Study children and cell phones, experts advise

Researchers should study more children and pregnant women in trying to figure out if cell phones or other wireless devices could damage health, the U.S. National Research Council advised on Thursday.

A few studies have indicated a possible link between mobile telephone use and brain tumors, although far more show no connection. But because wireless devices have become almost ubiquitous, researchers want to ensure their safety.

The Food and Drug Administration asked the National Research Council to recommend some future lines of study. The Council, which advises Congress and the federal government on scientific matters, held a meeting of experts including engineers and biologists and has now released the full report.

Most studies have looked only at short-term effects on healthy adults, the report said.

More study needs to be done on multiple, long-term, low-intensity radio frequency (RF) exposure, the report said.

“Measuring the amount of RF energy received by juveniles, children, pregnant women, and fetuses from wireless devices and RF base station antennas could help define exposure ranges for various populations,” the council said in a statement.

“Although it is unknown whether children are more susceptible to RF exposure, they may be at increased risk because of their developing organ and tissue systems,” it added.

“Additionally, specific absorption rates for children are likely to be higher than for adults, because exposure wavelength is closer to the whole-body resonance frequency for shorter individuals.”

The report also notes that children today will experience a longer period of RF field exposure from mobile phones than adults, because they will most likely start using them at an early age.

Researchers should also analyze the different types of antennas for the amount of RF energy they deliver to different parts of the body.

Get your FREE report!
A begin shaving hours off your work day!
Go to: http://www.robertlett.com NOW

An Individual Armed with Information
Controls the Course of Negotiation
Have all your files with you in the form of a
cell phone you probably already carry – 24/7!
http://www.robertlett.com

Touch trend affects keypad crowd

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this week, Digit Wireless seemed happy that the industry is currently obsessed with touchscreen technology for mobile devices. That’s not because Digit makes touchscreen technology–far from it. Digit Wireless is the company behind fastap technology, which is an approach to keypad design that integrates a raised set of alpha keys and a lowered set of number keys, supported by error prevention software. Fastap-enabled handsets are geared toward that middle 70 percent–not the emerging market crowd or the BlackBerry toting heavy data user.

Digit Wireless says it has seen a lot of interest since the launch of the iPhone, because consumers, carriers and handset makers are once again looking to provide a better user interface for handsets and touchscreens are too expensive for the mid-range user.

Digit Wireless’ new CEO Robert Blumenthal said that touch screen feature phones are sometime limited by the technology. “The Prada phone, for example, is too sensitive,” he said. Blumenthal and other Digit executives agree, however, that fastap is targeted at the middle 70 percent of wireless subscribers: Not the upper 15 percent or bottom 15 percent. -Brian

Get your FREE report!
A begin shaving hours off your work day!
Go to: http://www.robertlett.com NOW

An Individual Armed with Information
Controls the Course of Negotiation
Have all your files with you in the form of a
cell phone you probably already carry – 24/7!
http://www.robertlett.com

Porn to spice up cell phones

Size matters in pornography, except when it comes to tiny mobile phone screens, the next frontier for erotica.

If the adult entertainment industry has its way, Americans will soon get a choice of free porn on cell phones–or at least some photographs of good-looking girls in bikinis.

Unlike in Europe, mobile porn has yet to take off in North America as carriers have been afraid of offending political and religious groups and parents concerned about children being exposed to adult content.

That may change this year as phone companies plan to loosen control on their networks to allow a wider variety of gadgets and services, while introducing new tools to shield minors. More advanced phones with better Web browsers like Apple’s iPhone also offer higher quality pictures and video.

“It will be impossible to stop the adult business exploitation of mobile entertainment,” said Gregory Piccionelli, a lawyer specializing in adult entertainment at law firm Piccionelli & Sarno.

He predicted that U.S. consumers may soon be offered free porn on mobile phones alongside paid services like live video or “adult dates,” a term for prearranged sex with strangers.

A conference being held in Miami this week is devoted to discussing mobile opportunities as the porn industry seeks to find a new driver of growth. A surfeit of free online porn sites has cut into profits that have so far come mainly from DVDs, videotapes and pay-per-view or subscription-based Web sites.

To survive, adult entertainers need to be on top of phone trends, said Jay Grdina, president of adult entertainment provider ClubJenna, which he co-founded with his wife, world-famous porn star Jenna Jameson.

“If you don’t evolve you’re going to die…We need to make sure we’re ready,” Grdina said in an interview before his keynote speech at this week’s Mobile Adult Content Congress, where adult entertainment and technology companies are brainstorming over how to make mobile porn a viable business.

Popular video-sharing site YouTube.com’s plan to expand to about 100 million advanced cell phones may help the cause, even if it means some ClubJenna content–which includes everything from glamour photographs of scantily clad models to hardcore videos–is seen for free on phones. ClubJenna was sold to Playboy Enterprises in 2006.

“It’s a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s giving away content…On the other hand, it’s expanding the brand,” said Grdina, adding that ClubJenna needs a boost in the U.S. market, where it generates “pretty much zero” mobile revenue compared with “very healthy” revenue in Europe.

While he has had trouble winning deals with U.S. phone operators so far, Grdina hopes for a deal within 18 months to sell photographs of bikini-clad models without nudity.

Titillation to go
Pornography has made inroads on cell phones in Europe, where it was a $775 million industry in 2007 that will grow to $1.5 billion by 2012, with the global market reaching $3.5 billion in 2010, according to Britain-based Juniper Research.

In comparison, North America generated just $26 million last year as carriers shied away from porn sales. Canada’s second-largest phone company Telus, for example, withdrew a mobile porn service last year after complaints from hundreds of customers and criticism from the Catholic Church.

Gartner telecoms analyst Michael King said he expects mobile porn to be more prevalent around 2009, when there will be more phones that can show high-quality graphics.

Porn is “one of the bigger pieces of Web revenue. You would assume the natural extension would be on mobile,” King said.

Piccionelli said the iPhone–which Apple has forecast to sell 10 million units by the end of 2008–is ideal for viewing porn due to its graphics and Web browser that mimics computer browsers. Most phones have stripped-down browsers.

A new phone system being built by Google may also boost consumer choice as the Internet company has pledged to support any type of mobile software.

But the key to development of mobile porn may be willingness by carriers to open their networks to more content. Even if they don’t sell porn they would benefit from additional fees paid by consumers if mobile Web-surfing increases.

Verizon Wireless, the second-largest U.S. mobile service, has promised to let customers use any device or software that can work on its network this year.

Similarly, Sprint Nextel said it will support a wide array of gadgets for a fast wireless Web service it kicks off in 2008.

Spokesman John Polivka said customers of the service would be able to view anything they like. Sprint will also provide Web filters to help keep minors from adult sites.

NeuStar sells an age-verification system for which it aims to have both a U.S. carrier client and a content customer within six months.

“Two thousand eight is when the first people are going to be sticking their toes in the water,” said John Ticer, a NeuStar marketing executive.

Piccionelli said mobile porn will always face uncertainties, such as a possible privacy backlash against age-verification systems as consumers need to give personal details.

“However, that does not mean that uncertainty will prohibit enormous profits from being made in this business,” he said.

Get your FREE report!
A begin shaving hours off your work day!
Go to: http://www.robertlett.com NOW

An Individual Armed with Information
Controls the Course of Negotiation
Have all your files with you in the form of a
cell phone you probably already carry – 24/7!
http://www.robertlett.com

Real Estate Professional – Part IV. By Robert Lett. April 2007

CALCULATING YOUR POTENTIAL CASH FLOW
When I go out to inspect potential real estate investments, I enter all the notes for that particular property under that property’s name and address. Later at the hotel or on the spot, I can run the numbers with my HP-12C calculator (see below), and know if I’m looking at a positive or negative cash flow. Of course, you will want to take in the consideration of the potential appreciation for that area. Some negative cash flows are worth having if you will make your gain in appreciation. Sometimes a small negative can be welcome in the face of a large appreciation factor for an area. When I get back home, there is no confusion about which property had what features and cash flow. Another program that helps you compare properties is TriLoan, (see below), to see which property is the best investment. This program allows you to set four different loans or properties side-by-side for easy comparison. All in the palm of your hand.

REAL ESTATE CALCULATIONS
KK-12C, by KK Technologies Co., Ltd., is a great program that emulates the HP-12C calculator. It even looks like the calculator on the Palm screen. If you are currently using the HP-12C, then you won’t need to learn anything about this program; you’ll already know how to operate it.
The HP-12C is one of the most popular RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) financial calculators ever made – it’s been out for a long time and is still popular mainly in the Real Estate arena. I like the fact that I always have it with me wherever I go. There are quite a few options on the KK-12C that the normal calculator doesn’t offer. One nice feature is that all registers can be saved at any time with unlimited sessions. This is nice for viewing later.

THREE OUT OF FOUR LOANS
TriLoan, by John Coogan, can be found at http://www.triloan.net/tl.htm. This program allows you to compare up to four loans at the same time. All you have to do is enter the loan amount, terms and rate, and the program does the rest.
If you’re looking at more than one property or loan, you can compare up to four on your Palm screen. This is great for field work-there’s no need to write the figures down and not know if any of them are even a good deal until you can get to a PC.
The program allows you to save all properties under the name you give them, and look at where you are in the amortization table at any time. There are over 200 other options to calculate your investments down to the penny. These include viewing your equity, loan-to-value, expected rent, payoff, net operating income, cash flow and more.
Both of the above programs can be used for any loan calculations, I’m just giving examples on mortgage loans.

Get your FREE report!
A begin shaving hours off your work day!
Go to: http://www.robertlett.com NOW

An Individual Armed with Information
Controls the Course of Negotiation
Have all your files with you in the form of a
cell phone you probably already carry – 24/7!
http://www.robertlett.com

Real Estate Professional – Part III. By Robert Lett. April 2007

REAL ESTATE AGENTS
Some of these programs will track every aspect of the business of real estate. Realtors and brokers can track their listings and when they expire and even search the entire MLS (Multiple Listing Service) anytime – anywhere. The program will remember lockbox codes and cross-reference them to the address and location of the property.
You can also track real estate commissions, both gross and net. You can even set goals for closing a certain number of sales per month, which you can then compare to your actual closings at the end of each month. Export these files to your favorite spreadsheet to print monthly and yearly charts of your progression.

Now for a program that carries a monthly fee. Supra and eKey. Found at: www.supraekey.com
If you are a state licensed practicing Real Estate Agent, you can subscribe to a service that will give you access to your listings and the entire MLS. This software allows your Smartphone to act as an electronic Key to give you access to Supra Keyboxes placed on listings. If the Keybox is the electronic iBox type, you can open the Keybox just by aiming your Smartphones IR (infrared) port at the Keybox and tapping the send button.

The software expires at the end of each day, to update the software you must either HotSync or eSync your Smartphone or tap on update in the menu, which allows your Smartphone to go online using its’ wireless connection and it will update the software. The default will automatically log on between 12am and 6am and update your key for you. It automatically updates each night and tells you who has shown the listing; date, time, name, office name and phone number. (If you are in a location that doesn’t have a digital cellular signal, the software will attempt to find a connection every 30 minutes until it updates itself. You get the information you need delivered to you without having to drive to the listing to collect business cards). By the time you wake up, all codes, lockbox activity, and your MLS will be updated. You will know how many other agents accessed and showed any of your properties that you have listed. If someone at the office added a listing to your MLS, it will now show up on your Smartphone.

Some of the old lockboxes require metal contacts to be slid into the shackle to open the lockbox, AEII type. On these older units, the “supra unit” is needed, because the unit has the metal contact key built into the case of the unit. You just insert your eKey shell of the PDA into an AEII type Keybox. Or for the newer Keyboxes, the iBox type, just point your Smartphone at the iBox and hit the button. Always remember, iBoxes relock after 30 seconds!

You can easily change your own iBox codes by changing them on your handheld and transmitting them to your lockbox when you arrive at the location.

Messaging: Associations and brokers now have a way to quickly and easily communicate with their agents through a tool the agent uses on a daily basis. Need to change the date or time of a meeting and get the word out quickly? Messages appear on-screen. Basically, SMS, which stands for (small message service).

If you were driving through a neighborhood and found the perfect home for your client or yourself, wouldn’t it be nice to punch in some numbers and have all the information for the property in the palm of your hand? And you might possibly be able to obtain the lockbox codes right on the spot, and view the property that minute. This is called productivity, either get in it, or get ran over by it!

You can search your own listings by any of the following fields: area, price, class, status, bedrooms, bathrooms, and up to three additional customizable fields that you can set to what ever you like or think is important.

There are many other services out there that will assist you in being one of the Top sellers in your area. One service from www.homegain.com will SMS text page comparisons to you when prices rise or fall in your farm area. It used to be free, but now they charge a few dollars a month to monitor certain areas. This service is also nice if you own property and would like to know when to either refinance the property or maybe it’s time to sale that property. Real Estate prices usually don’t move very fast unless we’re in a crash of some kind, and then of course, their moving down rapidly. But it’s still nice to know what your properties are doing without having to research all of them each and every month. This way you get the reports, and you can either go on with life, or look closer at the numbers for a particular property and take whatever action you should.

Get your FREE report!
A begin shaving hours off your work day!
Go to: http://www.robertlett.com NOW

An Individual Armed with Information
Controls the Course of Negotiation
Have all your files with you in the form of a
cell phone you probably already carry – 24/7!
http://www.robertlett.com

Real Estate Professional – Part II. By Robert Lett. April 2007

LANDLORDING
Most properties in my portfolio I have property managers that collect rent and inspect the units. On those properties that I manage myself, when a tenant calls with a problem, all I have to do is decide whether it requires the warranty company, just a quick fix by a handyman, or if I’m in the area, I might just run by and take care of it myself. All the information is right in front of me, regardless of where I am at the time of the call.
From experience, I can predict that whenever my tenants call, I won’t be anywhere near my PC or file cabinet! Fortunately, with your Smartphone, you won’t ever have to go to your office to access your files again. Sounds nice, huh?

Have all your important files with you 24/7, 365 a year!

Get your FREE report!
A begin shaving hours off your work day!
Go to: http://www.robertlett.com NOW

An Individual Armed with Information
Controls the Course of Negotiation
Have all your files with you in the form of a
cell phone you probably already carry – 24/7!
http://www.robertlett.com