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Vodafone launched it's upgraded Caller Ringback Tone (CRBT) service on the 16th, offering users a new interface and shuffle feature. A lot of us in The States are unfamiliar with CRBT. If there is a carrier that offers it here, I don't know about it. The only reason I know what it is is because every time my wife calls someone overseas, she hears a song instead of the old ringer sound.

That seems like more than enough to offer the people calling you, but shuffle? And I thought a copy of Banana Phone was all I needed to be prepared for the CRBT revolution. I thank my lucky stars for the hundreds of people on You Tube who think changing the pitch and speed of a track merits an upload with the remix tag. Callers, prepare to be tortured.

Vodaphone launched it's upgraded Caller Ringback Tone (CRBT) service on the 16th, offering users a new interface and shuffle feature. A lot of us in The States are unfamiliar with CRBT. If there is a carrier that offers it here, I don't know about it. The only reason I know what it is is because every time my wife calls someone overseas, she hears a song instead of the old ringer sound.

That seems like more than enough to offer the people calling you, but shuffle? And I thought a copy of Banana Phone was all I needed to be prepared for the CRBT revolution. I thank my lucky stars for the hundreds of people on You Tube who think changing the pitch and speed of a track merits an upload with the remix tag. Callers, prepare to be tortured.

The handset, built by Sonim, has a three-year warranty, 15 hours of talk time, 2.5 months of standby, a 2MP camera, push email, Opera mini, an accelerometer with auto-call for safety features, and apparently a cartridge full of laughing gas. It's perfect for rescue workers, soldiers, firemen, rock climbers, hikers, and rich weirdos everywhere.

Land Rover S1 Launch from The Really Mobile Project on Vimeo.

Via IntoMobile

On Friday Noah filmed a segment with Sue Kwon for her show Bay Sunday.  If you are in the San Francisco area you can watch CBS5 this Sunday to catch Noah talking cellular devices and gadgets.  For those of us not out West, you can catch Noah's interview at the CBS5 website from here.

I've been a T-Mobile customer for five years. I have always been happy with their customer service, and with the company in general. That is until last fall when I returned a defective phone and got stuck in a cycle of exchange wherein I received a series of broken devices. The entire process lasted almost two months and required a ridiculous amount of time on the phone. I complained publicly, and I think it was right to do so.

This debacle was obviously caused by a logistics problem in the T-Mobile exchange center, and I'm sure they've ironed it out. I eventually got a brand new phone, and a discount on texts for my trouble. Things were fine, but I still had a bitter taste in my mouth from the hassle. Well, I have to hand it to the people at pink because they've won me back over. And since I was pretty open with my dissatisfaction before I think it's only right for me publicly applaud their efforts that brought me back into the satisfied customer fold.

I called in today with questions about their unlimited plans for loyal customers. I also needed to kill my data plan like I did my phone. After speaking with a couple of very nice folks (who confirmed that T-Mo really is making life as easy as possible for iPhone unlockers - how cool is that?), I decided against the plan upgrade for the time being.

Before getting off the phone, I asked out of curiosity when I would be eligible for another extension/upgrade. The answer was July of 2010. Now before I tell you what happened next, let me remind you that I exchanged five devices in a two-month period. At least I think that's the number - it got confusing after a while. I don't want people to get the impression that they can call up T-Mo and get whatever they want. That's not the case so please don't abuse their generosity. But for my trouble, they bumped up my renewal date... considerably.

This kind of flexibility, coupled with friendly, knowledgeable service, empowers great employees to fulfil their daily mission at work. I couldn't possibly estimate the number of times I found myself wanting to do more for a patron than I was allowed in my days of customer service and tech support. Impotence breeds apathy. So I just want to thank T-Mobile. Their agents are given the tools and freedom they need to do their jobs properly. That's not nearly as common as it should be. T-Mobile really has gone above and beyond to make me a happy customer. And I am.