Talk about phone deals, I ‘ve had my Droid for about 2 months now and I must say I’m really enjoying this Smartphone. It’s got some great apps that I’ll write more about later.

I was telling my business partner how impressed I was with all the things they’ve added to this phone and how just 2 years ago these things would have cost a lot on their own. Even now if bought separately, we are talking a lot of money.

For example my 16 gigabyte Motorola Droid is:

• A mp3 player with clean chrisp sound that can hold 10,000 to 15,000 songs (if bought separately easily worth $150).
• A GPS unit that works great, though it draws down the battery quite fast (if bought separately easily worth $150).
• A cell phone (if bought separately easily worth $50).
• A 5 mega pixel camera (if bought separately easily worth $100).
• A High Definition video camera and player (if bought separately easily worth $200).
• A PDA, think Palm pilot, with instant access to the internet (if bought separately easily worth $300).

Estimated total value (easily over $950)

My Droid cost me less than $200. Wow!

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Motorola keeps slimming down and compacting more into their cell phones. Like its predecessor the Rokr, the new Slvr phone with Cingular wireless phone service allows you to download songs from Apple iTunes’ library of over 2 million songs. Motorola trimmed down the design of the new MP3 compatible phone to Razr-like proportions without cutting back its storage space or other phone features. The phone itself can hold up to 100 songs, and although it would be nice to have a direct way to download straight to the phone, or even a good bluetooth interface, with an occasional sync to your computer it is a great way to have the functionality of a phone with your Apple iPod without having to carry around two separate devices.

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As cell phones become more and more high tech, all the stuff that goes with them gets even better. Gone are the days where you reach down for your cell phone handsfree set and have to give up because it is sitting in a tangled mess and you can’t take your eyes off the road. Cell phone accessories are going wireless. More precisely, they are going bluetooth. Bluetooth (sometimes misspelled Blue tooth) basically is a short range wireless technology that can connect up to eight different devices together. It can connect your cell phone to its headset, your computer to a mouse and keyboard, and even can be a link between these devices and your car.

Not only does this make for safer hands-free driving, but it allows for new convenience on the go. You can set some MP3 players to pause when a bluetooth cell phone receives a call. Your phone or even your Blackberry will sync to your PC and wirelessly exchange numbers and other information.

It is not just about face plates and chargers anymore. Cell phone accessories are becoming an important part of how you use your phone.

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Cell phones, I have learned can be the anti-sock. Socks that you put in the washer disappear and cell phones which you would never run through a load, magically appear– wet, clean and otherwise not working. This Christmas you have the opportunity to right this conflict. To bring both parties together to the table (or mantelpiece) and and provide a little peace on earth in ringtone fashion.

With just a few days of shopping left, a cell phone could be the perfect gift for the special someone on your list with special laundry habits. And while stores are crowded, you can sit back with your hot chocolate, your one clean sock fresh from the dryer, and order your new cell phone online. And just to leave a hint to my friends and family reading this: I still don’t see a Razr sized package under my tree.

Well I must log off to take care of some last minute shopping of my own. I’ll be back sometime next week. But until then, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

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I don’t live in a rural area, but it is a new neighborhood and the luxuries of wired high speed internet weren’t brought in with the telephone and plumbing. I have been spoiled by fast downloads and instant connections at work and school and so I am more than a little anxious to find another solution than my 56 kbp dial-up connection. Luckily, the big cellular phone players want a piece of the broadband market. This means there are options.

My first stop was T-Mobile. Their EDGE/GPRS network has been nationwide since September and I have had good experiences with their customer service. EDGE, the technology behind T-Mobile and Cingular’s network is currently providing around 140 kbps download. Not fast enough for large files, but definitely enough to make a noticeable improvement to page-rate. The price depends on whether you have it with a qualifying Blackberry T-Mobile cell phone plan. (Another fun technology I will have to explore later) With the plan adding unlimited internet is only $39.99, otherwise, $49.99.

Cingular is a little more confusing. It looks like they adopted their rate plan from an AT&T business internet plan I looked into a couple of years ago. It is scaled by the number of mega-bytes you download. Minutes can be hard enough to keep track of, but keeping track of something as intangible as the size of each web page you visit might be intimidating to casual browsers. Their is an unlimited plan for $79.99, but without any increase in speed over T-Mobile.

Last, the Golden Carrot: Verizon. They have pushed the quality of their network with their newest advertising campaign, and for the internet, it is apparent. It is not currently nationwide, but they are moving into most areas, including my own, in January. The speed, according to their site is between 300 and 500 kbps, with bursts up to 2Mbps. Unlimited access is $79.99, but if you have a qualifying Verizon cell phone plan and sign a two-year contract the price drops twenty dollars.

Hardware? Each company has wireless PC card modems for laptops and they run from free to $200 depending on your particular plan.

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I’ve seen and heard a lot about the motorola RAZR V3 on TV, newspaper and magizines lately and I’ve wondered if this cell phones features are as cool as it’s looks. So I’ve done some research and here is what I’ve found.

Motorola.com says “Motorola’s new RAZR V3 is the essence of advanced technology and superlative design. At only 13.9 mm thin, 53 mm wide (the width of a credit card) and 98 mm long, it is one of the slimmest phones on the market yet still rich in functions, performance excellence and design innovation.

Dedicated Messaging & Browser keys”
This is not a full list of features but I’m sure you’ll agree that is quite impressive none the less. So it seems that the RAZR V3 is more than just a cool looking cell phone after all.

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I just attended a great workshop about blogging by Dave Taylor. Boy this guy knows his stuff. He has authored over 20 books like The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Growing Your Business with Google, and Dave has four or five blog sites including intuitive.com and askdavetaylor.com. Hopefully with a little help from this master I can get my blog about the latest cell phones to rock!

Speaking of cell phones, I’m starting to hear a bit about Motorola’s latest cell phone the ROKR E1. A cell phone that comes with software that let’s you down load and play iTunes® so now you don’t have to carry a iPod. It seems like a great idea. I’ll check into it and let you know what I find.

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