Tag Archives: cellphone

SpareOne Shows off its Award winning AA Battery Operated Phones at CES 2013



SpareOne was Honored as Best of Innovation at CES 2013. It received this honor for being the world’s only mobile phone powered by a single AA battery. It will be inducing the SpareOnePlus at the show. The SpareOne Plus features a location-based cell ID service. This location-based service identifies the exact location of the cell ID. The phone also has an audible numeric feedback that reads both the number dialed and incoming call number. Both the SpareOne and the SpareOne Plus are made to be an ultimate safety and communication devices. If stored with the plastic tab inserted and in the off positions the SpareOne has up to 15 years of battery life. It has 10 hours of talk time when in use. There is a TorchLight on top which provides 24 hours of continuous light. It has a dedicated 911 button that works without a SIM card. There is the ability to set 9 speed dial numbers.

It includes an re-sealable waterproof bag with a humidity-proof seal. You can operate the phone through the bag. The bag floats and allows the phone to be operated in extreme temperature from–22 degree F to 140 degree F. The phone can be submerged in the bag to a depth of 1 meter for 30 minutes and still work.

Both the original SpareOne and the SpareOne Plus are designed to work without a cell phone carrier. You simply insert a SIM card with some credit on it and start making calls. It is an unlocked phone so it can accept any SIM card. There is even a micro SIM adapter so you can insert an iOS SIM.

The SpareOne is available now for $99.99 at the SpareOne website. The SpareOnePlus will be available in early 2013. There are two versions available one for the Americas and one for Europe/Asia/Oceania

SpareOne has been recognized for design and innovation by Popular Mechanics, Entrepreneur Magazine and PC Magazine among others. You can see their products at the Venetian Las Vegas Casino, Hotel & Resort, Suite #28–111.


Smart Phones Getting Smarter



Smart Phones Getting SmarterWith my recent purchase of the Sprint HTC Evo 4G, I’m on my third smart phone. It’s been quite an interesting ride.

The first one was an HTC PPC-6700, running Windows Mobile 5 with the original incarnation of Alltel EVDO, integrated WiFi, and a slide-out keyboard. The phone had terrible battery life, and the operating system was sluggish. I personally found the slide-out keyboard to be next to useless, and it’s presence made the phone too thick. On long phone calls or with intensive data usage, the phone could get hot enough to cause it to lock up or reboot without good ventilation. Nonetheless, I kept it for a couple of years, passing it on to one of my younger brothers when I was done with it.

Smart phone number two was a Sprint HTC Touch. It had the same sized screen, but was much thinner and sleeker. It had a bit better battery life than the 6700, but not by much, and no WiFi. The operating system was still a bit sluggish. Sprint and HTC upgraded it to Windows Mobile 6.1, and with the integrated GPS chip, it functioned with the included Sprint GPS Navigation software, which is actually quite good. For about a year and a half, I used this phone as my podcast aggregator (with a paid aggregator app) and playback device, which actually worked reasonably well. A $20 dollar keyboard app gave me an iPhone-style onscreen keyboard to replace the next-to-useless software keyboard included with Windows Mobile. I used this phone up until a few days ago, keeping it for about two and one half years.

Enter now the Evo 4G. I have to say this is probably one of the most impressive, satisfying gadgets I’ve ever owned, and that’s saying something. Compared to the HTC Touch, the Evo is about ¾ of an inch longer and ½ an inch wider and about the same thickness as the Touch. The Evo’s large touch screen is spectacular, and the Android operating system is extremely responsive and smooth regardless of how many apps I have running. The integrated WiFi hotspot is fantastic and works incredibly well, though it can cause the need to reboot the phone after downloading about 1.5 gigabytes of data. The Evo stays very cool while in use.

My conclusion? The best computer is the one that’s in your pocket.


Warning: Using this Smartphone May be Hazardous to Your Health



Remember when they first started discussing radiation of cell phones? You could get a tumor calling mum. Well now San Francisco decided you need to know how much radiation you are sticking to your ear.

On a article on Engadget, they show a chart of which phones are rated with low radiation and which ones are high. Nokia, Blackberry Storm and Samsung are the lowest radiation phones, while Blackberry 8820, Palm Pixi, Kyocera Jax and HTC Magic were the highest.

Get a Safer Phone

The website – Get a Safer Phone – charts out radiation for cell phones and smartphones. The main cancers that cellphones could cause were Glioma and Acoustic neuroma. There is also a recent study that the parotid (salivary) gland may be at risk of tumor.

Get a Safer Earpiece

If you think that switching to a bluetooth might fix that, think again. Bluetooth headsets also have a radiation rating, although it is considerably less. The best way save your brain from tumors is using the corded headset.

Where is the iPhone?

The iPhone 3G was rated at 0.24 – 1.03 Watts per kg. The 3G S is at 0.52 – 1.19 W/kg. The Droid is 1.19 W/kg. In comparison, the lowest was 0.22 – 0.55 W/kg while the highest was 1.28 – 1.58 W/kg.

Therefore, the iPhone is one of the worst 25% of phones in the category. No mention what the 2G version, let alone the iPhone 4 is at.

As for labels – we have enough of them. Nutritional values on food, Surgeon General Warnings on cigarettes. Might as well put warnings on TV’s, routers, laptops or any electronic device.