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Gadgets Internet shopping

How many apps does a person need on their smartphone?

Show of hands – how many of you own a smartphone (Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android primarily)?

That’s right – we know that while the vast majority of you did raise your hand proudly waving your mini-computer around, there are still a fairly substanial number of you who still proudly sport a flip phone or other non-smartphone around in your pocket.

And that’s okay.  For you, you can skip over this post knowing that you’ve made the right decision.

How’s that?

It’s because we’re about to tell you how smartphone users are really no different from flipphone users, when it comes right down to it.

How NOT To Write an App: A reality check for budding app developers
How NOT To Write an App:
A reality check for budding app developers

Categories
How To

Why ICE (“In Case of Emergency”) is Worthless

If you’re like Web Watch, then you too have likely received the parental email thread – typically forwarded from friend after friend, Facebook after Facebook post – that encourages everyone to enter an I.C.E. entry on your cellphone.

You know, IN CASE OF EMERGENCY.

That ICE entry would contain the name, phone number, and other immediately important information about the person/people that emergency responders should contact for you when an emergency or crisis occurs.  Web Watch even knows someone who has a complete ICE binder sitting smack on top of their refrigerator, with the names, addresses, and phone numbers of their entire family tree.  This makes sense, of course – as everyone knows that the kitchen is the 2nd most dangerous place in the house… after the bathroom.

And who would want to keep an ICE binder in the bathroom?

Categories
Gadgets

Only 52% of cellphone owners have done this

It’s happened to everyone, at one time or another.

You’ve stepped away from your desk, bar stool, wherever — and not 3 minutes later you discover that your cellphone is missing.

Gone, in a blink of an eye.  Your entire life – photos, contacts, important numbers, etc — all gone forever.  Stolen, perhaps. Lost, definitely.

And the chances of finding your phone in the Lost & Found are likely slim to none.

Categories
News

At least one person sitting near you has a dirty picture on their phone

Quick show of hands — how many of you have a dirty picture on your cell phone, right now?

Web Watch isn’t concerned whether it’s one that you’ve taken of yourself (selfies!) or one that was sent to you (sexted) from one we would hope would be a really close friend.

The question still stands – do you have a dirty picture on your phone, of anyone?

Categories
How To Internet shopping

Are you a Showroomer? When retail stores fight back against the Internet, we all lose

Showroom: The Saga of a Family, a Car Business and the Seven Deadly Sins
Showroom: The Saga of a Family, a Car Business and the Seven Deadly Sins

By now, Web Watch is sure that you’ve heard of the term “showrooming“, where consumers go to Target, Best Buy, or other major retailers simply to browse the aisles – cell phone in hand – with the explicit purpose to NOT buy anything that day.

Web Watch will admit, we’ve done this on plenty of occasions:  we go to an electronics department to look for a specific item — maybe so we can get a close-up of the box, or a better idea of the specs — and we do our own little bit of online price comparison.

Categories
Gadgets How To Internet

How to remove Carrier IQ from your phone

Android figure toy
Google Android Figure

By now, you probably have heard about CARRIER IQ, that software that many cell phone manufacturers and service providers had installed on all sorts of cellphones in order to track how well their networks were performing.

The issue, if you didn’t know, is that CARRIER IQ wasn’t a very well-designed application and was recording a lot of each user’s phone actions without that person’s knowledge.  Now, Congress has gotten involved and it’s turned into a big ugly mess.

Categories
Gadgets Internet

The average teenager sends 3,339 texts per month

TextAppeal for Guys - The Ultimate Texting Guide
TextAppeal for Guys – The Ultimate Texting Guide

A new study has come out that shows some trends in how we use our cellphones.

The 2011 WIRELESS NETWORK PERFORMANCE SURVEY asked over 22,000 wireless customers for their answers on cell phone use and their carrier.  Here is some of what they found: