Shine On, LG, Shine On

How would you like a beautiful piece of engineering that also doubles as a camera, a media player and a cell phone? Well, here it is. It's the LG Shine in a colorful jacket of red or black.

The LG Shine, shown here in its attractive red stainless steel case, is a quad band GSM phone with 3G data capability for the AT&T wireless network. It features a unique 2.2 inch wide mirror LCD display that offers a wide viewing angle. Shine, it does. Closed it looks like a PDA or one of the other LG smartphones. But slide it open vertically and you'll find the keys you need for dialing. This sliding arrangement minimizes the form factor when not placing a call. But it also serves to maintain a 0.6 inch thin profile for easy transport and handling.

Note that the LG Shine model CU720 isn't really designed for text intensive operations. There's no on-screen or slide out QWERTY keyboard. The Web browser is also a WAP 2.0 version. But you'll get download speeds up to 1.4 Mbps within the AT&T HSDPA network footprint. Outside of that you're connected through the EDGE network at up to 144 Kbps.

The shine sports an exceptional quality 2.0 Megapixel digital camera that includes flash, a self-timer, viewfinder and image editor. It takes pictures easily good enough to print and perhaps an inducement to leave your old digital camera at home in the closet.

The Shine is designed to shine with multimedia applications. You'll put that high speed download to work with streaming cellular video (CV) and AT&T music, with access to XM Radio, MTV and HBO mobile. The MP3 player supports MP3, WMA, AAC and AAC+ formats. It includes an equalizer with visualization. Bluetooth wireless allows streaming music to a stereo Bluetooth headset or other A2DP compatible device. The phone includes 70 MB of memory onboard with a microSD memory port that takes cards up to 4GB each.

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.

International Cell Phone Calls for Pennies

How would you like to be able to call the world from your cell phone for rates as low as 2 cents per minute?

What? Impossible! No, it USED to be impossible. Now there's a new add-on service for cell phone users that enable you to make calls from the USA and Canada to overseas locations and pay international rates as low as 2 cents a minute.

Here are some actual per minute rates for calls placed right now. Calls to China are 2.36 cents per minute. That's right, China. Remember when you shelled out a buck a minute or more for those calls. Oh, you still do? Well, then get the TEL3AdvantageMobile Plan right now before you make another call. Are you paying more than 10.49 cents a minute to call India? 2.64 cents a minute to call Mexico City? 2.4 cents a minute to call Paris? How about 6 cents a minute to call Tokyo? If so, don't you dare spend another penny on phone calls until you sign up for the TEL3AdvantageMobile Plan.

But what about your current wireless service plan? For local and domestic long distance calls just keep using it the way you have been. It's those international rates from the cellular carriers that will kill your budget. This service doesn't interfere with your wireless services. It adds to them. You only use TEL3AdvantageMobile when you want to make international phone calls and save up to 80% of the cost. Now, isn't that EVERY time you make an international call?

But can't you just get one of those cheapo pre-paid calling cards and do the same thing? Cheapo? That's what they want you to think. There's nothing cheap about their rates once you've factored in all the usage and inactivity fees they hit you with. You might see some cheap rate printed on the front of the card to entice you buy it. But then you find you don't get nearly the advertised number of minutes that you think you are paying for. There's all sorts of hidden gotchas in print so small you need a magnifying glass to read.

The TEL3AdvantageMobile plan is genuinely low cost. Plus it's a lot more convenient than using a calling card. This advanced service offers a free software download for your cell phone. With it, you can quickly make calls without having to search for access numbers or enter those incredibly long access codes. What a pain! TEL3AdvantageMobile automates all that so all you have to do is make your calls and save a bundle in the process.

If this sounds like the kind of rates you get with a VoIP service but on your mobile phone, you're partially right. But TEL3AdvantageMobile doesn't suffer from the voice quality problems that plague many VoIP services, especially when your broadband service bogs down. Call quality is excellent and there's no cord or broadband connection needed with TEL3AdvantageMobile.

Did I happen to mention the bonus minutes for signing up? Yes, you can get up to $10 in free minutes added to your account when you sign up for a TEL3AdvantageMobile account. This special offer may not last forever, so take advantage of the free minutes special to learn more and sign up for TEL3AdvantageMobile now.

Cell Phones Piling Up?

Oh, you got that new Samsung touch screen phone you've been wanting for Christmas. Well, congratulations. You're going to get a lot of enjoyment in the next couple of years.

But, wait. What's that tossed under the tree with the crumpled wrapping paper? Is that your old phone? A relic of Christmas past? It still works, right? On Christmas Eve you were gleefully making calls to friends and family. Now, the day after all the hoopla, it's relegated to the same pile as the crushed bows and tissue paper.

No need to get all maudlin. After all, that beautiful tree is heading for the shredder in a couple of weeks. All that cardboard packaging will be bundled and set out by the curb for recycling. Recycling? Yes, that's it. Why not recycle your cell phone too?

How do you recycle a cell phone? Well, you don't set it out in the recycling bin at the curb. You send it off to a professional recycler who has the equipment and expertise to separate metals and plastic so that they can be reused by industry. A good recycler wastes nothing. All materials are recovered and sent to where they are wanted. Nothing enters the waste stream. Not even the echo of obnoxious ringtones past.

Here's a bonus for your civic spirit in wanting your old phone to at least meet a good end. Many recent cell phone models are still worth at least a little cash. These phones don't go to the crusher if they are still working up to spec. Instead, they are repurposed as emergency phones or sent overseas to new owners who are glad to get a phone they can afford. Even if you didn't pay anything for your phone in the first place, you can still get a little cash in your pocket by sending it in for reuse. And who doesn't need a little green in their pocket after the holidays?

Oh, I'll be this has you thinking. All those phones from all your family members have been piling up for years. They're in drawers or boxes, silent in their demise. If you aren't inspired to tie a ribbon around each one and use them as tree ornaments next year, why not round them all up and ship them off to the recycler? At the very least, you are doing a good deed by recycling instead of trashing. Best case, you'll get a check for who knows how much? Hey, there's a way to find out what those phones are worth. Get your collection of mobiles handy and look up cellphone values now.

Delving Into Alltel's Delve

Thin is in when it comes to the latest generation of touchscreen phones from Samsung. The Samsung Delve R800 Black for Alltel is a leading example. Designed for the user who likes to be on the cutting edge of technology, it is feature rich for business and pleasure.

The primary enhancement of this generation phone is the tactile touchscreen. It give you access to the phone's controls and a virtual QWERTY keyboard. If you prefer, you can train the phone to pull up over a dozen applications using only your voice. Touch or voice, it's up to you how to want to "Delve" in.

The color main display is a 3 inch LCD high resolution screen that supports over 262,000 colors. It's ideal for browsing the Web, messaging, sending and receiving email, or viewing pictures and videos that you've taken with the 2.0 Megapixel digital camera. The camcorder mode will let you take video limited only by the available memory. The Delve comes with 143 MB built-in and expandable up to 8 GB with plug-in cards.

This phone runs on Alltel's EV-DO cellular broadband network, with DSL-like Internet access up to 2.4 Mbps. You'll love that for Web access and sending and receiving picture and video messages. There's also built-in GPS to take advantage of Alltel navigation services.

No modern cellphone design would be complete without music capability. The Samsung Delve offers an MP3 player that supports playlists. It has stereo speakers and A2DP Bluetooth wireless so you can stream your tunes in stereo to compatible Bluetooth devices. Of course, you can also use a conventional Bluetooth headset to make and receive calls with the Delve in your pocket or bag.

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.