By Tiffany Ayudu
Major communications companies invented a new lifestyle with the cell phone. Verizon Wireless and T-mobile are just some of the companies who take that further with new designs and features on their phones.
T-mobile came up with the new service called T-zones. This service offers the ability to e-mail and instant message friends and family members from users’ cell phones. Leading providers such as CNN can be accessed for latest updates on the news like the upcoming 2004 elections. There is the ability for easy access to the results of the election even before friends can find out by watching it on television.
ESPN can be accessed to find the score of the favorite team when on the go. T-zones also give users the ability to personalize phones by giving access to choose sport news, weather and movie times. When stuck aimlessly waiting in the doctor’s office, the latest online games are available right from the cell phone to keep boredom at bay. Users can read daily horoscopes as well as get a laugh out of reading “The Joke of the Day” and “Pick up Lines.”
Club T-zones, another feature on T-mobile phones allows users to download MegaTones, wallpapers and the latest game releases. Furthermore, customers can access movies, television shows and current concerts by any musical artist. In addition, T-mobile also gives its subscribers exclusive access to the hottest contests and free stuff such as free downloads and screensavers.
In an event that there is an emergency, T-mobile offers T-mobile Roadside Assistance 24/7. It will help a customer anytime or anywhere a customer has car trouble. This 24/7 service includes a jump start on a dead or weak battery, flat tire repair, gas refill with a maximum of three gallons, lock out service of a locked car and towing service with a destination of the subscriber’s choice.
As the world’s largest international community, T-mobile offers the same coverage in over 125 countries. Keep in touch with international friends and family by text messaging them, comparing the weather and the latest music without spending airtime minutes.
Verizon Wireless is another major company that provides special features for its customers. Verizon Wireless and other major companies such as MapQuest, Hollywood.com, ABC News, Amazon, AOL and Moviefone have joined to make life easier to subscribers. Through this service, Verizon customers can get directions, recipes, buy and sell stocks, put up a bid on eBay merchandise and shop. Furthermore, on a Verizon Wireless phones have the ability to book and buy plane tickets through Expedia and read The New York Times.
Verizon Wireless uses vtext.com, a service that allows users to receive alerts via text messages.
Customers sign up and customize what they want to be alerted. They can receive stock quotes, storm alerts, entertainment news, late-breaking news, even sports scores for the home team. It can also be useful in many other ways.
“Vtext.com can give you traffic alerts anytime you want to travel,” John Williams, a Verizon Wireless representative, said. “When I’m traveling into New England, I can go to vtext.com, plan my route, and when there is a traffic alert on I-95, I’ll go on the Merritt Parkway.”
OnStar is a service that cell phone subscribers can get to call a representative to ask questions on directions or if there is an emergency. It is a convenient and responsible way to use the phone in the car. Verizon and OnStar have made it convenient for to call emergency in your car hands-free; the phone is built into the car. The hands-free ability also makes it legal to use cell phones in New York state.
All of these features make it almost impossible to leave the cell phone. Technology has taken a new turn in improving and changing lives. Cell phones have become something that changes daily routines. There is no need to go to the mall and buy CDs because of the capability of downloading songs off of the phone. There is no need to go to the newsstand to buy The New York Times because the newspaper is on the phone. It’s true that cell phones have become a new phenomenon in the pre-futuristic world. The cell phone industry already created something close to perfection and yet there is still more that can be improved or created.