Teach me about Cell Phones

[TheGreatSatan]

So Radio Shack sells a lot of Cell Phones and apparently it's a huge part of their business. If you check out JobVent (http://www.jobvent.com/radio-shack-job-reviews-C14433) you can hear from all the angry employees who got sick of pushing phones and went crazy.

I'm cell phone retarded. I just got my first phone less than 2 years ago and I'm 33. Plus the only text I've ever sent was to my wife and all it said was "OK".

Anyway, I suck at cell phones. I guess they're pretty much the same. They all have cameras and texting ability. Some are touch screens, some are not. I guess it's just the varying plans that are the real difference. And of those plans, there's always the prepaids.

Oh, and it seems like I have the job there as the Assistant Manager:banana:

[BuzzKillington]

Newer phones have tons of features and are less complicated than older phones, believe it or not.

The two leading OS's are Android(tons of free apps and mods) and windows mobile.

The going camera nowadays is 3.2-5mp, sometimes 8mp. (some have flash, some just have a LED light, some have neither.) Most can record video at 15-30fps.

Different companies run gsm and some cdma. (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/gsm-vs-cdma.html) You cannot unlock CDMA phones to run on GSM since there is no sim card.

There are 3 different types of touch screens. (http://www.bizzntech.com/2009/01/23/different-types-of-touch-screens-in-mobile-phones) Some people have a preference.

Some people hate not having a physical keyboard but a good sales point to bring up for an android based phone would be the "big buttons keyboard" app. It makes the on screen kb keys a lot bigger and much easier to use. (and it's free)

typically, phones are either limited to 16 or 32gig Micro SD's.

A selling point for some users may be how usable the phone is as a media player. All smart phones these days support video, pictures, music, and often ebooks, etc... but if they really want it for Mp3's, be sure to point out whether the phone has a 2.5mm, 3.5mm, and/or mini-usb plug. Phones like the HTC G1 make it difficult to charge your phone and use a headset since the same port is used for both so a splitter is required.

Most smart phones require a data package at signup which is on average an additional 30 bucks a month, but it's unlimited and you can even tether your phone to your computer and use it for internet.

Some important highlights in plans would be anytime minutes, weekend, night time, mobile to mobile, friends/family and incoming calls. Anytime minutes these days are more for reserve. Many plans have free mobile to mobile (free to any other cell on your network... (verizon, t-mobile, etc..) then there's weekend and night time minutes which are almost always unlimited but be sure to read what the carrier considers "night time." Family/friends is usually unlimited too, and it can be any carrier/house phone but it's typically limited to 5 people. I know verizon and t-mobile has this plan feature (Friends & Family and fave 5). lastly, there's free incoming calls. Not all carriers have this but it's helpful if your plan has a small number of anytime minutes.

This is all I could think of. Hope it helps.

[x88x]

Buzz hit most of it, but a couple clarifications:


Different companies run gsm and some cdma. (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/gsm-vs-cdma.html) You cannot unlock CDMA phones to run on GSM since there is no sim card.
Not strictly true. There are GSM CDMA frequencies, just nobody in the US uses them. And all the carrier-locked CDMA phones in the US actually use SIM tech, they just solder it into the main phone board. :rolleyes: But in general, yeah, that's close enough. ;)


There are 3 different types of touch screens. (http://www.bizzntech.com/2009/01/23/different-types-of-touch-screens-in-mobile-phones) Some people have a preference.
All you'll probably ever see is resistive or capacitive though.


typically, phones are either limited to 16 or 32gig Micro SD's.
This is just because the manufacturer will advertise the largest capacity available at the time. A year ago that was 16GB, a few months ago 32GB cards came out, and now that's what they advertise. If they support larger than 4GB that means that they support microSDHC, so they'll support any capacity microSDHC cards regardless of what the manufacturer says.


Most smart phones require a data package at signup which is on average an additional 30 bucks a month, but it's unlimited and you can even tether your phone to your computer and use it for internet.
Most unlimited data plans I've seen allow tethering with the exception of AT&T. They require that you buy an additional tethering plan, which is another $20-30/mo.

[BuzzKillington]

It depends on the phone's software for the sd capacity. The g1 was limited to 16gigs at launch and wasn't able to record video until some updates came along.

Also, thanks for clarifying the tethering thing. I accidentally left that part out. I should also mention that not all phones come with tethering apps but are usually obtainable with custom firmware/root access.



All you'll probably ever see is resistive or capacitive though.

Also true. I don't think I've ever seen Infrared touchscreens in cellphones, I actually only mentioned it because I came across it when looking for a site for the other two for a more in depth explanation.

[Zephik]

The Samsung Saga is one of those phones that is both GSM and CDMA I believe. Although I'd say stay away from that phone. Blech. It's horrible.

[Twigsoffury]

well my cell phone is so old its got a monochromatic green screen and txt is the only other feature it has.

I've got my netbook for other things :P

[Diamon]

It just occurred to me that I would love seeing someone building a custom case for their cellphone....

*hint* *hint*

OK, sorry for going off topic. Here's an idea which may or may not be implemented or already thought of:
For me when buying cellphones, or any other electronics for that matter, reviews are a big deal. Maybe you could have a monitor where customers can look at customer reviews of your products? Damn, I got off topic again, well this seems to be the closest I can get :S

[x88x]

The Samsung Saga is one of those phones that is both GSM and CDMA I believe. Although I'd say stay away from that phone. Blech. It's horrible.

The N900 supports GSM and GSM CDMA, but not the CDMA frequencies that Verizon uses. :(

[Zephik]

The N900 supports GSM and GSM CDMA, but not the CDMA frequencies that Verizon uses. :(

There's a GSM CDMA? Thats... weird? lol

[x88x]

There's a GSM CDMA? Thats... weird? lol

Yup, I got the name wrong though, it's called WCDMA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCDMA).


Operating frequency
* Quad-band GSM EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
* WCDMA 900/1700/2100 MHz

[TheGreatSatan]

OK. A lot of that seems complicated. What are good points to bring up to sell a phone? I can sell laptops, cameras and GPS' in my sleep. The phones are where I'll struggle.

What was it about your phone that got you to buy it? Sell me on it too.

I have the Motorola Crush. I really wanted a touch screen, but did not want internet on my phone. The Crush is the only touch screen phone from my provider (US Cellular) that does not have a data/internet plan.

Your turn.

[x88x]

It won't be directly applicable since tmk Radio Shack doesn't carry anything related to the N900, but..

Powerful processor
Lots of onboard storage
microSDHC slot
Completely open software
Multi-tasking (it's so sad that this has become a 'feature' instead of an assumption)
Physical keyboard
High(er)-res screen
Long battery run time
Nokia tablet lineage
High-res camera
LED flash
Rugged

[Zephik]

Perhaps look through Verizon and AT&T commercials? YouTube might have some. That or just go to their websites, see what they're advertising and how they're advertising it. That'd be where I'd start if I wanted to learn more about selling phones.

Younger crowds will probably want the feature-rich phones, such as smart-phones, while the older crowd will probably want basic or multimedia phones (look at Verizon online, they basically categorize by basic, multimedia and smart-phone) with affordable prices. So look up phone features for the younger crowd so you know what you're talking about and thus you can sell them with those points, then look at cheap but nice basic phones and plans for the older crowd. I think that'd be a good start.

What I look for in a phone though is a slide out or flip out keyboard, 3.0"+ Touch Screens, an App Store (Both iOS and Android have thouse.), 3.5mm headphone jack so I don't have to buy special headphones/use the ones I already have, 5MP+ Camera (Not as important, but I would also like a Front Facing camera so I can easily take pictures of myself.), 1GHz processor such as Snapdragon or Apple's A4, Android because of how open and expansive it is which means you have lots of freedom to use your phone the way you want to use it, At least 7 hours of battery life as is basically the new standard so I can use my device all day without having to constantly recharge, Hmmmm I can't think of anything else at the moment. But that's basically it.

[Bopher]

Z probably hit a lot of it on that last post. Kids want the bells, whistles, texting, camera, all the features and the $100 plan that lets them send a 2 second tweet that says they walked 2 feet to the fridge. Older people just want something that isn't going to blow up the car when they try to make a call.

On the CDMA and GSM thing, remember; T-Mobile and AT&T both use SIM cards, thats nice because if they send all the phonebook info to the card they carry that from phone to phone. And being GSM network phones chances are that they can use them overseas if they need that they just need to call the provider with some notice (I think T-Mobile tells you 30 days) but they do pay per minute and its more then if you go over your minutes here in the US. CDMA, on the other hand is older tech used by: Sprint, Alltel, and Verizon. Limited to needing to transfer every number from one phone to another and staying in the US. Good luck with this, I sold phones for the Mobile Solution in the mall when I lived in MA, yes those annoying guys who try to get you to stop in the middle of the mall and try to buy a new plan form them.