So What Does Eat Your Phone’s Data Allowance?

Ever wondered what does take up your phone’s data allowance? Try using a few simple data-usage tools on your smartphone and find out. Apple includes a bandwidth meter on the iPhone (open the Settings app, tap its General heading, then Network) and the 3G and 4G versions of the iPad (Settings, then Cellular Data). This will report the total data consumed by the device; third-party apps can provide the same info for WiFi-only iPads and the iPod touch. On Google's Android, the Ice Cream Sandwich version now shipping on a few devices offers a more nuanced data-usage gauge that breaks down the bill on an app-by-app basis.

The simple answer to the question? Web video. The best solution? Try to useWiFi instead of 3G or 4G whenever possible.

When is 4G Not 4G?

Confused about what 4G really means? Take a look at this column called “Making Sense of 4G and other myths”, by Kim Komando, and find out why your service doesn’t seem any faster even though it is now labeled 4G.

Spam Invades Cellphones

Once the scourge of e-mail providers and the Postal Service, spammers have infiltrated the last refuge of spam-free communication: cellphones. In the United States, consumers received roughly 4.5 billion spam texts last year, more than double the 2.2 billion received in 2009, according to Ferris Research, a market research firm that tracks spam. While most spam is harmless, yet annoying, there is a variety which can cause problems for those who respond to offers that are made to gather information or sign users up for impossible to cancel services. The biggest issue is that there is very little remedy to the situation, which is sure to get worse.

Technology Solutions for Teen Driver Phone Distractions

USA Today recently ran an article on how parents are using a variety of technology solutions to keep teens from texting and talking while behind the wheel. Many of the solutions involve software or devices that detect when the vehicle is moving and then put a solution in place including jamming or shutting a device off.

Life in a Voice Control World

Now that the iPhone has Siri – Apple’s new voice command technology – and it seems to work well, what’s next? Voice controlled cars? Stoves? Elevators? Rob Enderle points out that just like all technological developments, Life in a Post-Siri World will have some pros…and cons. (Hint: Just think about what all those folks annoyingly, but quietly, texting on their phones will do in the future.)

AssistiveTouch on the New iPhone 4S Helps People with Disabilities

David Pogue recently wrote a post in The New York Times about a new feature called  AssistiveTouch on the iPhone 4S that makes it more accessible for people with a loss of  motor control. Kudos to the assistive technology staff at Apple for adding these features along with features that help the blind and deaf…and by the way, if the Home button on your iPhone starts acting up, you may want to check out these features for yourself.

PBS Kids Launch Augmented Reality Game

If you are not familiar with the term “augmented reality” you soon will be. It basically means that the computer enhances the perception of reality and PBS Kids is adding it to its games for young children. In the recently launched free app game Fetch! Launch Rush, that helps kids six to eight learn to do addition and subtraction in their heads, augmented reality means that when host Ruff Ruffman is trying to make sure there's enough sushi for his movie crew, bits of raw fish float around screen. Though it's worth noting that this isn't augmented reality in the strictest sense of the term, in that you have to print out game cards to use with your iPhone or iPod touch's camera, it still makes for a way cool game. The free app requires an iPhone or iPod touch (fourth-gen or later) or an iPad / iPad 2 running iOS 4.0. I loved the comment in the reviews made by one Mom “I hope I can get my phone back soon.”

College Students and Cell Phones

A new study from Infographic finds that cellphones are shaping the lives of college students more than ever. It should be no surprise that 94% of the students surveyed text message every day, but 60% admitted to feeling physically addicted to their phones. How many students are paying their own cellphone bill? Only 25%. There are sure to be some real parallels to high school students (and younger) and how they feel about their phones. After reading a survey it begs the question of why K-12 schools continue to ban phones instead of putting them to work in the classroom?

Facebook Access and Smartphones – More Important Than Money?

Cisco's second annual Connected World Technology Report, a recently released study that says attracting and maintaining Millennial (ages 18 to 30) talent takes more than the number of zeroes attached to a weekly paycheck. The company surveyed 1,400 college students aged 18 to 23 and 1,400 young professionals under the age of 30 across 14 countries. The conclusion? "The growing use of the Internet and mobile devices in the workplace is creating a significant impact on job decisions, hiring and work-life balance," the report concluded. "The ability to use social media, mobile devices, and the Internet more freely in the workplace is strong enough to influence job choice, sometimes more than salary."

And here is another interesting factoid: Cisco also discovered that more than half of respondents said they'd rather lose their wallets or purses before losing their smartphones or mobile devices. Cisco's findings are telling of a generation that's been glued to LCD screens and wired to social networks from an early age. According to the report, 40% of college students and 45% of young professionals would accept lower-paying jobs if they had more access to social media, more choice in the devices they could use at work, and more flexibility in working remotely. More than half of the college students surveyed indicated that if an employer banned access to networks like Facebook at work, "they would either not accept a job offer from them or would join and find a way to circumvent."

Teachers Advocate Cellphones at School

While cellphones remain banned in New York City schools, in a variety of other schools and districts this fall, across the nation, bans are slowly being lifted. Two teachers, who believe that schools who enforce such bans are not preparing their students for the real world, have written a book, complete with lesson plans, to try to help teachers help districts change their mind. If you are in a district with a cellphone ban and are trying to get them to change their mind, this book is worth a look.