Time of the Tech

After spending 40 days with my work flip phone (see previous post), I was forced to get my own phone. I chose to get the Huawei Ascend from Metro PCS, that was 40* days ago. Why did I chose Metro PCS: It was cheap, $50 dollars per month for unlimited everything. Compare that to ~$100 per month for the big three carriers (e.g.,Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon). T-mobile you are still dead to me. There is no contract! Imagine that. What I do not like about Metro PCS: Their internet connection is slow which makes it difficult to watch videos or stream music. Think back to the first generation of DSL/cable modems which came after 56K modems. You will constantly connect at 100 kbps or below. What I like about the Huawei Ascend: The phone is cheap, at around $100 without a contract. The phone runs Android 2.2. What I do not like about Huawei Ascend: The phone lags a lot, especially when multitasking. The phone does not have a standard 3.5 mm jack, this is annoying...

After the death of my beloved Nexus One, I survived for 40 days with my work provided flip-phone, a Motorola i686. I decided not to replace my Nexus One with a smartphones because I did not feel like any of the smartphones out there were worth having for the next two years. Plus, I was in money saving mode. What better way to save on your phone than by not having a cell phone bill? So, how was going back to a dumbphone aka flip-phone? Surprisingly, the experience was tolerable. If you think you can not go back to a flip phone, know that you can, because I have done it, and few people out there exist that are attached to smartphones as me. So there is hope for those looking to save money on their cell phone bills provided you are not stuck on an evil contract that requires you to mortgage your house to cancel. We as humans possess the ability to get obsessed with things easily, but luckily we can go the other way. We can adapt to "difficult" situations. Sure, typing t...

Back in the Fall of 2010, Google tried to buy Groupon for $5.3 billion. Groupon said No thanks! Maybe it was a bad move by Groupon since the business model they run is innovative, BUT can be easily replicated. In fact, Livingsocial existed before Groupon. You also have Facebook Deals that debuted this year. And now you can add Google Offers. Check out the video above for more information on Google Offers. The gist is that it really is no different that all the other coupon sites. Which brings up the question, are we overloaded? How much time in a day can we spend browsing through offers and deals? For my part, I do not want to sign up for more than two of these companies. If you do not feel overloaded, go over give Google Offers a try, clicky here!

This coming Monday, June 06, 2011, Apple will be hosting its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The following are expected to be big talking points: iCloud service. Apple's entrance into the cloud music arena, with the backing of all the major music labels and iTunes. Game over Google and Amazon... iOS 5. The next version of the operating system that runs the iPod Touch, iPhone, and i Tampoon  iPad. New Mac OS, "Lion". What is secret, but many including me want to know, is will the iPhone 5 be unveiled? Please Mr. Jobs, give me an iPhone 5 with Verizon's LTE network...  I do not care anymore about how you got your liver.

Recently, I got an e-mail from HTC asking me to call them back since I was dissatisfied with my customer service experience after my Nexus One phone died on me. HTC even gave me a name to ask for. So I called today and I am even more disappointed with them. The HTC employee did not seem to give a $#*% in the world that I was rightfully unhappy. She pretty much told me the warranty "is what it is". I tried to argue that the power button issue on my Nexus One is a known issue. As a known issue HTC should recall the phones or at least offer free fixes. Keep in mind two things, I was not looking for a hand out. I have already cancelled my phone contract and my phone is on its way to Mexico for one of my cousins to use (he knows people). I still respect the quality of most HTC products, but this is a bad juju point on their record. When you type "nexus one p" into a Google search bar and the auto complete's first suggestion is "nexus one power button...

Did you know that by switching carriers, you may be eligible for a credit? Since I am in the process of looking for a new phone and carrier (buh-bye T-mobile), I called Sprint to see what kind of magic they can work for me if I were to cancel my contract with T-mobile and port my number over to them. If I signed up for a non-smart phone two year contract, Sprint would give me a $50 dollar credit. That is impossible though, because I will never sign a two year deal with a "dumbphone". And neither should you. Sprint was also offering a $125 credit for a two year contract with a smarthphone. Now we are talking... Keep in mind, there were two caveats with the Sprint offer: I would still have to pay my cancellation fee with T-mobile, which is $50 dollars at the moment. The credit would not show up in my account until 60 days after my contract started. I have yet to talk with Verizon, but I surmise they have a similar program. As always when trying to get these deals, talk t...

"I have a Nexus One that was sent for repair twice within a year of purchase, for dust inside the screen and a power button malfunction. After one year from the date of purchase and 5 months since the last repair, the power button died again. The power button is a known issue, I am highly dissatisfied that I have to pay to get my issue resolved since my warranty expired. I'm in the market for a new phone and I am reluctant to ever buy an HTC phone again, and will voice my opinion when others ask me for phone advice. A generic "we're sorry we couldn't resolve your issue" would go a long way. If you ignore me, I will be even more infuriated with HTC. I can be contacted by e-mail. My phone line has been disconnected since it's hard to have a phone plan without a working phone. Thank you." And that my friends is how I finished off my HTC customer satisfaction survey under the "comment" section. As you can infer, my Nexus One phone has died. I ...