Cell Phone News

There are 3.5 billion cell phones in the world, enough for every other person. Where are they? China, India, and the US in that order. "According to the Harris Interactive study, second to clothing, teens say a cell phone tells the most about a person’s social status or popularity, outranking jewelry, watches and shoes." One thing's for sure: we replace our phones way too often. Once a year is the US average, every 18 months globally. That's 130 million phones weighing 65,000 tons.

We need to educate ourselves about the environmental impact of cell phone disposal. This is a growing problem and we as individual consumers can alter how this is done. You, me, all of us.

After you get a new cell phone (or if you need confiugre your existing one) learn how to setup a new phone. The next then you want to do is setup an ICE contact.

Phones get lost and stolen. Start off by protecting yourself before your phone gets stolen. Do it now not after the proverbial horse has been stolen.

Recycle your old cell phone and avoid having it end up as landfill.

Worried about your mobile phone zapping you? Then check your cell phone's radiation levels.

A global network of people using mobile technology for social impact. MobileActive.org connects people, organizations, and resources using mobile technology for social change. They publish a wonderful blog too.

All we do is plug our phones into a charger at night and awake to a phone ready to go. In other parts of the world, there is no electricity. Ironicly cell phones are often the only link the world's poor have to the larger world including texting and internet connectivity. How do they charge their phones? Look at this story about William Kamkwamba.

SlingshotSMS is a light-weight open source SMS gateway that can run on a laptop or a flash drive. It's a minimal SMS server which connects GSM modems to websites and applications via a simple interface. Sounds like something one could use when no other options exist and/or when one needs an ad hoc setup. Requires Python.

The Open Mobile Consortium provides open source mobile solutions for humanitarian relief and global social development. They promote sustainable innovation, advocate increases in efficiency, and aim to maximize the impact of mobile technology for social good.

UWT Mobile is an advanced roaming product that allows international travelers to bypass extremely high roaming fees charged by mobile phone operators. UWT Mobile SIM card comes ready to use with any unlocked GSM phone and with a personal phone number. Powered by United World Telecom

iSmashPhone

iSmashPhone a.) has a great name and b.) is a great site to keep up on cell phone stuff. Both are reasons to visit IMHO.

flipswap

This is a great idea. Many of us have an old phone (or two) sitting in a drawer somewhere. Yeah, it's a great backup if your mobile phone gets wet; just pop the SIM card in your old phone and you're good to go. Flipswap offers an attractive alternative. Trade your old phone for Amazon.com gift certificates. Send in your phone(s) and finally get those things on your Amazon wish list.

How to Become an Eco Bounty Hunter

It seems so easy: recycle your old cell phones. Them sitting in a drawer somewhere is only slightly better than tossing them in the trash.