Picking the right BlackBerry and secrets to faster texting

In this installment of Questions and Answers, we tackle BlackBerrys and the secrets to superfast texting. Got a question you want answered? Submit your cell phone question here. Got something to add to the answers below? Leave a comment.

I have an old BlackBerry model (T-7100, I think) with the small keyboard. I think I want the Pearl, but I don’t know who to pick as my carrier. I want the one that will get me my emails the quickest. I’ve had T-Mobile, and it’s not fastest enough for me. I don’t think Verizon lets you buy a monthly insurance that covers your BlackBerry in case of loss (for replacement.) – Confused

If your main concern is pushing email to your phone quicker, you should know that you can request how often it gets pushed to your phone. I’ve reviewed the BlackBerry on all major carriers and found that Verizon and Sprint are both pretty fast, and they both offer the BlackBerry Pearl 8130 now (though not in all the colors available on T-Mobile or AT&T). As for your insurance question, I’m pretty sure Verizon lets you buy phone insurance, but you have to do it within the first 15 days of owning the equipment. Note: You can replace a lost or damaged phone only 3 times a year.

Is there some secret text handshake that I did not learn so that it now takes me 10 minutes to write “Thanks – c u soon” in text as opposed to the girl next to me in the park who can do it with her phone behind her back and in 3 seconds, without abbreviating? – Jim

There’s no secret handshake that you aren’t privy to. Not to put down your texting skills, she’s probably just a faster texter than you. That said, there is another possibility: She probably has the phrase stored in her Quick Text options. It can be called many different things on many different cell phones, but Quick Text is essentially a list of prescripted text phrases that come loaded on most handsets, and you can add frequently used phrases to this list as well. Once you have a Quick Text saved, simply input the cell phone number of the person you want to text in the To: field and choose Quick Text (or comparable feature), highlight your phrase, select OK, and voila, it will appear in the message. No three-tap typing needed.

Verizon Wireless opens its doors, changes the game

The big news today is that by the second half of 2008, Verizon Wireless will begin allowing other compatible devices and applications to be used on its network. The devices will have to submit to testing by Verizon to ensure they will indeed work on the company’s CDMA network. Once approved (which the company says shouldn’t take too long), customers with those devices will be able to activate the approved device on the Verizon Wireless network either by calling a phone number or online via the device. Pricing plans for customers who choose to use this option have not been discussed. Additionally, customers will be able to download to their devices more applications that might not already be approved by Verizon Wireless. In this scenario, it will be up to the application providers to ensure that the applications will work.

That’s the news, but what does it mean to you? Well, quite a lot actually. For starters, if you have a CDMA-based cell phone that you like a ton but wanted to switch to Verizon service and couldn’t because your handset isn’t supported by the company, you may be able to do so now (if the cell phone gets approved). Or say, in a few months’ time, a new CDMA-based cell phone comes out that you really, really want, but it’s not offered by Verizon; you can still get it and (again, so long as the cell phone is approved) use it with a Verizon service plan.

Besides the fact that the question, “I have a Sprint phone; can I use it with Verizon service?” has just been answered to a degree, the real news is that this could signal a bigger change in how long we hold onto cell phones, how many more wireless devices (gaming, notebooks, high-speed data cards, etc.) will be flowing into the market, and if more carriers will follow suit. Now, clearly, switching service providers but keeping the handset has been an option for GSM-based cell phones to a degree. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not exactly easy (you need the handset’s unlock code), and you miss out on some of the services provided by the GSM service provider’s network you’re using. This news makes it a lot more viable option for CDMA cell phones as well.

So why could this announcement potentially change things so much? Well, let me take you back to the first days of text messaging, before it became the craze that it is today. When texting first hit the scene, you could only send texts to people who had a cell phone that used the same network as you (in other words, you could only send texts from an AT&T phone to another AT&T phone). Then text messaging was “opened up,” meaning you can send a text message to any phone that could receive it regardless of the carrier that supported the cell phone. Voila, within a couple of years, text messaging took off. Now, I’m not saying this is going to change the cell phone industry landscape as quickly – only time will tell. But it does begin to set the stage for what is possible: more options for consumers and more devices becoming available from smaller manufacturers. What we do know is that consumers can be extremely loyal to a service that works for them, but they also want more choices and even more control over what they can do with their devices. This announcement is a signal of change. Just how big of a change, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Deal of the Week

What is it? You Get it Back (YGIB) security tag for your cell phone. Simply stick the included sticker (it’s indestructible, trust me) on your phone, wallet, etc. Register at the YouGetItBack.com site, and if an honest person finds it (which it turns out most people are), they dial the number on the back and YGIB sets up a swap.

How much? It costs $10, and if you lose your product, you can add an optional reward amount for your cell phone’s safe return.

Why is it such a good deal? Once activated, your security tag is good for 3 years. So for $10, you get 3 years of knowing that if you lose your cell phone, there’s a 75 percent chance of getting it back. It’s highly affordable for your piece of mind.

Free flight with new T-Mobile plan

Had enough football and Thanksgiving feast? Maybe now you’re dreaming of heading out of town after the holidays. T-Mobile is offering a way to help make part of that dream a reality. This weekend (starting today), from November 23 to November 25, when you sign up for a 2-year MyFaves contract, T-Mobile is offering eligible customers a free roundtrip plane ticket to one of these 10 cities: Las Vegas, New York City, Los Angeles, Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, and Washington, D.C.

Deal of the Week

What is it? We’re expanding last week’s great deal to include all 3G AT&T cell phones that support Napster To Go out-of-the-box. You can choose from 8 different models that will give you a super-high-speed Web surfing experience on your cell phone, plus a free one-year subscription to Napster To Go.

How much? Get 1 year of Napster To Go and a 2GB microSD card free when you purchase one of these AT&T cell phones when you sign up for a new service plan and an unlimited data plan (while supplies last).

Why is it such a good deal? We wanted to give customers more cell phone options, so we included all 3G AT&T cell phones that support Napster To Go out-of the-box.

Breaking records blindfolded

There’s a new Guinness world record holder in New Zealand…for blind(folded) texting. According to this Stuff article, the new record for texting a 160-character message blindfolded goes to 17-year-old Elliot Nicholls, who broke the previous 1-minute-and-23-second record by completing the message in 45 seconds. The article also states that Nicholls wears a wrist support for a boxing injury, but I can’t help but wonder if texting 50 messages a day and training to break this record has a little something to do with it.

Discovering Bluetooth limitations and lost cell phones

In this installment of Questions and Answers, we tackle Bluetooth and lost cell phones. Got a question you want answered? Submit your cell phone question here. Got something to add to the answers below? Leave a comment.

My daughter got the first version of the Verizon Chocolate phone. She has her old phones, and friends in which she can Bluetooth ringtones to the phones, but with the new Verizon Chocolate phone, she can’t do this. She can only find a device like a headset or something. The ringtones and things are not locked or anything. It’s like there is an area of the program missing or something. Does anyone know if there is a code to unlock this? She just wants to pair devices via Bluetooth with friends? – Alanna

Unfortunately, you can’t send music via Bluetooth from the Verizon Chocolate cell phone. If she has a MicroSD card, she can try getting stuff from her friends’ cell phones onto her cell phone that way. However, if the music she wants on her cell phone has a Digital Rights Management code, she probably won’t be able to play them on her new cell phone, since it limits the amount of devices that can play the music.

My cell phone was stolen. When I dialed my phone number, I talked to someone. I have since closed my phone number. Can my cell phone be located? – Charles

Having a cell phone stolen is definitely a trying experience. For some, cell phones have become such an essential part of life that losing it can leave them feeling a bit stranded without all their information. Just because cell phones can be located by various methods doesn’t mean they will be. For example, if your cell phone has a GPS chip and it’s still on and you have what is essentially the serial number of your cell phone and know someone who can track it, then in theory, yes, your cell phone can be found. That’s a lot of “but”s, so it’s not likely that you’ll find it.

You did the right thing by shutting down your service so that you don’t have to incur costs of calls made by someone else. If you have cell phone insurance, you can get a replacement model for about $50 to $75. But I’m guessing one of the reasons you want the cell phone back is for everything that’s on it: contacts, pictures, saved messages. Unless you backed up your cell phone using an optional data kit such as the DataPilot Cell Phone Data Transfer Suite, you’ll probably need to start accumulating all that information again.

Your cell phone could be just the ticket… plane ticket, that is

We’ve already begun to rely on our cell phones when we travel, whether it’s being able to place a call to make a last-minute flight change, check your ticket information via wireless Web access on your cell phone, or even receive flight status alerts. Apparently, your cell phone will soon be even more useful at airports: It can get you on a plane.

In an effort to go paperless and expedite lines at international airports, the International Air Transport Association has agreed to begin using digital barcodes that can be printed out or swiped from the screen of a cell phone. According to this article from The Herald, this new form of boarding pass could be in place by the end of the decade.

I think eventually this idea could work, but I foresee this will initially cause quite some confusion at the gate. It will also probably help limit the amount of people talking on a cell phone while waiting in line to board the plane. Now, wouldn’t that be something?

Deal of the Week

What is it? The Samsung A737 available in three color combinations: Black & Blue, Orange & Black, and Black & Lime. Samsung continues its classic Boeing jet naming convention with the A737, its newest 3G entry for AT&T. Like its flip predecessor the A707 (a.k.a. the Sync), the Samsung A737 is full of features: high-speed data, a large color screen, a 1.3-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, video call sharing, and the list goes on and on.

How much? Get one year of Napster To Go for free when you purchase an A737 with a new service plan and an unlimited data plan (while supplies last).

Why is it such a good deal? Besides a year of free music, we’re including a 2GB MicroSD card to store tons of Napster To Go music. After all, what good is all that music if you can’t take it with you?

Texting and talking: How much is too much?

In this installment of Questions and Answers, we tackle cell phone etiquette and text-centric relationships. Got a question you want answered? Submit it here. Got something to add to the answers below? Leave a comment.

Why do people have relationships over text messaging? – Carolyn

Texting is an extremely popular way of communicating. It’s a fun, fast way to make plans or exchange messages that you don’t really want or need to say over the phone. Since it’s so fun and–let’s admit it–a little addictive, it’s easy to start texting more than just quick notes or messages verifying plans. Although texting is easy, some important subtleties can get lost in translation, and sometimes you may not hear back immediately and that can be for reasons (unbeknownst to you) that have nothing to do with you, which can lead to misunderstandings. Communication is tricky even at its best. While texting has done a lot for communication and helping people break the ice, it shouldn’t be a crutch either. You should know when things should be said instead of texted. If you don’t know whether you should call or text, chances are you should probably call.

Is it OK to answer a cell phone in a restaurant? – Sam

In a 2006 LetsTalk survey conducted by Harris Interactive, where people were asked if they feel if it is generally acceptable to speak on your cell phone in a restaurant (among other places), 21 percent of those surveyed said yes. Flip that around and you’ve got 79 percent of people who don’t think it’s acceptable. Based on that data, it’s likely that you’re bothering someone by talking on a cell phone in a restaurant. Remember, you’re likely at the restaurant to spend time with someone else, so talking or even texting while at a restaurant with someone can be a turn-off to them as well.

That said, there are times when you may need to use your cell phone in a restaurant–say, the babysitter or your child is calling with some kind of emergency. Obviously, you’re going to want to take that call, but you might want to be mindful of where you take it. At a table full of people already engaged in conversation might not be the best place. Best bet is to just excuse yourself and step outside or to the restroom area where your call is not likely to bother anyone, and you’ll even have a little more privacy.