartphone of some kind.A study by Google produced similar results..- 71% of smartphone users search after being exposed to ads online and offline.- 82% notice mobile ads and 74 percent make a purchase as a result of using their phone during the shopping process.- 88% of those who look for local information on their smartphones take action within a day.- 81% of smartphone users browse the Internet, 77% search, 68% use an app, and 48% watch videos on their device.- 72% use their smartphones while consuming other media, with a third claiming they use their device while watching television.- 93% of smartphone owners use their device at home.- 70% of consumers use their smartphones while in the store.

Cellular phones have come a long way since the time they began.There are models that allow you to play your favorite music in stereo whenever you like.There are also smartphones available so that the busy business person can have the convenience of a PC in the palm of his hand.If you are interested in one of these smartphones, AT&T offers several different models.The Apple iPhone combines an iPod, a phone, and the Internet all in one device.This phone has a Safari Web browser that allows you to view full Web pages and is connected to Wi-Fi or high-speed EDGE networks that will enable you to download data.It is equipped with Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rates (EDR).This model also has a large multi-touch QWERTY smart screen that is lit and has a proximity detector.It comes with built-in widgets so you can view YouTube, Stock, Weather, and Google Maps.This cell phone enables you to participate in conference calling as well as having access to Visual Voicemail and Text Messaging.A widescreen iPod is also a built-in feature that plays iTunes and music and displays TV and videos.This model comes equipped with a 2.0 megapixel camera and camcorder as well as a built-in speakerphone.Another smartphone that is offered by AT&T is the Palm Treo 680.This model has Bluetooth Wireless Connectivity with Palm OS interface.You can work with Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF documents.The Palm OS Organizer is also available that includes a calendar, address book, tasks, and memos.This phone connects you to Mobile Instant Messaging as well as Multimedia Messaging and has a mobile Internet browser.It comes with a QWERTY keypad and a Pocket Tunes music player with Bluetooth Streaming Audio.Conference calling can be performed with the help of a built-in speakerphone.The Moto Q Global is also available form AT&T.This smartphone has Windows Mobile 6.0 that allows you to work with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files.Microsoft Internet Express allows you to surf the Web easily while this phone's 3G capabilities make it possible for you to have access to simultaneous voice and data.This model has a Windows Media Player 10 that allows you utilize AT&T Music, Billboard, Music ID, XM, Napster, and Yahoo Cellular Video.This smartphone also has a 2.0 megapixel camera and camcorder and a built-in speakerphone.The Blackjack II by Samsung is another model of smartphone that is offered by AT&T.It has Bluetooth 2.0 Wireless Connectivity and Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.Again, this feature allows you to access Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files.A fast-loading HTML browser enables you to surf the Internet quickly and easily.This model also comes with a QWERTY keypad and a Windows Media Player 10 that allows you to use AT&T Mobile Music and Cellular Video.It has 2.0 megapixel camera and camcorder and Video Share calling support.These are just a few of the several models of smartphones that are offered by AT&T.To view its full lineup, you can visit your local AT&T office or visit one of their many Web sites.

We all know how hard it is to stay up with technology and in particular the latest, greatest cell phones and soon we will have the cell phone wallet.They will give us the ability to pay for things quickly with our smartphones.All you have to do is display your mobile phone almost anywhere you choose to buy just about any purchase and it's immediately logged into a digital cost report.Eat regularly at McDonald's? Tap your cell phone to pay for and your all-in-one debit card/receipt tracker/loyalty system may perhaps immediately provide you with 10% off of your bill.Where Can You Use Cell Phone Wallets?Right now, if you wish to appreciate these rewards, you have to visit Japan.But after many years of talk, cellular service providers, financial institutions, start-ups, and mobile phone handset manufacturers at the moment are definitely trying to change Americans' mobile phones into cell phone wallets.The objective. to snag a share of the processing service fees linked to the $3.2 trillion in total annual retail credit-card expenses, and also to convert the $1.2 trillion in money and check spending into electronic digital transactions.Within the past five-plus years, Visa and MasterCard have used near-field communications (NFC) chips in tap-to-pay charge cards and key fobs.Now they're adopting cell phone wallets also.Later on this month, Visa will launch an apple iPhone case (designed with Dallas-based Device Fidelity) which makes the device suitable for tap-to-pay consoles.This comes after MasterCard's identical entry this summer, when it began promoting tags (designed with Atlanta-based First Data) that stay with cell phones."Consumers currently use cell phones for online payments," states Josh Peirez, MasterCard Worldwide's chief innovation officer, making reference to delivered electronically songs and software."The objective is to find them at ease carrying out exactly the same thing in the physical world.".The Temporary Cell Phone Wallet Products are Going to Have a Definitely Brief Shelf Life.Nokia has reported that it's going to incorporate NFC chips in all its 2011 mobile Smartphone's, effectively driving Apple, Rim, along with other competitors to follow along with this cell phone technology."Stickers and products are welcome bridges," states Gerhard Romen, Nokia's director of mobile phone financial services, "but demand for cell phone wallet's from customers is increasing, and entire execution is why technologies move forward.".Experts estimate NFC will end up all-pervasive over the following 3 to 5 years, that will give cellular companies increased power in determining the foreseeable future of the cell phone wallet.Without a doubt, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon wireless are apparently implementing a joint-payments initiative.They also understand how to do payments, billings, collections, maintaining accounts on an enormous scale.Having said that, companies are not likely to do it by themselves.In Japan, a mainly cash-based society, NTT DoCoMo took control over the cell phone wallet marketplace by purchasing a bank.A more likely circumstance in the United States in which people without a doubt love to buy now, pay later - would be for more than one companies to partner with and even purchase a credit-card network, in order to make the most of its brand equity, processing experienced, and retail relationships through the use of cell phone wallets."Jointly, they could provide unmatched fraud protection," Philliou adds."And when danger decreases, so does expense.".The Scramble for Cell Phone Wallet is On.The rush and excitement all around the cell phone wallet is indeed fevered that together with service providers and credit-card networks, now banks, tech giants, and start ups are generally willing to set claim to some part of this most likely massive new ecosystem.PayPal already allows customers send out funds by way of text message, and Osama Bedier, its Vice president of cellular systems and new projects, envisions a service that stores gift cards and alerts consumers when they're close to a business.Earlier this summer, mobile phone start-up company Loopt unveiled its Loopt Star program, an ber digital-rewards card for such brand names as Starbucks and Gap.U.S.Bank is working together with Infosys to advance outside of a simple banking app. It's creating a location-based "concierge" so intelligent (and perhaps scary) that it may possibly present you with a shampoo discount to shoppers browsing the hair-care aisle.As NFC technology proliferates, states Dominic Venturo, U.S.Bank's leading innovation officer, "we'll be capable of making a company case for services which can be even better.".This year, eBay can expect U.S.Consumers to purchase approximately $1.5 billion worth of products utilizing its Smartphone apps.It's a brief leap, then, to making use of that very same mobile phone to pay at the Target in your neighborhood shopping heart."From the customer's viewpoint," says Robert Hedges, a partner at the financial-services consultancy Mercatus, "the question is, "When is the banking industry going to catch up with us?".

Metro PCS started out the massive shift from cell phone contracts to the pre-paid or pay as you go movement.It was much needed and made cell phone service to millions of people who wanted a cell phone but couldn't or wouldn't get caught up in a 2 year contract with the big 4 Cell phone companies. At&t, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile.They didn't have the best phones and they didn't have the best service and to this day they surely don't have much of a coverage area but yet the filled a huge demand that eventually got the attention of the major carriers who saw droves of their customers leaving after seeing how much money they were being over charged by the big boys.The big 4 saw the writing on the wall and had no choice but to find a way to compete with Metro on a level playing field and began to acquire their own pre-paid companies that would run on the same powerful towers that their customers stuck in contracts were using,.Most of these names you have probably heard of.Boost and Virgin Mobile are the pre-paid services that belong to Sprint.At&t has Red Pocket and H20.Over at T-mobile they offer Simple Mobile as well as T-Mobile pre-paid.Verizon has their own pre-paid as well in addition to Altell and Page Plus,.Major Super chains such as Best Buy, Walmart and Radio Shack are spending millions on advertising the fact that they offer all these services so it has become very clear that contracts are on the way out and pre-paid cell is here to stay.Now that's all great news but let's take it a step further.What if I told you that you could have unlimited text, talk and web and you could have it for Free? I know, what's the catch, right? I said the same thing when a good friend of mine told me he had not only totally free cell phone service for himself but for everyone in his household as well.Three major players have seen the writing on the wall and have been able to piggy back off of the major advertising dollars by the brick and mortar stores who have shifted their focus in the marketplace from computers, HD televisions and other electronics towards providing customers with a variety of phones and even more so to an even wider variety of Cell phone services.Pre-paid wireless companies have even taken a bold move to open stores throughout their coverage areas much like Metro PCS has been doing for some time.However it remains to be seen if this was a wise financial decision on their part since their phones and service can be purchased in dozens of other locations both physical and through the Internet.The cell phone has replaced the computer as the number one consumer electronic luxury.In fact the cell phone actually isn't a luxury item at all anymore with over 300,000 in use in the United States alone.Everyone may not have a big flat screen TV but the cell phone has broke the barriers of every demographic.Our kids have a cell phone, our parents have cell phones and even people on fixed income or very little income all seem to be carrying a cell phone.As the consumer becomes more educated the industry will grow just that much faster and the shift is already picking up a great deal of momentum.Those of us who have been slaves to 2 year contracts for years are beginning to see that they now have another option.With almost every pre-paid service now being offered for only $40-$60 a month the average could easily save $1200 or more a year on their service while still keeping their same phone, same number, and basically the same service by switching to Pre-paid services offered by the big four's affiliates who operate off the very same towers we are using with present Contract services.Many people have heard of these companies but are unaware of their affiliations with the major carriers.Allow me to educate you on these companies if you will.Unfortunately by the time this article goes viral you will probably see links attached to them which I suggest you ignore due to the fact that they will be paid advertising links and probably not your best source as far as finding the information that I will leave you to help you find legitimate plans as well as legitimate sources that will best serve you.At&t offers Red Pocket and H20 Sprint Offers Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile T-Mobile offers Simple Mobile as well T-mobile pre-paid Verizon offers PagePlus and Altell as well as Verizon pre-paid.You have most likely heard of some of these service yet had no idea that they were not only available to you but actually running off the same towers as Post paid contract services are using.Let's talk a bit about these towers because it's very important to know which services will work with your existing phone.Basically we have 2 systems that are being used in the cell phone industry which are the GSM and the CDMA.GSM phones are phones that require a sim card and these are the phones used by At&t, T-mobile and their pre-paid services noted earlier.GSM stands for Global System for Mobile technology.Notice the word "Global".A GSM phone can be used throughout the Globe.You may or may not have to get a temporary SIM card when traveling abroad but the GSM network has quite a few advantages over it's counterpart.The SIM card in a GSM phone is assigned to the subscribers phone number as opposed to being controlled by the phone itself thus making it possible to slip your SIM card in to another phone with the same carrier and still use it.The CDMA phone does not require a SIM card and thus is locked down by the carrier.Verizon, Sprint, and their pre-paid services all use this tower.It has a great service but unfortunately is used primarily in the United states and parts of Asia with some exceptions.CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access which doesn't really tell us much but at least you won't have to Google it.There's so much more I would like to tell you but I could go on forever.If you have an Iphone or Android you will probably want to subscribe to my feed because there is so much you need to know.In brief, an Iphone, Android or any other phone with a CDMA carrier (Sprint or Verizon) will not work with GSM carrier (At&T or T-mobile) and the same applies with using a GSM phone with a CDMA carrier.Let's get back to the topic at hand.The pre-paid phone Industry is a money saver and a money maker if you choose to cash in on this booming industry.I will conclude with this.Over the past 10 years I have spent over $20,000 on my At&t contract.I liked the Idea that after a period of time had gone by that I was able to upgrade to the new latest and greatest phone at little or no cost to me, hence they kept me as a customer since 2002.What I didn't realize that in reality I was paying 2 to 3 times the actual retail price for those phones over a 2 year period due to being overcharged for my service and half the time not even understanding most of the charges.Before I switched to pre-paid service with LifeMobile I was being charged $30 for the data plan on my Samsung and another $30 for my daughters Iphone.Another $30 for unlimited text on top of the $80 basic pan to cover my minutes and by the time they were through with me I had a whopping $240 phone bill.I now have unlimited talk,text, and 4G data for $50 and my daughter has unlimited 3G for $40.Now what I'm about to share with you isn't for everyone but I did touch on the fact that many people are taking advantage of the Multi-Billion dollar cell phone industry and are making very healthy incomes by sharing it with others.You maybe stuck in a contract and see no way out but if you look closely at the numbers you will find that the money you save in the first 2 or 3 months will cover any early termination fee you may incur.Every month after that is just money in your pocket.Some providers will even set up a payment plan which makes it that much easier.You just make a monthly payment to them with the money You're saving and still have some extra cash in your pocket.Now that's all great news but let's take it a step further.What if I told you that you could have unlimited text, talk and web and you could have it for Free? I know, what's the catch, right? I said the same thing when a good friend of mine told me he had not only totally free cell phone service for himself but for everyone in his household as well.It took me a couple of weeks but I now have totally free unlimited 4G for my entire household and I'm making a good living by helping others in the process.So it's time to make a change and find the right pre-paid for yourself and your family.Think of all the different ways you could enjoy the thousands that you'll be saving this year and the years to come.My name is Jay Bartels and my goal is to educate America about the cell phone industry that has gone through great lengths to keep us in the dark for far to long.We have a choice today and that's a beautiful thing.Please Visit my very Informative site at http.//www.JayBartels.Com.