Now Boarding All Flights Via Text Message

Believe it or not, your cell phone may be just the “ticket” to ending those long lines at the airport. According to Eric Zeman’s article, “Coming Soon: Mobile Phones As Boarding Passes”¹ on InformationWeek.com, airlines will be using text messaging as the new form of communication to their passengers. Boarding passes will be sent via picture message; information regarding flight delays, rescheduling flights, baggage pickup and more can be done right from your cell phone. Flying will have less “baggage” on travelers as all these tasks will be more yielding than ever.

The feature of this unique plan that intrigues me the most is the ability to contact each passenger directly on their wireless devices about delays and cancellations. As a holiday traveler, I usually find myself in long lines for security check-in and almost always having to run around the airport to flag down an attendant only to find out if my flight’s delayed. I feel this new form of communication will do wonders for airline customers, as attendants will be more available and individuals such as myself won’t have to waste their time running a marathon around the facilities searching for an available attendant.

As for the picture message boarding pass, I think it will save time since many passengers crinkle their tickets to the point of being incapable of scanning or losing their ticket all together. I am quite guilty of destroying my boarding pass by twisting it and wrinkling it out of sheer boredom from standing in line. If this new process goes through, I won’t have to worry about destroying my ticket, but I will have to find a new way to pass the time (although hopefully there will be less time to pass).

With your traveling expertise, do you think this is a positive step forward for airlines or do you think nothing will change? How do you think this will affect you as a traveler?

—Kimberly Salesky
Marketing Assistant

¹ “Coming Soon: Mobile Phones As Boarding Passes,” Eric Zeman, Information Week, 18 March 2008.

Hands-Free--It's the Law!

I’m sure many of you have noticed the flashing signs on Interstate 295 reading: “Put the Cell Phone Down: Go Hands Free or $100 Fine.” While these signs were spotted as early as last Monday, the law didn’t go into effect until this past Saturday, March 1, 2008. The law states that drivers talking or texting on their cell phones could receive a $100 fine with a $250 surcharge unless they are hands-free.

Since 2004, it has been an offense to drive and use your handset, but it was a secondary offense up until now. A secondary offense means an officer can only fine you for being on your phone if he pulled you over for driving recklessly and places your cell phone as the culprit. Now it is a primary offense meaning you can get fined for just being on your phone and not driving recklessly at all.

As this is frustrating for many of us, there is a solution—Bluetooth®. I, too, am guilty of not owning a headset, but I’ve begun browsing our awesome selection of Bluetooth® headsets. I’ve got my eye on the Jawbone and the Motorola H700. Both have fantastic noise reduction and an abundance of talk and standby time. All of our headsets are easy-to-use and are compatible with most AT&T phones. Your headset will be worth every penny, saving you a traffic ticket and possibly your life.

We believe in keeping our customers not only happy, but safe as well. Please be careful while out on the road and remember to go hands-free. We hope to “connect” with you soon!

—Kimberly Salesky
Marketing Assistant

Grand Opening--Just in Time For Spring!

We are proud to announce that as of Friday—February 22^nd, 2008—we are now open for business with our brand new store located in Haddon Heights, New Jersey. We moved from our headquarters at 1749 Marlton Pike Route 70 East in Cherry Hill, New Jersey to 501 Station Avenue in Haddon Heights, New Jersey (conveniently located at the corner of Station Avenue and the White Horse Pike). Our retail staff is settled in the new store as of Friday, while our administrative staff will be joining them in March.

We are very excited about this transition for Car-Tel Communications. Haddon Heights is a quaint and picturesque town—perfect for a day of shopping or a leisurely stroll. There is free parking both at the rear of our store and across the street. We hope that our new location is more convenient and a more pleasant experience for many of our customers. Although you may prefer being helped by your personal service representative, you may want to visit our other Cherry Hill location, just across Route 70 (1840 Route 70 East) for your convenience. Either store will be happy to assist you.

Come celebrate with us by visiting our new location:

501 Station Avenue
Haddon Heights, NJ 08035

View Larger Map

There’s plenty to do around town, so why not stop by your new Car-Tel Communications store and “connect” with us. See you soon!

—Kimberly Salesky
Marketing Assistant

A Long Distance Call

We’ve had man on the moon, but what about man with wireless service on the moon? That’s right—according to Information Week¹, NASA and the British National Space Centre are collaborating on a mobile phone system for a future moon colony, said to be built sometime after 2020 on the south pole of the moon.

The mobile phone system—MoonLite—is planned to be a system of satellites that bounce radio signals around the moon in order to send voice and text messages between colonists and robots. Director of space science at the British National Space Centre states that the mobile phone system will resemble the “satellite phone network of the 1980s and 1990s on Earth.” It is also possible that the system could send information around the entire moon as well as to and from Earth. Imagine that for a long distance call.

Unlike our current wireless network here on Earth, the system will be extremely slow. GPRS can transmit data around 80 Kbps (Kilobytes per second) and EDGE can receive data around 200 Kbps. MoonLite will only be able to transmit data at 3Kbps and receive data at 2Kbps. That makes our network look as if it moves at the speed of light.

Although MoonLite’s downlink and uplink speed capacities aren’t exactly ideal, it’s a start. Do you truly think man will be living on the moon after 2020? How do you think MoonLite will hold up in the moon’s atmosphere? I think there is a possibility man will be colonizing the moon after 2020 and I do feel MoonLite will evolve into a faster system over time, just as cellular services have since the 1980s. Perhaps this will be a different world after in about 15 to 20 years, but I’m sure cell phones and good wireless service will still be a part of our everyday lives.

—Kimberly Salesky
Marketing Assistant

1. “MoonLite, Moon Bright: NASA To Build Wireless Phone Network On The Moon” by Eric Zeman, Information Week: OvertheAir.

Cellular Love

St. Valentine’s Day has arrived and I’m sure many of you are planning the perfect way to tell that special someone how you feel. A homemade card, flowers, a romantic dinner, a poem—the possibilities are endless. While these traditional methods are truly from the heart, there are lots of ways you can use your cell phone to make your Valentine’s Day unique, fun and of course heart-warming.

Today, text, picture and video messaging are the new greeting card. You can send a quick, heartfelt text message to your crush. A picture is worth a thousand words, so why not make that special guy or gal speechless with a loving picture message. Take your devotion a step further with a video message and sweep your sweetheart off their feet.

Be super-creative with these awesome features. Use the messaging features to give that special someone clues to find their gift—like a scavenger hunt—or send a video singing a romantic song and even show-off your talented dance moves. They’ll be sure to say, “Be mine.” How would you use your phone to send love on this romantic holiday? Do you have a sweet or funny story about using your phone’s features to tell someone how you feel?

We at Car-Tel Communications wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day—we love our customers and what better holiday to tell you that we appreciate your loyalty. Have a safe, happy and heartfelt holiday!

Spread the love with these sweet text messages:

♥FTBOMYH -- From the bottom of my heart

♥ILU -- I love you.

♥IMU -- I miss you.

♥KOTC -- Kiss on the check

♥KOTL -- Kiss on the lips

♥QT -- Cutie

♥TOY -- Thinking of you

♥XOXOXO -- Hugs and kisses

—Kimberly Salesky
Marketing Assistant