Facebook has become such a big part of many people’s lives and is currently the largest social networking site in the world with millions of users.  Here are some cute cartoons I found today… enjoy!

And my personal favourite….

for these and more visit: http://www.chethstudios.net/2010/04/40-hilarious-facebook-comic-strips.html

If you’re thinking of getting mobile broadband, you’ll find this data cost comparison very useful.  I found an article on My Broadband.co.za showing a comparison between MTN, Vodacom and Cell C, which I thought I’d mash up and share with you.

Mobile data incurs two different charges:  A bundle charge is what you pay for a bundle of data (for example 100 MB will cost you R80.00 on MTN).  Once you have used up the bundle, you can keep surfing the Internet but you will be charged “out-of-bundle-rates”.  This is usually where you get your nasty surprises on your bill because out-of-bundle rates are much higher than in bundle – normally.

In a very brave move, MTN recently cut their out of bundle data rates by 84% making them the most affordable mobile broadband network in South Africa today.  I’m really hoping that Vodacom and Cell C follow soon!  Here is a comparison of their rates and in some cases, even their IN bundle rates are better! Way to go MTN!!

It just goes to show what a FAT profit margin our mobile networks add onto the consumer’s bill!

This is a “phone review” with a BIG difference!  The reason for this, is that the gadget in question only looks like a mobile phone.

A while ago I featured this funny video on this site:

As you will see, they speak about a new self-defense feature on the phone… the rest is just a really good giggle!

Well, I found a mobile phone that DOES serve as a self-defense device and no, you don’t have to throw it. Check out this GREAT cell phone shaped tazer/stun gun.  It gives out sufficient ZAP to temporarily distract anyone, while you run away.

It looks exactly like a mobile phone. So if you are mugged and the meanie mugger asks for your mobile  phone, you simply press the ZAP button as you hand it to him. He’ll get a nasty surprise while you get away. I liked it so much I bought one for myself!

It looks like a phone... but it's NOT!

Two electric points on top of phone

Cellfhelp and Arts&Crafts 4 U have an awesome special running where you can purchase one of these tazers for only R175.00 (Postage and Packaging excl.)  If you’d like to take advantage of this great offer, please call Tel: 021-5561150 or Email: ian@artsandcrafts4u.co.za

If you’d like to visit this exciting store and browse through their wide range of handmade arts, crafts, curios and gifts – or if you’d like to buy art supplies, you can visit them at:

Shop 8, Flamingo Square, Blaauwberg Road, Table View, Cape Town

For quite a few years now, after their purchase of Danger, Microsoft has been working on “Project Pink” a mobile offering that professed to be a game changer that will “navigate your social life”.  Last week, Microsoft finally revealed their new Kin range of phones based on Windows Phone 7 Series and Microsoft’s cloud services.

The reason they’ve included cloud services (where you can store your information on their computers via the Internet) is so that:

• Your phone’s data can be backed up regularly for easy recovery.
• You don’t need much storage space on the phone because your pictures, music and other data is stored on their computers / servers.

The Kin device is a joint venture between Microsoft, Sharp (who developed the hardware), Verizon Wireless and Vodaphone (mobile networks offering the Kin soon).  As yet, there is no mention of whether Vodacom will be bringing the Kin into South Africa – it is very possible they’ll skip this one and wait for Windows Mobile 7 series phones. I’ll keep you posted.

Windows Kin phones

Kin One: If you love taking pictures to share on the web, the Kin One is for you. It has a 5MP camera with flash, touch screen and full QWERTY slide out keyboard – for fast texting, email and instant messaging.  The unusual design takes some getting used to but the screen size seems great.

Microsoft Kin One

Kin Two: This little device features an 8MP camera and ability to record 720p video – cool! It also has more memory capacity than its little brother.

Microsoft Kin Two

The Kin operating system: based on Windows Mobile 7 Series, but a completely separate platform, the Kin OS has some really great features:

KIN Spot: This is a “spot” on the phone’s screen that lets you drag and drop all sorts of things that you can instantly share with all your friends via SMS, MMS or email.  If you take a great photo or record a cute video, simply drag and drop it onto the “spot” and you can share it immediately. Very convenient!

KIN Loop: The home screen of the Kin phone is called the KIN Loop.  It is like a little dashboard showing social information that you’d like to see; such as friend’s status updates, news feeds, pictures, friends’ twitter tweets and much more.  It is completely customisable so that you can create the view you’d like to see.

KIN Studio: Kin studio connects to Microsoft’s cloud service and allows your phone to communicate with your secure storage on the Microsoft servers.  Anything you create or capture on the KIN can be saved within this area and you can access it via the Internet.

Music: Microsoft Zune was a very successful music service and platform, which unfortunately didn’t seem to gain much market share. But the best of Zune is now available on the Kin via the Zune software that you can install on your PC/Laptop. Similar to iTunes for iPhone, this software allows you to manage your music and other media.

If you’re looking for a fun, social phone that helps you keep in touch with your friends, this seems to be a great option - if it comes in at a decent price.  The screen size will also offer a good mobile internet experience, but I would not recommend it for serious business use.

In my humble opinion, these look like great entry-level, fun devices but the competition is tough and I think that this is a case of Microsoft coming to market a little too late. Let’s hope Windows Mobile 7 Series blows our socks off!

READERS: Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about these devices?

Recent press has made a big fuss of Verizon’s announcement to include Skype on their BlackBerry phones. The reason for this is that voice calls over Skype (where you only pay for the data) could potentially cut into their voice revenue.  Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come as mobile networks realise that voice over  IP (the Internet) is inevitable.

In South Africa, however, it is not that simple to get Skype on your BlackBerry.  I have tested quite a few services.  Of the FREE applications, I tried  iSkoot on a BlackBerry 8900 Curve and found it to be quite a reliable service.  I would recommend this application as a temporary alternative until an official Skype application is released.

The official distributor for HTC in South Africa is a company called Leaf Communications.  They announced last week  that from 1 May, we will see three new HTC phones available in South Africa.

HTC Smart: Affordable, smartphone at only R2500.00

RIM, the distributor of BlackBerry phones launched their entry level smartphone, the 8520 last year, which for only R2500, met with GREAT success.  See smartphone comparison post for more information.  At the time, the closest HTC option (cost wise) was the HTC Tattoo for R3000.00 but its features paled in comparison.  It seems that HTC took note and have now brought out a competitive option in the HTC Smart.

The HTC Smart is one of the smallest, most affordable, touch screen phones available today.  Here are some of its features:

• HSDPA (this means that connection to the Internet will be fast)
• Touch screen
• Excellent media player (for mp3 and other formats)
• 3.15Mp camera with flash
• Micro SD support for up to 16GB memory

HTC Legend: A very pretty smartphone!

The shiny aluminium body makes this a very beautiful handset.  With this much memory capacity and an Android operating system, you will be able to add new programs to your phone to make it exclusively yours.

Here are some of its features:

• The operating system is Android 2.1 Google applications included
• 3.2 inch AMOLED touchscreen with optical trackpad
• Micro SD support for up to 32GB of additional memory
• HSDPA 7.3 Mbps
• 5 Mp camera with autofocus and flash
• GPS
• Excellent media player (for mp3 and other formats)

HTC Desire:

A little larger than the Legend, the Desire appears to mix business with pleasure in its vast range of features.

Here are some of its features.

• The operating system is Android 2.1 Google applications included
• 3.7 inch AMOLED touchscreen with optical trackpad
• Micro SD support for up to 32GB of additional memory
• 4GB of onboard storage
• HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
• 5 Mp camera with autofocus and flash
• FM Radio
• GPS
• Excellent media player (for mp3 and other formats)

No pricing was mentioned for the Legend or Desire so we will have to wait to see what they will cost.  All in all, a lovely line up of devices and a great boost for Android!

If you haven’t already used twitter, you’re probably wondering what the fuss is all about.  However, if you have used twitter, you’re probably wondering how you lived without this simple, yet fun social media service.  You can find it at www.twitter.com .  Signing up is FREE and simple.

Twitter is what is known as a micro-blogging service. It allows you to send out short messages of 140 characters (similar to a text message on your mobile phone) called “tweets”.

There are different permission settings but the default is that you can choose who you would like to follow.  If you are following someone, you will see all their “tweets”.  If someone is following you, they will see all your tweets. At any time you can view your followers and who is following you.

Twitter started a status update service where you told your followers “What you are doing now” and could see what they were doing too.  The airwaves were filled with tweets such as “I’m off to work” or “I’m about to watch Aviator!” etc. Today twitter has evolved into a dynamic service where you can get breaking news as it happens, stay in touch with friends or read arbitrary tweets from all over the world.  You can search on specific topics or send private messages to friends and much more.

Your experience on twitter all depends on the people you follow and how much you interact and engage with your followers.  I follow comedians, journalists, friends and interesting people from all over the world. When I open twitter I know I’m in for some great entertainment.

I use twitter on the Internet (see http://twitter.com/cellfhelp), on my mobile phone and I also use software to send my tweets.  Please feel free to visit my twitter page and follow me!

To help you on your way, here is the blonde’s understanding of twitter jargon:

@ = All twitter “handles” (your name on twitter) start with @. So mine is @Cellfhelp.  If you want to send a message to someone (for example Cellfhelp), and you don’t mind other people seeing it, you would start the message with @Cellfhelp.

DM = Direct Message. You can send and receive direct messages to anyone who is following you.  These messages are not shown on the public Internet and are kept private between you and the recipient.

RT = Re-Tweet. If you see a tweet from a friend and you would like to share it with your followers, you can re-tweet it.  This is a wonderful way to give credit to your friends for their humour, intelligence or stupidity…

#= hash tag. This hash is put in front of subjects.  If you want to find tweets on mobile you can search on #mobile and find out what people are saying about mobile at that moment.  For this reason you should include hash tags in your tweets so that people can find your comments and opinions on the subject.  You can search twitter at http://search.twitter.com

How to get started:

Simply go to http://twitter.com and sign up for a new account.  The service is entirely FREE and all you need is access to the Internet.

Other ways to use twitter:

There are some GREAT twitter applications that give you more functionality.  If you’re interested, check out www.digsby.com; www.feedalizr.com or www.tweetdeck.com.  For twitter on your mobile phone, visit the application store or go to m.twitter.com on your mobile.

Twitter for business

Many companies are using twitter to engage with customers. They can see what people are saying about their brand and respond immediately.

Twitter is so much more than just a texting alternative.  Why not give it a try so that you can see what the fuss is all about?  Don’t you want to also be a twit?