Cell Again Franchise – Cell Phone Franchise

Breaking News: Unlocking/Flashing/Jailbreaking any cell phone has become legal

Source: Yahoo! News

Written by Christopher Null

While the courts have been busy making decisions about digital rights, Washington has also been having its say on copyright law, at least as it relates to the iPhone and other handsets. Key new rules arrived Monday morning.

Most notably, the FCC has made the controversial practice of “jailbreaking” your iPhone — or any other cell phone — legal.

Jailbreaking — the practice of unlocking a phone (and particularly an iPhone) so it can be used on another network and/or run other applications than those approved by Apple — has technically been illegal for years. However, no one has been sued or prosecuted for the practice. (Apple does seriously frown on the practice, and jailbreaking your phone will still void your warranty.) It’s estimated that more than a million iPhone owners have jailbroken their handsets.

Apple fought hard against the legalization, arguing that jailbreaking was a form of copyright violation. The FCC disagreed, saying that jailbreaking merely enhanced the inter-operability of the phone, and was thus legitimate under fair-use rules.

The upshot is that now anyone can jailbreak or otherwise unlock any cell phone without fear of legal penalties, whether you want to install unsupported applications or switch to another cellular carrier. Cell phone companies are of course still free to make it difficult for you to do this — and your warranty will probably still be voided if you do — but at least you won’t be fined or imprisoned if you jailbreak a handset.

In addition to the jailbreaking exemption, the FCC announced a few oth

er rules that have less sweeping applicability but are still significant:

• Professors, students and documentary filmmakers are now allowed, for “noncommercial” purposes, to break the copy protection measures on DVDs to be used in classroom or other not-for-profit environments. This doesn’t quite go so far as to grant you and me the right to copy a DVD so we can watch it in two rooms of the house, but it’s now only one step away.

• As was the topic in the GE ruling I wrote about, the FCC allows computer owners to bypass dongles if they are no longer in operation and can’t be replaced. Dongles are rarities in consumer technology products now, but industrial users are probably thrilled about this, as many go missing and are now impossible to obtain.

• Finally, people are now free to circumvent protection measures on video games — but, strangely, only to investigate and correct security flaws in those games. (Another oddity: Other computer software is not part of this ruling, just video games.)

Which smartphone has the best LCD screen?

PC Magazine breaks it down:

“If you place the latest smartphones side by side the first thing you’ll probably notice is that all their displays dazzle—but why? Image quality can be difficult to express but there is a way to measure it. To evaluate and help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of various displays, we powered up our luminance and chromaticity meters and recruited the help of Dr. Raymond Soneira and his DisplayMate display test and evaluation suite.

We compared the Apple iPhone 4, Motorola Droid X, HTC Droid Incredible and HTC EVO in terms of brightness, contrast, color depth, and color accuracy. Then we picked an overall winner for best smartphone screen.

These top smartphones use three different screen technologies. The Droid X and HTC EVO use traditional TFT LCDs, like you’ll find on most phones. TFT LCDs can give very different results if they’re tuned differently, though. The iPhone’s screen is an IPS LCD, a variant on TFT LCD where the molecules of liquid crystal are parallel to the panels as opposed to perpendicular. The Droid Incredible is AMOLED. Each display technology has its different advantages and disadvantages. AMOLED could one day replace LCD because it offers superior contrast, but it’s still expensive to manufacture and is not nearly as bright as LCDs.

There’s another screen technology coming. The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S phones use Super AMOLED, which supposedly reduces the reflectivity of AMOLED and increases the apparent brightness. We haven’t gotten much time with any of those phones yet, but we’re looking forward to it.”

Here’s the link: PCMAG.com

My New Phone’s Data Plan Too Expensive, What Should I Do?

The big cell phone carriers are beginning to require customers to purchase some sort of data plan along with their new phones; it’s their way of recouping costs from handsets and other advertising fees.

It’s not surprising that once you receive the bill, data plan buyer’s remorse is included. You want the coolest phone, the best phone, however those phones usually have the highest data plans attached to them. Within a few months you realize that your cool phone is still cool, but the $200 phone bill definitely isn’t.

Parents who have purchased new phones with data plans for their children might even be the most upset: costs of multiple data plans in one family can quickly become astronomical.

Cell Again can help! We offer new and used phones that do not require data plans. You can trade in your child’s expensive phone for something more practical and more affordable. We even have phones that are grandfathered into plans that do not require high-priced data plans. There’s no need to live with an expensive data plan, just visit your closest Cell Again.

What Should You Do When Your Phone Gets Wet?

Most people think a wet cell phone is a total loss, but it depends on what kind of liquid your phone fell into. If your phone was dropped into regular tap water, like the toilet or sink with no soap, you have a good chance of getting your phone back to life. Just follow these steps:

1. Open your phone, take out the battery, and set it aside for a few days.
2. If you don’t have the tools to open your phone (and most people don’t) take it to a repair shop, eye glass store, or watch maker, and have them open up your phone’s housing.
3. Once your phone is open, leave it open for 2-4 days, preferably by a sunny window to dry.
4. After several days, check for moisture, and if the phone is dry, replace the battery.

Following these steps should give you about a 50/50 chance of resuscitating your phone.

If you dropped your phone into something other than plain water, including dirty water or liquids containing chemicals, your phone’s chance of revival is about 5%.

However, Cell Again has an UltraSonic machine! We can place your phone inside the machine, removing the chemicals that can corrode your phone. We see about a 20% success rate, which is worth trying when faced with the prospect of purchasing a new phone.

Come see us at anytime, we’d love to help get your phone back in working order.

-Matt Kelly

Basic Cell Phone Tips to Protect the Life of Your Phone

1. Turn off any WiFi or data connections if not in use. Like a computer, a cell phone has a sleep mode and is still sending out data pings if not turned off and by doing this it can dramatically increase your battery life. This is especially important with the new Android phones since they are constantly updating even when your phone is just sitting there.

2. Protect your phone from scratches by using either Gadget Guard or Clear Protector to keep it looking new.

3. To keep your phone glitch free delete any old photos, videos, emails and text messages. The less information you keep on your phone the better it will function.

4. Use only approved applications. Many apps are not designed with battery life in mind, so if it isn’t approved you may want to reconsider the purchase.

5. Update your phones on a regular basis. Most new data phones have updates that help fix glitches. This is key with all new droids, iPhones and other smart devices.

Matt Kelly

Cell Phone Features

Cellphone.org had some great cell phone information and I wanted to share…

April 30 is the First National No Phone Zone Day

On Friday, April 30, 2010, Oprah Winfrey and Harpo Studios are taking a stand against distracted driving and launching the first annual “No Phone Zone Day” to educate Americans to stop calling or texting on cell phones while driving.

The public service education campaign is supported by the US Department of Transportation (DOT), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS), FocusDriven, SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and RADD, the Entertainment Industry’s Voice for Road Safety.

Corporate sponsors for the “No Phone Zone” campaign include Sprint, General Motors/Chevrolet and Liberty Mutual.

“A call or text isn’t worth taking a life,” says Ms. Winfrey. “We must not allow more mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, sisters and brothers to die before we take action.”

A 2008 NHTSA study indicated that at any given moment during the daylight hours, more than 800,000 vehicles are being driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone. Driving while distracted kills nearly 6,000 Americans each year

Drivers are four times less likely to get into accidents serious enough to cause injury when they turn off their cell phones while behind the wheel, according to the results of a 2005 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

* Less Than 3 Percent Can Talk on Cell Phone and Drive Safely

US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood says, “I’ve made it my mission at the DOT to end distracted driving. We know that if we can get people to put away cell phones and other electronic devices when they are behind the wheel, we can save thousands of lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of injuries every year. That’s why I’m proud to support and participate in Oprah’s ‘No Phone Zone Day.’”

Friday’s Oprah Winfrey Show will present a special live episode that will coincide with several communities that are holding rallies against distracted driving. Among those featured will be Oprah partner stations WSB-TV Channel 2 in Atlanta, WCVB-TV Channel 5 in Boston, WXYZ Channel 7 in Detroit, KABC ABC7 in Los Angeles and WJLA ABC7 in Washington, D.C.

The planned rallies will bring together victims’ families, elected officials, advocacy organizations, parents, youth, and law enforcement to discuss best practices and steps to limit distracted driving in their own communities.

* Stop Distracted Driving and Sign Oprah’s No Phone Zone Pledge

National Cellular Recycling Week

Cell Again life has been moving along.  We have had an incredible month with many interested franchisees.  We are excited to announce that we have initiated the registration process in Illinois and California and hope to soon be awarding franchises there.

This past month we have spent our time refining and renewing strong relationships with our Cell Again partners.  We were able to attend the CTIA Wireless conference in March. While we were there we were able to come together with all of our outlet owners as a Cell Again family.  It was a successful conference with some great times had by all.  We look forward to seeing you next year in Miami.

National Cellular Recycling week started Monday.  I am glad to see that there is a small effort going on for one week of the year.  While the EPA has dedicated one week to go green, Cell Again will gladly pick up the remaining 51 weeks of the year.  We already know that we are contributing to help save phones from the landfills, but better yet, we are adding savings and keeping cash in the pockets of our customers and more importantly…in your pockets.

MK

Previously Owned Electronics: How to make sure this doesn’t happen to you.

Today I came across a story about used cell phones that I thought was interesting.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=10041189

“A Provo man got a little more than he paid for when he visited a thrift store. He bought a used cell phone, plugged it in and found a blow-you-away list of phone numbers for famous athletes and entertainment stars.
Turns out this cell phone once belonged to a Utahn who has made a fortune in sports business: Dave Checketts. He’s a former Jazz general manager and the man responsible for bringing a Major League Soccer team to Salt Lake.
The contacts included Patrick Ewing, Alan Houston, Wayne Gretzky, Bud Selig, David Stern, Marv Albert, Tom Brokaw and Jerry Colangelo, to name a few.”

This man bought a previously owned phone, and the previous owner hadn’t wiped the phone of all personal information. In this case, the info included contact information that could damage his career. Imagine someone phone pranking Tom Brokaw using your phone.
The world of previously owned electronics is on the cusp of huge growth. We’re growing rapidly, and as more people realize they can sell their older phones to a Cell Again franchisee and buy a quality previously owned phone at a good price, you’ll see it grow even more quickly. At Cell Again we have a process to make sure that all previously owned phones are wiped clean. This helps protect the customers we buy from and the ones we sell to.

Moving Forward — Prospective Franchisees

We are truly pleased with the events that have taken place in the past few weeks.  Cell Again is moving forward, and with that comes the exciting part — speaking to the prospective owners of this exciting cell phone franchise opportunity.  I have really appreciated your questions and your expressed enthusiasm about this fun and exciting business.

We have prospective franchisees that we look to award with franchises around the nation, and we are currently setting up Discovery Days to have prospective franchisees come to Utah and experience Cell Again first hand.

Please feel free at anytime to set up a call with our sales team and ask for me to be on the conference call.  I am here to answer any and all questions you may have with Cell Again.