The Award Winning Place for Plain English Explanations of Internet Stuff
No, it’s not an April Fools joke. Several mobile phone manufacturers have foldable phones in the works, and it seems that Samsung will be the first to market. The Samsung Galaxy Fold foldable Android phone is said to be set to launch later this month.
AT T has started tagging telemarketer calls, so that if you have AT T and receive a telemarketing call, you will instantly know that is what it is. Concurrently, AT T and Comcast have announced a new Caller ID technology partnership which they are calling an “anti-robocalling milestone”, and in which calls that are authenticated and verified will show that the caller is verified.
In the immortal words of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe, don’t panic… that is don’t panic today when you receive a nationwide presidential emergency alert, at 2:18pm Eastern Time via FEMA on your cell phone, smartphone, or other mobile device. It is a test. It is only a test. If it were a real emergency you would receive vital information via this newly launched alert system.
A study out of Virginia Tech, dubbed “The iPhone Effect”, found that even just the very presence of an iPhone or Android phone, or other versions of smartphones, has a substantial negative impact on the quality of in-person conversations and connection. It also introduces us to the concept of ‘polyconsciousness’.
Law enforcement agencies have come up with a new tactic for investigating crimes: location-based warrants, served on Google, demanding that Google disclose Google accounts in use on all mobile devices that were in a given area at a certain time, thus giving detectives and other LEOs a pool of potential suspects and persons of interest who may have committed or have information about whatever crime they are trying to solve.
If you are wondering where you can get your cracked or broken screen replaced, or water damage fixed, on your iPhone, iPad, Samsung or Google smart phone, or other mobile device, what if we told you that you can have it fixed right in your own home or office? That’s exactly what Cell Savers does: they come right to you and repair your broken mobile phone or tablet, all at a very reasonable price!
If you’re being plagued by cell text message spam (cell txt msg spam) like this one we received from 702-541-4047 – “Do you have $20,000+ in CREDIT CARD DEBT? Our national program REDUCES it by HALF! Reply “DEBT” to see if you qualify! (cuturdebts.com-optout,reply:out)” – you’re not alone. (What is SMS? Short Message Service SMS service is a way to send short text messages directly to a cell phone). The problem is that those unwanted SMS messages that you see as cell phone spam, the sender sees as an SMS campaign. Those rude SMS text messages – often anonymous SMS text messages – are bulk SMS messages sent by the SMS sender as a text message advertising campaign (often facilitated by free SMS text message services). Sending SMS text messaging spam is illegal in most states, but figuring out how to go about reporting spam received on your cell phone can be tough. Here’s how to submit your spam that you receive via SMS message to the right authorities, as well as how to stop it. (Bonus: The elusive Verizon customer service phone number!)
Using your cell phone as a modem is perhaps the most overlooked of all Internet connection options. But a mobile phone Internet connection, whether as a tethered modem or, using bluetooth, a wireless cell phone Internet connection, is easy to set up, and with a laptop and cellphone you can check email and surf the web from anywhere, any time!
While we personally find this vaguely-to-very disturbing, some of our readers may be interested in the newest thing for long-distance relationships: sending ‘actual’ kisses across the Internet. The Kissenger, which calls itself ‘the world’s first mobile kiss messenger’ accessory, and exhorts you to “experience Internet kissing”, is an add-on to your iPhone that you actually kiss, and which translates and sends that kiss to anyone who also has a Kissenger, who will feel the kiss you sent against their own lips, cheek, or other body part*. {Ed. note: Obviously this will be put to uses other than lip-to-lip or lip-to-cheek kisses.}
A law that was passed in California last year, and that went into effect on January 1, 2017, makes it illegal for anyone operating a motor vehicle to hold a cellphone in their hand while driving. Assembly Bill 1785 (“AB 1785”) criminalizes “driving a motor vehicle while holding and operating a handheld wireless telephone or a wireless electronic communication device.”
We just love our new T-Mobile G2 phone, but figuring out how to remove or replace the micro SD card is darn near impossible. The little diagram sticker label on the SD card holder makes it look as though you just need to flip the holder up to remove the SD card from the G-2, but it’s not quite that simple. In fact, trying to simply flip up the SD storage card holder on the G2 doesn’t work, and the more you try to pry it up, the more it seems as if perhaps you might break it – it clearly doesn’t simply pop up. Here is the secret…
Siri has made it incredibly easy to set reminders on your iPhone. Want to be reminded of something you have to do at a certain time? Tell Siri to remind you when it’s time. Want to be reminded of something you need to do when you arrive somewhere? Tell Siri to set a reminder based on location. But what if you want to set a reminder manually – silently – without invoking Siri? Maybe you’re in a meeting, or church, or somewhere else where you don’t want Siri blabbing her loud mouth?
Facebook Chat Heads were fun for about 5 minutes. Then they became annoying. They take up real estate on your phone screen, and if you also use Facebook Messenger they are completely superfluous. So, naturally, people want to turn Chat Heads off. Here’s the good news, and the bad news, about how to turn off Facebook Chat Heads.