Cell phone pet peeves, and your questions answered

Q: My dad is about to start using a cell phone holder in his car that uses a small magnet to hold the cell phone in place. Do small magnet holders affect the battery, screen, or any other part of the cell phone?
—Jon

A: By and large, magnets aren't the best things to put near an electronic device. As a kid, did you ever try putting a magnet near your TV set, only to see it warp the picture slightly? In that case, the magnet was distorting the flow of electrons from the CRT. Magnets aren't good for a cassette or a floppy-disc drive either (if anyone still uses them).

In your case, however, I wouldn't worry. Unless you're talking about some giant magnet such as the one seen in the season finale of Lost, you shouldn't have problems with magnets and a cell phone. I assume you're talking about a holder specifically designed for cell phones so that the magnets in it are likely to be quite small. And in any case, the Motorola Pebl uses small integrated magnets to keep the flip cover closed.

Q: I am in the market for a new mobile phone and carrier. I'm particularly looking for a phone-and-carrier combination that offers the most flexibility for downloading ring tones, wallpaper, and other bling so that I can customize my phone. More and more, businesses and nonprofit organizations are going to offer fun, free ring tones or wallpaper. I want to make sure I have the best phone and carrier to make this as easy as possible.
—Joshua

A: Personalization in cell phones is quickly becoming a huge business, especially as handsets find their way into younger hands. Every carrier offers ways to customize a phone through ring tones, wallpaper, sounds, games, and color themes. We haven't done an extensive comparison of the major carriers' offerings, so I can't recommend one service provider in particular. As you can expect, prices for individual items will vary, so this may be one area you want to research first. Also, if you're an avid gamer, it's important to note that Verizon Wireless phones typically use BREW instead of Java. If that's the case with your phone, your choice of downloads may be more limited.

As for phones, my main recommendation is that you get a handset with a Web browser and support for multimedia messaging. Granted, all but the most basic models will have those two features, but it's worth noting nonetheless. I'd also suggest you get a camera phone so that you can use your own photos as wallpaper. Support for MP3 ring tones is a good idea as well, but if you really want to stand out when your phone jingles, consider a handset with an MP3 player that allows you to save your favorite tracks as a ring tone. The LG LX550 (available through Sprint) does all of these things, and it comes with changeable faceplates for the hard-core individual.

Q: Is there any way I can use a Japanese cell phone in the United States? I am currently using the Sprint network, but I would be willing to switch if it's possible on another network. I know that there are GSM networks in Japan, and I think there are also CDMA networks (of some kind, anyway).
—Rob

A: Using a Japanese cell phone in the United States won't be easy, especially with Sprint. The difficulty in bringing a Japanese phone here stems from the different cellular networks used in the two countries. As I'm sure you know, carriers in the United States use either CDMA (Sprint and Verizon) or GSM (T-Mobile and Cingular) networks to transmit voice and data. Nextel, of course, uses iDEN, its own technology.

The main Japanese carriers, however, use another technology: PDC, which is unique to Japan and incompatible with CDMA and GSM. So if you have a PDC phone, you'll be out of luck using that handset with any U.S. carrier. That said, much of the Japanese network has now moved on to WCDMA, a 3G technology. Also referred to as UMTS, WCDMA is the 3G outgrowth of GSM. Oddly enough, WCDMA is not compatible with CDMA, though it's easy to make the mistake. Cingular now has a growing UMTS network, but if your Japanese phone supports the GSM 850 or 1900 networks, it should work stateside. The trick, however, is to make sure your phone is unlocked. Otherwise, it won't work if you try to use a Cingular or T-Mobile SIM card. Also, I can't guarantee you'd be able to access all of the Japanese mobile's features. Lastly, while the Japanese carrier AU uses CDMA, I doubt Sprint could support it or would even agree to do so.