Cell phones

Smartphone Obsession Can Cost You... Dinner

Last week, it was widely reported that Eva Restaurant, a small eatery in Los Angeles, is offering customers a 5% discount for handing their cell phones in before eating. But Gold isn't the first restaurateur to tackle the issue of distracting cell phone use.

Savings Experiment: Cell Phone Bills

Have you ever opened your cell phone bill and had the urge to, well, call for help? Between extra features, fees and overages, your monthly bill can skyrocket, but luckily, many of those charges are avoidable.

Why RadioShack Will Never Be Great Again

There was a time when RadioShack mattered -- it was the easiest place to pick up those tech items you had to have, from odd-sized batteries to coaxial cables. Now you can get that stuff everywhere, and RadioShack is dying so fast that even Wall Street's analysts can't keep up with its decline.

What Americans Just Won't Give Up to Save Money

The U.S. economy is still sputtering, and household budgets are still under pressure. So where are we cutting: Fancy coffee? Check. Eating out? You bet. But there are a few things that once would have been considered luxuries the recent poll shows Americans just aren't willing to do without.

Don't Let Roller Coasters Take You for a Ride

How do you deal with a thief that's 230 feet tall and robs you at 80 miles per hour? Hordes of Americans will descend on amusement parks this weekend, so this is a good time to remind everyone of Murphy's Law of Roller Coasters: If your stuff can get loose, it generally will.

Savings Experiment: What's the Cheapest Long Distance?

Ask 10 people the cheapest way to make long distance calls, and you'll get 20 different answers. The field is wide open, with calling cards, cell phone plans, Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, and land lines all vying for dominance. So who's really got the best deal for making long-distance calls? Let's compare.

Got a 500-Square-Foot Patch? Rent It for a Cellular Tower

Do you have enough unused acreage on your homestead to accommodate the equivalent of two inflatable castle bounce houses? If so, you have enough space for a monopole cellular antenna tower, and the potential to collect anywhere from $500 to approximately $5,000 per month in rent.

Where Does the AT&T and T-Mobile Deal Leave Sprint?

The news that the U.S.'s No. 2 wireless carrier, AT&T, is buying No. 4 carrier T-Mobile has squelched hopes that T-Mobile would join forces with Sprint. What else does this deal mean for the No. 3 carrier?

Will AT&T T-Mobile = Bad Customer Service?

What happens when you merge the worst in class with the best in class? AT&T's proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA may be good news for investors, but it will likely mean a drop in service for customers, experts say.

Tablets and Smartphones Slow Laptop Sales Growth

Gartner has lowered its laptop-sales forecast for this year and the next, predicting that the popularity of tablets and smartphones will slow laptop sales. Gartner expects worldwide laptop sales to increase 11% this year and and 14% next year, down from a previously forecast 16$ and 15%, respectively.

Cell Phone Radiation Temporarily Affects the Brain

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association says cell phone use causes changes in brain chemistry near the phone antenna. However, the researchers cautioned it was too early to determine whether these changes are harmful.

Smartphones to Make Up Majority of New Cell-Phone Sales in 2012

Buying a new cell phone next year? Odds are it'll be a smartphone, according to a new report from research firm In-Stat. The company predicts that smartphones will overtake regular cell phones, making up more than half of U.S. cell-phone shipments, in 2012.