The LG Versa-tile Phone

LG has finally addressed the dichotomy between wanting all the advantages of a touchscreen phone and craving an actual physical keyboard. Their answer is to give you both in one cell phone. It's the aptly named LG Versa VX9600 and versatile it really is.

Take this phone out of the box and it looks like many of the popular touchscreen phones that users are snatching up right and left. But look again and you'll see an extra accessory that comes with no other phone. It's a detachable QWERTY keyboard. This is an actual physical keyboard about the same size as the phone, but mounted in a case that can be attached or detached from the main phone body.

Now you have a choice. You can use the Versa in its standalone mode with a virtual keyboard. Or attach the physical keyboard, that also functions as a protective case, and power text to your heart's content.

Here's the best part. The keyboard is not an accessory that you have to order or pay for separately. It's included with the phone, along with the battery, USB/wall charger, user guide and stylus.

The LG Versa is a powerful cellphone that connects to the Verizon Wireless EVDO-Rev A broadband cellular network for 3G data speeds. While 310 MB of memory is onboard, you can easily expand it with up to a 16 GB microSD card. That's a LOT of memory for digital photos, videos, and music. The digital camera in the Versa has a resolution of 2.0 Megapixels with auto-focus, flash, and edit tools. Resolution is good enough to print or share with friends via multimedia messaging.

Internet access is built-in with a full HTML Web browser, touch navigation, bookmarks and high speed downloads. The email client supports VZW Mobile email, POP3 and corporate email w/ SYNC software. Instant messaging is also built-in.

GPS services support lets you get turn by turn directions using the optional VZ Navigator service. There are 3 customizable home pages so you can have your favorite features, contacts and apps right at your fingertips.

Other cool features include a built-in music player that lets you create new playlists and download new music anywhere. The headphone jack is a standard 2.5 mm. Stereo and standard Bluetooth wireless is included. A Verizon service called Chaperone helps you track your child's whereabouts, if you want to add this capability.

What are the hottest cell phone deals available right now, including free cell phones? Use the Cell Phone Plan Finder to check out the top phones and associated wireless service plans.

Research Your Cell Phone Online

Every couple of years it's cell phone renewal time. Your wireless contract runs out and you have the opportunity to make a change. You can elect to go with a new provider and get a new phone or stick with what you have. So what to do? How about go shopping?

Now you might limit your cell phone shopping experience to browsing the collection shown at a big box electronics retailer. Or you can cruise the carrier stores, seeing what each has to offer and fending off hungry sales agents. But there's a better way. Research your cell phone choices online.

Why online? First of all, it's convenient. No hustling through stores between errands. No burning gas driving around town from location to location. Anytime things are quiet and you're online, you could spend a few minutes scouting the mobile device offerings.

There's also no pressure. You know how it is in retail stores these days. The sharks are hungry and you smell like food. It's hard to scan the merchandise or play around with a demo unit when somebody is breathing down your neck every few minutes prodding "can I help you?" What they really mean is "Oh, please buy something - anything - just hurry up and whip out that credit card - please, please, please."

The most important reason to comparison shop online is enormous price savings. That's right. The big phone savings are online, not in the stores. The reason is simple. Online resources stay open 24 hours a day, there's no floor staff lurking, and there are huge efficiency gains in having a single central warehouse to fulfill orders versus hundreds or thousands of retail properties.

But if you buy a phone online, how do you get wireless service? Easy. The same service plans you get from a store are also available online and at the same prices. You select and order your plan at the same time you order your phone.

Now, let's take a look at some current online deals on cell phones. We'll use the Cellular Phone Finder available at Owl Cell Phone. The default presentation is a collection of the most popular cellular phones. There are 5 models shown and most are free or free after rebate. No, wait. Some of them let you make money after rebate. Yes, you can get a phone free and then get cash back. Ever hear of that in a cell phone store?

These specials are going to change often, but here's what's shown as of this writing. The Samsung BlackJack II i617 Sky Blue is available for a list price of 1 cent. With a $50 rebate, you make $49.99. The Samsung Cobra M320 Burgundy Red is priced at $0 with a $50 rebate. You make $50. The RIM BlackBerry 8700g doesn't have a rebate. It's just free. So is the LG enV2 VX9100 Black "envy phone." You'll have to pay $79 for the popular Samsung Katalyst T739 w/ myFaves. But after the $50 rebate your cost is only $29.99. Mind you, this phone has a value of approximately $245. You can probably get it at a discount locally, but I'll bet you'll pay more than $29.99.

The Cellular Phone Finder is interactive. You can have it present phones available by a particular carrier, such as AT&T, Verizon, Alltel, T-Mobile, Sprint or Nextel. Or select all phones by a particular manufacturer. There are 28 models for BlackBerry alone. Ask the finder to show you phones in a certain price range, only those that are free after rebate, or only those where you can make money after rebate. I just checked on that. There are 64 results on 5 pages that are phones where you can make up to $100 after rebate.

Perhaps you are happy with your cell phone but want an Air Card for your laptop computer so you can get cellular broadband. You're in luck. There are 21 different Air Cards available, some with cash back rebates. Just select "Air Card" on the "Phone Types" search.

Has all this piqued your interest? If so, use the Owl Cell Phone Cellular Phone Finder right now. It gives you results instantly, lets you learn more about each phone, lets you select the wireless service plan you want, and place an order online any time of the day or night. Can it get any easier? Not hardly.

Recycle Your Old iPhone For Cash

Early adopters and power users are just under a month away from getting the new iPhone 3G. The addition of faster cellular data networking, nearly as zippy as the WiFi hotspot experience, plus true GPS, corporate email & third-party application support makes it a definite improvement over the initial iPhone release. So much so that anyone who desperately needs the upgraded functionality or just wants to ride on the cutting edge will find it almost impossible not to trade up. But, oh, the cost. What can you do to take some of the sting out of buying the iPhone you wanted all along, when you've already spent a small fortune on the earlier model?

The latest information I've found about upgrading to the 3G iPhone is that AT&T plans to offer you a trade-in if you bought your iPhone on or after May 27 and it is in like new condition. According to one report, you'll get your money back less a 10% restocking fee when you buy and activate a new 3G iPhone. Sounds like a pretty good deal if you go in to an AT&T store between July 11 and August 1 and haven't lost your original packaging or receipt, or scratched the phone.

But what if you are a true early adopter who stood in line to get one of the first iPhones and would gladly do the same again. You can certainly do that and buy yourself a 3G model. But you won't get a trade-in deal. So, now what do you do? Put it in a glass display case to admire? Toss it in a drawer like the fate of most unneeded cell phones? Try to sell it in a newspaper ad or auction it on eBay?

Here's another option. Recycle your iPhone for cash.

Now, just a second. Who wants to send a beauty like the iPhone to the recycling crusher? Relax. That iPhone is still worth decent money to a company that recycles newer technology phones for use overseas. How much money? I just checked the prices paid and, as of this writing, your 16 GB iPhone will get you $280. The 4 GB and 8 GB models will net you $100. You get a free postage paid mailer, send in your unwanted phone and charger, and you get check back in the mail.

You almost always get more if you sell your old unwanted cell phones as soon as you take them out of service. A cell phone gets stale faster than a carton of milk. But that doesn't mean that those dusty old cells aren't worth recycling. In the first two years, you can probably get paid something for just about any model phone. The higher tech smartphones bring more than the garden variety entry-level phones as you would expect.

The real oldies that were once goodies may not have a cash value anymore, but you can still send them in at no cost. Why do that? Mobile electronic devices contain goodly amounts of toxic chemicals used in their manufacture. Lead, cadmium and arsenic are just a few. Tossing one or two in the landfill won't create a public health hazard, but pitching tens or hundreds of millions of them is a real threat. Those minor amounts of toxic waste combine to degrade the environment for future generations.

Instead of just pitching that old junker phone, send it to the recycler and know that it will be dismantled and the materials recovered for reuse or proper disposal. It gets the clutter out of your house or business and you're doing a good thing.

You're intrigued by the thought of getting money for that stack of retired cell phones that your family or employees have accumulated, aren't you? Well, find out now how much your old wireless device is worth and then get paid to recycle them.