Just a number? Lucky Japanese cell phone numbers worth Millions!

Many of us take our cell phone numbers for granted. Sure, it’s nice to get an easy-to-remember number, or something with a nice flow to it, but in Japan, it seems that a cell phone number is a lot more than JUST a number. It can also be worth a LOT of money.

In fact, cell phone numbers containing special sequences of numbers like “123…”, sequences of numbers considered lucky to the Japanese, or cell numbers with repeating digits in the last 4 to 8 numbers are highly desirable and are often sought by company bosses and business people as a status symbol akin to an expensive watch, a flash sports car or… a yacht!?

…and they are selling for a fortune online, typically for 10’s of thousands of Yen (10,000 Yen = USD85 approx), but sometimes for hundreds of millions (100,000,000 Yen = USD854,000 approx)!.

Cell numbers containing the number 7 are thought to be very lucky, since the Japanese have the Seven Gods of Good luck, Shichifukujin. The number 8 is also favored as it is associated with good fortune. The tetraphobic Japanese regard sequences of the numeral 4 as not so lucky, however, since it is widely associated with death (“shi” in Japanese is a close homonym for the word for death).

The buying/selling of these ‘lucky’ numbers on all of Japan’s carriers has accelerated in recent times - MSN/Mainichi reports:

The prices of both au and Vodafone phone numbers have reportedly risen to two or three times the normal price recently. It is thought that people are buying the numbers before the number portability system is introduced in October, aiming to switch the numbers to NTT DoCoMo phones after the system is introduced so the price of the numbers rises even further.

“The really good numbers could sell for prices in the range of 1 billion yen,”

NTT DoCoMo, who holds more than half of Japan’s cellular market with more than 50 million customers has the numbers that are most sought after.

1 Billion Yen, eh? That’s more than 8.5 Million USD! Next time you sign up for a new cell service, take your time and choose your number wisely….you never know, this may just catch on!

[Source MSN/Mainichi]

3rd World Country Tops USA in Texting! 12 Other Interesting Facts

Here’s a selection of ‘hard to believe’ useless, but interesting stats and facts from all corners of the web concerning mobile phone usage. $100 Million worth of ringtones sold per year in India alone? C’mon…

• 13.5 million people have downloaded a mobile game from April to June of ‘06. [Link]
• The revenues for the above was $46.9 million USD, and since Q3 of ‘05 revenues have gone up 63 percent. [Link]
• Tendonitis and carpal tunnel have been tied to excessive text messaging. Learn to be a switch hitter! [Link]
• 7 million US cell phone customers will watch TV on their cell phone this year, and 24 million by 2010. [Link]
• China has 425.37 million cell phone subscribers, that 1.5 times of the US population. [Link]
• 35 billion text messages were sent in June alone in China, averaging 2.75 texts per phone per day. [Link]
• USA is 22.6 times the population of Ecuador and 10 times the wealth, yet Ecuador sends four times as many text messages as Americans. [Link]
• Cell phone users from India download ringtones worth $100 million USD a year. [Link]
• 67 percent of India’s GDP is made up of consumer spending, they are second to the US which is 70 percent.
• Verizon filters up to 50,000 text messages that are considered spam every day. [Link]
• 84 percent of parents want their children available via cell phone during school hours. [Link]
• ~44 percent of people who own a phone capable of playing music have not added any music files to their cell phones. [Link]

10 cool things you can do with your cell phone

Nowadays cell phones can do almost anything, but now there is more to add to the list. Some of these cool features may not be available yet or are for specific models only, but rest assured with the increase in cellular technology it is on the way.

1. ID that song: Next time you hear a catchy song on the radio, you don’t have to try to memorize the lyrics so you can Google it when you get home. Now all you need to do is dial a code number, hold the phone to the speaker for a few seconds and within moments you’ll see the artist, title and album appear. This is only available with select models.
2. Have your phone wake you with music: Tired of your normal buzzer alarm clock from the 1980s? With some new models, including the LG Chocolate, you can select music as your alarm.
3. Text message a landline phone: Companies are now starting to offer text to landline messaging. Your text message is sent from your cell phone to a landline and is converted to a voice message that is played back on the landline.There is a small charge for this, but nonetheless interesting.
4. Scan in a business card: Ever wanted to get someone info off of their business card, but they only had one? Ok probably not, but some models have features where you can take a picture of a business card and have the picture trasferred to your phone book.
5. Have your text messages read back to you: Vemail Voice Email 2.0 (http://www.nch.com.au/vemail/index.html) enables usuers to read e-mail and easily reply by speaking. This application is $28 but can sure be useful for people on the go. More…

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Nokia’s ’special’ SMS tone is morse code for SMS. More Nokia facts…

Trawling around, looking for something completely different, I stumbled across this bunch of Trivia facts on Wikipedia about the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world - Nokia. Enjoy…

Apology: It has been brought to our attention that displaying the information we had gathered from Wikipedia’s article on Nokia may contravene Wikipedia’s usage policy and it appears we may have misunderstood this policy. For this we apologise. It was never our intention to display information that might breech any rules and so we have removed the full list. We apologise to those visitors who were expecting to find the full article here, but we had to do the right thing and remove it. Sorry. Thank’s to the Digg users for correcting us on this issue.

So, instead, here are a couple of trivia highlights from the wikipedia entry on Nokia, and we encourage people to take a look at the full contents of the article, which can be found here :

*The “Special” tone available to users of Nokia phones when receiving SMS messages is actually Morse code for “SMS”. Similarly, the “Ascending” SMS tone is Morse code for “Connecting People,” Nokia’s slogan. The “Standard” SMS tone is Morse code for “M” (Message).
* Nokia is currently the world’s largest digital camera manufacturer, as the sales of its camera-equipped mobile phones have exceeded those of any conventional camera manufacturer.
* Unlike other modern day handsets, Nokia phones do not automatically start the call timer when the call is connected, but start it when the call is initiated. (Except for Series 60 based handsets like the Nokia 6600)

[Extract from Nokia trivia on Wikipedia]

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7th International Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships

Saturday 26 August saw the 7th International Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships wrap up 340km north of Helsinki in Savonlinna, Finland and this year the Gold was taken out by a Finn. Finland is of course the home of Nokia, the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phones, and so it is only fitting that such an important event also be held there.

The new champion is Lassi Etelätalo, Finland with result 89,00 m. In the Original individual category, second was last year’s champion Mikko Lampi with 87,17 meters and the third was Tomi Kurvi with a result of 80,20 meters.

The new world champion in the Women’s category is Eija Laakso with a new world record of 50.83 meters. The men’s world record of 94.97 meters (more than 100 yards), set by Mikko Lampi from Vilppula, Finland during the 2005 World championships remains unbroken.

There are officially two categories in the Mobile Phone Throwing. Traditional style ie. over the shoulder throw, where the length of the throw is crucial. In Freestyle the style is free and the contestant gets points for aesthetics and creative choreographics from 4 to 10. In both categories the contestant with the highest score wins.

Mobile Phone Throwing is light and modern Finnish sport that suits for people of all ages. It combines recycling philosophy and fun spirit in active sport. A part of the philosophy is also a spiritual freedom from being available all the time.

Feeling inspired, but a bit out of shape? Not to worry, you have a year to prepare. The next championships will be held on the 25th of August next year - expect registrations to open around April.

Interesting fact about Nokia: In addition to being the world’s largest cell phone manuacturer, Nokia also takes out the honors as the world’s largest digital camera manufacturer on account of the number of cell phones they sell equipped with cameras, outselling any other traditional camera manufacturer.

[Get all the latest mobile phone throwing world championships news direct from savonlinnafestivals.com]

CBS TV clips via Bluetooth courtesy of Kameleon at Grand Central, NYC

Kameleon Technologies announced Friday a partnership with CBS television to provide clips of upcoming CBS TV shows from interactive billboards to commuters passing through Grand Central.

The system, which makes use of Kameleon’s MobiZone technology, enables those with Bluetooth enabled handsets to receive short clips of CBS’ fall lineup at no cost. The clips can either be played instantly, stored or passed onto friends. No additional software/applications are required on the user’s handset.

According to Kameleon, here is how it works:

Each Billboard invites the mobile user to open his Bluetooth connection and make it discoverable. Then the user is invited to accept a free clip from the particular Show. If he accepts, the clip automatically downloads and plays on the screen of the mobile.

The interactive billboards will start appearing in several locations at New York’s Grand Central Station from September. Something to while away the time on those long and busy commutes…

[Read the full text of the release at PRWeb.com]

Cell phones begin to replace the common wristwatch

Reuters reports on the increasing trend of watches being abandoned in favor of cell phones for time keeping. Watch sales dropped nearly 5% in 2005 and some think phones are to blame.

The proliferation of cell phones, with their list of extra features, has had the knock-on effect of eliminating the need to wear a wristwatch unless it is to make a fashion statement.

Men seem to be buying fewer watches than women - although women are expected to have watches for different outfits - rather than the one watch fits all approach most fellas go along with.  Men continue to buy the majority of high end watches as symbols of status - 70% according to research.
Can YOU live without a watch?

Me, I can’t do it.  The watch, for me, falls onto that ‘don’t leave home without it’ essentials list along the rest of the ‘holy ternary’ - the keys and the phone. Without which, I feel incomplete…

[Full story from Reuters]

How much are you paying for going over your minutes?

A new survey from SimplySwitch.com reports that 8 out of 10 people don’t know how much a phone call would cost outside of their plan. Sure some people have plans that are only a few cents for a minute, but what about for an extra text message? An international call? They also discovered that half of everyone questioned have been overcharged by their provider in the past.

The biggest tip from Karen Darby, CEO at SimplySwitch, is to focus on your plan, not your phone.  When you are looking for a new  provider consider more than just your plan, look at the overage prices as well. If you go over, you willl no doubt see  a larger bill, but by doing a little shopping, you can minimize that cost.

[Check out more from TechDigest.com]

Cell phone emergency tricks and tips

Blogcritics.org has a short list of interesting things that cell phones are (apparently) capable of doing.

There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies. Your mobile phone can actually be a lifesaver or an emergency tool for survival.

In no particular order…

1. Dialing 112 will contact emergency services in ANY country around the world.
2. Unlock your car with your keys over the phone (er…what? Seriously??)
3. Release extra battery power (at the expense of call quality)
4. IMEI code can be used to disable a stolen phone (Nokia handsets only apparently)

Full details available at Blogcritics.org.  I’m highly skeptical of point 2 (I mean, c’mon…) - but if you’ve tried it and know it to work (or otherwise!) post a comment here and let us know!

TV Guide by SMS - 4INFO

Mobile search provider 4INFO have added another great feature to their growing list of mobile search and information services - TV Guide info by SMS.

By texting a simple message to 4INFO (44636) comprised of the command ‘tv’ + ‘the name of the show’ + ‘user’s zip code’, 4INFO will respond within a few seconds with the a list of providers servicing that zipcode area. The user is then prompted to select a provider from the menu of choices. On replying the user then receives an SMS detailing the airtimes for the requested show for the next few days.
More…

Are recycled phones being put to good use?

Well, if you just want to know the answer, the answer is “yes”.

There is a good chance that the phone you recycle is going to someone in Bolivia, Jamaica, Kenya, the Ukraine, or Yemen. ReCellular is a privately held company that has more than half of the US phone recycling business, and nearly one quarter of the business worldwide. Back when ReCellular started 15 years ago, they would receive 300 to 400 phones a month. Vice President Mike Newman said if they aren’t doing 300 to 400 every few minutes they’re having a bad day. On average, they get 75,000 phones a week, and they test each one individually. If it doesn’t work, they take what they can and use it for parts.

Nearly 80 percent of people in the world live in an area that receives cell phone reception. The spreading of recycled cell phones are helping those without land lines to communicate and spur economic growth, Newman said.

[To read more about ReCellular, check on CNN.com]

Samsung ‘Super music phone’ SCH-B570 - released in Korea

Korean electronics manufacturer, Samsung today announced the launch of it’s feature packed ‘Super Music Phone’ the SCH-B570. Complete with advanced audio, picture in picture video and multimedia support the B570 also sports *ahem* Golf Manager (?) a tool for managing golf scores and driving distances on Korean golf courses (using its built-in GPS).

With a whopping 8Gb of memory, this has to be the largest built-in storage facility on any cell phone to date. Samsung claims the massive drive can hold:

• 1,600 mp3 files (at 4Mb per song) or
• 16 Personal Media Player (at 400Mb per movie)
• or more than 20,000 x 300kb digital photos

Specifications:

• 1xEV-DO Mobile broadband
• 2 Megapixel Camera
• 1.98“ Display 240×320 resolution, 262K Color
• Size: 112 x 48 x 19.9 mm
• Weight: 130 g

The phone sports a myriad of other features including:

8GB Hard drive disk, Satellite DMB / Picture In Picture / Personal Media Player, Motion Recognition Technology, GPS, VOD/MOD, MP3, Document Viewer, Mobile printing and TV out.

And if Golf Manager wasn’t enough, Samsung’s also revealed another curious feature:

Samsung also presented the ‘motion recognition capability’ by introducing the new ‘morning call motion detector snooze alarm’. When the alarm clock rings, users can turn it off simply by shaking the phone, then alarm will automatically alert again a few minutes later.

Other features aside, it’s hard to believe that this device doesn’t have Apple’s rumored iPod/Phone in its sights, and maybe THIS will be just the device to rattle Apple’s cage and make them announce something. Just how much storage will the new iPhone have?

The SCH-B570 will be released in Korea for around USD800 in the next few days.

Sprint’s Palm Treo 700wx with GPS - Vodafone/Cingular Treo 750 on the way?

Sprint are expected to release the new Palm Treo 700wx next week with a host of great new features included double the RAM from the 700w and built-in GPS. sprintusers.com has what looks to be an official specs sheet. This new PDA will operate on the Sprint EV-DO Mobile Broadband network and have access to Sprints Power Vision network services.

The 700wx is expected to be released to business customers from 27 August with an offering at retail sales outlets from 3 September.

Treo 750…

In other Treo news, the Treo 750 is expected to be released in just two weeks time 12 September for the European market on Vodafone’s 3G network. As expected, the 750 will run Windows Mobile 5.0. While no official details have been released, it is hoped that the 750 will be an antenna-less design and have built-in wifi - something that has been lacking from all Treo handsets to date.

Reuters reports:

Palm is to launch the new handset to Vodafone customers in a number of European countries including the U.K., Germany, Spain, Italy and Netherlands as it attempts to win back the confidence of a market it once dominated with its Palm Pilot device.

PDAStreet is speculating that shortly after it’s release, Cingular users should expect a US version…

Digg2Phone - get your Digg fix on your fone

Digg2Phone is a new service allowing registered members to receive SMS alerts on stories currently doing the rounds on Digg.com. Use it to track your own stories, see when stories hit the home page, track new comments or see when a story gets buried etc.

As Digg2Phone say:

Digg2Phone is for the digg addicts who can’t watch the digg spy all day.

With Digg2Phone, you can choose which stories you want us to follow for you, and we’ll text message you when something happens.

The service is not yet available to the public, but they are looking for beta testers. No details yet on a public release. Another fun non-telephony way to use your handset…

[More from Digg2Phone]

Phone Friday! News & reviews on some phones

HTC release the Excalibur, better than the Q?

The Excalibur is HTC’s version of the Q, but appears to blow the Q out of the water. This thin smart phone comes with Windows Mobile and a full QWERTY keybaord. It also will have Mi-FI and Bluetooth, and like the Q it will have a method for one handed navigation. The Excalibur will have a touch sensitive scroll pad including home and back keys as well.
The Excalibur is rumored to launch with Sprint in the US by the end of the year, but no word on an exact date or price.

[Thanks for Geek.com for the pictures, and check out HTC’s website for more of their sleek phones.]

LG releases some white chocolate

Although this may not be the Chocolate, the LF1300 certianly has some flavor. The LF1300 comes with a 2-inch QVGA display, 1.3 megapixel camer, SD expansion, Bluetooth, and of course, an MP3 Player.

This slider measures 98 x 48 x 16.9mm and will be available through CYON. The LF1300 is said to be released only in Korea, and no word on pricing as of now.

[Picture and story from I4U.com]

Milk chocolate from Sony Ericsson?

Well this also isn’t the Chocolate, but Sony Ericsson has released a milk chocolate colored phone, calling it the K800i. It comes with a brilliant 3.2 megapixel camera, UMTS high-speed data, and and MP3/MPEG4 player.

The K800i will be released in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

[Picture from Gizmodo.com]