Product Trends Magazine

About  A-1 Wireless: An award-winning e-commerce vendor,  A-1 Wireless provides customers with a huge range of T-Mobile cell phones. However, A1 Wireless is about more then simply supplying cell phones to its customers. While A1 Wireless prides itself on providing a top quality product the company also stands for offering outstanding customer service. Indeed, A1Wireless were voted "T-Mobile National Dealer Award for Outstanding Growth" in 2003, and their reputation continues to grow. As well as carrying T-Mobile cell phones, A1Wireless are also authorized agents for Sprint, Nextel Communications, Cingular Wireless, Verizon Wireless and ALLTEL phones and wireless plans.

The big pitch:  A-1 Wireless’s T-Mobile service lets individuals, families and businesses get more from wireless services and phones.

In a day and age where we are all constantly on the go, wireless communications have never been more important. How often have you missed that vital meeting at work or that appointment with the doctor or a dinner date with that dream guy or gal because of a lack of communication? Now you can rest easy because by visiting  A-1 Wireless’ online service you are guaranteed to never miss out again.

A1 Wireless offers top of line T-Mobile cell phones from all the leading service providers including Sprint, Nextel Communications, Cingular Wireless, Verizon Wireless and ALLTEL. What’s more, A1 Wireless also provides its clients with the best plan for you that way allowing you to stick to an affordable budget. The company name says it all. When it comes to digital telecommunications, A-1 Wireless gets an A-1 high distinction.

A1 Wireless’s Cingular Wireless plan now has 54 million subscribers including 95 of the Fortune 100 companies. With its seamless coverage, Cingular Wireless has the fewest dropped calls of any carrier. And only Cingular has the exclusive Rollover plans that provide extra talk-time value by letting you keep your unused minutes from month to month.

Product Trends Rating:Through its Sprint PCS Wireless plan,  A-1 Wireless lays claim to the United States’ most complete advanced, all-digital, fiber-optic wireless network. This economical wireless plan adds blocks of Anytime Minutes, rather than charging overage charges, when you use up your paid minutes. What’s more, A1 Wireless’s Verizon Wireless service prides itself on having the most comprehensive coverage, the largest IN-network, and the fewest dropped calls. We give that a solid four star rating.

About the company: “Established in 2002, Ringingphone.com is one of the nation’s first cell phone ringtone websites. The popular membership-based site also offers customers the option of purchasing ringtones and cell phone wallpapers one at a time, or through a Value Plan, with which users can take advantage of greatly reduced prices. We offer ringtones for AT&T, Cingular, Rogers Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon cell phones.”

The big pitch: Thousands of ringtones to download to your cell phone, for as low as 47c each!

Ringingphone.com is one of the leading providers of cell phone ringtones, graphics and on-demand wireless information services in North America today, or so the hype says. It offers one of the largest selections of ringtones and graphics, which are broken down into different categories ranging from disco to movie soundtracks, pro wrestling themes to country and western, and everything in between, so you can quickly find what you’re looking for.

How are they able to provide customers with this type of service? RingingPhone.com has been able to assemble an array of content and technology partners, as well as a team of world class licensing agents and media partners, and the result of these combined efforts has been the creation of a cell phone content provider that we would describe as the slightly more buttoned-down, corporate version of Jamster.

Here is how it works: First you need to confirm that your cell phone is compatible with their service. Simply download a test ringtone to see if it works, and if it does, you will receive a message to your phone that confirms it. Once you have ordered a subscription plan, a membership is created for you, and you are set to go. Next time you login to the site, you can pick and choose which tones you want.

The cost for the download of the ringtones is $1.99 each, or you can choose the option of the Value Plan, which allows you to purchase 15 downloads for $6.99, a progam that includes ten ringtones and five wallpapers and breaks down to 47c per track, which is more than reasonable.

The Product Trends rating: If you are looking for ringtones or graphics as a way to express your individuality and keep up with the latest cellphone trends, this site is for you. RingingPhone.com can at times be a little slow, but it is updated all of the time, so you constantly have new options to choose from. Four stars. —Reviewed by Denise Seegobin

To try RingingPhone.com for yourself, click the image below:

About the company: Founded in early 2004, SunRocket is changing an industry, bringing you new choices, better value, and ultimate control of your home phone service. Powered by the Internet and designed to replace the overpriced, obsolete services from your old phone company, SunRocket Internet Phone Service harnesses your home high-speed connection to deliver a radically better suite of customized features at an amazing value.”

The big pitch: Turn long distance calls into local calls, with no contracts, no hidden fees, and no gotchas.

Everyone has busy lives filled with daily obstacles; reliable phone service should not be one of them. When you travel, you want to be able to make and receive calls without having to think about it. Sun Rocket seems to understand that, and has created Bottom-Line Pricing, so you pay no more than they say you will, free of hidden charges, add-on fees, and other rude surprises that normally show up on your phone bills monthly.

SunRocket utilizes the new technology of Voice-Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), which takes voice conversations and converts them into data that can be transferred across the World Wide Web. The data is then converted into a signal that the telephone system can deliver at the other end, turning your long distance phone call into a local call. After you connect any touchtone phone to your SunRocket gizmo, make and receive calls to any phone in the world, just like you do with a traditional phone, and you won’t be charged any more than a local call. It’s that simple.

Using this technology, SunRocket passed on these savings to customers so they will never be confused with complicated rate plans, or price increases when you’re not looking, or charge outrageous prices whenever you need to place an occasional international call. The concept of local calling zones is removed, so you no longer need to understand confusing boundaries between calls that are free and calls that are not.

Other benefits are also included for customers that you can get with traditional phone services, including:

Enhanced Voicemail: which allows you to manipulate all of your messages and receive instant notification

Call Logs: which keeps track of all your calls from your account

Find Me: which will automatically call various phone numbers in trying to locate you.

These are just a sample of the extensive services that would be available to you with a SunRocket account. The Signature Service includes unlimited calling in the US and Canada, free international minutes, a free extra phone number with the area code of your choice, over 10 enhanced calling features, two free directory assistance calls per month, and a free Uniden cordless phone worth over $100.

If you’re unsure of whether this will work for you or not, SunRocket allows customers to try the service risk-free for 31 days. After that you can cancel the service and receive full credit to your account and never incur a penalty, or you can select your Signature Service; either sign-up for the Annual Edition, or the Monthly Edition. Each option offers the same all-inclusive service, they’re just giving the customer more options.

If you have questions, no problem, a 1-800 number is provided so that you can get you answers from a real human being. The only problem is that they are only around from 8am-Midnight, though they are available seven days a week.

The Product Trends rating: SunRocket was named 2005 DigitalLife Innovator by Ziff Davis Media, and we agree with their assessment: Five stars. If you are looking for the best service and outstanding customer service, with no hidden costs, optional plans and a money back guarantee, then SunRocket is the service for you. —Reviewed by Denise Seegobin

To try SunRocket for yourself, click the image below:

About the company: Jamster! plans offer you credits for numerous content downloads at a great value, for just $5.99 per month. Each plan provides credits for a specific number of ringtones, wallpapers, screensavers, logos, software and/or games, etc.

The big pitch: Every Jamster plan, from the Basic Plan to the Platinum Plan, costs just $5.99 per month.

People in Europe know Jamster really well, mostly because the cellphone culture out there is far more advanced and entrenched than it is in the US, and even more so because the Jamster ‘Crazy Frog‘ has been heard millions of times on TV, radio, and on that annoying cellphone sitting next to you on the bus every morning.

What Jamster does is simple - they provide content for mobile phones. And by content, we mean a whole lot more than just an annoying frog. We mean screensavers, themes, wallpapers, ringtones, games, videotones, picture messages, and news on just about everything, from sports to celebrity gossip.

You want Jenna Jameson to tell you whenever you have a phone call? Jamster can make it happen. You want The Knights Who Say ‘Ni’ to announce you have a message waiting? Jamster will allow you to exhibit your immense inner geekdom by doing so.

Of course, for many of us, this is all quite baffling. I mean, we know that the kids just gotta have the latest 50 Cent or Kanye West track on their cellphone and all, so they can be like EVERY. OTHER. TEENAGER IN THE WORLD. But it all just makes us think… why? How does it ‘express your individuality’ to have the same ringtone as everyone else in your class? And as if to prove the futility of it all, in a fit of ridiculous irony, the most popular comedy download ringtone on Jamster is… you guessed it, an old-fashioned telephone ring.

Regardless, if the kids want Jamster, the kids can afford Jamster, with every single plan in the system costing just $5.99 per month. When it comes right down to it, that’s pretty freakin’ cheap, and credit where it’s due, we were surprised at how expansive the content bank at Jamster actually is. Voice ringtones include recordings by Donald Trump, Jiminy Glick, Larry the Cable Guy, Jeff Foxworthy, Jenna Jameson, Ice T, Green Day, or if you don’t like voices on your ringtone you can choose from music from any genre you like, from classical to hip hop, reggae to latin music.

Have Mariah Carey in your pocket. Have Bow Wow announce that your mother is calling you. Hear Jessica Simpson trying to sing whenever someone wants you to pick up, or go a little retro and slap some Depeche Mode tunes on your Nokia, Motorola, Samsung or Sanyo phone. Jamster, as annoying as that frog can be, will help you find what you need.

The Product Trends rating: It’s not expensive, and it does what it promises, and does that well, so as much as we think it’s all a bit of a fad, Jamster is not a bad deal if you’re into your cellphone. 3.5 stars.

To try Jamster for yourself, click the image below: