questions

The 411: Waiting for the Pre

Welcome to the 411, my new Q&A column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have the same questions, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I'm stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at nicole.lee@cnet.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, let me know in the e-mail.

I am currently have an old Samsung phone and am with Sprint. I also have a Palm Zire and a 4gig iPod. I'd like to combine them if possible and stay with Sprint. The phone part is most important. Next comes an organizer/calendar and then a web browser. The MP3 player is really secondary. I'm leaning toward a keyboard as opposed to a touch screen. I've been looking at the Pre and some of the BlackBerrys and I keep hearing a rumor that Sprint is going to come out with the BlackBerry 9630 (Niagara). Do you have any suggestions? -- David, via e-mail.

Since you're familiar with Palm, you might want to consider giving the Palm Pre a shot. It's a different operating system from the older Palms--WebOS instead of Palm OS--but it seems to fit your requirements, and since you're already with Sprint, there's no need to worry about service transfer. Of course we can't tell if the Pre is any good or not yet, but if you can wait around until the second week of June, I definitely suggest doing so. BlackBerrys are also a good option, and I've also heard the same rumor about the BlackBerry 9630, but since I've heard positive things about the Pre's Web browser and media player, I would suggest waiting to see how the Pre shakes out before making a decision.… Read more

The 411: Dumb phones and calendar syncing

Maybe you can help. I'm not supertechy. I'm a mom who loves her Palm Pilot, but it's dying on me. I recently bought an LG Vu, and I love it. Problem: I simply want to phase out my Palm and put my calendar and phone book into my LG Vu. I would like to store it in the computer, just in case I lose or break my phone, then I won't lose my whole calendar. Can this be done? I'm reading conflicting things. I'm a working mom, so I'm too busy to use the I phone and get e-mails all day. I just want one device to use as a phone, store about 300 numbers, and use as a calendar...and I want to back it up on the computer. Please offer any words of wisdom if you could. -- Shirley, via e-mail

I already answered this on Dialed In, our weekly cell phone podcast, but I wanted to repost it here in case anyone has a solution to Shirley's question. As far as I know, there's no way to sync up the calendar on the LG Vu with the calendar on the computer--the LG Vu is not a smartphone, and is just not meant for that kind of personal information management. The only thing I can think of is to get a new phone with calendar syncing capabilities--since you're already a Palm Pilot user, you might be comfortable with the Palm Centro, which has the same operating system as the Pilot. If any of our readers have a better solution, please let us know. Thanks!… Read more

The 411: Comfy headsets, please

PS: I received a lot of feedback asking me to name this column the 411, so that's the new column title. Thank you!

A lot of you had questions about Bluetooth headsets, especially after our reviews of the Plantronics Voyager Pro and the Aliph Jawbone Prime. Here are just a few:

Q: Thank-you for your review (of the Aliph Jawbone Prime). I haven't owned a JB. Do you believe the new gels with ear-loops will hold it against my face when chewing gum or eating food? I could position it straight out from my ear and that would place it on a face bone that doesn't move (all bones resonate?). If you could test the chewing scenario that would be great. Prime offers NC when not touching, but if the sensor is constantly lifting, the SoundID 200 would perform as well or better and save me $50. Thanks for your help. -- William

Yes, the new Jawbone Prime will hold the Voice Activity Sensor (that tiny little white nub on the back of the headset) much more securely to your face than previous versions thanks to the new ear gels. The important thing is to find the right size ear gel; a bigger or smaller one could result in an imperfect fit, which might result in the sensor slipping off. I did test the Prime a little while chewing and it doesn't slip off that easily (Though you shouldn't be eating while talking anyway! :-)) The sound quality without the sensor touching is on par with any other noise-canceling headsets, as you said, but if the sensor works as it should, you should experience better sound quality than most headsets. If ear comfort is more important to you, however, the Sound ID 200 or Sound ID 300 might be slightly better.… Read more

Hearst Magazines acquires relationship advice site

Publishing giant Hearst Magazines announced on Wednesday plans to acquire Answerology, a New York-based start-up that offers a question-and-answer service for relationship advice. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but PaidContent reported that it was in the seven figures.

Matthew Milner, Answerology's founder, will be brought on board Hearst as vice president of community and social media in the conglomerate's Hearst Magazines Digital Media unit.

Answerology's schtick is that it allows users to ask anonymous questions about family, marriage, dating, and other heated subjects pertaining to relationships, and those questions can be targeted toward select … Read more

Start-up Askpedia: IAC doesn't like our name

Just how much does Ask.com own the word "Ask?" Enough to have a problem with a question-and-answer site called "Askpedia," apparently. Representatives from the start-up Askpedia.com told CNET News.com that the search engine's parent company, InterActiveCorp, sent a cease-and-desist letter earlier this month, citing intellectual property violations in the name "Askpedia."

"(This) is likely to cause consumer confusion, particularly inasmuch as Askpedia purports to provide online informational services that are substantially similar to those provided by Ask," the letter dated March 13 reads. "In using and incorporating … Read more

Popping the question with USB rings

Listen up, incurable romantics of questionable taste. If you're looking for a geeky way to pop the question but can't afford a crystal-laden iPod Touch, a cheaper alternative may be near.

This "Swarovski Crystal Engagement Ring" is a concept for a USB flash drive designed to store photos, poems, credit card receipts, and other artifacts of your love, Gizmodiva says. These digital mementos are meant to be shared when the rings are joined in holy matrimony. And if this every makes it to production, it'll serve another purpose: Once presented with the gift, it would … Read more

PicAnswers helps identify house plants, the rest of life's little mysteries

A few months back my roommate's rare house plant was dying. In a last ditch effort to bring it back to life, he enlisted my help. We scoured various message boards and Q&A sites with little success to get help identifying the plant (he got it as a gift).

The plant ended up going to that big greenhouse in the sky. The experience made me realize there's a pretty basic need for sites, such as PicAnswers, which lets anyone upload a picture and ask a question about it. Interestingly, the amount of high profile Q&… Read more

AOL acquires question-and-answer service Yedda

Time Warner unit AOL announced early Monday morning that it has acquired Yedda, a question-and-answer start-up that was founded in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2006. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition, according to a release from AOL, was all about Yedda's code: the patent-pending semantic technology "automatically matches questions to other related questions and topics, while selecting the best available users to answer the question." Yedda-powered features are set to begin appearing on AOL's sites over the next few months.

AOL makes plenty of acquisitions, but most of the recent ones have … Read more

Get your burning questions answered on the go with Mosio

I came across an interesting site a few minutes ago from a BACN message from Myles Weissleder, creator of the SF New Tech Meetup group. One of the presenters, Mosio, will be showing off its site at next week's meetup. The company specializes in mobile Q&A, letting anyone with a phone ask a question via SMS or e-mail and get public replies back from other Mosio members. The site launched at the beginning of August and has since answered a good number of questions.

Like some other Q&A services, to ask and answer a question … Read more

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