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Posts tagged cellphone
LG Cyon LH 2300
Apr 18th
Author: autiger_seoul
About six months ago I joined the touch phone revolution by purchasing the LG Cyon LH2300 from my local LG OZ store here in Korea. Ever since the iPhone launched I had wanted one, but I’m a Verizon guy and AT&T’s service wasn’t very good at my house, so I was stuck with a regular slide phone. When I moved back to Seoul in 2008 I decided to do some internet searching about Korean handsets and buy a nice phone. I soon realized that the cell phone here is much more than a phone. Locals here use their handsets for everything from paying bills to watching free live TV (T-DMB) to scanning to ride public transportation and even to buy a whopper at BK.
After searching around, I decided to purchase an LG LH2300 partly because of the price. Korean phones are immensely expensive, to the tune of 800 dollars or more. When I purchased my phone, it had been out for about 4 months and therefore had come done in price, to a more reasonable price of 200 dollars.
The first thing I noticed when I powered on the phone was an OZ enabled screen, this means that the phone has full internet capabilities (as long as you pay for it) as there is no WIFI, which is something I wish it had. One helpful feature that it does have is a wireless phonebook and data port. You just place your old phone next to it and use the transfer data feature on each phone and all of your old contacts are synced, even if your old phone is not LG. I also noticed that the phone has Bluetooth and easily syncs with my Macbook Pro (after I set my own password). At first glance, I was pretty happy with my purchase.
Please Leave a Message After the Beep…….Beep
Jul 31st
“David Pogue has distilled into useful form a long-standing complaint I have (and one reason I have long had a voice mail greeting that asked people not to leave me voicemail): cell phone companies set up the greeting, caller instructions, and playback system prompts in large part to maximize their revenue per user; by his calculations, the “mandatory 15-second voicmail instructions” from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and others is earning those companies something near a billion dollars a year in charges. Pogue suggests that users should “take back the beep,” and to that end provides contact information for the largest cell carriers in order to register a complaint — and, more helpful in the short run, suggests ways in which to make better use of paid-for phone minutes by alerting callers how to bypass the annoying instructions.”
I’ve never really thought about it this way. I mean, I’ve always noticed the message and I’ve always wished I could skip it but I’ve never really thought about the reason it was there.
I thought that on all these plans they always said, “When you call voicemail, it doesn’t count towards your minutes.”
If, however, I’ve been under a vast misunderstanding then this definitely brings up a good point that, shockingly, I’ve never heard arise before.
I suppose we will hear more of this at some point.
Xtreme Technologies Xlink Reviewed
May 27th
I finally decided to review the Xlink Cellular Bluetooth Gateway (BT). I’ve been using it for about a month now and I have to say, for what it is, I’m impressed. Basically the device plugs into an outlet, then you run a normal phone line from this unit to your home phone. Then you pair the Xlink via Bluetooth connection with your cellphone much the same way you would handsfree devices such as bluetooth headsets. After the connection is made (the blue light stops blinking) you are able to make phone calls from any phone in your house using this unit and your cellphone, taking full advantage of the minutes on your cellphone plan.
Now, I bought this for one major reason. I simply DO NOT get cellular reception in my kitchen. If I walk anywhere within 10 feet of my kitchen while on a call with my cellphone the call will absolutely get dropped. Not that this is limited to the kitchen, it’s just the place where you are guaranteed for this to happen. Anyhow, since I get reception and am able to use my cellphone fine near the window, I decided one of these units might not be a bad investment. I had looked around for “repeater” type devices to improve cellular reception in so-called “dead” areas but every one I found seemed far too expensive. This Xlink solution can be had for $99. So, I figured it was worth the try.
Here’s the unit as I have it set up:
So far, so good. I am now able to lay my cellular phone anywhere in the apartment that it gets reception and it will automatically connect via bluetooth to the Xlink. Then I can make/receive calls using my normal house phone. One of the features I was sort of skeptical about is the caller ID function. I mean I had no problem believing I’d be able to make phone calls but I figured transferring caller ID information was asking a little much. Well, I was wrong. That works great. Every time a call comes in, the caller ID info is sent to the display on my home phone.
All in all, I have to say I’m very pleased with this device. It seems to function exactly as advertised. Anyone with the same problems I was having that want cellular reception in the rest of their house would surely benefit from the Xlink. Also, it’s an obvious way to cut down on monthly bills by completely cutting out the home phone service.
Any questions?
Make Cellphone Calls from Your Home Phone
Mar 21st
I have had good service with Verizon. It has served me well for about 5 years now. However, I’m sure many of you have had dropped calls. Up until a little over a year ago, this was a rare enough occurrence that it was easily overlooked. But the fact is, a service can’t work everywhere. And that is an acceptable reality unless the location you can’t get service is in your own home.
My parents have had a “protective” blanket (more like a Faraday cage!!!) over their house for years now, but I chalked that one up to lack of service towers in the area (they live in the country). But when I moved to the big city there was no doubt in my mind that phone service would be fine. Well, apparently I hadn’t figured on moving into the black hole of cell phone coverage areas.
After putting up with it for, oh, a year or so, I have decided to start trying gadgets to solve my problem. You see, my phone actually works if I’m in certain locations within the apartment (preferably near the windows) where the apparently “lead-lined” walls aren’t AS effective. I have heard of gadgets to help this sort of thing and I was thinking more along the lines of some kind of signal booster or antenna. After looking into that, I decided the cost for an effective system wasn’t quite what I had in mind.
Enter the Extreme Tech XLINK BT….Basically it will connect to your cellphone using a Bluetooth connection and the Xlink to any regular home phone using a normal home phone line allowing cordless access to your whole house while your cellphone remains in the best “hot spot/zone” you can find. This device allows up to 3 cellphone pairings simultaneously, incoming/outgoing for each, all the other bells and whistles of your cellphone service. These systems have been around for a while, but it wasn’t until I was reading an article in CPU Magazine (great magazine btw) about Xlink the same day I had multiple dropped calls that I broke down. This was two days ago, so I, of course, haven’t received it yet but I will be sure to let you know how it works out. So far I am planning on combining it with the Panasonic KX-TG8231B. Hopefully (fingers crossed), this will solve my current home phone issues.