Mobile phones are not just devices which can be used to make phone calls and recieve them but now there are numerous options you can do using your mobile phones. 75% of people living in the metro cities and towns are now prefering mobile phones with extra features like cameras, gps, internet, games, touch-screen features and the average mobile phone user generally changes their mobile phone every year either for buying a new model or for status symbol. With the costs of call charges reducing every passing year and more features coming from the telecom providers like free sms services, caller tones, ringer tones, polyphonic tones etc and many other features. Here is a small list of the different uses of mobile phones.
1. Play 3D games : yes thats true you can play 3D Games using your mobile phones with Mauj a platform which offers around 32 different high end games for your mobile phones which are compatible with most mobile phone models from Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung. You just need GPRS/WAP enabled on your phone to get started.
2. Mobile Phone TV : You can watch the latest TV news directly from your GPRS based mobile phone. NDTV Active offers a mobile channel using which you can directly view video content. WAP transport charges,SMS charges and other operator charges may apply.
3. GPS Locations : Mobile phones can be used to track your geo-location while you are on a holiday or a business appointment where you need to meet someone on time on a very new location. GPS Mobile Phones offers you with excellent tools and softwares to track the current locations and these GPS receivers are now offered in most latest nokia and sony mobile phones like Xperia. The latest services includes maps offered upto street levels and clear screen quality with location names.
4. Streaming TV Content : BSNL the Indian telecom provider offers you with streaming television, a feature like watching TV shows without a TV and currently six channels ie Zoom, Bindaas, Geet, ETV News Channel, EMN all costing just 150Rs/month only with the help of GPRS.
5. Run Live Support Business : If you have a internet enabled mobile phone you can setup a 24/7 online live support system and run business which works to help you support your business clients and give them live support services. You just need a phone which supports a browser to get started.
6. Mobile Money Transfer : Telecom providers like Airtel are offering services where you can transfer money using mobile phones. This is a partnership of Airtel with HDFC/ICICI/SBI/Corporation Bank. You just need a credit/debit card to get started with the whole list of M-Commerce solutions such as Mobile Money Transfer (MMT).
7. Reading Mobile Newspapers : You dont need to carry a bulky newspaper while travelling to your office because you can now just do the same using your mobile phone by subscribing so the best newspaper website feed’s for free of cost and getting access to the latest news 24/7. Another advantage is that you can access to any localised language version of any newspaper absolutely free of cost.
8. Cook Pop Corns : Recently a group of guys cooked pop corns using their mobile phones and this video really went viral with hundreds of groups giving it a try and many others trying to prove its fake, but well still its something which may be possible using a mobile phone and thats because sound can produce heat which can help you in cooking, though thats not amount of sound which can produce real heat.
9. Audio Recorders : You are in a middle of a surprise meeting or are in a situation where you are being harrased or you are seeing someone being harrased, just start the audio recording feature of your mobile phone and record conversations and later move it to your computer using USB. Its a very useful feature at times of emergency.
10. Digital Camera : The best use of camera mobile phones is that you can point and click and instant capture photos which later you can save,share and directly get them printed using your phone. The latest mobile phones are featured with high end cameras of upto 8.1 Mp which can offer you professional photography options.
11. Document Viewer : You can use your mobile phone to view different documents in pdf or any word document format because most latest mobile phones support different file formats. You just need to make sure you have a mobile phone with a better display screen size to read the documents easily.
12. Stock Market Trading : With the use of internet mobile phones you can connect to your online stock brokers websites and directly trade stocks and get complete reports of the same on your mobile phones email system. This is a very good feature if you are on travel and dont have access to your computer but want to make some shares trading.
13. Dialing for Health : Where there is no internet and appropriate supplies there is no other option to track patients who are infected by HIV in Africa but mobile phones again comes in use with the Phones-for-Health feature which tracks the spread of HIV/AIDS and other healthcase issues like malaria.
14. Scanning Documents : You can use your mobile phones camera to take a scan of any important document or photo. If you need a scanned copy of something you always should not start searching for a scanner but can take a photo using your mobile phone and later transfer the captured file using bluetooth or USB.
15. Alarm Clock : Gone are the days when people use to make use of those big alarm clocks which would have the same tune every morning, now most mobile phone users use their small handy alarm clock ie their phone when they want to setup a alarm clock. The advantage of this is that you can take this alarm anywhere and change the tone anytime with different options like ascending tone, vibration effects etc.
16. FM Radio : Now you dont need a different FM Radio device or any other product when you are in a mood to listen to your favourite music or radio shows. Just connect your headsets to your mobile phone and get started listening to streaming radio with numerous channels. There are hundreds of digital online stations on your cell phone which you can access easily and even download tracks.
17. ShutDown PC with SMS : Its possible to remote shutdown your computer running on Windows XP operating system with the help of just a text message. The process is very simple by creating a shutdown batch file and linking it to your outlook, when you send a SMS from your cell phone to your email address, outlook searches for the specified query and runs the dos batch file which in turn shutdowns your computer.
18. Video Recording : You are in the middle of a surprise party or at office in situation which you feel is worth recording, just start your mobile phone’s video recording feature and record videos upto 1hour because the latest mobile phones are equipped with high internal memory space of around 8gb giving you a high video recording feature.
19. Flight Booking : Numerous travel websites now offer services where in you can register your mobile phones with them and book flight tickets using SMS services and make payments with pre registered credit cards or debit cards with them. Another use which is useful for people who have no access to the internet and are looking for easier ways to book flight tickets, because this service sends them a SMS with their PNR number once the tickets are booked.
20. Internet Modem : You can use your mobile phone as a modem to connect to the internet. For getting this done you need a internet service activated on your mobile phone and a bluetooth feature to transmit all the data to your laptop. Bluetooth enabled mobile phones are the best ones for getting this connection activated and both your devices should have bluetooth and pairing should be done to get started.
21. Sending Bulk SMS to multiple people at the same time at festival time.
22. Sending photos of products(MMS) while you are at shopping and making your wife understand the product you are referring to. Instant delivery and easy access.
23. Use Your Cell Camera to Find Your Parked Car
24. Comparing Pricing : While you are at a shopping mall and are checking out the pricing of some specific products like books or gadgets, you can instantly use the internet on your mobile phone and compare the pricing and select the best deal and save up some of your hard earned money.
25. Mirror : You are in a important meeting or on a date and are tensed about your looks? just activate the front camera of your mobile phone and use it as a mirror and relieve yourself because these front camera’s dont solve any good purpose other than being used a mirror’s.
These are some ways you can use your mobile phone, if you found any others do let me know and i will add them to this list.
July 11th, 2008 at 4:36 am
can you explian how to do the 2 and 3 steps in my windows mobile!?
July 11th, 2008 at 4:46 am
@ narendra.s.v : Its not specific to any windows mobile but based on the handset because if you are looking for GPS then you need to go for a GPS Mobile Phone. The above listed uses are based on different handsets and you cannot find all of them in a single model.
July 11th, 2008 at 5:00 am
Nice but “Streating TV Content” spelling!!!! Abe correct it.
July 11th, 2008 at 5:04 am
@ Anurag Bhateja : Edited and updated the post with the right spelling. Thanks for finding the typo!
July 11th, 2008 at 8:13 am
on a lighter tone,
26)Find misplaced cellphones of your friends(if its not actually stolen)
27)Use it as a torchlight( thanks to Nokia)
July 11th, 2008 at 9:47 am
How about buying about anything online and the charge goes on your mobile phone bill.
http://www.mobillcash.com
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mobillcash/22027638024
July 12th, 2008 at 5:56 am
never though of this..
cool tips.
July 12th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Hey, with mobile you can be updated with latest news and also get daily quote, word, health tip, beauty tip etc. with mytoday.
July 13th, 2008 at 12:51 am
That’s an awesome list Amit,but I feel that there could be more things that can be done if we had a 3G enabled Network.Be there a network or not or non working phone Your right with the 15th 16th and 25th tips they can be used anytime.
July 13th, 2008 at 2:25 am
cook pop corns huh. wow can i try that?haha
but 25% i use my phone as a mirror.. and its nice than any other ordinary mirrors there
July 13th, 2008 at 4:20 am
Dear, you missed some of the most important ones. You can win prizes like Cars, 100 kg gold, TV ….. wife etc. I get at least one such message daily on my mobile phone asking me to send message and win for free. Can anyone tell how many people actually be the part of such contests ?
July 13th, 2008 at 4:24 am
Win a wife??? Wow surprising, do forward me a SMS if you find like that one, would be satisfied :p BTW lakhs of people get into these SMS games and make companies lot more richer. Thats not a use of cell phone, may be a harm of using cell phone
July 13th, 2008 at 8:36 am
It was from one of the matrimonial sites or something. I would say it IS a use of cell phone, as many people do participate, and some DO WIN. Anyhow, use or no use, it certainly keeps some of us busy.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:47 am
This are some really good tips amit,
the only things i have done with my cell phone are
call, messaging, play games,watch videos and hear music, fm radio but you really gave some good tips.
But I have a question related to internet modem in india.
Is airtel only the service provider which provides internet through mobile phone or is there any other medium.
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:57 pm
There are lots of things to do. For a business application there are criteria to observe:
• Cost. Does it really save money, and how will investment costs be recouped?
• Utility. Does it require specialist training or for users to change their behaviour? Individual value. Does it make the working day simpler
• Ubiquity. Is it applicable and cost effective for all types of employee
• Quality. Does it sound right? Does it work?
Blackberry Enterprise Service (BES) works wonderfully and fulfills all these categories.
July 24th, 2008 at 3:15 am
Well with all the above activities possible only on hi-tech models, I found something that everyone can do with even their most simplest phone. Lately Barclays bank has started mbanking with the use of USSD (something that is enabled in all handsets). With this you can do all bank activities, pay all kinds of bills or even recharge your cell phone account. You may find more details on http://www.barclays.co.in/hellomoney