Motorola Rokr E1 and other Cell phones make Worst Gadget List

At one point the Cingular Motorola Rokr E1 was a pretty popular phone. It was the first phone widely available that worked with iTunes. And yes, it was available as a " free cell phone deal" and was also promoted as being free after rebate to existing Cingular Wireless customers who wanted a cell phone upgrade.

However, in the rush to buy the Rokr it soon became apparent this wasn't a great phone. It was the first to offer a valuable feature and it was cheap. Sometimes that is good enough.

You can always look back later and say something was overhyped. And that's what Switch.com decided to do when they named it one of the "Worst Gadgets of All-Time."

They noted that it took a very long time to load songs and playing songs made the Rokr very sluggish. This probably true, but perhaps we just have the luxury now of having the iPhone and looking back at the problems of its precursors. At the time, this phone was a big deal and many people were happy to have it. Believe me.

Most Popular Cell Phones Summer of 2008

Ever wonder what others are searching for when it comes to cell phones online? What's popular or hot in wireless? These days it seems like AT&T Wireless is very popular as far as carriers go. As I mentioned previously Smartphones remain popular. The BlackBerry models and Blackjack II are nice options.

As far as manufacturers go, LG seems to be making big strides. It seems that motorola has long dominated this field with all its different colored Razrs, krzrs, and everything else. The motorola krazr is still popular for ATT. But LG has really come along, led by multiple versions of the LG Shine on AT&T. There has been a big marketing push with television advertising aimed at younger people and it looks like it is paying off.

Here are the phones that we really see taking off and being the winners of the summer:
For AT&T- Sony w580i Walkman, LG Shine CU 720 in Black Red and Silver, Titanium Black Berry Pearl 8110, and LG Vu CU915 ( black).

Sprint also has a popular model- the Black LG ( yep LG again) Rumor.

These phone models are as hot as the 96 degree weather in my neighborhood.

Free Phones with Upgrade

This blog is all about how to get free cell phone deals. It is probably common knowledge that new contract carriers offer "free phones" to bring in business. It was this way back when I was selling phones in a Verizon store in the late 90s. Well, actually we had "penny" phones at the time. We had prices for New, Upgrade, and Equipment only. For example the Motorola StarTac ( popular phone back around 1999-2000) might have been $399.99 retail, $249.99 Upgrade, and $99.99 with a new contract. Usually there were a few cheap phones that went for a penny. I remember one Motorola flip phone, a Qualcomm ( 860 I think), and some Nokias in the 5100s, in particular. Upgrade deals were always much more.

These days prices on equipment are even more competitive and you can get new phones really cheap. A lot of smart phones are even free these days- I paid $700 for my first one!

Whats even more important is upgrade prices have dropped as well. With 100 Million people ( I guess, probably more) already using cell phones and happy with their service- a lot more are looking to upgrade. Instead of just going for new business, wireless carriers need to think about the cost of retaining business. The deal is, if you are willing to pay $40-60 a month or more for 2 years ( if you are an average customer this means you will be paying over $1000 and not costing the provider much in resources)your current wireless company will give you a free cell phone. And not just some cheap p.o.s. You can get a nice phone, whether you have Verizon, AT&T, T-mobile, or Joe's Wireless.

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