Cell phone-inspired costumes

It’s that time of year, and people are trying to figure out what to be for Halloween. I’ve seen a few cell phone-related costumes over the years; perhaps my favorite was someone who dressed up as Verizon Wireless’ “Can you hear me now?” mascot. He had the jacket, the glasses, and of course a Verizon Wireless cell phone. It was classic. Then I spotted this cell phone costume over at Textually.org. Apparently, there’s a whole new twist on kids and cell phones. I think I’ve seen it all now. Happy Halloween!

Deal of the Week

What is it? BlackBerry Accessory Bundle with the BlackBerry HS655 Bluetooth headset, a cool headset that comes with an even pen-style pocket clip charging case that plugs into the same mini-USB style charger as the BlackBerry.

How much? Buy a BlackBerry HS-655 Bluetooth Headset for $94.99 (and that’s already wicked cheap, retail is $139.99) and get a BlackBerry car charger and your choice of a BlackBerry case!

Why is it such a good deal? We want you to experience the high quality of BlackBerry-brand accessories for yourself.

BlackBerry HS-655 Bluetooth Headset

The truth about battery life and how to get what you want in a cell phone

In our first Question and Answer installment, we tackle battery concerns and cell phone compromises. Got a question you want answered? Submit it here. Got something to add to the answers below? Leave a comment.

My officemate insists that you should unplug your charger after charging your cell phone, because either leaving it plugged in all day or using your cell phone when it’s plugged in can either fry the cell phone or the charger or the battery. The whole thing sounds like hogwash to me, is there any truth to it? – Annie

Well, she’s right and wrong. You can absolutely use a cell phone while it’s charging. However, she’s not entirely wrong about disconnecting a cell phone from a charger when it’s done charging. Don’t get me wrong, nothing will happen to the cell phone or the battery if you leave it plugged in longer than specified a few times. You just shouldn’t make a habit of it, since overcharging your battery can affect long-term performance of your cell phone. You can find out more about cell phone batteries here.

I like my Treo 650 that’s a phone, a datebook (with touch screen!), an address book, an Internet connection (if I want it to be), but, frankly, the sound on the phone could be better. And yet … I love having one device that does many things. What should I be willing to compromise? I want it all, but I know that’s not realistic. – Lisa

You’re not alone. This is a common concern for most people interested in smart phones. As cell phones do more and more. there are always compromises. The best thing you can do is make a list of features you want in a cell phone and then prioritize it, with the first thing listed being the most important feature. For example, it seems like call quality is important to you, so perhaps that should rate above a touch screen (though that is a nifty thing to have). This would give you more choices, such as either a BlackBerry or one of the Nokia N-Series models, both of which tend to have pretty good call quality but lack a touch screen. As you pointed out, it’s all about the compromises.

What’s your cell phone number say about your dating habits?

I spotted this text-based dating info service over on Crave. It’s appropriately called PlayerBlock, and the idea is that you can use your date’s cell phone number to find out just what kind of person you’re going to date. For $4.99 a month and your potential date’s cell phone number, you can find out what others think of your date and post your own thoughts on the way they conducted themselves with you.

While a little info about someone new can be helpful, there’s another thing you can count on too when trying to figure out if someone is a player. It’s called your intuition and it’s free, you just gotta remember to listen to it.

Create your own ringtones for free

LetsTalk.com recently released a new ringtone mixer called ToneMine. It’s a pretty cool tool, especially if you have a penchant for mixing your own tunes. There are tons of sounds available that you can use to mix your own sound. But the really cool thing about it is that you can even upload your own sounds to the tool and either leave them as they are or mix them even more. You can choose to share your tones with other people in the ToneMine community or just keep them for yourself. So if you’re a member of a garage band, for example, you can record your own session on your computer, upload the sound file to the ToneMine tool, and voila, your big hit could easily be transformed into your cell phone ringtone. Even if you’re not musically inclined, like me, it’s fun to use and better yet with a one-of-a-kind tone, you won’t be reaching into your pocket for your cell phone when someone else’s phone with the generic ringtone you already use goes off.

Deal of the Week

What is it? The AT&T Tilt. This cell phone, with its hidden keyboard, is like a mini laptop in your hands. Brand new, and just released, the AT&T Tilt features Microsoft Windows Mobile 6, and a blazing fast 3.6MBps 3G HSDPA data speeds. It also sports a 3-megapixel camera and GPS.

How much? $99.99 after rebates with new service.

Why is it such a good deal? This cellphone has so much going for it, we didn’t want you to miss it. So check it out this week, I can’t guarantee this price forever.

AT&T Tilt

Got questions? We’ve got answers.

In our final installment of new features we’re adding to the blog this month, we thought we’d help you out with all your cell phone questions. Every Friday, we’ll bring you questions from readers and answers from us. We know firsthand how hard it can be to navigate cell phones, service plans, and even proper phone etiquette. That’s why we’re giving you the opportunity to get your burning questions answered, by us, the experts. Check back Friday for the first installment, and in the meantime, feel free to start submitting your questions here.

T-Mobile launches latest version of the Razr

T-Mobile has announced availability of the Motorola Razr 2 V8. The cell phone sports a 2MP camera, comes preloaded with three songs “Pace is the Trick” by Interpol, “False Pretense” by the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and “Island” by The Starting Line, a whopping 2GBs of internal memory (that’s enough for about 49 albums if all you store is music) and has a spacious internal screen and external touch-sensitive display.

I’ve been playing with a Razr 2, the V9 series found on CDMA carriers and I gotta say, it’s pretty slick and awfully attractive. That touch-screen on the lower half of the display is not nearly as sensitive as I thought it would be, so there’s no fear of accidentally launching apps when its floating around in a purse or settled snugly in a pocket.

If you want to know the difference between the Razr2 V8 and the other Razr’s available from T-Mobile, check out this handy chart. I know, you really want to see what the V8 looks like, so check out the pictures below.

Deal of the Week

What is it? Sony Ericsson W580i (Available in white, carbon grey, and just released black) music phone. This Sony Ericsson is just fun to use with its unique “Shake to Shuffle” feature that allows you to skip forward to the next song on the shuffle list by just flicking your wrist (with the phone in your hand of course).

How much? It’s Free without a rebate, and now includes a free Sony Ericsson HBH-608 Akono Bluetooth Headset. Plus you get $50 back in a rebate if you buy any messaging/data package of $14.99/month or more.

Why is it such a good deal? Quite simply, the W580i is moving fast and we want to keep it up. We have a bunch of those Sony Ericsson Bluetooth headsets in the warehouse, so why not pair them up?

Sony Ericsson W580i

What is it? Motorola S9 stereo Bluetooth headset

How much? $99.99 or for $40 bucks more you can get the version that comes with an iPod adapter, which lets you listen to music on an iPod and still get calls from your Bluetooth enabled cell phone. If a call comes in, the ipod will automatically pause and the phone will ring in your ear. You can then take the call by just hitting a button on the side of the headphones (or let in go to voicemail.) When you’re done, the ipod will resume play automatically.

Why is it such a good deal? Bluetooth stereo headsets range in price from $40 to as much as $200. The benefit of the Motorola S9, especially paired with the iPod adapter, is that you never have to miss a call when listening to the iPod. It’s a great way to get one pair of quality stereo headphones without that you can use with multiple devices. Plus the S9s are fairly sporty, so you’ll look cool too.

Motorola S9 with iPod adapter

New weekly blog features

Moving forward with our promise to unveil new blog features, this week we’re launching the Deal of the Week. There are tons of great deals on LetsTalk.com that aren’t always highlighted on the site. For example, I was perusing expandable memory cards in the Accessories section the other day and found a 512MB card for under 10 bucks. Now, that’s a great deal that you might not find unless you’re looking for memory cards.

In that vein, I asked our Director of Merchandising (and a total cell phone junkie), Harrison Lynch, to create a Deal of the Week that will be posted in the In The Know section every Tuesday. He’s also promised to let us know what makes it such a great deal. So, check back tomorrow for our first Deal of the Week. Here’s a hint: It will be music to your ears.