How to know if your battery is on it's way out on cell phones!

Batteries won’t last!

I know this all to well.   With all my phones from the Lg Optimus F3 to my Kyocera Risa.  Every phone I have had, I get to know when the battery should just be replaced.   I will talk about my experiences and hopefully it will help you when it comes time to replace that battery.

Nothing I say should constitute you going out and buying a battery but it will at least help you know if you might need to.   It however is up to you when and if you get a replacement battery.

Shorter charge cycles!

This one is the first sign the battery, which has circuits that close off to prevent the battery from fully charging.  These circuits help keep the battery from exploding or leaking and causing serious damage to you or the phone.  It can show itself in several ways.   You might find that you have to charge your phone up more frequently or that it says you have a full battery one hour ago and now it is down to half or almost empty.   

Phone gets warm to touch while charging!

It isn’t uncommon that from time to time when your charging your phone the phone may get slightly warm due to the charging of the batteries but it gets warmer than usual.   This is caused by the phone trying to force charge the battery to charge a cell that looks to be almost dead and it is trying to keep it alive.

Bulges on cell battery!

It isn’t always the case but if you examine your battery of your phone.   I saw this with my HTC inspire 4g Phone, where the battery was getting a slight bulge and shorter charge and discharge cycles were happening.  

Cell Phone Apps

Although I will remind you that even getting a new battery might not be cause of your phone not keeping charge.   Some android phones use more battery life due to apps or other such widgets that are constantly be used on the phone.   These tend to help reduce the life of your battery and it will not help if you battery isn’t dead or on it’s way out.  You may find it helps for the small time but you will be back at where you left off.   Before you consider buying a new battery, consider looking into which apps you might not need and remove them.   This will greatly increase your battery life and your experiences.

Got a Story you want to tell people, just leave a comment and tell me your experiences in this subject matter!

The Naked truth about you and your Cell Phone!

Do you need your cell phone?

This is been a common plight of mine when it comes to having a cell phone, is the age old question of do you really need a cell phone?  We are going to discuss this in this post!  I’ve been going without a cell phone to work and I’m going to tell you my experiences!   Be that it might be sacroligious to some, it is something that happens from time to time.   

Do you panic if you don’t have you Cell phone? I did a few times until I got used to not having it with me.   It can be a very bad reaction the first few times.  I was frantically trying to find my cell phone and yet I forgot that I left it at home.  I know I’m not the only one who has left a cell phone at home and it is bound to happen to someone sometime! 

This all started last week when I was in such a rush to get to work that I left my cell phone on the cell phone booster holder.   Usually I would grab the phone the last second and go merrily off to my job.   This time however, I bypassed grabbing and rushed out the door to my car.  The easy answer to why I did it was because of it snowing and I didn’t want to be late for work.   

I really was shocked at how much time I had at work to do some amazing things and to flirt with females at my work.   I won’t say that was all I did, but it was a pleasant change to actually talk to people and interact with them.   I guess we are all addicted to Facebook, Twitter, and more social media sites than we were 5 years ago.   It has become the thing, to be social on the phone and not it person.   

You may be asking questions of the old time, what if this and that.   Do you really need a phone when an emergency comes up?  Someone would argue yes but I really don’t see that as being a problem.  As long as my family knows how to reach me through my work, I am better off to not be bother unless it is an actual emergency.   There are times not having a cell phone has been nothing but a God send, not having to deal with friends or old relationships can be such a joy!

I Challenge YOU!

I’m throwing this challenge out to all my readers.   If you think you are addicted to your phone, than leave it at home and start making conversations at work.   If you think you can’t handle that, start by doing it 1 to 2 hours at a time and work your way up to a full day.   You will be surprised at what you accomplish.   Then when you do actually do that, come back here and leave and tell me what happened and how you did!   I’d love to hear your stories about your experiences.    

More Mobile Phones than Clean Toilets?

 

Photo by Yuichi Shiraishi / Flickr

On World Water Day, the United Nations released a very interesting, and possibly disturbing, factoid: “There are now more people with mobile phones (six billion for world population of seven billion) on earth than there are with access to clean toilets (4.5 billion).” Wow.

Things That Make You Go, Hmmm…

This statistic points out that developing countries still lack basic sanitation. But apparently do not lack phones. Or phone infrastructure. Again, wow. What is going on here? What’s next?

What’s Going on?

So how has the world come to a level where cell phones are so easily distributed, mobile phone service is so widely available, yet about 2 billion people do not have access to basic human civilization level of potties? How did we get here? And do we all fully understand the situation?

Sanitation issues extend beyond being unpleasant and uncomfortable. This isn’t like having to use a Port-o-John at a festival and being inconvenienced for the afternoon. Disease from poor sanitation reportedly kills over 4,000 kids per day. PER DAY.

But, Why?

• Greed: The profit margin for installing sewers, plumbing, and bathroom facilities is significantly less than the profit margin in the mobile phone world. Greed motivates people. Hence, lots of phones. And on the toilets for everyone, not so much.

• No Infrastructure: Many developing nations are only vaguely titled as such. In fact, it is development in specific that is lacking. Many countries simply have no infrastructure for sanitation. No pipes to bring clean water in. No sewers to take tainted water away. No treatment facilities to keep the cycle going.

• Broken Infrastructure: In many countries the infrastructure that is present is aging and broken, leaking pipes and the like. Particularly in nations where a colonizing force installed the infrastructure and then a people’s revolution took over, which had no clue on what the former rulers had going or how to keep it going.

• Government Sucks: Often in developing nations the government is so unstable or corrupt that serving the needs of the masses with sanitation services is either not on the agenda, or hasn’t been reached yet. Corruption often brings the developing part of a nation to the leaders of the nation first. Like we said, greed.

• Corporations Rock: Yeah, not usually our first thought. But, greed can also bring the good. Granted, choosing between mobile phones and sanitation is not possible, but if you’re not going to have one, you might as well have the other. And the spread of mobile devices also brings the spread of social networking which brings exposure to things like a lack of sanitation.

FTW

While these mind-blowing statistics appear disheartening at first read, the spread of mobile phones is a positive development for developing nations. Mobile phones bring connectivity on more than just a cellular grid, but also between people and causes and even more people to help with those causes. Maybe the concept of clean toilets just needs a really good KickStarter campaign.

Written by: Adam Prattler knows that 001flowerflower.com is a high quality website. When not  buying flowers, he likes to write content for marketing purposes online. He thinks he’s pretty good at it.

How to move your number to another cellular service!

Portabilitly is required!

When the FCC made the rule LNP (Local Number Portability), it gave consumers the right to keep your number as long as you are staying in the same area.   So if you have decided to move to another cellular phone service, then you are in luck.   

I was in Walmart, and I heard one person tell the Walmart service employee that they needed to get another phone because they wanted to keep their number.   I interjected because I was curious as to why they wanted to keep with their current service if they did not have the phones they wanted.  I also suggested they could easily go to Virgin Mobile US and still keep their number.   They were quite surprised because the service they were using never told them they could keep their number.

Although this is a common ploy by any cellular phone company, because they want you to spend money on them and not pay another service that could be better or even worse.

The Steps to move your number!

It isn’t hard to do but I guess some people just don’t understand how to do it!

• Call the new service and find out what you need to have to move your number to their service!
• Until you have decided to move your number please DO NOT cancel your current service!
• If yout terminate your service from a contractual wireless phone company, then you may need to pay for the early termination fee. If you want to go with No contract phone companies here are a few that might work!
  • Straight Talk Bring your own Phone Plan
  • Virgin Mobile US
  • T-Mobile
  • MetroPCS

As you can see there are a several few Cellular Companies that you can use to pay as you go and not have to worry about any contracts!  It can take up to one day to move the number to the new service but don’t worry, if it is important you may want to tell people to call someone who can get a hold of you in case of an emergency but I don’t see that happening!

Unlocked Cell Phones

Having an unlocked cell phone will make the process much easier and thus you may not need to buy a new cell phone.   You will however have to find out from the new service provider if you will need to buy a new phone from the new carrier.   I always tell people you should buy an unlocked cell phone and that will make it easier to move from one provider to another if you so choose to!

If you do these things you should not have any problems.   If you do have problems you can always file a complaint with the FCC online.   It will help if you provide all the important information to give to help you solve your problem.

The Kyocera Rise Falling Apart Problem: How to fix it!

The Rise Falling Apart!

When I first wrote about My Kyocera Rise from Virgin Mobile.  I got a lot of people asking about if there was a fix for this without calling VM!  If yours is just coming apart from and you wondering how to fix it.  I am here to help.  I went back and got my VM phone before I mailed it off and looked it over.   I found the six screws that were supposed to hold it in place, most of them were missing.   I don’t know if it was the dropping of the phone that caused this or it being in my back pocket.  Some how those screws came loose and just came off the phone.   You will need to pop off the back cover of the phone to verify that it doesn’t have the four screws like you see in the picture above.   If it doesn’t have those screws then you can easily fix this without calling VM!

Found Screws!

I have Glasses and I am always having to repair and fix them.   So I had a 250pc Micro-Screw Assortment for Eyeglasses & watches.   I started looking around for the right size.   You basically start with the biggest and work your way to the smallest.   I don’t recall which ones I used but you will find the ones that will fit those four holes.   Once that is done just make sure to tighten those suckers, don’t break the head off the screw.  Just enough to keep it tight, if it seems to feel like it is loosening from time to time, just pop the back off  and tighten them some more.

What you will need:

• 250pc Micro-Screw Assortment for Eyeglasses, Watch & Jewelry Repair
• TEKTON 2987 Precision Screwdriver Set, 16-Piece

Save time and effort from calling Virgin Mobile about sending a replacement phone.   You can just fix it yourself.   Just make sure the Phone is put together before you start screwing in those screws and your phone should last much longer.

Paul Sylvester

My cell phone repair worries alleviated by Virgin Mobile!

The Broken Phone Syndrome!

We have all had those phones that would break.  I recently bought a Kyocera Rise from Virgin Mobile.   I recently had problems with it.   It basically was coming apart from the keyboard to the screen, it is a slide type phone and thus the two halves were just coming apart.   Right now the only thing that is holding my phone together is tape!  So I called their customer Care support number (888-322-1122) and told them the problems. 

I never knew it was going to be so easy!

I really thought I would have to jump through so many hoops with getting a replacement phone.   So when I called them I was prepared for them to fight and maybe even have to pay a deductible for a replacement cell phone.  They alleviated the worries, after looking into my account they noticed I was still a brand new customer less than a year old.   They seem to have a 1 year warranty on their phones.  This seemed kind of unheard of to me.   I am sure most cell phone companies only ever do a 90 day warranty on their phones but Virgin Mobile takes it a bit farther than most.

Waiting on my New Phone!

After talking with them over the problem, they seemed to indicate that I would need a new phone.   I let them go on about getting me set up for a new Kyocera Rise phone.   They told me they would be sending me a new phone in 3 to 5 business days.   So I will have more when it comes but this is definitely something that I am looking forward to writing about even more in the future.   I will keep you posted when I get it but I thought it would be a good little blog post for those who might want to know how easy it was for me to get a replacement for my damaged cell phone.  

I would definitely tell my friends and family about this and how this could save them money in the long run.   I can't afford to pay another 100 to 200 dollars for a phone if I don't have to and this seems to be the best possible way for that.

Paul Sylvester

Having Signal Problems with your current Cellular provider?

So You have a Cell Phone?

Many People Now a days are cutting the cords to their land lines and going strickly wireless phones.   I’ve seen people who have Verizon, Cingular, AT&T, Sprint or some other MVNO Like Straight Talk or Virgin Mobile!  Each One of those carriers has good or bad in them.   I’ve seen some that get GREAT signal and I’ve seen some that just get no signal.  I even bet you researched it and thought that you were in the right area for your service provider.   I hate to say it but not all phones and not all cell towers are the same either.  I have tried so many different MVNO’s lately I can tell you that most of them give higher priority to their contract customers.

Why am I not getting any Bars on my Cell Phone?

I answered this a few months ago to a point about Straight Talk but it wasn’t really complete.  I am sure You have your own reason why but I will break it down to you in a way that you might be able to understand it a little more clearly than before.

Each phone has an antenna and each cell tower is broadcasting to a certain distance, and some are broadcasting in a certain direction also.   Most however are just broadcasting omni directional and thus you get a random signal in random locations.   Your also competing with other cell signals from other cell phones for the right to use that tower so your also getting some interference in areas.  

House can be an Interference too!

Even your house which is a dwelling with bricks and wood and some metal pieces can cause you to drop signals in all parts of your house.   I’ve seen in my own situation that I can have 3 bars in one location of my house and no bars in another part of my house so It can be inconcievable that you have the same situation going on where you life also.  So I am here to help you out a little an maybe make you life just a little bit more enjoyable.

• Wireless Extenders zBoost YX545 SOHO Dual-Band Cell Phone Signal Booster Satisfy all your cellular phone needs with the Wireless Extenders YX545 zBoost zP Wireless Booster, which works with both cellular frequencies (800 and 1900 MHz) and can extend cellular coverage up to 3000 square feet. This unit can handle signals from all the major cellular carriers.*  [NOTE: This is the one is being used at my workplace so I know it works really well!]
• Wilson Electronics - Sleek 4G - Cell Phone Signal Booster for Single User  — If you are looking for a top-of-the-line and affordable cell phone signal booster to boost your voice and data signal on any carrier*, including 4G, the Wilson Electronics Sleek 4G is the solution.
• Wilson Electronics - MobilePro - Portable Cell Phone Signal Booster - Includes 4-Inch Magnet Mount Antenna —If you experience dropped calls and poor cell phone signal quality in your car, home or office then the Wilson MobilePro Cell Phone Signal Booster kit is the solution. Increasing your cell phone’s power by as much as 10 times. 

Those are just a few that will help you get a better signal and it isn’t as hard as it looks to install these little extenders and boosters.   I will say these are just the tip of the iceburg as to what you can buy to make you cellular experience just that much better.   If I a problem these would be the first I would buy to get that signal strength up.

Paul Sylvester

The Story of my failing battery and why it happens!

It's been a while!

Having had my HTC Inspire for over a few months, it was a brand new inspire.   It was actually a used one from my sister. So I got what I wanted to get an actually android working on the Straight Talk Network and all life is good!  Until recently, I've started to notice a few things with my phone that I wanted to share with everyone else in case you've had the same problem I had!  If you've not had this problem before you might have it later on! 

Phone just Shuts off while unplugged!

As you know this might not be the only time it shuts off but it will be a good indication that something is wrong with the battery!  There is a great explanation on how batteries work over at HowStuffWorks, I won't go into detail about this but I will explain some of what is happening.   The rest after all should fall in place when you read the article!  Over the past 2 months or so, I've had the phone just randomly shut down but it didn't start doing it like it did yesterday and today.  

Why Does it Shut down!

Basically the cell phone thinks it has more power than what the battery pack is telling it.  You see batteries that are stored in this fashion or even used can only be charged and discharged to a certain extent and thus once you hit that no power threshold in that cell batter then it can't be charged due to fact that you might just blow up the cell.   While on the subject, what is a battery cell?  A battery cell is typically more than one battery but can also be one battery.   It is used in either parallel or sequential series, you can find out more about that by reading that article also.   This is all fascinating but what does this have to do with the battery?  You're probably asking yourself this question.

Each battery cell has a circuit where you once it hits the charge limit it just shuts the that cell down and you can no longer access it or use it.   So when your cell phone thinks it has a full and you loose power quickly then that is basically the reason.   The battery knows how much it can send to your phone but your phone is only learning this over time.   It is definetly a process that just is crazy.  

How does this help me?

It basically is a good indication that your battery is get old in age and needs to be replaced.  If it happens to you at least once a few weeks it is probably a good idea to replace the battery.   Now I must comment, sometimes it isn't the battery but the software.  I thought so, and I put my old Froyo OEM version of Android back on my phone and it still did it.  So if you don't want to have to send off for that battery and pay extra to over night it, it is probably a good idea to have one who two batteries ready once you start seeing symptoms like this.   I sure learned my lesson for next time this happens.

Paul Sylvester

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