PhoneTalk

Cell phones can do a lot these days and you don't necessarily need to get a smartphone in order to have access to all the fun features you might want. Case in point is the Samsung Mythic for AT&T. This touchscreen cell phone works on 3G networks and that's important because you'll need that functionality if you want to have some real fun. See, the Samsung Mythic supports AT&T Mobile TV so you can watch full episodes of tons of shows from CBS, NBC, and even MTV. Don't think you can really watch TV on a cell phone? That's probably not going to be the case here, since the Mythic has a lot of screen real estate - 3.3 inches to be exact, which is almost as large as the display on the iPhone.

The cell phone also has Samsung's TouchWiz interface that helps bring all your favorite information from the web front and center on the display. It also has a 3.2-megapixel camera, will support up to a 32GB MicroSD card for storing songs and videos, and stereo Bluetooth. What the Mythic doesn't have is a hidden keyboard, so you'll be using a touchscreen QWERTY keyboard to compose messages. Finally, since this cell phone is web and media centric you'll likely want to get an added data plan with it.

Tags:	In The Know	AT&T Wireless	Samsung	Camera
	Video	Bluetooth

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The Samsung Rogue for Verizon Wireless is one of the first multimedia cell phones to require a data plan. Is it a worthy investment? Watch the review of the Samsung Rogue below to decide for yourself.

Tags:	Phone Smarts	Verizon Wireless	Cell phone plans	Samsung
	Video

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This week our Question and Answer series comes from "Ask a Merchant," a new feature launched on LetsTalk.com that can be found in the middle of cell phone detail pages. This week's featured merchant is LetsTalk's Merchandising Manager for AT&T Jack Cooper. He answers questions about GPS and WiFi. Got a question you want answered? Submit your question here. Got something to add to the answers below? Leave a comment.

Can I access Gmail with this phone and AT&T plan? How does GPS work on the Samsung Solstice comparing with iPhone and other similar cell phones? – Xuemie

Yes, you can access Gmail on the Solstice. If you want to use the GPS feature on AT&T, you need to purchase AT&T Navigator, which is $9.99/month. That will provide you with turn-by-turn directions.

With a wireless network set up in my home, can I use the WiFi feature on the BlackBerry Curve 8900 even if I do not get the data package with the phone? – Nathan

Absolutely. That is the advantage of having a device with WiFi built in. You can use it on home, office, and other wireless networks.

Tags:	AT&T Wireless	Cell phone plans	Samsung	BlackBerry
	Smart phones	WiFi	E-mail	Q&A
	Google	Apple

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In this installment of Questions and Answers, we discuss smartphone plans with AT&T and changing Ringback Tones on Verizon cell phones. Got a question you want answered? Submit your question here. Got something to add to the answers below? Leave a comment.

I currently have the Propel with AT&T, but I want to get the BlackBerry Curve. Will getting this cell phone add to my monthly bill? – boopbie

In short, yes since you’re going from a messaging phone to a smartphone. As of September 6, 2009, AT&T set forth a new mandate that all smartphones must have a data plan associated with them. This mandate applies to both new and existing smartphone users. The minimum monthly data plan for smartphones is $30.

How do I change the Ringback on the Samsung Alias 2? – Trinka

If you'd like to change the Ringback Tone on the Samsung Alias 2, you'll need to log onto your account with Verizon Wireless on the web and select Ringback Tones. There you'll be able to change the tones based on songs already purchased or purchase a new one. We should note this is the case for changing the Ringback Tone on most Verizon Wireless cell phones.

Tags:	Verizon Wireless	AT&T Wireless	Cell phone plans	Samsung
	BlackBerry	Smart phones	Accessories	Q&A

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The Samsung Comeback for T-Mobile may seem like a typical messaging phone since it has both a numeric and full QWERTY keyboard, but there's a bit more that makes this cell phone interesting. Watch the video below to see what we mean.

Tags:

Phone Smarts

Text messaging

Samsung

T-Mobile

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A little over a year ago, the first Android cell phone was announced. Although, there haven't been a lot of new google cell phones released over the past year that's about to change as evidenced by the announcements this week. First, T-Mobile announced the Samsung Behold II, an Android based smartphone that will be available later this year. Verizon Wireless announced a partnership with Google to develop Android based cell phones.

Today, Sprint and Samsung announced the Moment. The Samsung Moment will be available with Sprint's Any Mobile, Any Time plans. The smartphone sports all the features expected including WiFi, GPS, 3.2-megapixel camera, 3.5mm headset jack for listening to music or videos, Bluetooth 2.0, and of course access to Sprint's plethora of content such as Sprint TV and NFL Mobile live. The cell phone will be available at the beginning of next month. Let's not forget, that next week, Sprint's first Android phone, the HTC Hero will be available if you don't want to wait.

What does all this mean? In short, it means consumers will have a lot more choices in hardware if they want an Android cell phone and more carriers will be offering models than just T-Mobile. More choices is always good news for consumers, but it will be interesting to see which smartphone OS emerges as the most popular in the US this time next year.

Tags:	Observed	Verizon Wireless	Sprint	Cell phone plans
	Samsung	T-Mobile	Android	Google

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Windows Mobile 6.5, the update to Windows Mobile 6.1, was released today. There aren't a whole lot of advancements found in this smartphone OS update, but there are a few noteworthy ones listed below.

• Along the lines of customizations, people can now create more personalized themes for their Windows Mobile phones. You can find out more information on how to do that by clicking here. 
• Windows Live has been enhanced to include new feeds and improved photo sharing to sites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr. We should note that many non-smartphones already offer similar photo sharing features. 
• There's an icon to access Windows Marketplace for Mobile for purchasing and downloading apps directly to the phone. 
• Windows Internet Explorer mobile browser has gotten a facelift with support for Adobe Flash Lite2. This will improve the mobile web surfing experience. 
• If you're interested in picking and choosing specific content for backup, such as pictures, appointments and contacts, check out My Phone. It's a free service that lets you sync this info to a web site so that all is needed is an Internet connection to see and manage your data. If you're someone who tends to lose your cell phone a lot, check out the Premium package (it's free until November 30th and after that can be purchased for $4.99). In short, if you lose the phone in the US, it will locate it for you on a map found on the My Phone site. This service is available for people who have Windows Mobile 6.0, 6.1, and now 6.5. 

There are some new cell phones coming out that have Windows Mobile 6.5 loaded, which include: HTC Pure and HTC Tilt 2 for AT&T, HTC Imagio for Verizon Wireless, and the Samsung Intrepid for Sprint (it should be available on October 11th). If you have a Windows Mobile 5.0 or 6.0 running on your existing Windows Mobile smartphone you will not be able to upgrade it to Windows Mobile 6.5. However, if some Windows Mobile 6.1 phones are eligible for updates, however, there's no announcement of when that will be. Here's the list of eligible smartphones:

HTC Dash

Samsung Jack

Samsung Mirage

Samsung Omnia Pro

HTC Ozone

HTC Snap

HTC Touch Pro 2

Pharos Traveler 137

Finally, here's a peak at what the new interface looks like on the HTC Tilt 2:

Tags:	Phone Smarts	Samsung	Windows Mobile	Smart phones
	GPS	HTC

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We just got in the Samsung Intensity, one of the latest messaging phones for Verizon Wireless. While it might not have a ton of high-end features it might just be the perfect fit for budding text messagers on-the-go. Watch the video below to see why:

Tags:	In The Know	Verizon Wireless	Text messaging	Samsung
	Camera	Bluetooth

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The Samsung BlackJack was such a popular smartphone that it's now up to its third version. Simply called Jack this smartphone AT&T has a lot going for it: Windows Mobile 6.1, WiFi, slim form factor and more. Watch the video below to see if the latest version of the BlackJack is a worthy upgrade.

Tags:	Phone Smarts	AT&T Wireless	Samsung	Windows Mobile
	Smart phones	Business Use	WiFi	E-mail
	Bluetooth

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Verizon Wireless announced two new cell phones the Samsung Rogue and the Samsung Intensity. Both are new messaging centric cell phones with slide-out keyboards. However, the Rogue has 3.1-inch touch screen as well. The real news is that the Rogue is one of the first messaging phones that will require a data plan. There will be two plans to choose from: Eithe a 25MB plan for $9.99 that includes surfing the web, and checking e-mail or a 75MB option for $19.99, which is ideal for people who like to visit web sites on the cell phone daily. Also, if you're interested in any of the V Cast offerings that will be an additional monthly fee depending on the service you want.

The Rogue (featured below) comes in a black and bronze color scheme and sports an AMOLED display. This screen is bright and visible in direct sunlight and also helps conserve battery life. The cell phone also has 3-megapixel camera with flash and the ability to record videos. The Rogue supports full HTML web browsing. What's really interesting about this multimedia cell phone is that it has file viewer so you can view Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF documents on the cell phone. A feature typically found only on smartphones.

As noted, the Samsung Intensity is also a messaging phone only it doesn't have a touch screen display, but it does have a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. This cell phone is probably more geared to those just getting their feet wet with a messaging phone since it offers Mobile Web instead of a full HTML browser, a 1.3 megapixel camera. That said it does have all the messaging capabilities and comes in two different colors charcoal grey and flamingo red (that's right, flamingo red). Check it out below:

Tags:	In The Know	Verizon Wireless	Text messaging	Cell phone plans
	Samsung

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