How to Create Customize Ringtones for Your iPhone

People have been on a rampage now that iPhones are out in the market. You might be one of the people who have recently bought one. There are a lot of features that iPhone has and you love them, all of them. One of the features that you love is the ability for you to have your favorite songs be your ringtones.

Getting them for free may be a bit difficult especially from websites and online forums that offer free ringtones downloads that is just a hoax. There are other sites that could offer you to get your ringtones of your favorite songs but you need to purchase it from them. Looking at your music library and wishing if it is possible to have them be your ringtones but you do not know how. Then look no further for I can share the secret of creating a custom iPhone ringtones legally for free.

Here are the easy steps for you to create custom iPhone ringtones:

• First you will need to have iTunes installed in your Mac or Windows computer. Then have a Non-DRM song that you want to be used as basis for your ringtones.
• Once the requirements are met, open your iTunes.
• Browse the songs that you want to convert into your custom iPhone ringtones.
• Listen to the song and take note of the start and stop times that you will want to be a part of the ringtone.
• Hover the mouse over the song and right-clicked it then select "Get info" from the list.
• Select the 'options' tab then input the start time in the text box that is labeled as "start time" in the format of minutes:seconds (i.e. 3:45). Input the end time in the "stop time" text box making sure that the ringtone duration should not be more than 40 seconds long.
• Click "OK" then right click your song once more and select the "Convert Selection to AAC." The iTunes will then convert it into a duplicate version of the song. For this process, you need to wait for a few moments.
• Find and right-click the duplicate version of the ringtone and select "Delete".
• Select the "Keep Files" button and locate the file under the 'Music > iTunes > iTunes Music' location under the name of the band. The file usually has the m4a as its file extension.
• Upon finding the file, rename the m4a extension of the ringtone into m4r. Renaming the file can be done with either double-clicking the file slowly to rename it or doing it the longer process by right-clicking the file, selecting "Get Info" on Mac while in Windows PC you have to select "Rename".
• The system may warn you that the change may affect the file but just choose "Use.m4r" or the equivalent of it depending on the system that you will use.
• By double-clicking the ringtone file, iTunes will add it automatically to your ringtones folder under your iTunes Music Library.

You can now connect your iPhone and sync it to your computer to finally have your new customized free ringtones for your iPhone.

Article Source:  http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Hilal_Abdelwali

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How To Boost Cell Phone Signal For Free, Without Any Cell Phone Signal Booster

This free do-it-yourself (diy) tip sheet reveals surprisingly simple tricks to try in order to increase your cell phone signal when you are on a call and without the use of any so-called cell phone "boosting" device. By learning these simple techniques and tips, you will be able to significantly increase your cell phone's signal strength naturally, without any device. So, next time you make a call, make sure you observe the following tips and tricks:

• Hands-off!: Make sure you never put your finger near or on the antenna. If you don't know where the antenna is, it is probably on top of your phone so it's a good idea to hold your phone by the base, not the top. The idea here is that anything to obstructs cellular waves decreases your phone's performance, including anything as small as your finger.
• Turn Your Body: If your interlocutor's voice breaks during a call, try to turn around until it improves. You don't know where the base station antenna from your carrier is located and your head may be right in the way. Rotate your whole body so that your phone points to a different direction until you find the best position, then don't move.
• Avoid Metal: Move away from any piece of metal, especially massive steel structures. They usually interfere with cellular waves.
• Power Up!: Always keep your battery as charged as possible. Some cell phones (and maybe yours do) will weaken their signal strength when the battery is low to increase talk time.
• Look For Windows: If you are in a building, move towards a window: the less obstruction the better.[br]- When driving your car, place the phone on the window side, it may help.[br]- When walking outside, move to an open spot rather than stay close to building or in the woods.
• Hide!: On rare occasions, you can use a huge concrete building or structure to hide yourself from a specific base station antenna that may be defective, so that your cell phone sees another, more remote base station which works better. This is unlikely but it sometimes happens.

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Upload To Flickr From Android Phone

Do you find uploading photos to your Flickr profile cumbersome? Do you want a better, faster and easier method of uploading photos to share with your friends and family? How about uploading directly using your mobile phone. Well yes, here is a new Flickr app that enables the user to upload photos directly from the mobile.

Flickr launched the app a few weeks ago, which is available for download. The app works only with mobile phones based on Android 2.2 platform. Users can easily download the free app by going to m.flickr.com from their Android 2.2 based mobile device.

So, here is how it works. As soon as you  log on to Flickr from your mobile phone, you’ll see a download link right on the homepage. This will take you to the mobile upload page where you will see an option of “Choose File”. Selecting this button will give the user access to the gallery from where photos can be easily uploaded and shared. So enjoy uploading photos without e-mailing. The catch here is that the app works only with Android 2.2 based phones. For other users who have Android 2.1 (or lower) will have to wait for any other update.

Source: mobiletipstricks.com

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Cell Phone Settings to Save Battery Life

Here are a few tricks to maximize your cell phone battery life.

• Turn off your cell phone during the night while you sleep. It will reserve some battery power for you, but if you have emergency calls at night, this might not be applicable.
• Set your network mode correctly. If you have a 3G cell phone, you have three options: Dual mode, UMTS and GSM (depending on the cell phone you have), if you are using 3G or 2G, select the mode accordingly, never select dual mode. Because every time you turn of your cell phone or lost signal, it has to search for the network and this process consumes battery power a lot.
• Disable vibration, keypad sound and backlight. While some prefer vibration and need backlight to read, but these features requires much battery power to work, if your disable them, your battery will surely last longer.
• Turn off Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS until you need to use them. They will drain your battery quickly.
• Reduce the apps running in the background. Unnecessary features like camera and mobile internet are those features will tremendously consume your battery power.
• Decrease the brightness of your cell phone screen. Turn down the brightness is up till now the most effective way to save your battery life, and you will surely see a huge increase in the time of use.

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How to Block Unwanted Incoming Calls and SMS

Are you sick of having to ignore unwanted calls? Well you can always block unwanted incoming caller ID, paid or free.

There are many apps out there to block any incoming calls or SMS, like Mcleaner, it support “black” and “white” list to reject any calls, and it works on iPhone, S60, UIQ, and Motorola cell phones. You can try it at http://www.mcleaner.com/, the price is $11.99. Also the famous anti-virus software Kaspersky’s mobile security offers the same functionality which charges $29.99 per year per mobile. Of course it can protect your Smartphone from malware and network attacks as well.

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Tricks to Try Android on HTC Windows Mobile phone

Google android cell phone is in direct competition with Windows Mobile phone  and Apple’s iPhone, but it has already gained a lot of fans. If you want to try the new OS, you do not have to buy an Android cell phone. If you have a HTC Windows Mobile phone, you may try install Android OS on it. Although it’s not the default OS, you can use Windows Mobile boot loader called HaRET to boot your cell phone into Android.

However, not all Windows Mobile phone support it, Newer GSM devices will have a better chance, and to date CDMA is scarcely supported.

It only takes a few steps to complete it, however it’s rather tedious. First you need to make sure that your cell phone is supported, and then you need to download the relevant Android files. The final step is to install it, however, you may need to format your cell phone first and configure a few files. After finishing all these, you can use HaRET to reboot your HTC Windows Mobile phone with Android OS.

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Best Android Smartphones of 2010

The smartphones are on the rise. This year, a number of mobile phone manufacturers are sporting the Android operating system in their latest releases. This, thanks to the success of the first release of the OS with the HTC phone "Dream" back in 2008. With the operating system now ranked fourth among other smartphone OS in terms of global sales, technology pundits are expecting that Android may soon be on top of the list.

In the US, there is a huge jump in market share for smartphones running Android, from under 5% in the third quarter of 2009 to 28% at the end of the first quarter of 2010. In contrast, sales for the iPhone and other devices with Windows Mobile OS and Palm's WebOS systems decreased during the same period. Blackberry devices, which run the RIM system, slowed down gaining just 1.3% although still maintaining its leadership in the market.

Sales for Android smartphones is predicted to continue to grow exponentially in the coming months. This is due to the fact that handset development behind the OS is robust and relatively faster than that of the iPhone and the Blackberry. The development of new applications for the Android is also growing at a faster rate compared to its competitors. If you are looking to join the bandwagon, here are the top Android smartphones released for 2010.

Google Nexus One

The Android OS is of course backed up by search giant Google. It is therefore not surprising for Google to release its own line of smartphones. Although manufactured by HTC, Nexus One is designed and branded by Google. It runs on a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with 512 MB of RAM built-in. It includes 4GB of SD memory with a capacity of up to 32 GB. The 3.7" touch screen is wider than most phones in its class. It also includes a 5-megapixel camera. Among the features of Nexus One are voicemail transcriptions and GPS navigation via Google Maps with audible directions.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

The Xperia X10 is the first Android unit for Sony Ericsson. It also runs on a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor but is limited to 384 MB of RAM. It has a generous microSD memory of 8 GB, upgradeable to 16 GB. True to form with regards to Sony Ericsson's adherence to developing camera phones, what excels for the Xperia X10 is its 8.1 megapixel camera with flash and video light. Even more, Sony Ericsson's smile detection technology allows you to setup the Xperia to automatically snap a picture when your subjects smile.

Motorola Backflip

Known for their innovative design, Motorola again came up with a device that would have consumers flipping over in delight. The Motorola Backflip was released for the AT&T network and is the only unit with a full QWERTY keypad on the reverse side of the screen when the device is folded. Loaded with a 5 megapixel camera, the Backflip presents a unique option for consumers. One downside to the Backflip is that AT&T has blocked non-market apps, which is perceived to be a move that would undermine the expandability of what the phone can do. Preinstalled in the device is Motorola's MOTOBLUR which integrates a person's updates and messages from various social networking sites into a single streaming feed.

HTC Desire, Legend and Droid Incredible

Taiwan's HTC is arguably the leading manufacturer of mobile devices geared towards the Android operating system. For 2010, HTC already released the Desire, Legend and the Droid Incredible. HTC Legend works on a 600 MHz processor and 384 MB of RAM, which are lower specs compared to the Desire and the Droid Incredible. The Desire has a slightly larger touch screen at 3.7". The Droid Incredible boasts of an 8 megapixel camera.

More smartphones are expected to be released in the last two quarters of 2010. As people eagerly await the release of the next generation of iPhones from Apple, Android-based devices are already in the pipeline with such HTC phones as the EVO 4G to be released by June 2010 and the HTC Wildfire set to be out in the market by the 3rd quarter of the year. Expect even more Androids to invade tech stores soon!

This Article is written by John C Arkinn from News.PrintCountry the contributor of PrintCountry News Articles.

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How to Customize Free Ringtones

Many people are into using the cellular phones nowadays. It is without a doubt that having one is becoming a necessity may it be for personal use or even for business. It would bring more fun to someone if they could personalize the settings of their cell phones starting with its ringtones.

Having your ringtones when your friends or acquaintances call you makes the call more personal. Mp3 ringtones can sound much better than the usual beeps and monotone ringtones that can be a preset from your mobile phone.

Buying out ringtones may be quite expensive especially on certain online stores for they usually charge double for a song clip to your cell phone. Having to move through the hassle of free ringtones downloads may seem risky too. You may not know if what you will download will be clean out of virus that may infect your computer and even your phone as well. But is there a way for us to have free ringtones without paying double for it or risking our computers for viruses? Well the answer to this is -Yes, we do. Here are some ways for you to get free ringtones for your cell phone.

• This is for songs from a CD that you want to convert into your personalized ringtones. If you want a particular song turned to your ringtone then you need to have it be converted to WAV format for Windows or AIFF file format for Mac users.
• Once you have chosen the song you need to use the iTunes' ripping function in File/Preference/Advanced/Importing. Before ripping the song file, set the "rip to" folder into another file location such as File/Preference/Advanced/General in order for it to not be scrambled with your collection.
• If your mobile phone is able to handle audio files in MP3 format for its ringtones, then all you need to do is to just copy the MP3 file into a new folder before you proceed with the editing. Having another copy before you proceed with the ringtones editing process will enable you to save your original music collection and maintain its version unaffected.
• Audio editing can now begin using any audio-editing software that allows you to export the files in MP3 format. Audacity is good audio-editing software for audio file editing and conversion. You also need to download the LAME MP3 codec for Audacity to encode other audio files to MP3 format.
• Run Audacity then proceed to the Audacity/Preference menu. Select the Find Library button and look for the LAME Library and select it.
• Set the bit rate to 128 kbps and then open the song that you ripped from the CD then click the cursor to find the selection wherein the ringtones should start. Highlight the phrase of the song that ranges from 10 to 15 seconds or so then press space bar to hear a preview of what will be your new ring tone.
• Once you are done finding the right phrase of the song, proceed to finalize it by exporting the audio clip to MP3. Now you now have new free ringtones that you can sync from your PC to your mobile phone.

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Hilal_Abdelwali

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New Tricks Special Secrets & Codes for Mobile/Cell Phone

Nokia Secrets (may works on all models)
Check the IMEI*#06#
Check software version
*#8110#
Sim Clock Stop
*#746025625#
Warranty menu
*#92702689#
Press the following warranty code
6232 (OK) Displays the Month and Year of Manufacture
7332 (OK) Displays the date of the last repairment
7832 (OK) Displays the date where the phone was purchased
9268 (OK) Displays Serial Number
37832 (OK) Set the Purchasing Date MMYY
87267 (OK) Transfers ALL phone numbers, pictures, sounds from one phone to another
Hands Free
To continue an existing call when placing the 8110i into the hands free car kit without it dropping the call, press the Memory button just before connecting the cable and placing it in the cradle.
Display extra text in call costs feature
If your network operator doesn't offer a call costs service, you can still make use of that function to display some personalized text on the screen of your 8110i. Go to Menu, [5], [7], [1], enter PIN2-code and choose Set. Then type in the limit of the currency units you're using (if the call cost service worked, you would have to type the cost limit of the calls) and choose OK. In this case I typed 8110. Then go to the next sub menu (Menu, [5], [7], [2]), the Show costs in menu. Type in the PIN2 code again and select Currency. Type in the unit price, in this case number 1. Then type the name of the currency - you can use any string of letters and numbers 1-3 characters long. then type 2 letter then to confirm type two names beginning with one of each of the letters. Then press OK to confirm it.
Quick saving while in call
Saving numbers to memory during a call If you type a number into your phone during a call, you will lose it when the call ends. To prevent this happening just hold down Memory button -- the number will be saved (with no name) to the next available memory location.
Deleting SMS messages quickly
When reading an SMS message, instead of pressing Option, Erase to delete the message, simply press [C].
Turning lights on temporarily
If you have display lights turned off, you can turn them on by quickly pressing and releasing the power button. They will stay on as long as you are pressing button.

Silent mode temporarily
You can put your phone into silent ringing mode temporarily by pressing Menu then [#].
Closing the cover without ending a call
If you press the menu key and then close the sliding cover during a call you will not end your call.

Nokia 6150 Secrets (also work on other models)
Check the IMEI
*#06#
Service menu
*#92702689#
Show software version
*#0000# or *#6110#
Sim Clock Stop
*#746025625#
Warranty menu
*#92702689#
Press the following warranty code
6232 (OK) Displays the Month and Year of Manufacture
7332 (OK) Displays the date of the last repair
7832 (OK) Displays the date where the phone was purchased
9268 (OK) Displays Serial Number
37832 (OK) Set the Purchasing Date MMYY
87267 (OK) Transfers ALL phone numbers, pictures, sounds from one phone to another

Power Button Tip

If you press the button for a short moment, the menu with the profiles is shown on the display. If you press one more time, the mobile turns itself off. You can use the up and down cursor keys to scroll and enable a different alert setting.
The 54# Tip
Type 1#, 2#........54# on the keypad (when you're not in the menu) to get the phone number used for with this key when speed dialing.
Toggle Headset and Auto settings
#1: Try Connect the pin-out 1-2 (in front from the right.) to toggle headset settings (The phone will think that you ar using a headset - "headset" is displayed in the LCD)
#2:Try Connect the pin-out 2-3 (in front from the right.) to toggle auto settings (The phone will think that you are using it in the car - "auto" is displayed in the LCD)
Call Menu
(In a call) you can press and hold down the menu button for 3 sec. and a menu appears. (transfer, mute etc.)
Quick SMS Typing
When typing SMS messages, you have to wait some seconds before you can type the next letter if it is in the same button than the previous one. For example try to write the word "letter", you have to wait before you can enter the second "t". A much faster solution is to press the # button twice and then the letter "t".
The Reboot Trick
1. Go to calendar ( menu - 8 )
2. Make note / reminder
3. Enter some text into the edit box
4. Hold clear until whole text is cleared, then press back
5. Press 0. Main screen is shown but a space appears on the screen. You can't see it of course.
6. Enter 4 digits ( 1234 for example )
7. Use the down arrow to move the cursor to the left side of the numbers and the space (2 times down arrow)
8. Now enter 6 digits and press the green "Call button".
9. Wait some seconds..the phone will now flash the background light and finally reboot.

Philips Genie Secrets (also work on other models)
View the IMEI
*#06#
Status register
*#2254*#
Activate and deactivate the "DEBUG CALL"-Mode
*#2255*#
Time you are connected to the network
*#2558*#
Phone reconnects to the network
*#2562*#
Warm start
*#2565*#
(NO) BLOCKING - list (15 items)
*#3333*#
Init, Flags, SIM LOCK
*#3377*#
Reset the (NO) BLOCKING - list
*#3353*#
Name, Length, SIM phase
*#7378*#
SECURITY CODE
*#7489*#
Activate and deactivate the SLEEP MODE
*#7693*#
SPURIOUS INTERRUPT
*#7787*#
Activate the beep signal when the phone is reconnected to the network
*#2337*#

Samsung SGH-600 Secrets (also work on other models)
Show IMEI
*#06#
Show Software Version
*#9999#
Show Software Version (instructions)
*#0837#
Show Serial Parameters
*#0001#
Activates the smiley when charging
*#9125#
Battery status (capacity, voltage, temperature)
*#9998*228#
Program status
*#9998*246#
Change Alarm Buzzer Frequency
*#9998*289#
Debug screens
*#9998*324#
Watchdog
*#9998*364#
EEPROM Error Stack - Use side keys to select values. Cancel and ok.
*#9998*377#
Trace Watchdog
*#9998*427#
Change LCD contrast
*#9998*523#
Jig detect
*#9998*544#
Memory status
*#9998*636#
SIM File Size
*#9998*746#
SIM Service Table
*#9998*778#
RTK (Run Time Kernel) errors
*#9998*785#
Run, Last UP, Last DOWN
*#9998*786#
Software Version
*#9998*837#
Test Vibrator - Flash the screenligth during 10 seconds and vibration activated
*#9998*842#
Vocoder Reg - Normal, Earphone or car kit can be selected
*#9998*862#
Diag
*#9998*872#
Reset On Fatal Error
*#9998*947#
Last/Chk
*#9998*999#
Yann debug screen
*#9998*9266#
Software version
*#9998*9999#
Changes serial parameters (s=?, f=0,1, t=0,1)
*0001*s*f*t#

Sony CMDZ1 Secrets (also work on other models)View IMEI
*#06#
Show Software version and manufacture date
# 8377466 #
Alcatel One Touch Secrets
View IMEI Number
*#06#
Enter Service Menu
*#000000#
View Secret Menu
000000 then press *

Sagem RC712 Secrets (also work on other models)
Enter Engineering menu
MENU - 5 - 1 - 1 - #
1) IMEI
2) Flash Eprom etc.
3) ?
4) SP unblock
5) ?
6) Contrast Settings.
When in menu type * and a new menu with new options will appear.

Siemens S1 Secrets (also work on other models)
Show IMEI
*#06#
Tetris
Power on phone and enter PIN. before phone has locked onto network, F9, send own number, hit right button, hit 9. left is 2, right is 8, rotate is 5,
and drop is 4.
Monitor Mode
Menu, 9 (Phone Options), 7 (Phone Status), Left Display Button (left MENU key), 5553756, HangUp Button (Red HandSet key)
Now "Monitor" should appear at the bottom of the Network Options menu.
Pressing the right Display Button when in monitor mode will show a list of the
six cells with the strongest signals.

Ericsson 688 Secrets (also work on other models)Check the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity)
*#06#
Reset the phones menu-language to English.
*#0000#
Check the software release information
>*<<*<* Shortcut for Last Dialed call menu If you for some reason don't want to enter the 'Last Dialed calls menu' by using the 'YES' key you can use the following key stroke instead: First '0' then '#'. Bat. level indicator when turned OFF... When the gh688 is turned off and the phone is not changing - the bat. level can be seen for a short period of time by pressing the 'NO' key quick once (it has to be quick!) and then wait for about 2 sec. The bat. level will now be shown in the display at its normal position. Access menu without Sim card To access to the menu in your phone without having a card inside do the following: type **04*0000*0000*0000# When display say "Wrong Pin" press NO and you have access to the all menus: Info, Access, Settings, Calculator, Clock, Keylock On?, Mail, Phone book. NOTE: If you try this on the GH688 your phone may stop at Keylock On? menu and you´ll have to take your battery out to turn the phone on again. Full Network Name You can see the Full Network Name by doing the following: Go to the network menu, when the phone displays the networks available (in 'Select net' and 'Edit list' menu) you can press * and you will see the full name. Full Operator List You can view the full operator list by doing the following: Go to the 'Edit list' menu under 'networks'. The phone say 'please wait' (searching for other networks). When finished, Press the <> keys.
How to enable net monitor on Ericson 688
1. Remove SIM from phone
2. Dial 112, press YES, hear something,
3. Dial 112YESNO
4. Press <>Ericsson 628 Secrets (also work on other models)
Check the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity)
*#06#
Reset the phones menu-language to English.
*#0000#
To see the time and date
*#103#
Check the software release information
>*<<*<* Shortcut for Last Dialed call menu If for some reason you don't want to enter the 'Last Dialed calls menu' by using the 'YES' key you can use the following key stroke instead: First '0' then '#'. Battery level indicator when turned OFF When the phone is turned off and the phone is not changing - the battery level can be seen for a short period of time by pressing the 'NO' key quick once (it has to be quick!) and then wait for about 2 sec. The battery level will now be shown in the display at its normal position. Access menu without Sim card To access to the menu in your phone without having a card inside do the following: type **04*0000*0000*0000# When display say "Wrong Pin" press NO and you have access to the all menus: Info, Access, Settings, Calculator, Clock, Keylock On?, Mail, Phone book. Alarm Clock Menu Go to MissedCall Empty the list Press the -> key for a second or two
The option Menu size turns up
Choose 'yes' and go from there.

You can make free phone calls with GA628 (also work on other models)
NOTE: This trick has only been reported working on PREPAID GSM CARDS and in some countries and with some software versions.
The prepaid GSM SIM CARD is a kind of "SIM card" which only has a certain amount of credit on it.
Here's the trick: Dial the number normally and press YES. While "connecting" is shown on the screen, the following procedure should be carried out:
Press CLR then 0 then # and then NO (twice) so as to switch OFF the phone. You can then still speak on the phone while it is switched off but the SIM card does not record your calls which will lead to FREE phone calls in some countries.. I hope!!

Motorola Flare Secrets (also work on other models)
View IMEI Number
*#06#
RBS
Activate RBS
(Note: pause means the * key held in until box appears)
To activate RBS type: [pause] [pause] [pause] 1 1 3 [pause] 1 [pause] [ok]
You now have to press the [MENU] and scroll to the 'Eng Field Options' function with the keys, and enable it.
De-activate RBS
To de-activate RBS type: [pause] [pause] [pause] 1 1 3 [pause] 0 [pause] [ok]
This only works with some versions of software.
What's the use of RBS
Get Distance From Base Station - Place a call, when it is answered, press [MENU] until 'Eng Field Option' is displayed, press [OK], select 'Active Cell', press [OK], press [MENU] until 'Time Adv xxx' appears, where xxx is a number. Multiply this number by 550, and the result is the distance from the RBS (Radio Base Station), in meters.
Get Signal Quality - press [MENU] until 'Eng Field Option' is displayed, press [OK], select 'Active Cell', press [OK], press [MENU] until 'C1' appears. This is the signal quality. If it becomes negative for longer than 5 seconds, a new cell is selected.

NEC DB2000 Secrets (also work on other models)
See IMEI code
*#06#
Reset to defaults
*73738#
Show Software version
*#2820#
SP Lock info
The procedure will show if your phone is locked.
*#3210# for SIM lock info,
*#8140# for Net lock info.
SIM lock
*#4960 # - Inquiry * 4960 * password * password # (send?) to Lock
#4960* password # to Unlock
[password] is an 8 digits number
Net Lock
*#7320# - Inquiry * 7320 * password * password # to Lock.
#7320* password # to Unlock.
[password] is an 8 digits number
Net Lock 2
*#2220# - Inquiry * 2220 * password * password # to Lock
#2220* password # to Unlock
[password] is an 8 digits number
ü Subnet Lock
*#1110# - Inquiry * 1110 * password * password # to Lock
#1110* password # to Unlock [password] is an 8 digits number

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How to Find the Best Cell Phone Plan

Whether you’re shopping for your first cell phone or renewing a cell phone contract, finding the best cell phone plan can be a bit overwhelming.

There are so many carriers to choose from and so many plans available (and I’m not even considering custom cell phone plans), it’s important to take some time to think about it. Hopefully this article will help you pick the best cell phone plan.

What is the best cell phone plan?
The best cell phone plan is the one that perfectly fits your needs and thus the first and most important thing to consider when shopping for a cell phone plan is YOURSELF. You need to connect to your real needs, not your publicity-induced buy-this-cell-phone-now-and-make-lots-of-friends needs.

If you can evaluate your needs in an objective manner, you can be assured to find the best cell phone plan. In order to do this, put the following points into consideration:

Why are you looking for a new cell phone plan?
If it is not your first plan and are considering a change, it is probably because your current plan isn’t the best cell phone plan for you. Are you busting your minute limit every month? Do you need to make more long distance calls? Are you looking into a data plan to access the internet? Or maybe you realized you don’t need to pay for such an expensive plan.

If it’s your first plan, what are you hoping to achieve by getting a cell phone? What will be its primary purpose?

How many daytime minutes do you need?
Do you really speak on your cell phone a lot during the day? Maybe you can get away with a plan that offers you only 150 minutes during the day per month but has unlimited nights and weekends as it would save you a lot of money. Try to estimate the number of minutes you are going to spend talking on your cell phone during the day.

Do you need unlimited nights and weekends?
If you use your cell phone for business, maybe you don’t really need unlimited nights and weekends as you are going to spend most of your cell phone minutes during daytime – maybe you’d be better off with a cell phone plan that gives you 1500 minutes to use anytime.

If you use your cell phone for personal use, it is most likely your will be using it a lot during nights and weekends. Again, try to estimate the number of minutes you are going to spend during nights and weekends.

Long distance / roaming calls?
If you are traveling often or have friends and family living outside of your local zone, it might be interesting to research cell phone plans that have long distance minutes included to avoid expensive roaming fees or long distance call fees. How many minutes per month do you think you will spend roaming or in long distance calls? The best cell phone plan for you might have unlimited long distance calls in your region or nationwide.

Do you need text messaging?
How often do you use text messaging? Do you receive and send text messages a lot? If so, it might be worthwhile to consider a cell phone plan with text messaging, especially with some carriers now charging for received text messages as well, whether they are solicited or not.

If you already have a cell phone, you can look at your previous SMS usage to find out if getting a plan that includes a number of text messages every month is worth it.

Do you need a data plan?
Transferring data like ring tones and wallpapers from the internet can cost you a LOT of money if you don’t subscribe to a data plan. If you plan to transfer data from the internet a lot, browse the web or download a lot of games it is probably worth looking into a data plan.

If, however, you want to use the internet only to occasionally download a song, a new wallpaper or ring tone, you might want to investigate other ways to transfer these multimedia elements to your cell phone, like downloading them on your computer and transferring them to your cell phone afterward.

What about family cell phone plans?
Some cell phone plans will allow you to have more than one handset linked to the plan. You then have a common pool of minutes that are shared between all the handsets. This can be a handy feature for a small family as it can save you a lot of money – adding another cell phone to a family plan can cost as little as 10$ per month.

If you think this could be applicable to your situation, you can try to determine the needs of your family as a whole in terms of talk time and features and see how much money it would save you.

Contracts?
Cell phone plan contracts allow you to buy a cell phone for much cheaper than the standard retail price (and often the carrier will give you one for free). These contracts however can be very long (3 years is a long time to be shedding 75$ a month for).

It’s up to you to decide whether or not the best cell phone plan for you comes with a contract, but put into balance the amount of money you’ll be saving on your cell phone purchase versus the amount of money you’ll be forced to spend for the duration of the contract and ask yourself if it is really worth it.

Prepaid phone plans?
What about prepaid phone plans? They are the best cell phone plans for an “emergency phone” and for people who aren’t planning on using their cell phone too much. They can be very cheap and some prepaid phone plans allow you to accumulate your unused time month after month. Also, they don’t require you to sign a contract and this is a major plus for some people.

Once you have established your basic cell phone needs, you can start shopping for a cell phone and a carrier. Take your time and do your research well and you will be a lot less likely to get caught in a plan you didn’t want! Hopefully by now you have a better understanding of what the best cell phone plan is for you.

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CDMA vs. GSM, Which One Is the Best for You?

Are you looking to pick a side between CDMA vs GSM, the two major telecommunication standards that are used by the cellular networks worldwide?

It can be a hard choice to choose between CDMA vs. GSM, as both have their own advantages. When in the hunt for a cell phone carrier, you may have to figure out which of these two technologies is the best for you and hopefully this article will shed some light on the whole CDMA vs. GSM issue.

The Origins of CDMA and GSM

CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access is a technology developed by Qualcomm in the United States, and it is currently the dominant network standard in North America.

GSM: Global System for Mobile communications was invented in 1987 by the GSM Association, an international organization dedicated to developing this standard worldwide.

CDMA was established earlier in North America and thus has a bit more coverage than GSM. GSM on the other hand is an international standard backed by an international organization and the protocol is a more mature and thus more robust. There is no clear winner in the CDMA vs. GSM debate here; it all depends on your needs.
Coverage of CDMA vs. GSM

CDMA: It is mostly used in America and some parts of Asia. It is currently making progress in other parts of the world, but the coverage is still limited compared to the GSM technology. Its support is currently non-existent in Europe because the European Union mandates the sole use of GSM. In North America however, CDMA generally offers a better coverage than GSM in some rural areas because it was deployed earlier. Its network reaches over 270 million users worldwide.

GSM: Being an international standard, it is better suited for international roaming, provided you own a quad-band cell phone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz). The GSM network is also well established in North America, but not as much as the CDMA network yet. Its network reaches over a billion users worldwide.

CDMA is prominent in North America, but GSM reaches a lot more users worldwide (about 1 billion vs 270 million). In the CDMA vs. GSM debate, GSM wins if you plan to travel to foreign countries but CDMA might have a better coverage in your area.
Data transfer

CDMA: The best data transfer technology it has to offer is the EVDO technology, allowing for a maximum download speed of about 2mb/s (about 700kbps in practice), which is similar to what a DSL line has to offer. EVDO is not available everywhere yet and requires a cell phone that is EVDO ready.

GSM: Offers EDGE, allowing for a maximum download speed of 384kbps (around 140kbps in practice). More technologies are being developed on top of EDGE such as HSDPA to boost the transfer rate to over 384kbps in practice. This technology requires an EDGE-ready cell phone.

CDMA offers faster data download and would therefore be the favoured choice for data transfer. GSM is catching up fast however, but its EDGE technology is subject to interferences.
Phone Identification (SIM cards)

CDMA: Your account information is programmed into your cellular phone. If you want to change your phone, you have to contact your carrier and have them reprogram your new phone. You will also need to re-enter your contact list and calendar information into your new phone. If you have a lot of contacts, your carrier might be able to help you perform this task. Some CDMA2000 cell phones support R-UIM cards (Removable User Identity Module) which are used to store account information and contact lists, but these are not very common in North America yet.

GSM: Your account information along with your contact list and other personal data are stored on a SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module). It is a small chip you can freely remove from your phone. When you get a new mobile device, you can simply insert your SIM card into it and it will work with your current account information and contact list. If you travel to another country, it might even be possible to purchase a prepaid SIM card which you can use to avoid roaming fees.

GSM is a clear winner here. The SIM card technology offers many advantages if you plan to travel or switch phone often.  CDMA phones are slowly catching up with R-UIM cards, but cell phones that make use of this technology as still rare.
Which technology is the best for me?

When asking yourself which technology to choose between CDMA vs. GSM, first ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is international roaming important to me? If you travel a lot to foreign countries, you might want to opt for a GSM phone for a better coverage.
2. Am I going to transfer a lot of data using the phone? If you intend to use the phone for mobile web browsing, watching television or downloading MP3s, you might be better off with a CDMA phone. Currently, it offers the best data transfer speed with its EVDO technology and is the clear winner for now.
3. Do I plan to change phone often? If you do, a GSM phone is best for you since you can swap the SIM card to a new device without having to re-enter your personal data.

Once you have established your basic needs, compare CDMA and GSM signals in your region. Also compare the carriers offering both services in your area. Talk to your friends and colleagues and ask them if they are satisfied with their cell phone carrier and how good their signal is. Remember, when choosing between CDMA vs. GSM, preferring a network technology over another also means limiting your choice in carriers.

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Can I transfer my contacts from my old phone to my new one?

Depending on the kind of phone you're using, it can become a challenge. Most smart phones, however, use the same programmes in the PC and synchronise. For example, phones such as Blackberry, Palm, Trio, and Windows Mobile Devices all synchronise with Outlook. Being that they do synchronize with Outlook, finding another phone that syncs with Outlook would make the phone book transfer that much easier. However, older phones don't really have the PC connectivity that newer phones do. So, it also depends on how old your phone is and what type of PC connectivity it's capable of doing. Another way of transferring your phone book is just by using the SIM card on a GSM carrier. You can copy your phone book onto the SIM card itself, and wherever you take the SIM card, the phone will actually read the phone book contents off the card itself; on most phones, it gives you the option to copy it from the SIM card memory onto the phone memory, which sometimes gives you more options than you would have if you just left the numbers stored in the SIM card. For instance, on the SIM card, you only have room to throw the name and telephone number. On most phones, you have the ability to put your first name, last name, mobile number, e-mail, and things of that nature as well.

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How to Erase All Contacts on a Samsung

Each Samsung cell phone model has its own settings and features. Most Samsung phones allow you to erase data from your device. This feature can be useful if you are replacing your cell phone and want to delete data before donating it. Most Samsung devices will allow you to choose to erase all your contacts at once by going into your security settings. The process may differ slightly from model to model.

Instructions

1. Press the "Home" button and then the "Menu" button. This will bring up all the menu categories for the phone.
2. Highlight the "Settings" category.
3. Select "Security." You may need to select "More" first to scroll down to the Security menu. On specific models such as the Samsung Restore, select "Reset/Delete."
4. Enter your lock code. If you have not set a lock code, enter the last four digits of your phone number.
5. Select "Erase/Reset," "Erase" or "Delete Stuff," depending on the model of your cell phone.
6. Select the option to erase contacts.
7. Select the "Yes" or "Delete" option to confirm the deletion of all your contacts. Press the "OK" button on your phone.

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