Yesterday I was on Newstalk 580 WCTM’s High Tech Time. Here is a recap of some of the information shared.

Motorola 465 Portal Door: When charging, the portal door swings down and this causes the phone to have to face down during charging.

Tim’s Take: Motorola made an excess amount of cheap phones and rather than fix the problem and remove the phones from the market, they just continue to sell them until they have no more. Time to upgrade to a better phone.

New App Idea: A caller called in suggesting an app to make driving with your cell phone safer. The idea is that the app will turn on when a person is in a moving vehicle and any calls received during that time will be greeted with a message suggesting a the caller to leave a message unless it’s an emergency.

Tim’s Take: There’s already an app for that. It’s called TextArrest. It automatically switches off text messaging and calling functions when a phone is detected to be travelling faster than 5 MPH. For more information or to download the app, go to www.textarrest.com.

Data Cards: Live in an area with no broadband service and considering purchasing a card for internet connection.

Tim’s Take: Excellent idea! All major providers offer them, including Sprint, AT&T and Verizon. Google ‘data connection card’ or head down to your local Wal-Mart, K-mart, Best Buy, or RadioShack. They can even be found at your local cell phone headquarters. Most cards/plans will run $50-60 per month.

Smartphone or Data Card: For limited use of the internet (checking email and viewing a few websites) what would be better, a Smartphone or a data card?

Tim’s Take: Both are excellent upgrades from dialup internet access, but I’d go with the data card first. Though the data usage is capped for most Smartphone providers, the data is less of an investment upfront and the monthly coverage plan is also cheaper. For areas of limited cell phone coverage, you will want to test (check the bars on visiting friend’s cell phones) to see which cell phone provider actually provides coverage in your area. Don’t go by the coverage maps on the internet as it may not be accurate for your exact location.

Malware Issues: Had malware disguised as Java Updates trash my computer recently. Outlook Express is asking to clean up disk space when I start up my computer. Is it another malware or is it safe?

Tim’s Take: Sounds like the work of more malware. Check out www.malwarebytes.org. It detects and removes various forms of malware. Also, it might be a good idea to download and run CCleaner on your computer. Go to www.piriform.com/ccleaner for the free download.