MakeUseOf Directory » mobile phone

Phone-Size: Compare Phone Size, Screen Size & Resolution Of Phones

Israel Nicolas — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:01:39 +0000

Buying a phone is always a big decision for gadget enthusiasts. The physical profile, form, and size of a phone adds into our buying decision, where we check if the phone feels right in our hands, or if the screen size is to our liking. Phone-Size is a helpful tool that lets you compare the different smartphones’ exact sizes.

Phone-Size lets you select the latest smartphones available and line them up to compare their design profile. To get the exact dimensions displayed, adjust the options to match your screen’s resolution. This will give you a great feel for the phone’s size.

If you are more concerned about screen resolution, click “Toggle Screens” so that all phones will display the same picture as allowed by the phone’s resolution. This will give you a definite comparison on how the phones’ display match up against each other.

Phone-size is a must-see reference for all current and future phone buyers. With this tool you never have to guess again what a phone actually looks like in reality.

Features:

Compare size of smartphones.
Relevant smartphone models included.
Compare screen resolution and display size.
Exact measurement tailored to your monitor’s screen resolution.

Check out Phone-size @ http://phone-size.com

MyAKA: Add A Second Alias Number To Hide Your Real Mobile Number

Israel Nicolas — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:01:35 +0000

Our mobile number is an extension of us. Anyone can find us, chat with us, and call us. It is part of our identity. However, there are times when we just want to close off the pipe and protect our mobile number. MyAKA is a service that does just that – giving users a second phone number or an alias, that works exactly like any mobile number while hiding yours.

Once you have signed up for the service, MyAKA smartly assigns a mobile number that is in the same area code as your real number. This way, your contacts won’t know if you are using your real number or not. People can then call or text your second number and it will go straight to your phone. Once you add a contact, MyAKA will assign a unique ID that matches the contacts’ number so you can call and SMS your contacts through MyAKA.

MyAKA also routes your mobile plan to allow messaging and calls to your phone so that you won’t have to carry a second device.

Having a second number also unlocks features offered by MyAKA such as Pause for your MyAKA number, instant blocking, view call history, view usage, and view number list online.

MyAKA proposes that you put your trust in them in to ensure your real number is hidden from others. It is easy to reveal our mobile number – every time we sign up for a membership, talk to a business contact, or complete transactions, we always end up giving out our number. With MyAKA you are protected from accidentally providing your number to people you do not know and go on with your life worry-free about your personal information.

MyAKA offers a range of prices from the minimal 100 text plan up to 500 call and SMS plans.

Features:

Protect your real number by getting an alias.
Call and text from your alias number seamlessly.
Add contacts that you want to converse through MyAKA.
Easy setup.
Check call info, usage history, and MyAKA contacts online
Pricing available in different text and call plans.

Check out MyAKA @ www.myaka.com

Call2Record: Record Audio Through Your Cellphone Or Landline

MOin — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:01:59 +0000

Smartphones nowadays almost always support recording audio. But what if you had to record audio through a landline or a regular cellphone? The answer is a service called Call2Record.

Call2Record provides you with a phone number that you can call and press # to pause and resume your recording. When you hang up you are sent the URL of your recording as an SMS message. If you use the service without registering for an account your recordings can be only 20 seconds long and you can use only your cellphone. But after registering for an account you can purchase more recording minutes and add a landline. You will then be able to record through your landline and receive the URL containing the text message on your cellphone.

Features:

A user-friendly web service.
Lets you record audio through your phone.
Supports recording through cellphone as well as landlines.
Texts you URL of recording.
Similar tools: Recordable and Call Graph.
Also read related article: Record Your Skype Calls On Windows and Mac.

Check out Call2Record @ www.calltorecord.com (by MOin from Urban Savior)

RootMetrics Cellphone Coverage Map: Check The Actual Coverage Of Carriers

abhijeet — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:01:22 +0000

Cellphone operators around the world are notorious for providing grossly inaccurate facts to consumers when it comes to network coverage. An app like RootMetrics Cellphone Coverage Map is what consumers need to verify the network coverage by an operator in a particular area. It rates the signal strength of various carriers and shows it on a map. The data is obtained primarily from users running the app. It tracks signal strength, network issues, dropped calls, etc and the data is added to its database for that wireless operator.

The RootMetrics tool is available for Android and iPhone, and it seems that it currently works only in US cities and for the US cellphone carriers. Not sure about that though. You’ll need to try it out to see if it works in your location.

Features

Find out the actual carrier network coverage of cellphone carriers.
Results are shown on a map.
Tracks carrier performance on the phones on which it is installed.
Similar tools: OpenSignalMaps, DeadCellZones, CoverageMap, SignalMap and GotReception.

Check out RootMetrics Cellphone Coverage Map @ itunes.apple.com/us/app/cell-phone-coverage-map/id399701910?mt=8# (iPhone) and market.android.com/details?id=com.rootmetrics (Android) (by Abhijeet from GT Mobiles)

OpenSignalMaps: Interactive cell phone carrier coverage map online

MOin — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 21:01:20 +0000

If you are trying to decide which mobile phone carrier to go with, you will want to find out how well each carrier has covered your area. In order to do this you need to find out where the carrier towers are and see their coverage on a heatmap. This is precisely what interactive cell phone carrier coverage map OpenSignalMaps does.

Open Signal Maps is a free to use website that gathers carrier data from around the world. You can enter your zip code to view the carrier towers located in your area, which are displayed on a Google Map. You can filter individual carriers as well as the type of service they offer: 2G, 3G, or 4G. Alternatively you can view a heatmap of the coverage of each carrier in your area. Each view that is generated can be shared with your friends through its permalink.

Data is constantly being gathered to get a more accurate view of each tower and each carrier’s coverage. Meanwhile you can use the current views as helpful guides.

Features:

A user friendly website.
Lets you find locations of cell-phone carrier towers in your area.
You can jump to your location by entering your zip code.
Lets you view heatmaps of the areas each cell-phone carrier covers.
Lets you filter views according to carrier and the type of service offered.
Similar tools: DeadCellZones, CoverageMap, SignalMap and GotReception.

Check out Open Signal Maps @ www.opensignalmaps.com (by MOin from ThumbPress)

SellMyOldMobilePhone: Recycle your old phones & get cash (UK only)

Israel Nicolas — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 03:00:34 +0000

Mobile phones get old so easily as the once-recent models get replaced by phones with better specs within months. If you have to upgrade a new phone without breaking the bank, you need to be able to sell your old phone at the highest price it can fetch. Sell My Old Mobile Phone does just that. This UK-based priced comparison tool allows you to dispose your phone to recycling sites and get the best deals.

Start using the website by choosing the make and model to search your phone and bring you to the price dashboard. Here you can view the top deal for your phone, buyer info, payment mode, and some customer reviews. You can also view the price history of your old phone from different phone recyclers.

Click “Sell Now” to complete the transaction, where you will be sent the details for sending the phone to buyer. Once sent, just sit back and wait for your money to come. These phones fetch from as little as £1.00 to hundreds of pounds.

Sell My Old Mobile Phone supports almost all brands including Apple, Nokia, Acer, Asus, HTC and more. The site also points out that you can sell your broken phones and still get as much as 90% of the original working phone price.

Sell My Old Mobile Phone is a great way to spare yourself from the heavy cost of upgrading your phone,while helping out the environment at the same time. If you are from the UK and need to sell your phone, this website offers one of the safest ways to do it.

Features:

Free no sign up required
Sell your old phone to recycling centers
Sell phones at competitive second-hand pricing
Sell broken phones
Supports almost all brands
Freepost available from some buyers
Serves UK only

Check out SellMyOldMobilePhone @ www.sellmyoldmobilephone.co.uk/

ReversePhoneLookup: Find Out Who Owns a Phone Number

Israel Nicolas — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 23:01:08 +0000

If you have received a call from unknown number and want to find out who the caller is, head to ReversePhoneLookUp.com. This online tool checks the owner of any phone number for you ““ useful for doing background checks or to know whether the anonymous number is a friend or a stranger.

Using this tool is as easy as entering any number that you want to check in the search field. ReversePhoneLookUp accepts only U.S. 10-digit numbers as of the moment. The tool will then load for a few seconds to investigate the number, then provide you with detailed data including the the area code, service provider, type of phone, zip code coverage, carrier type and more. The site also shows if the phone number had any complaints filed, and displays a Google Map to show where the phone number is located.

The service is provided free for anyone in the U.S. making it a great alternative for paid services that usually cost from $5 to $15. In addition, there is no limit to how many times you can look up a number. With this free service, there are lots of things you can do, one of which is checking out whether you were given a fake number by a girl or knowing the address of the person who just gave her/his number.

Features:

Free; no sign up required.
Unlimited phone lookups.
Get the name of the owner of the phone number.
Get the address, zip code, and a map to location.
Works for landlines and mobile phones.

Check out ReversePhoneLookup @ www.reversephonelookup.com

Pay As You Go Sim With Data Wiki: Find the best pay as you go mobile plans for many countries

abhijeet — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:01:10 +0000

One of the best ways to ensure that you can make use of your cellphone when you travel abroad is to get a country-specific pre-paid SIM card. Of course, it’ll be a new number but you could use it temporarily for your period of stay, and not worry about international roaming charges.

Pay As You Go Sim With Data Wiki is a user contributed and edited wiki site that has a list of best pay as you go mobile plan for a number of countries. The site focuses on plans with decent data rates and which are available for smartphone users (like iPhone and Android).

As with any other public wiki, you shouldn’t be surprised if you come across inaccuracies in the mobile plan information. But it sure gives you a starting point and you get to know about the prepaid service providers you need to look for when you visit that country.

Features

Find prepaid mobile plans for various countries.
User contributed and edited.
Plans for a lot of countries listed.
Focuses on plans with affordable data rates, and for smartphone users.

Check out Pay As You Go Sim With Data Wik @ paygsimwithdata.wikia.com/wiki/Pay_as_you_go_sim_with_data_Wiki (By Abhijeet from Guiding Tech)

Mopay: Bill Purchases To Your Mobile or Land Line Phone Accounts

abhijeet — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 03:01:49 +0000

Mopay is a service that is primarily meant for online merchants to allow their customers to make payments using their mobile phone and (recently launched) landline phone. It’s good for the customer too if he doesn’t have a credit card. His shopping bills are added automatically to his telephone bill. The phone companies may have an extra charge for such transactions, which the consumer needs to keep in mind.

The service is available in 75 countries and many online merchants use it already.

Here’s how it works – select mopay as the payment option while checking out, enter your phone number in the screen that pops up, it’ll show you a number that you need to call and enter the PIN, which you receive automatically during the check-out process, and once you’ve entered it your phone gets charged for the shopping. That’s it, you’re done.

Features

Help consumers to pay their bills through their cellphone/landline.
Available in 75 countries worldwide.
Easy to use. Just need to call a number and enter the PIN.

Check out Mopay@ en.mopay.com (via TechCrunch By Abhijeet from Guiding Tech)

Anti Theft For Mobile: Recover Lost/Stolen Cellphone & Protect Your Data

MOin — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 23:01:02 +0000

I have come across a number of phone apps that provide great security for iPhones and Android based smartphones. There are 3 basic features these security apps offer: the ability to know where your phone is when lost, the ability to remotely lock your phone and the ability to remotely wipe all of your phone’s data.

Finally a security application containing all these features has been made for Symbian OS, Windows and Android phones; this app is F-Secure Anti Theft for Mobile.

F-Secure Anti Theft for Mobile is a free app for Symbian OS smartphones. As mentioned above, the app has all the features you need to recover stolen cell phone
or at least to make sure that a thief will not be able to use your phone.

Once your phone gets stolen, you can text it your “˜key’ and find its geographical location; another key can be used to lock the phone unless you provide the key again; there is another key that wipes all data off the phone. If your SIM is changed, the phone is automatically locked and you are SMS’ed the new SIM’s number.

Features:

Helps to recover lost cell phones
A great security application for Symbian OS, Windows and Android running phones.
You can find your phone’s geographical location.
You can remotely lock your phone.
You can remotely wipe data off your phone.
The phone gets automatically locked once the thief changes the SIM.
When the SIM is changed and the phone is locked, a number you assigned is sent the new SIM’s number.
Similar tools: WaveSecure and BuddyWay.
Also read related articles:

Get F-Secure Anti Theft for Mobile @ F-Secure Anti Theft for Mobile (via Ghacks) (by MOin from ThumbPress)