Phone game for rude diners

Jan 18, 2012 by blackbook

There is nothing worse than going out for a meal and over the course of it someone your with is on their phone. I find it downright rude to take calls, text or play on your phone whilst you’re eating. It grates on me when people do it whilst your talking, however I do understand that sometimes it may be an important phone call, however if not you should not answer or reply.

I don’t like to have my phone out when having a meal, unless I’m checking the time if I don’t have a watch on or if I’m taking a photo of my friends or even the meal. However I like to wait until I get home or leave the restaurant before I jump onto to Facebook to upload them!

If you find yourself dining out with people who cannot stop themselves, texting or talking on the phone then this game might be for you. The idea came from Brian Perez, a California hip-hop dancer who wrote on his blog about the idea for his game which he dreamt up over a New Year’s Eve dinner.

What happens is: after everyone orders, the group all place their phones in a pile in the middle of the table, face down. If they ring, beep or buzz you have to ignore it, because no one can pick up their phone.  However if someone can’t resist and picks up the phone then they must pick up the tab for the whole meal!

Other people have also come out stating that they play this ‘game’ whilst out with friends so I don’t quite know where the idea came from however I must say I think it is a great idea and I really would like to implement it whilst I am out with my friends, who are bad at putting down their phones.

Obviously there may be some alterations to the rules, for those with kids who are being babysat just in case I would probably suggest a quick check at caller ID and then someone can decide if it should be answered or not. If you know no one will need to contact you then for the couple of hours it takes to eat then you should be able to manage it!

Picture courtesy of mroach

 

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Stylish handset the LG Prada 3.0

Jan 16, 2012 by blackbook

Fashion and mobiles don’t mix that often there has been the original LG Prada phone, and then we have had the Samsung Armani, Motorazr V3i Dolce & Gabbana and Nokias 7373 Giambattista Valli. LG are once again pushing forward their designer pairing with the launch of their LG Prada 3.0 review.

It was back in 2007 when what some considered an unlikely pairing first launched their handset and back then over a million of them were sold, which isn’t a bad feat. It was also the first mobile phone ever made with a touch screen, which is surprising to learn, many people probably over looked it because of the joint venture with a fashion house.

Fast forward 5 years and we are now looking at this new handset which includes a 1.0 GHz dual core processor, a generous 4.3 inch NOVA screen, an 8 megapixel camera and 8GB of storage memory, just to start with. It will run on Android Gingerbread however there has been an announcement stating that it has been scheduled for the Ice Cream Sandwich update, yum.

The handset is fairly thin at only 8.5mm however thanks to LG’s signature Floating Mass Technology it looks thinner (wouldn’t it be great if that would happen to all of us!) On the back of the handset you will find it marked with Prada’s signature Saffiona pattern which adds a nice touch and helps the phone stand apart from other aesthetically pleasing handsets.

Unsurprisingly the LG Prada is not cheap, considering all you get with it and the designer attachment; it’s not out in a ridiculous price range. You will be looking at paying around £500 sim free however I am sure there will be plenty of good deals available on contract. Not sure if there will be any more designer tie-ins with handsets this year, but keep on mobile phone news to be the first to know.

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How to find the best deals on mobile phones

Oct 15, 2011 by blackbook

I don’t know about anyone else, but when I look for a new mobile phone and contract I end up very confused. There is so much choice out there I never really know where to start. Recently I up-graded my handset and changed my contract; I found it hard to decipher all the different offers and deals out there, especially when I had no idea what phone I wanted!

Although I found a handset and cheap contract with my current provider it’s not always worthwhile sticking with the same provider. Like utilities and insurance, shopping around different providers could mean you get a better deal and companies now don’t really reward you for staying with them in fact many reward new customers better!

Comparison sites are a god send,  and make finding the right deal a lot easier, you can input what sort of handset you want and features, as well as contract length and maximum cost and if you want the handset to be free. Using the internet does make finding a good deal easy, however sometimes you want to get a feel for a phone before you buy it and this is where visiting a highstreet retailer comes in handy.

In the past I have visited a highstreet phone retailer to check out handsets and mentioned the deals online, sometimes and I stress sometimes they can match the deal I have found which has meant I don’t have to wait around for delivery. However it’s not often highstreet retailers can price match because they do have more overheads which means they can be more expensive.

It’s not always about finding the right phone and contract, some companies still offer incentives to take a deal with them, once over you could get a free video console, TV or notebook, however now handsets cost so much more you don’t really get as many of these deals. The most common enticement tends to be cash back offers. With cash back deals you can claim back a proportion of your monthly payment at certain points during the contract period (after six months and after 12 months, for example).

There are some drawbacks to cash back offers though, it can be quite difficult to claim back and you have to be on the ball to catch the time frames plus there is hassle of sending a company your statements for them to process which can sometimes cost you money. There are also draw back to other deals as well, for example you may be paying more for your monthly contract if you receive a free gift so always check similar deals where a gift is not included an extra £10 to £15 a month on a contract works out over a 24 month contract to what it would cost you to buy a video console, TV or notebook. So ask the question; is it worth it?

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