Experts have been predicting the slide into redundancy of conventional mobile plans for a long time now. The reasoning behind such projections is simply the fact that data mobiles are becoming more and more prominent in the modern world.

Data mobiles, in simple words, are phones which are simply based on the internet i.e. all messaging and calling takes place via the internet. This precludes the need for conventional calling minutes.

Naturally, the result of such a change in mobile trends would mean that mobile service providers would lose a lot of their clout and revenue potential because they would be relegated to providing data speeds and capacities.

While such a switch from conventional mobile plans to data mobiles has been seen as something for the future, they seem to be closer than many people realize. Take for example, the impending arrival of Facebook optimized phones.

Facebook is all set to release a deeply integrated android phone in collaboration with HTC. This deep integration would mean a wide variety of things. For instance, the most basic change in the interface would be that this phone’s welcome screen would have key Facebook features. Furthermore, such a phone would have a camera which would have the ability to directly connect to Facebook websites such as Instagram.

The reason why such a device would render conventional mobile plans redundant is that the Facebook messenger app contains free calling features. With such a feature people would not need to call each other.

Attempts to initiate such changes have happened before, but have surprisingly not managed to get a hold of the market. The Cha Cha launched by HTC earlier had Facebook integration but failed to lure many buyers. Another example was the Inq Cloud Touch which was a combination of android and Facebook. However, this phone also failed to reach the markets.

 Rumors pertaining to the e-commerce giant Amazon developing a smart phone have been in circulation in the smart phone industry for over two years now. The rumors initially began after the success of Kindle Fire which was initially launched around two years ago. There have been numerous rumors regarding this new product from Amazon, but the recent one seems to be the most substantive.

The rumor mill says that the Amazon is set to feature a display spanning 4.7 inches. The rumor has been attributed ambiguously to industry supply chain sources. Furthermore, the sources have suggested that while Amazon was, in the beginning, considering a 4.3 inch display system on its new smart phone, it has since revised its targets.

The reason for this, supposedly, is the tremendous success of smart phones with large displays in the market. In essence, there is much more demand in the market for a smart phone with big displays on the back of the iPhone 5 and Samsung’s latest offerings.

As is evident from such rumors, it seems that Amazon is revising the specifications for its new smart phone based on the changing industry patterns and trends. Therefore, more revisions for other aspects of the new smart phone may be expected, and the result of this would be that the smart phone launch may be pushed further.

Other rumors, hence, suggest that the launch of the smart phone may be pegged at the end of the current year. It should be noted that, at this point, everything to do with Amazon’s new smart phone is conjecture as no solid information has been released by any citable source.

However, if Kindle Fire and its success based on its pricing policies is anything to go by, Amazon’s smart phone would be something to look forward to for the tech junkies.

Rumors pertaining to the e-commerce giant Amazon developing a smart phone have been in circulation in the smart phone industry for over two years now. The rumors initially began after the success of Kindle Fire which was initially launched around two years ago. There have been numerous rumors regarding this new product from Amazon, but the recent one seems to be the most substantive.

The rumor mill says that the Amazon is set to feature a display spanning 4.7 inches. The rumor has been attributed ambiguously to industry supply chain sources. Furthermore, the sources have suggested that while Amazon was, in the beginning, considering a 4.3 inch display system on its new smart phone, it has since revised its targets.

The reason for this, supposedly, is the tremendous success of smart phones with large displays in the market. In essence, there is much more demand in the market for a smart phone with big displays on the back of the iPhone 5 and Samsung’s latest offerings.

As is evident from such rumors, it seems that Amazon is revising the specifications for its new smart phone based on the changing industry patterns and trends. Therefore, more revisions for other aspects of the new smart phone may be expected, and the result of this would be that the smart phone launch may be pushed further.

Other rumors, hence, suggest that the launch of the smart phone may be pegged at the end of the current year. It should be noted that, at this point, everything to do with Amazon’s new smart phone is conjecture as no solid information has been released by any citable source.

However, if Kindle Fire and its success based on its pricing policies is anything to go by, Amazon’s smart phone would be something to look forward to for the tech junkies.

The Samsung S4 has been formally launched, as you no doubt are already well aware. If you are the kind of person who follows what goes on in the mobile world, then you already know that Samsung’s marketing has claimed a lot of things about the new phone. In fact, the marketing strategy of the Korean giant created such a hullabaloo about their new phone that most people expected it to be Samsung’s first step towards knocking Apple off its US market perch.

Now that the Samsung Galaxy S4 is launched, you are most probably wondering whether it has the features to achieve what seemed impossible only a few years ago. In simple words, the jury is still out on the Samsung Galaxy S4. Even so, here are some of the new features that the S4 boasts of, so you can make up your own mind about how good it is.

A Bigger Display

The display of the S4 is 0.2 inches bigger than the display of the S3 at 5 inches, while the phone dimensions remain the same.

13 Megapixel Camera

While the S3 boasted of an 8 megapixel camera, its successor makes a huge jump to a 13 megapixel camera.

Tilt Based Scrolling

While reading something the phone can sense your eyes, and if you tilt the phone backwards or forwards it will scroll automatically for you.

Playing Videos

If you are watching a video and look away, then the video will pause itself only to play again when you look back at the screen.

Gesture Based Tabbing

If you do not want to touch the phone but are surfing, then you can simply flick your fingers from left to right to change pages.

Instant Translations for Ten Languages

The S4 also claims to be able to translate between ten different languages automatically.

It seems that parents all over the world will always find it difficult for their children to grow into independent adults. The reason for this is that the line between taking care of a son or a daughter and paying for their little whims is quickly being blurred. At least, this is what Huffington Post would have us believe.

A recent article on the well known news website cites a survey conducted by the respected names, Harris Interactive and Wall Street Journal. The article reports on the results of the survey.

The survey brought out the fact that two in every five parents of young adults i.e. youngsters between the ages of 18 and 35, pay their cell phone bills. Moreover, 10 to 12 percent of young adults’ parents are known to pay for their children streaming music and videos.

While there is a certain level of logic to this arrangement it still remains that a grown child is depending on his parents for money. The logic is still compelling, though. Consider the fact that it is cheaper to continue a dependent cell phone plan to open a whole new cell phone account. Similarly, if you take into account the fact that youngsters today are coping with unemployment because the business world is still coping with the recent global economic downturn and you have a perfectly valid reason for such trends.

Despite the compelling reasons, it still begs the question if this kind of financial support is stunting the maturity of young adults. If by giving them an easy way out, are parents delaying the ability of their children to be independent and bringing about their own financial problems a lot quicker?

It is also worth mentioning that the results of this survey are not alone because Forbes, in 2011, reported that 59 percent of parents support their adult children.

For over a year now, I’ve been stuck with just a landline phone. The corded phones are a nightmare, one has a short cord and is on the second shelf of an antique wooden stand.  I have to stand up and then bend over to talk on this phone. The corded phone in the kitchen, I swear that thing came over on the Mayflower! Not only is it old, the volume when someone calls me (not the ringer volume but the voice of the person calling me) can barely be heard. And then’s there the cordless phone. That puppy has served me long and well (15 years probably) but is slowly giving up the battle. The antenna is broken, and the phone itself has to be positioned in the cradle just so or it won’t recharge.

So I want a smartphone. I used to just want a cellphone, but now I ‘need’ a smartphone. I need a phone that can access the internet, take pictures, allow me to check-in using the Jingit app (among others), allow me to play Facebook games with the phone itself.

And ever so conveniently one of my freelance writing assignments was about smartphones. Extreme drooling and ‘i want, i want’ about phones ensued all the way through 20 articles (500 words each) about new phones for 2012.

After researching Blackberry until I wanted to scream, I found that I’m not really interested in a BlackBerry because they seem to be more oriented towards the business person. I currently work from home doing marketing and freelance writing, although I am looking for full-time or part time work either online or offline.  I still don’t really see the need to buy myself a BlackBerry (except as a status symbol) even if I get a full time offline position.

I really really really want an iPhone or iPad but just can’t justify the expense right now. iPhone 4 (the newest version) is anywhere from $199.00 to $399.00 from Apple itself, and the next version (iPhone 5) is slated for release in mid to late 2012. Why spend so much on something that will probably be obsolete in a few months?

I know I want a phone or tablet that is powered by the newest Android OS, called Ice Cream Sandwich. This operating system makes the most commonly used buttons more visible

I have never sent a text message in my life, and I’ve received very few text messages.

Being that I am a spoiled little critter, I do want all the bells and whistles that I can possibly get.  One of the issues for me is that I still owe US Cellular around $140.00 for the cellular service I lost in May 2011. I know I can’t buy from them again until I pay that off, but I want a phone now!

I’m still in the research mode, leaning towards T-Mobile or Verizon for the carrier, and possibly LG or Motorola for the phone itself. Then again, if I win the lottery I’m going to be buying that iPhone 5 in a New York minute!