Environmental Working Group: Radiation levels of wireless phones

The Environmental Working Group has recently released their ratings on radiation emissions for wireless phones. I have previously blogged on them regarding sunscreen here.

The maximum level needs to be less than 1.6 W/kg. It looks like the HTC Touch Diamond may be the lowest emitting model that is still in production at 0.86. The HTC Touch Pro is 0.91. The iPhone 3G S emits up to 1.19.

My Centro model emits up to 1.35.

There's a bunch of models that are not rated. You can view the complete list by clicking here. If you are interested in PDA/Smartphones you can click here.

Most mobile phones synchronize with Google Calendar

In this previous post, I briefly discussed the lack of a need to get an iPhone.

I noted a potential reason to get an iPhone is for the continuous synchronizing (if you subscribe to the MobileMe service). Several phones (including iPhone, but not the Centro...bummer) allows direct synchronizing with Google Calendar (which is currently free for Google accounts).

So for iPhone users, consider using Google Calendar to avoid MobileMe charges.

Click here to go to Google's site on synchronizing with mobile phones.

Chart by BillShrink.com: iPhone 3GS vs. Palm Pre vs. Android G1

Ran into this chart briefly comparing some of the key features of these 3 phones.

Click here for the chart. Click here for the article.

Still dragging my feet to make any jump. I need tethering and my Palm Centro is still working. I know there are hacks to tether, but would rather wait at this point. View my previous discussion of iPhone vs. Centro by clicking here.

Palm or iPhone?

I don't have an iPhone. Right now I don't feel that I "need" an iPhone. Here are my current thoughts (what I like and dislike):

• Love the screen size and the interface (but my Palm Centro is working fine right now). The whole device is wider (but thinner) than the Centro.
• I know there's a hack to use the phone as a modem when I'm traveling, but the Centro is serving that purpose at around 400kbps.
• It requires a higher monthly rate than I'm paying right now, and I don't need the unlimited minutes. I'm currently paying for unlimited text, internet, phone as modem, premium on-line content for one line and shared minutes and nearly unlimited texting capability for a second line all for about the same price as the one iPhone.
• All my current software will need to be replaced (HandDBase, PowerOneFinance with Solver, etc).

The biggest "rationale" for "needing" an iPhone is to instantly sync my calendar that is on my phone/pda with another resource (IE mac.com) so that my wife can instantly view it OR we both sync to the same resource so that when my iPhone calendar changes, it will show up on her iPhone. That would be cool (but also more than $200 per month or about $2,500 per year for that).

No iPhone at this time...