Protect Your Cell Phone

It took me a while to get it. After a few broken cell phones and wondering why mine looks so much more beat up than others, I realize I was being careless and not taking care of my precious companion, my cell phone. I think many people neglect their cell phone because they're so use to seeing and carrying their cell phones around with them every day. I think many people forget to go back to the first day they bought the cell phone and opened up the box and took out their brand new, shiny, and scratch free cell-phone.

Ms. Nicole A from associatedcontent.com suggests several ways to take care of your cell phone so that it'll last for a long time and in good condition too. This may be good information for those who have the very expensive phones out there like the iphone or blackberry. Her first suggestion is

1) keep it out of the rain- while this may seem obvious, you'll be suprise at the people out there who insist on talking on their phone in the pouring rain. If you must take a call in the rain, then do so, but make it short and then put your phone away. Your phone is electronic and I'm sure not water resistant.

2)do not keep your phones in your pocket- because of the convienience many people keep their phones here due to the easy access. However, keeping your phones in you pockets puts it at risk for being sat on or falling out of your pocket and to the ground. I cringed every time I rop my phone or see other people drop theirs.

3) do not handle cell phones while eating- I have no comment to this one because I am guilty of it.

4) get a protective cell phone case- I think this is the simplest and most logical step to protecting your cell phone. If you get the right case, not only does it protect it from scratches, it can be a a shock absorber when you inevitably drop your cell phone.

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Flashy Lights

I'm not sure about others, but I tend to get bored easily. Especially with products, from cell phones to car stereos, even furniture, I quickly get bored and want a change of scenary. But one thing I've never considered was my cell phone battery! I recently came upon a product called the Ericsson Rainbox Flash Lithium Battery. It's a transparent battery that flashes an assortment of colors!

This product wouldn't just satisfy anyone with a short attention span who bores easily, it would also make a great gift or a wonderful distraction when you're stuck somewhere like a meeting or class haha, not that I'm suggesting any ideas. Think you're too old for flashy lights? Remember, you're only as old as you feel. I think this is a great product to bring the slightest bit of color to anyone's mundance day.

I think this product would make a fun gift if not for yourself, than for that funa and flashy person you know who enjoys the glitz and glam. On a scientific note, olor is shown to have a positive response among people. According to writedesignonline.com, our mind does responds to color, and colors trigger certain emotions within us. While it's silly to think that buying a battery with flashing colors will do anything to our emotional and mental well-being, it doesn't hurt to see if the transparent flashing battery will make you smile when you see it.

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Nokia 2600

I always thought that Nokia phone's were a bit too on the slow side. I remember having a Nokia 3360 or something! haha everyone had one! but ever sicne then I think that Nokia has been going down the tube with their slow interface. Nokia is no slouch when it comes to designing high-end cell phones, but the company's bread and butter remains simple handsets for making calls. That's where Nokia got its start, and that's where its focus remains for developing markets. The new Nokia 2600 for AT&T fits this mold perfectly. Though it offers a VGA camera and Bluetooth, this handset is all about communication. The design is simple and intuitive and the call quality is serviceable, but the phone's molasses-like menu interface was frustrating. The Nokia 2600 is $150 if you pay full price, but it's free with a service contract.

Design
The 2600 is a standard Nokia candy bar phone that's a salute to minimalism. It is clad in basic black with just an orange ring around the center column of keys to give it some individuality. The lines are straight and clean, but its tapered edges are a nice touch. The 2600 is 4.21 inches long by 1.84 inches wide by 0.79 inch thick and weighs 3.17 ounces. It is compact and portable, but the plastic skin feels rather flimsy.

The display measures 1.5 inches wide and supports 65,000 colors (128x128 pixels). Though that's a low-resolution display when compared with most other current cell phones, it's fitting for such a low-end phone. Graphics and photos aren't sharp, but colors are relatively bright and the screen isn't washed out. What's more, the icon-based menus are intuitive. You can change the standby mode font color and the font size and activate a power-saver mode.

The 2600's navigation array consists of a square silver toggle with a black OK button. Though it is decently sized and raised above the surface of the phone, it's also a bit slippery with a plastic feel. It didn't present us with any problems, though, and you can set the toggle to act as shortcut to four user-defined functions. Two soft keys and the Talk and End/power buttons complete the array. They have a spacious layout as well but they're flush and equally slippery. Also, we'd like a dedicated back key and a camera shortcut.

The keypad buttons are hit and miss. They didn't feel cramped, but they aren't very tactile. Similarly, while we like that the central column of keys is colored in gray, the backlighting could be brighter. We didn't suffer from any misdials, but rapid texting did feel awkward.

Like T-Mobile's recent Nokia 1680, the 2600 doesn't have a dedicated volume rocker, which means you must use the toggle to change the volume level during a call. That's rather inconvenient. On the right spine, you'll find the charger port and a 2.5mm headset jack. The camera lens and mirror rest on the phone's backside above the single speaker.

Features
The 2600 has a tiny, 200-contact phone book with room in each entry for five phone numbers, an e-mail address, a URL, a company name and job title, a formal name and nickname, a street address, a birthday, and notes. You can pair contacts with a photo and save them to caller groups, but only groups can be assigned one of the eight polyphonic ringtones.

The 2600 has a solidly low-end feature set, but it does include Bluetooth. There's no stereo profile, which really isn't needed on such a basic phone, but you can use Bluetooth to send files. Other features include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, a voice recorder, an alarm clock, a calendar, a to-do list, a notepad, a timer, and a stopwatch. You'll also find trial applications for Mobile Banking, WikiMobile, and My-Cast Weather.

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LG Dare

I remember everyone talking about the Voyager: Supposedly the Finest Touch Screen Phone because it has a keyboard. "It's like the iPhone but better" Everyone was way wrong about that! haha It had poor quality when a finger touches the screen.
One of the most notable fallouts of the Apple iPhone launch last year is the ever-growing trend of touch-screen phones. LG was one of the first manufacturers out of the gate with phones such as the LG Voyager and the LG Vu dazzling us with features that we couldn't get on the iPhone, like live mobile TV and 3G connectivity. Samsung then came blazing out with the Instinct, a phone that directly targets the iPhone with visual voice mail, integrated GPS, and corporate e-mail support. Yet, many of these phones still walked on familiar ground with its design and features.

LG's latest handset, however, dares to take things in a different direction. The appropriately named LG Dare presents a few tricks we haven't seen before in the touch-screen phone genre. For example, you can drag and drop icons to make your own customized shortcuts on the home screen, or you can use a drawing pad to sketch ideas or draw a map, which can then be sent via MMS to a friend. The Dare also has one of the most advanced cameras we've seen on a touch-screen phone--its 3.2-megapixel camera has settings like face detection, noise reduction, panorama photo stitching, and a SmartPic technology designed for taking photos in low light. The built-in camcorder can even record high-speed video and play it back in slow-motion, which is a first for U.S. camera phones. We certainly wouldn't want to call this an iPhone killer since it doesn't have features such as Wi-Fi, and its Web browser and media player aren't as good. However, the Dare is a very appealing alternative for Verizon customers who want a touch-screen phone with a difference. The LG Dare is priced competitively at $199 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year service agreement.

Design
Like all touch-screen phones, the LG Dare's design is dominated by a large display covering almost the entirety of the phone's front surface. Indeed, the only visible keys on the front are the Call, Clear/Voice command, and End/Power keys at the very bottom. The Dare is quite a bit smaller than both the iPhone and the Samsung Instinct, measuring only 4.1 inches long by 2.2 inches wide by 0.5 inch thick. It has a stainless steel border along its sides, and a black soft touch surface on the back that gives it a nice grip in the hand. It weighs about 3.76 ounces, which gives it a light yet solid feel.

The smaller size of the Dare also results in a smaller space for the 3-inch-wide display (compared with the 4-plus-inch displays on the other two phones). Though we were fine with it for most applications, we'll admit that it deters us from enjoying the full HTML browser (which we'll get to in the Features section), since it means we have to do more scrolling than usual. The display supports 262,000 colors and a 240x400-pixel resolution, which results in a stunning and colorful screen with vibrant graphics and clean text. You can adjust the backlight time, the menu fonts, the dial fonts, the display theme, and even the image of the charging screen. You can also choose animated wallpaper if you like.

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To Charge or Not to Charge

It seems to me that many of my eletronic items have very poor battery life. And these are top of the line items, like my Mac Book or my Canon digital camera. It's frustrating because I've done my research on my products and these are not suppose to have short battery life. Well it turns out, I was doing something very wrong. I was over charging my batteries for these items.

In an article on realsimple.com, they discuss how long you should actually charge your battery. It turns out the type of battery is important to know how and when to charge it. If your battery is an lithium ion battery, then charge the battery as often as you need. However, don't fully charge them when you have to store the item for a long time. Basically, if you must store an item, keep it stored with its batter partially charged but never fully charged.

If the battery is a nickel metal hydride battery, which are common among digital cameras and laptops, then a monthly deep discharge will prolong the battery life. This deep discharge means letting your battery drain away fully, then recharge the battery to maximum capacity again. The same holds true for nickel cadmium battery, common among power drill and cordless phones. These also do best when the battery undergoes a monthly deep discharge.

All this seems like a lot of informatin and a lot of work, but think about the money you'll be saving on battery or product replacement! Just learn what type of battery your product use, which should be on the owner's manual, and follow the simples steps to preserve the battery life.

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Don't be intimidated by Bluetooth

A few years agao, I was walking around school and I saw this lady talking to herself. "The world is full of crazies," I thought to myself and continued on my oblivious way. I would soon learn later that she was probably using bluetooth. Sometime later, I learned of this advance technology called, "Blue Tooth." This technology is over my head, I thought to myself, and just push it aside. Unfortunately, I couldn't get away from it. Everywhere I went I was bombarded with adverstisements, screaming at me, "BLUETOOTH CAPABLE!" So I eventually gave in and was forced to learn about bluetooth.

Here are some interesting facts about bluetooth that I found on a website developers.sun.com:
-Bluetooth is wireless and automatic. You don't have to keep track of cables, connectors, and connections, and you don't need to do anything special to initiate communications.
-Devices find each other automatically and start conversing without user input, expect where authentication is required; for example, users must log in to use their email accounts.
-Bluetooth is inexpensive. Market analysts peg the cost to incorporate Bluetooth technology into a PDA, cell phone, or other product at around $20 now, and say that it could fall to as little as $5 per unit.
-Bluetooth handles both data and voice. Its ability to handle both kinds of transmissions simultaneously makes possible such innovations as a mobile hands-free headset for voice with applications that print to fax, and that synchronize the address books on your PDA, your laptop, and your cell phone.
Signals are omni-directional and can pass through walls and briefcases.
-Bluetooth uses frequency hopping. Its spread spectrum approach greatly reduces the risk that communications will be intercepted.

When I finally felt brave enough to use bluetooth technology, I programmed my ear piece to use blue tooth. I was completely in awe that I was using my phone without acutally holding it! The image of the "crazy" lady talking to herself appeared in my mind, and I found myself feeling quite foolish, that she was not crazy after all.

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Sony Ericsson C905

When I saw this review, I thought that it was really cool how cybershot and sony ericsson did a little collabo together and made a phone and a REAL LEGIT camera while in it. I want to see how this camera really works!
Though we've known about the Sony Ericsson C905 Cyber-shot for a few months, CES gave us our first opportunity to see it up close and personal. With an 8.1-megapixel camera, it is Sony Ericsson's highest resolution camera phone to date. What's more, it also has many of the same features you'd find on a standalone camera and it offers several ways to get your photos off the phone.

With such a packed feature set we were expecting a rather bulky design. And in that respect the C905 delivered. It's not as big as the Samsung Innov8, but at 4.1 by 1.9 by 1.7 inches and 4.8 ounces it's hardly as slim as the 5-megapixel Sony Ericsson C902. That trade-off is a solid feel in the hand and a sturdy slider mechanism. We also like that tapered ends that give the C905 a streamlined feel. The handset comes in sliver, black, and gold, and the company added a tender rose (aka pink) version at the show.


We like the C905's tapered ends. The camera shutter is on the right spine.

(Credit: Kent German/CBS Interactive)The display is bright and beautiful with sharp colors and graphics. Sony Ericsson typically succeeds with its displays, and the C905 is no exception. The company also has a history of over-designing its navigation controls, but we were glad to see that the C905 breaks that mold. The square navigation toggle and central OK button are spacious and tactile, as are the other navigation controls that surround it.

Like many camera phones, the C905 resembles a regular camera when viewed from behind. A sliding lens cover hides the camera lens, bright Xenon flash, and a self-portrait mirror. Sliding the cover opens starts the camera automatically. You'll also find comfortable camera ergonomics. When holding the phone horizontally, the side-mounted camera shutter and volume rocker/zoom control are right at your fingertips. We haven't seen the photo quality yet, so we'll have to save that for our full review.

The keypad buttons are relatively flush, which is not a surprise on a slider phone. Yet, the keys are pretty tactile and spacious, with large numbers and a bright backlighting. Fortunately, the memory stick micro slot rests conveniently on the left spine below the memory card slot.


A sliding cover hides the camera lens.

(Credit: Kent German/CBS Interactive)As we mentioned earlier, the C905 is all about its camera. Besides the 8.1-megapixel resolution you'll also find a solid set of offerings that includes autofocus, geotagging, smile detection, face detection, a self timer, and a digital zoom. Wi-Fi is integrated as well; you can use it to upload videos directly to YouTube. Outside of the camera there's a music player, a speakerphone, stereo Bluetooth, messaging and e-mail, personal organizer applications, mass USB storage, an FM radio, and PC syncing.

At the time of this writing the C905 is available only in Europe for 499 euros or about $682. Sony Ericsson says it will bring an unlocked version of the C905 to the United States in the second quarter of this year. It is quad-band GSM and it supports both Europe and North American 3G bands. We hope to get it in soon for a full review.

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TXT8020

These seems like phone that will become a new hit! I like the look of it and it looks user friendly as well. It's a good texting phone though! PCD didn't have much to show off at CES 2009, but it did give us a brief sneak peek at one of its upcoming texting phones, dubbed the TXT8020 for now. It looks suspiciously like the Verizon Wireless Blitz, but with a swivel screen instead. It is a dual-mode 800/1900 CDMA phone, and it has EV-DO, which the Blitz does not. The display is around 2.2-inches diagonal and supports 260,000 colors.

Features include stereo Bluetooth, a microSD card slot, 1GB flash memory and 1 GB of RAM, text and multimedia messaging, instant messaging, a 1.3-megapixel camera, a speakerphone, voice commands, and e-mail capabilities. Measuring around 4 inches by 2.5 inches by 0.7 inch, the TXT8020 has a pretty roomy keyboard too. Seeing as this looks like a successor to the Blitz, we suspect it'll be available from Verizon Wireless soon.

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Hybrid Owner's Suit gets Green Light

I never thought that a Honda would be a "gas guzzler" and also! Its a hybrid. Honda's themselves are miraculously a gas saver (former honda car owner) and it was great! But I guess Honda supposedly did some false advertising. A San Diego, Calif., man who says his 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid is more gas-guzzler than green can sue the automaker for false advertising, the 4th District Court of Appeal said Monday.

On a 2-1 ruling (pdf), the court reinstated Gaetano Paduano's state law claims that American Honda Motor Co. misleadingly told potential Civic Hybrid buyers that they could achieve great gas mileage by driving the model just like any other car. A San Diego County Superior Court judge improperly dismissed the claims in 2006, the appellate majority held.

"On summary judgment, it is Honda's burden to present evidence demonstrating that a reasonable person could not find that it is more likely than not that Honda's statements are false and/or misleading," Justice Cynthia Aaron wrote. "Honda has not met this burden, since Honda presented no evidence to demonstrate that the claims in its brochure could not mislead a reasonable person, as a matter of law."

The three-justice panel did uphold the trial court's decision to toss Paduano's breach of warranty claims.

Paduano's attorney, Michael Lindsey of San Diego, said he had not discussed the ruling yet with his client.

"Originally he just wanted his money back," Lindsey said. Now, "I don't know."

Honda is already the target of a federal class action, pending in the Central District of California, which claims that the company inflated the savings and mileage figures Civic Hybrid drivers could achieve.

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Better Call Quality for the iPhone

I look at this and thought it was pretty cool. Until I saw the price. Only a fool would buy such a thing for that amount of money! Crazy I tell you! Here is what they had to say: Wilson Electronics may not have the flashiest products or the glitziest booth at CES, but it does offer some of the best cell phone signal amplifiers around. At the show the company announced the iBooster, a new amplifier designed specifically for the Apple iPhone. The product promises to boost both reception and call quality, which are two very different things. Though it's designed primarily for use in a car, you also can use it inside a building.

In the box you'll find a cradle that can accommodate both the iPhone classic and the iPhone 3G. And thanks to a special adapter, it also fits the iPhone 3G with a case. The cradle has a dual purpose; not only does it keep the phone in one place while you're on go, but it also charges your iPhone. As with Wilson's other products, you must attach a stubby antenna to your car's roof and run a cord through your door to the cradle. It requires power through a cigarette lighter adapter, but that comes in the box as well.

The iBooster should be available by April for $349. That may sound like a lot of money for a signal booster, but the benefit of better reception may just be worth it. Wilson is also releasing a version of the product for the BlackBerry Curve and a universal model that will accommodate a variety of cell phones.

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US Come Together to Research Car Batteries

Hybrid cars have been in great demand a recent years due to the rise in gasoline prices. Now 14 US Technology companies are joining forces to speed up the development of electric car batteries. This aliance is called National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Battery Cell Manufacture. They are working together in hopes of catching up to their Asian rivals. US auto maker such as Ford and General Motores, hope to increase production of electric cars by 2010, but the limited capacity to produce lithium ion battery, which electric cars require, may be a problem. The car batter field is currently being dominated by Asian producer, Panasonic Corporation.

The US hopes to build the first large scale lithium ion batter plant, estimated at 1-2 billion dollars. But this plan faces several hurdles, high cost being one of them. However, experts say that this alliance has a high likelihood of receiving funding because it allows the government to concentrate its efforts and money without
favoring any one company. According to the article written by Rebecca Smith, "Many experts believe battery technology and manufacturing capacity could become as strategically important as oil is today."

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Second impressions on the Palm Pre

The article that I found was the first impression. My impression is the second. I thought that this found was pretty sleek and very advanced (from the looks of it). The design looks curvy. What I want to know is why they named it "Palm Pre". Is there another phone coming out after that? Like this is the pre-gadget and we will be waiting for the main event? Hmm seems very skeptical for me. But the phone itself seems pretty advanced for another touch screen phone. Here's CNET's first impression: Phew! Thursday was a long, action-packed day thanks to Palm. I'm just now getting to sit down and gather my thoughts on the Palm Pre and Palm Web OS announcements, and I have to confess that I went into the press conference with some skepticism. It's no secret that Palm's been struggling to keep up with the competition and has come under heavy criticism for its lack of innovation and delays in releasing its new operating system. So can you blame me for thinking that Palm might disappoint again?

Well, I'm happy to say that I was wrong. My CNET News colleagues Ina Fried and Tom Krazit did a great job of covering the press conference and reporting on the basic specs of the Palm Pre, but I wanted to put my two cents in on what I think of the Pre and Palm Web OS and what kind of impact it will have on the market.

User interface and OS
To me, the real highlight of the Pre is the user interface and OS. The UI reminded me a little of HTC's TouchFlo interface, with the various swiping gestures and cool animated motions, but Palm certainly put a fresh take on it. It's beautiful and smooth, and just plain cool. It's pretty evident that Palm put a lot of thought into the UI, as everything seamlessly works together to give you the best user experience and making the smartphone a really useful tool in your daily life.



Synergy on the Palm Pre

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CBS Interactive)The smartphone makes multitasking easy with the Deck of Cards feature that lets you scroll through various applications and toggle between them without having to open and close windows. It's slick, but most importantly, it's easy. I also think Synergy is a huge player, since it brings all your e-mail accounts and contact and calendar information from various sources into one place. Again, it's about simplicity and whether you're a consumer or business user, you have to love that.

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Removing blackheads?

If you ask people, what features do you first notice when looking at someone, you may get a variety of answers. Eyes, smile, even eyebrows have been mentioned. If you ask me, I think I notice people's skin. Ofcourse, it doesn't matter to me whether someone has clear skin or maybe they may have an acne condition. Maybe it's because my parents always pointed out my own skin, whenever I had a pimple or maybe it was a little dry, my parents always made sure I knew, but it's just what I notice first in other people (in terms of physical appearance). My MOST pesky skin problem are black heads. Those annoying, nasty things that form from dirt and oil build-up in your pores.

Blacksheads can be cause for many reasons, according the website, unity.goldenmoon.org, blackheads are caused when the skin's natural oils collect and harden in your pores. When the exposed tips becomes oxidized, it becomes black. Hence, blackheads! The website also has a detailed routine to get rid of black heads. One advice I heard one day on The Martha Stewart show, a facial lady suggested putting a hot/warm towel on your face daily. I guess this is to clear out the oil build-up. I tried it for a few days, but didn't see any noticable improvement.

On epinions.com, there is a whole forum on pore cleanser and one writer states that clinical research have shown the pore cleansers do work! The data shows that 79.7% of blackheads were reduced by pore cleansers. If you're skeptical you can do the research in see for yourself before investing in a pore cleanser. I have a little more research to do, but so for the Panasonic Pore Cleanser seems to be a popular one.


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iLuv readies 9-inch Portable Media Player for iPods and DVDs

Although this has nothing really to do with cell phones I really like the fact that you hook up your iPhone to this bad boy. Haha I swear technology is amazing nowadays, and people are so creative when it comes to inventing something. iLuv has a new 9-inch wide-screen portable DVD player, the i1166, that integrates a dock for iPods with video capabilities. The device also has an SD-card slot and USB port (for connecting storage devices) and it supports playback of DivX video files and JPEG images.

iLuv says the i1166 Portable Multimedia Player for iPod and DVDs will arrive in March, but its price hasn't been determined yet. By comparison, the company's 8.4-inch i1155 carries a list price price of $269.99 but sells online for just over $200.

Here's a rundown of the i1166's specs:

Compatible with all iPods with video capability
DivX certified to play DivX videos
Video output for TV connectivity
Built-in USB/SD/MMC slot; supports the new slotMusic
Three-way power source: AC, DC car adapter, or built-in li-polymer rechargeable battery
Charges your iPod when docked and features iPod full remote control
Digital Photo Frame to view photos from built-in memory, memory card, USB, DVD±R/RW, or CD-R/RW
Remote control included
Playable Media: DVD, DVD±R/RW, VCD, CD, CD-R/RW, MP3, MP3 CD JPEG, Kodak, DivX, MPEG4

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Nokia N96

I think it's kind of a good thing that smart phones are in and everyone practically has one or wants one. I think they are a life saver in many ways. I found this article on cnet reviews and I love reading about the newest cellphones and their reviews. The Nokia N96 caused quite a commotion when it first debuted at GSMA 2008 in February, but as with most of Nokia's high-end phones, it took a little while for the smartphone to make its way to the United States. Consequently, new products have come out and stolen its thunder, including one from the Nokia family, the Nokia N97. Still, the N96 is an impressive all-in-one device that deserves some recognition, most notably for the whopping 16GB of storage it offers. It also features advanced multimedia capabilities and comes close to being a replacement for your MP3 player or portable video player. The N96 has a business side, too, with its productivity suite and various wireless connections. That said, aside from the additional flash memory and some tweaks to the design, it's very much like its predecessor, the Nokia N95, and doesn't necessarily warrant an upgrade, especially at its unlocked price of $776. And with the announcement of the Nokia N97, we have a feeling potential N96 buyers might hold off to see what the newest N series device has to offer. Don't get us wrong, the Nokia N96 is a powerful smartphone that blends work and play well, but at this point, the N96 feels more like an afterthought than a potential purchase.

Design
The Nokia N96's doesn't differ that much from the N95 in the looks department. It keeps the same dual-slider design and candy-bar shape, but Nokia updates the N96 with rounder edges and a sleeker face. The smartphone measures 4.1 inches high by 2.2 inches wide by 0.7 inch deep and weighs 4.4 ounces. It's similar in size to the HTC Touch Pro, so while on the short side, it's a bit thick, making for a tight fit in a pants pocket. For such a high-end device, we think the handset feels a tad cheap, because of the plastic edges. We're also not huge fans of the plastic battery cover, since it feels pretty fragile and could crack if the phone took a tumble.

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Multitasking and Driving don't Mix

I find these articles really interesting just because it could happen to anyone! I mean people who have a car most likely have a cellphone. I just think that people dont' take it as seriously (including myself) I'm changing my habits! haha Drivers everywhere everyday are multitasking while driving. They read mail, eat lunch, put on makeup, and talk on the phone. At the same time, car crashes result in property damage and injuries across the country. What causes all these crashes? Could the distractions of activities unrelated to driving have something to do with it? That is what researchers at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) are working to find out from their 100-car naturalistic driving study.

With vehicle crashes as the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States for people between 1 and 65 years old, high-quality transportation research is essential to public safety. Researchers are working to provide information that would help prevent the more than 40,000 deaths and 2 million injuries, and the $150 billion cost of crashes each year.

Until recently, research has been confined to analysis of police-reported crash data and studies conducted on test tracks and in simulators. While these methods can be effective, there is no substitute for collecting data in a real-world, or naturalistic, environment.

So, for a year, researchers at VTTI observed the actual daily driving habits of 241 drivers. It was the first instrumented vehicle study undertaken with the primary purpose of collecting large-scale naturalistic driving data.

“Due to the unpredictability of driver performance and the random nature of automobile crashes, the collection of naturalistic data gives a more accurate perspective of why crashes occur,” says Tom Dingus, director of VTTI and program manager for the study.

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