In light of the recent Blackberry outages, which just so happened to coincide with the day before the iPhone 4S was released (conspiracy alert!), it’s come to our attention that we are obsessed with our phones. We can’t go five minutes without checking our phones to see if we have texts, emails, tweets, or Facebook messages. It’s getting ridiculous. During Blackberry-gate, my friends who couldn’t use their BBM service were going berserk. Thankfully, I have an iPhone so I wasn’t affected (it sounds like some kind of plague doesn’t it?).

Read More »

We all remember seeing pictures of Paris Hilton at a club texting on her pink, bedazzled T-Mobile Sidekick phone. Well just as Paris Hilton has changed (her hair is longer), so has the T-Mobile Sidekick.

I got my hands on a T-Mobile Sidekick 4G, and I must say, it’s a pretty cool phone. It’s a texter’s dream. The sliding screen slides up to reveal a full keyboard, which is so much easier than texting on a touch screen (although you have that option as well). It also has Google Speak, so if you hate texting, you can just say what you want to text, and the phone will do the rest for you. It probably won’t pick up on your group of friends’ slang (“omg he’s sooooo adorbs”), but it will pick up on normal words (“I’m so drunk”).

The phone is an Android phone, so you have access to all Android apps. I’ve been playing Fruit Ninja Free in all of my classes to pass time. There’s basically an app for anything you want. You can get radio, Google Maps, Skype and a lot more.

Read More »

There’s no accessory more essential for a college girl than a cell.  It is THE major form of communication in college and there’s really no better way to make plans,  organize parties and  stay in touch with friends on the go. Oh and how else would you be able to send casual 2 am texts to the person you like? “Oh hey, what are you up to? Yeah, let’s definitely watch a movie right now. At 2 am. Your roommates aren’t home, right?”

Now that being said any phone with talk and text would be sufficient, right?

Wrong-o.

Read More »

[There are over 100 million sites on the Internet. 100 million! You might think you know about all the important ones (CollegeCandy, Gmail, Google, Facebook…), but there are thousands of other sweet sites out there (like Jog.FM, Fellow Up and Swap.com) and more showing up every day! We get it – it’s not easy or fun sifting through the crap and porn to find those gems, so we’re gonna bring the gems to you. Just sit back, kick up those feet and allow us to introduce you to the diamonds in the internet rough.]

Ok, I’m going to come right out and admit that this week’s post isn’t a website, despite the fact that this column is called “Web Spy.” But recently, I found out about an cool mobile app and I have to share it!

LiveProfile is an awesome messaging app for your smartphone. It’s faster and better than texting, because it shows you exactly when a message is delivered, read, and when a response is being typed. It also lets you share photos, videos,  add status updates, and update to Facebook or Twitter.

You’ll love LiveProfile if you’re already a fan of BBM, but what’s great about it is that it brings that same quick messaging to all the major smartphone platforms — Blackberry, iPhone and Android! What’s even cooler is that LiveProfile lets you connect with other LiveProfile users, no matter what type of phone they have!

Be still my iPhone addicted heart. Read More »

As college girls our cell phones are our lifelines. Our way to contact our friends. To Google nagging questions. To check our e-mail and update our Facebook. We utilize them as much as we possibly can in every way we can. From scheduling to shopping.

Shopping?

Yes, shopping. Cell phones improve our lives in a lot of different ways but I bet you didn’t know they could improve the way you shop too. Well…we did, but don’t worry, we’ve decided to share our wisdom with our lovely readers. Here are seven shopping apps that will better your shopping experience!

1. ShopSavvy. Scan the barcode of that blouse with your cell phone and ShopSavvy will compare prices from over 20,000 different stores, while also providing product views. You’ll never buy a dress only to see it for 50% off somewhere else ever again! (Don’t you hate when that happens?) Download it here!

Read More »

I think it’s obvious by now that there are a lot of things I’m going to miss about being a college student. Friends. Three day weekends. The ability to plan my schedule around the latest episode of Glee. Things like that make the idea of leaving in three months and never looking back completely horrifying.

But as I inch closer and closer to graduation each day, I’ve taken the time to consider that maybe it’s not all bad. Four years is enough time to realize that college has its pros and its cons. And maybe I’ve just been looking at this whole thing the wrong way. I’m going to try for optimism instead. And that’s why I’ve listed for you a few of the things I absolutely won’t miss about college.

1. Writing papers. I’ve done my fair share of paper writing over the last four years and it never gets any more entertaining or interesting. The research is annoying. The outlining never works. The writing process is disastrous. And the entire thing just makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs and pull out ALL. OF. MY. HAIR. I’m grateful this part of my life is almost over, if only to prevent the need of wigs at such a young age.

2. Dining hall food. Even if you go to one of those schools where the food is actually edible, after four years of the same choices on rotation over and over and over again it really is time for a change. Plus, dining halls aren’t exactly known for having the healthiest dining options. That personal trainer I’ve been meaning to get will appreciate my sacrifice of no longer eating chicken fingers and fries for lunch every day.

Read More »

If research can be trusted, texting is officially the scariest epidemic plaguing society since H1N1. Or the bed bug outbreak. Or Speidi. And I’m not just talking about texting while driving, because we all know that’s just stupid. According to a recent study, people who text a lot (I’ve got one thumb pointed at myself….and the other texting my BFF) are more likely to start fights and binge drink. Yeah, I don’t really see the connection either (how can I double fist when I’ve got both thumbs on my iPhone?), but who am I to argue with science?

That’s right – nobody.

But drunken bar brawls aren’t the only dangers associated with hyper-texting. Just look at what else a few “what r u up to”s every hour can cause:

People who text sleep less: Cell phones are seductive things, and apparently the siren-like quality of a text message alert can drag innocent teenagers away from even the deepest slumber, that is if they can tear themselves away from their phones long enough to actually get in bed. Researchers believe that people stay up late at night texting and wake up periodically throughout the night to check (probably drunk) messages as they come in. Less sleep = slower reaction time, foggy brain and a whole other slew of side effects that can be dangerous.

People who text are moody: Another study shows that people who text late at night are more likely to be moody, sullen, or angry all day. Methinks this has more to do with the content of the texts (especially if they’re coming from some bully hyper-texter), but researchers argue that texting in general is the cause. Read More »

[There are over 100 million sites on the Internet. 100 million! You might think you know about all the important ones (CollegeCandy, Gmail, Google, TFLN…), but there are thousands of other sweet sites out there (like Regretsy, Clicker, and Homeslyce) and more showing up every day! We get it – it’s not easy or fun sifting through the crap and porn to find those gems, so we’re gonna bring the gems to you. Just sit back, kick up those feet and allow us to introduce you to the diamonds in the internet rough.]

How familiar does this scenario sound to you? You’re driving in your car or walking to class when you suddenly get a great idea or remember you have to do something…but by the time you get a chance to write it down, you’ve already forgotten it.  Or maybe you simply forgot to write down an assignment right when it was assigned…and then forget to turn it in. Or your roommate asked you to pick up some emergency toilet paper… and now everyone has to drip dry.

Thank god I’m here.

Meet reQall, an online service that helps you remember important ideas, dates, tasks, etc., at the exact moment they pop into your head so there’s no time to forget them. (Don’t worry, reQall isn’t some weird microchip installed in your brain.)

It’s ridiculously easy to use: just sign up for an account (you can choose between the “standard” free account and the paid “Pro” account) to get started, and then you can start adding events and reminders.  OK, so that seems pretty similar to having a planner, but it’s so. much. better. Read More »

[Everyone’s got a vice, a bad habit, something they know they need to change. Unfortunately, everyone also has a million excuses why they just can’t do it. Not anymore. Every month we will be following a different CollegeCandy writer as she takes on a personal challenge. This month we're following Ariel as she, GASP, quits Facebook. She made it through her first week, despiter her body shutting down (no, for real). She was fine during week numero dos, even feeling a sense of freedom. And then she had a little relapse. Let's check in and see how she survived her fourth and final week sans the 'book.]

So I have now gone four mostly Facebook-free weeks. Which is saying something considering my little incident last weekend. I swear the universe was playing games with me for my final week of this challenge.

I’m officially back on campus, which makes living without Facebook damn near impossible. How am I supposed to figure out my plans for the night without FB lining up my social calendar in a neat column organized by RSVPs of definitely yes, maybe (if nothing else is going on) and no you will not catch me there if suddenly you were the only house throwing down in Frat Land?

And if that’s not bad enough, during some Thirsty Thursday festivities, my Crackberry (and myself) experienced a little blackout. Yeah, my only connection to the world was gone. Without Facebook or a cell phone, there would be nearly no way to communicate with anyone. I took a moment to cry/freak out. How would I contact my friends to let them know I was going to be late for our Friday night pre-game?

It was almost scary how disconnected I felt. Read More »

Growing up, all the kids in my class had plenty of fodder to make fun of me. I was overweight, my hair was terrible, and — the nail in my social coffin to be sure — I always had ugly cell phones.

If you’ve read any of my posts, you’ll know I’ve changed myself around a lot as I’ve matured. Needless to say, the needs of a college girl are much different than the tweenie. My ugly, out-of-style flip phones with limited mobile-to-mobile texting and no internet (the horror!) were just about the death of me my first year of college. So what does this ever-changing girl do when her two-year contract with Verizon expires?

Picks herself up a Crackberry, you say? No, indeed not.
Waits on pins and needles for the iPhone to arrive? I almost might have, and solidified my yuppie status forever (holla to my Macbook sisters!) but the day before Verizon’s big announcement that they might reallypossiblyalmostfrlz carry the iPhone within the next 6 months, I’d sold myself to Sprint and the EVO.

Yes, today I dish out on the hottest phone on the market (for maybe the next 14 days). Just so you know, I actually bought this phone and the contract that goes with it, so this is a completely unsolicited testimonial. Boo.

But not really, because this phone is so, so worth it.

Here’s my running list of pros and cons. We’ll start with bad news first. Read More »