Affordable gadgets to help you stay connected to your family:
T-Mobile @ Home Wi-Fi Calling ($10/month)
Talk about bringing down the phone bill cost. How about get rid of your landline altogether. For just $10 /month, this service lets you make unlimited calls over any wireless router on your Wi-Fi enabled phone. Leave the house or a hotspot while on a Wi-Fi call? You automatically and seamlessly switch to the cellular network, but you won't be charged for using cell minutes. The point: you can pay less for your cell phone bill, because you can use Wi-Fi! Terrific for high school and college students especially with campus-wireless networks!
BlackBerry Curve 8520 ($48.88, WalMart, .01 cent amazon TMobile, 2 year contract)
The thinnest and lightest full keyboard BlackBerry yet, complete with Wi-Fi, GPS and a stunning display.
BlackBerry Curve 8900 (from TMobile)
Product just announced this week and it's available from Wal-Wart at crazy aggressive prices (under $49 with a 2 year contract!).
Altec Lansing SoundBlade ($130)
The SoundBlade Bluetooth wireless speaker plays music from your BlackBerry or other stereo Bluetooth capable cell phone.
BlackBerry Visor Mount Speakerphone ($70)
A Bluetooth device for your car that not only works as a wireless speakerphone making car travel safer, but also transmits your conversation or the music on your phone to your car stereo on an FM station....You used to need two devices for this. Not anymore!
Memory from Sandisk ($10-$75)
Memory Cards and USB Drives from Sandisk: Smart phones are terrific for music, photos and video, and you'll need these memory cards to store it all!
Stick-on Decals ($7)
Cool Phone Decals from various retailers including Amazon.com: To customize your phone and make it stand out in the crowd! (Plus you'll always know which one is yours!)
About Alex Goldfayn:
Alex L. Goldfayn is The Technology Tailor. He hosts "The Technology Tailor Show" on WGN Radio every Saturday. The program, which is broadcast to 38 states and Canada, is a "low-tech" technology talk show. In Alex's trademark easy-to-understand, educational and humorous approach, the show helps moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas understand the latest in technology and how to use it. For five years, Alex wrote the innovative "My Tech" column for the Chicago Tribune, which was distributed internationally to more than 300 publications by McClatchey-Tribune News Service. He is the author of "Going Digital," (published last year by HarperCollins) which teaches people how to do very cool things with their digital photos and home movies. Alex received his Bachelor of Arts degree in pre-med psychology from Illinois Wesleyan University (with minors in Russian and chemistry...don't ask!), and attended a doctoral program for clinical psychology before making a career of helping people with technology.
