Well I’ll be…Never thought I’d see this day.  Well maybe I did but I sure as heck didn’t think it’d be while the old man was still around.  That said, as the title mentions, Cuba, notoriously against, well just about everything cool, has finally buckled under the absolutely insurmountable pressure that the mobile phone revolution (pun intended) has put on the tiny island country.

According to reports, “President Raul Castro announced today that the Cuban government will allow unrestricted use of mobile telephones by all Cubans for the first time.”  While some, and when I say some I mean very few some, have cell phone access through work or overseas service, for the first time EVER, anyone, anywhere in Cuba can actually have an account in their own name to do with and phone whomever they want.  Groovy.

Isn’t it funny the liberties we tend to take for granted here?  Can you imagine if the government all of a sudden just wouldn’t allow you to use a cell phone or the internet?  Can you imagine if they actually tracked all of the things you said and did on your phone or online?  Oh wait…

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Raise your hand if you didn’t see this one coming?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?  Yeah, thought so.  In a recent study done by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the cell phone has officially taken the throne as the most vital device in the lives of Americans.

Wow.  It is not really a surprise given the fact that cell phones nowadays can do everything (albeit a bit slower) that a computer can do AND fit in your pocket at the same time.  Mobility, as you well know by being Here, is key and the ability to have mobility is of chief importance to us Americans always on the go.  According to the article I just read:

 ”People’s growing reliance on their cell phones, together with wireless internet access from laptops, suggests a shift in expectations about cyberspace…For many people, access to digital information and resources is an ‘always present’ utility for answering questions and documenting what is going on around them through photos or video recording.”

With 62% of all Americans taking advantage of mobile access to digital information, it’s clear that the Mobile Warriors around our country are officially starting a revolution!

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Not sure if you knew, but last night was the Grammy Awards.  The hands-down highlight for me was when some of the cast of Across the Universe got up and sang their rendition of “Let it Be.”  Chills.  That said, I also discovered something pretty cool, Nokia offered up and served the Grammy Award Show for their mobile phone customers.

That’s right folks, the entire Grammy Show was available for download or preloaded.  How cool is that?  Very cool.  That said, some people I wanted to win didn’t, some I didn’t want to win, Did.  What can you do?  The fact is, the fact that award shows, TV shows, movies, and yes even though it’s old already, music on cell phones just blows my mind.  I can’t wait to see what else is available mobile style in the years to come…what’s next, meals delivered through your cell phone?

Don’t laugh, it really could be next.  That said, the article mentions,

“The Grammy Awards are synonymous with the best in entertainment…For the 50th Anniversary of the Awards, we are excited to offer the best of the Awards in exclusive video programming via the Nokia Video Centre, Medeo and other entertainment channels to millions of Nokia device owners around the world.”

Rock on Nokia…literally.

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Well, this post should appropriately round out my trifecta of posts this week all about just how immersed in the future we truly are.  In a way, Elizabeth inspired me last week with her post on the future that is Bluetooth lawnmowers and these 3 posts for me this week have all been about other ways you can futurize your life with the gadgets you carry.

Today’s very simple, very cool and very helpful way to futurize yourself, is to once and for all get a cell phone that won’t break if you get it wet.  How important is that for you, I do not know, but for me, it’d be pretty darn huge seeing as though I’ve gone through More than my share of phones due to rain, tea, and the sink.  Yikes.

According to the article I just read,

“The handset is only 13.7 mm thick and is being marketed as the thinnest waterproof phone ever made. A lot of technology went into making this phone to meet IPX5 and IPX7 waterproof standards. This wonder will work even after being sprayed or submersed in water for 30 minutes.” 

Sounds awesome to me.

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Man, when it rains it pours for all us Mobile Warriors out and about.  First we find out about the ability to program your DVR from your cell phone, now we’re finding out that AT&T is going to launch their very own Mobile TV Service sometime soon!

You heard right folks, the service that was supposed to be released sometime last year is finally being launched.  According to the article I just read, “the service will launch with two exclusive channels, in addition to the eight channels on rival Verizon Wireless…”   Sounds like if they really want to compete they better make darn sure it competes with Sprint’s service as well.  Bottom line is, no matter what wireless provider you use, it’s great that this kind of technology is coming everywhere.  Not only will you not have to program your DVR over your phone, you won’t have to miss the episodes of your shows at all!

Regardless, go check out the article, brace yourself for February 5th, and get ready to be rockin’ some of your favorite stuff right there on the tiny screen of your tiny cell phone.  Crazy how fast we’re advancing.  Crazy.

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Last week Elizabeth posted about just how crazy it’d be to have a Bluetooth lawnmower cruising around your yard.  Can you imagine?  That said, in passing she also mentioned how the future truly is here in that she can simply email her DVR to tell it to start recording…well for all us mobile warriors, turns out the future is actually a lot MORE here than we thought.

That’s right friends, mobile warriors, American Idol lovers…DirecTV is actually going to be allowing you to program your DVR from your cell phone.  Yeah, your phone.  Think of this, you could be sitting in an airport and remember how much you can’t miss Lost and 10 seconds later, you’re recording.  Crazy.

Basically it’s called the DirecTV DVR Scheduler and it’s pretty darn sweet for all you customers of the service.  The ability to be mobile, stay mobile and not have to sacrifice the creature comforts of actually being home is amazing…not to mention futuristic.  So, just imagine your Bluetooth Lawnmower cutting your grass, your DVR recording American Idol and you on a plane, 5,000 miles away.  How Jetsons of you.

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As you know, or may not know depending on how you choose to celebrate this time of year, NOW is the time for some serious Holiday Shopping for the vast majority of us here in the U.S. of A.  Money is spent, wish books are studied, toys are wrapped, gadgets are lusted for.  You know the drill.

So, in light of the fact that the gadget and tech world is a virtual mine-field of hits and misses, what do you buy?  Lucky for you, me, your friends and just about every other frantic holiday shopper, I found a great Holiday Gift Guide over at Phone Scoop that goes over just about every demographic you could possibly imagine for the perfect cell phone for that perfect person in Your life.  From 16 year olds to senior citizens to your text message-aholics to your phone photographers, they are all covered and some great suggestions are given for each and every one of them.

A mobile warrior isn’t mobile without a cell phone, so why not hook that special someone(s) up with a brand new awesome phone this year?

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If you’ve been living anywhere other than underneath a big, heavy rock the past few years, you’ll understand when I say that the Green Movement is absolutely HUGE.  Energy efficiency, climate protection, conservation and recycling are issues that are everywhere, and rightfully so.  So, all my mobile warrior friends, it’s now that I urge you to not just be a mobile warrior for yourself, but for the planet as well.

How, you might ask?  Simple, small steps towards a better future.  Small steps.  I just found one way that all of you out there, especially with the holiday’s right around the corner, can take a small step that will not cost a thing.  It’s easy, instead of throwing away any old cell phone handsets, recycle them!

The fact is, it is easier than Ever to recycle your old device.  Drop it off at an actual retail cell store where your service provider lives, drop it off at a Best Buy or even some Body Shop’s for free.  At the very least, head over here to this article, read up more about the recycling program and start getting Green!  Look, I even found a link to a Data Erasing Guide for whatever phone you may have, so when you Do recycle it, no one gets your info!  Not too bad!

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Here at the MoGo blog, Tyler and I have been anticipating the arrival of the “Google Phone”. As he wrte yesterday, we along with many analysts have known that Google’s entry into the mobile phone arena was a matter of ‘when’ - not ‘if’.

But the exact date remains shrouded.

Yesterday was assumed by many to be the big announcement, but alas… Google dashed expectations at the very begining of the conference call;  “We aren’t announcing a Google phone today,” said Google Chairman and Chief Executive Eric Schmidt .

Instead, Google has introduced the open-platform called ‘Android’, based on the company Google purchased in 2005 from Andy Rubin (now Director of Google’s Mobile Platforms.).  The platform Google promises will be less restrictive than current popular systems.

Schmidt gave few details about what Android would look like, but the alliance’s Web site said:

“…devices built on the platform would personalize the phone’s homescreen or designate their favorite photo application to view their photos.

From a developer’s point of view, it would allow combining information from the Web with data on the phone, such as the user’s contacts, calendar or location.”

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Hello and welcome to Wednesday. Here’s the all-time least shocking post ever…Apple is actually warning people that hacking their extremely popular iPhone might actually, wait for it, do damage to it.

That’s riiiiiight all you hackers around the country, unlocking your iPhone to work with other wireless carriers might be your iPhone’s undoing when your phone updates to the version 1.1.1 Apple rolled out .

According to the article I just read, Apple executives are saying “they have discovered many unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet causing irreparable damage to the iPhone’s software. Now modified iPhones may become permanently inoperable with future Apple-supplied iPhone software updates installed. “

Wow, not cool. Whether or not this is confirmed or not remains to be see, but if you’re dropping that kind of dough on a little cell phone, do you really want to find out? Yeah, thought not. That said, why not opt for a different cell phone, hook it up with a MoGo Headset as soon as they’re launched and really be rocking? No hacking necessary, no Apple fear required.

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