For mobile users who made a new year’s resolution to be more green-friendly, here’s some good news:
Standardized mobile phone chargers are almost here! These will recharge your phone through a micro-USB connection and work with multiple phone brands. The result: less waste and hopefully consumer savings. The chargers will be available in Europe early this year. Count on them coming to the U.S. later this year.
It’s never been easier to donate your phone to a worthy cause. There’s Cellphonesforsoldiers.com and 911cellphonebank.org, which provides old phones to victim services organizations.
It’s also never been easier to get cash for your phone. Best Buy, Radio Shack and Gazelle.com all offer easy ways to get quick cash for that old handset.
As New York Times tech columnist David Pogue wrote about this issue Sunday, “There are steps you can take now, and there is some hope for longer-term change.”
This Veteran’s Day, Mobile Future joins the rest of the country in saluting the men and women throughout history who have fought to protect America’s freedoms. At home and abroad, these dedicated service members continue to demonstrate the highest levels of commitment to their fellow citizens and the global community, and as Americans we could not be more thankful for their sacrifices.
With that, we’re proud to report that mobile innovation has in turn contributed to a greater quality of life among active and retired service members, from technologies that keep vet’s healthy to applications that connect service members to loved ones to wireless initiatives aimed at harnessing the power of mobile to keep our troops safe around the world.
mHealth
Advances in mHealth technologies provide immediate benefits to veterans no matter their physical location. To date, the Department of Veterans Affairs operates the largest telehealth program in the world, with a report out in this month’s Medical Care citing the organization’s widespread usage of information technology as one reason it continues to out-perform the private sector in patient care processes. But with an estimated 3 million veterans living in rural areas, in-house services are not always an option for necessary care. Telehealth and mHealth technologies allow health care professionals to download important data—like vital signs and physiological functions---onto PDAs and smartphones, allowing for remote monitoring of illness and chronic disease.
In addition, specific apps-- like the T2 Mood Tracker, developed by the National Center for Telehealth and Technology, the Hope for One PTSD app, and DOD’s iBreathe set to debut in January 2011-- let service members and veterans use their smartphones to track their emotional health after deployments, monitor trends and behavioral shifts elicited from therapy, medication, and environmental changes, and provide valuable resources for families of those suffering from PTSD.
Connectivity
Mobile technology is especially critical to help deployed service members stay in touch with home no matter where the call of duty takes them. Great applications like Jackson Fish Market’s A Story Before Bed let service members record videos of themselves reading stories that can be accessed anytime through an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch application.
Quality of Life
Mobile applications continue to improve quality of life for veterans and active duty service members around the globe. In July, army.mil profiled the best iPhone apps for a military lifestyle, including US Army News and Information, Skype, BrainWave, USAA banking, and much more. And in August, AmVets released the first app of its kind, aimed at bringing its mission to assist veterans and promote veterans issues into the wireless space.
In addition, AnMarc Travel Technology’s MilitaryToGo application allows service members to use their smartphones to chat live with representatives to make discounted travel reservations and in-flight bookings. And successful competitions like Apps 4 the Army demonstrate developers’ dedication to harnessing the power of mobile to connect our troops around the world.
Philanthropic Efforts
Players across the wireless ecosystem remain committed to raising awareness surrounding veteran’s issues and finding ways to better serve those who have served our country. Initiatives like Cell Phones for Soldiers allow phone users to donate devices they no longer use and turn them into minutes for troops stationed overseas.
We are extremely proud and grateful for our veterans and active duty troops. Please join us in thanking them for their service not just today, but all year long.
When it comes to the mobile world’s contributions to energy efficiency, we’ve talked before about important initiatives like device recycling and the benefits of telecommuting. But these are just two of the ways phone companies and service providers are working to reduce energy usage. Yesterday, the New York Times profiled “10 Ways Phone Companies are Going Green,” highlighting several laudable efforts popping up across the wireless ecosystem. Take a look!
If you answered 'yes' to this question, you are not alone. Media outlets today have been blanketed with the images of long queues as impatient Apple fanboys and fangirls are paying the opportunity cost and at least $200 (with 2yr activation) to get their hands on the latest must-have device. With such tantalizing features as video-conferencing, multi-tasking, and 720p video recording, it is no wonder that people are forming endless lines outside Apple stores-- similar to those you might see outside a certain vampire themed movie premiere.
With as many as 600,000 preorders, Apple's current supplies can only appease those launch day customers showing up to AT&T stores that actually ordered the device in advance. All Johnny-come-latelies must wait until June 29th to be able to buy an iPhone4 at AT&T stores.
If you’re thinking about taking the plunge on a new mobile phone this weekend, you can probably get a pretty good deal. According to a recent survey, the benefits that mobile users enjoy when trading in for a new phone have never been higher. A May 20th Goldman Sachs report estimated that the average handset subsidy has risen to $128, a 16 percent increase during the past year.
But what about your old handset? Given that this is Memorial Day, here’s a suggestion: Cell Phones for Soldiers (CPFS).
Teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, Mass. founded Cell Phones for Soldiers in 2004 with $21 of their own money. Since then, the 501c3 non-profit organization has raised almost $2 million in donations and distributed more than 500,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas. That works out to more than 60,000,000 minutes of free calling cards.
The concept is pretty simple. Just drop your old phone off at one of more than 2,000 drop-off locations around the nation and it will be sold to a reseller. The money goes to purchase phone calling cards for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, donating your mobile phone also makes good environmental sense.
Earlier this year, Liberty Tax franchises collected more than 10,000 mobile phones at their nationwide locations. Little Caesars pizza restaurants offer free postage-paid labels so you can mail in your phone. AT&T, a Mobile Future member, offers drop-off boxes at all its U.S. wireless stores.
But probably the best reason to donate your old mobile phone is when you hear stories like this:
“My name is Isaac, I am a 16 year veteran of the US Air Force. I am currently deployed to the middle east on a 6 month tour of duty and my family is back in the states. Last week I received a knock on my door late at night and outside stood my Superintendant, my first Sergeant, and a chaplain. I got the news that a cousin of mine, who is more like a brother to me, had died suddenly of a brain anuerysm. I had used up my phone cards and had no way to call his parents and tell them how sorry I was to hear the news. They are not close to a military base where I could patch a call through to them.
“Just today I got a phone card from you guys…. I will now be able to call and tell them how sorry I am that I cannot be there in person to lay such a great man to rest. I cannot thank you enough for your giving hearts!
Best regards,
TSgt Isaac Gustafson, USAF Deployed
One more thing: If you’re walking through an airport or down a boardwalk this weekend and see a serviceman or –woman, go up and say thanks. This is one time when saying it in person really is better than doing it over the phone.
Earth Day is this week so what better time to take stock of the ways that mobile products can help make a greener planet.
A 2009 national traffic survey concluded that Americans wasted 4.2 billion hours and 2.8 billion gallons of gas stuck in traffic jams. But some areas are starting to get a more efficient handle on traffic thanks to wireless. Take Los Angeles County, which has recently deployed a wireless monitoring system across more than 1,000 intersections.
The wireless system allows traffic managers to change traffic light timing instantly to reflect changing traffic conditions, including rush hour patterns and accidents. The result has been a reduction in commuting times by as much as 20 percent.
Speaking of saving gas, look at the environmental impact from the decision by Arizona Public Service (APS), Arizona's largest electric utility, to install wireless utility transmitters on homes and offices. With more than 160,000 wireless smart meters already installed, APS has estimated that its savings include 150,000 fewer field visits. The utility has committed to deploying about 1 million wireless meters by the end of 2012.
Even beyond green benefits of fewer trucks on the road, the integration of wireless monitoring systems into a home or building electrical system pays almost immediate dividends. Let's say you left on a week's vacation and forgot to turn off the AC or water heater. No problem: There are smartphone apps for different mobile operating systems that let you turn off (or on) the heating, AC, water heater, or security cameras. For a few options, click here.)
Closer to home, wireless technologies are increasingly saving patients from having to drive to a doctor's office, not to mention providing better care. For the elderly and the infirm especially, these can be major benefits.
Also encouraging, wireless users are also seeing more evidence of the convergence of mobile phone chargers, so that you won't need to throw out a charger when you switch phones. All the major phone manufacturers have committed to this by 2012 and it looks like consumers may not even have to wait that long.
But for all the benefits of recycling, the best way to help the environment is by giving your old phone to someone who needs it. Cell Phones for Soldiers is a great organization that will take your old phone, wipe off any data and uses the sale proceeds to purchase at least an hour of calling time for soldiers abroad.
Finally, are you the type who leaves your phone charging all night and then leaves the charger plugged in even after removing the phone? Based on research into "standby" electricity consumption by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, if there are 50 million phone adapters in the U.S. left plugged in all year, that uses more than 100 million kilowatts of electricity - or enough for the average yearly electrical needs of 25,000 Americans.
Take an Earth Day resolution right now: Unplug your chargers!
Virginia turns even
greener than the Shenandoah today. Governor Tim Kaine issued an Executive Order
establishing today as Telework Day to cut down on auto
emissions.
We've written
before about wireless' ability to contribute to a greener world (see
here, here and here) and telework is an obvious
area where mobile technology can make a difference.
In 2008,
gridlock cost the average rush-hour driver almost 40 hours a year in delays and
wasted 2.9 billion gallons of gas. At $2.50 per gallon, that works out to
nearly $25 for every American.
Since the
Northern Virginia area has some of the nation's
worst traffic problems, telework is a common-sense option to save time and help
the environment. That makes expanding broadband
adoption an even more
important public goal.
What better way to mark Earth Day than by looking at the green benefits of wireless technology?
For starters, take a look at this clip from Monday's Today Show about the advantages of adding monitoring technology to the electric grid. The new technology allows consumers to track their electricity use by appliance and by the hour. Time to replace the refrigerator? The meter will let you calculate your energy savings. Water heater wasting energy? The meter shows how much it gobbles while you're away for the weekend.
Now the wireless part: As last week's Wall Street Journal reported, cell phone carriers are in an aggressive push to team up with utility companies. Their goal is a new generation of wireless monitors that allows consumers and the utility company to manage the electricity grid for maximum efficiency. Among the results: Less energy used, less need to build new generators and...
As The Journal reports:
"The upshot for consumers is they may eventually be able to monitor and control home-energy use through a cellphone that talks to a digital meter and other devices, though that service is still in development."
The potential savings from "smart grid" technology are huge, not to mention the global benefits of reducing greenhouse gases. The Obama Administration just announced about $4 billion to develop this new technology. That's why it's a safe bet that you'll be hearing more about it - and the wireless technology that increasingly makes a greener planet possible.
Are you due for your next cell phone upgrade? Do you crave the new ‘must have' Blackberry or iPhone? Is the only thing holding you back your inability to part ways with your current device? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that this week is National Cell Phone Recycling Week. Now you can now easily recycle your old mobile phone and receive credits for a new one, or contribute to a variety of charitable causes.
From now through Friday, all major carriers will be accepting consumer's old mobile devices in retail stores or by mail, and in turn will be donating proceeds from the recycled phones to various charities including Cell Phones for Soldiers and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
The EPA aims to give wireless consumers an easy and eco-friendly way to recycle old phones and help out fellow Americans. If you participate, don't forget to restore the phones to the factory settings, remove the SIM cards, and of course, terminate or transfer your service.
A tip of the hat to our friends at TrafficCast International who just inked a deal with Dutch navigation systems provider TomTom. The agreement calls for TrafficCast to provide its real-time wireless traffic reports in 100+ U.S. markets to TomTom, which is trying to expand its U.S. offerings.
A month ago, Nick Kiernan from TrafficCast spoke at a Mobile Future event in Madison, WI and described how the company uses accident reports, weather conditions, road sensors and GPS for its real-time reports.
This is both an economic and environmental issue. Traffic gridlock costs the United States more than $78 billion a year and wastes nearly three billion gallons of gas. By making travel more efficient, Americans will not only save time, they can also cut tons of greenhouse emissions.
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Tags: Applications, Consumer Awareness, Consumer Benefits, Device Recycling and the Enviornment, Environment, Green Mobile