The number of landline disconnects continues to spike as Americans ditch their monopoly phone company service. That can be a very smart financial move. But what do you do if your cellular gets a lousy signal in your house?

There are a couple of marketplace solutions. T-Mobile offers an At Home service (for $10/month extra) that allows unlimited calling through your high-speed Internet line.

A device called zBoost, meanwhile, works like an early car phone with a booster and antenna to get a better signal at home. That one costs about $169 and is available through Wi-Ex.com.

Over the next few years, there will be more competitors and zBoost will get cheaper. Then you'll really have no excuse to not disconnect your landline!

Cell phones are central to how we communicate. Qwest's latest numbers show they just lost almost 8% of their installed phone lines. More and more people are deciding to go wireless only. Verizon's initiative for unlimited wireless plans starting at $99/month has really helped the push. Their deal was soon matched or one-upped by the other major wireless carriers. Numbers now show that Verizon's wireless subscribers recently jumped from 4% to 15% on the strength of their $99 plan.

Metro PCS -- one of the smaller wireless players -- has responded with its own Family Unlimited deal. They're offering 4 wireless phone lines for $100/month. No credit check, no contracts. This includes unlimited local and long-distance calling, voice mail and text messaging. You don't even get text messaging with the comparable AT&T and Verizon plans. Metro's deal can also be prorated: A family of 2 would pay $70 and a family of 3 would pay $90.

What's the catch? Well, Metro only works in select markets, so this may not be a deal for people who travel around the country frequently. But it's a no-brainer if you're a homebody. It's also a great way to completely dump your monopoly phone company landline.

Clark predicts that wireless is just going to get cheaper for minutes in the future. The iPhone and Google's Android are helping the push for these "all-you-can eat" minute plans.

Verizon has hired a "Customer Care Czar" named Tom Maguire. This man is now empowered to cut through the corporate clutter and get the company refocused on the customer. It's funny that it takes an official job title to make this happen, but that's the reality in much of corporate America.

Verizon has about 46,000 employees in call centers around the world and here at home. But those employees have no authority to solve problems. As part of Verizon's new efforts, there's now a group of 90 people at the company's corporate headquarters called the "escalation team." Their sole job is to talk to irate customers who ask for an executive by name, and they're supposed to be empowered to be able to actually solve problems for people. Congrats to Verizon for trying to make a change.

It costs a wireless company about $400 to acquire a single new customer. Yet they lose existing customers over $10 discrepancies every single day. Simply put, it's foolish to spend tons on getting new customers and then abandon them when they're on board.

Sprint is a perfect example of this faulty logic. Their customer reps were penalized if they helped a customer, and managers got incentives to not help people. That's partly why Sprint lost more than 1 million customers in a growing industry last year. Meanwhile, Radio Shack reported lousy sales because they're a big Sprint vendor. Reputation matters.

Can Verizon's new czar make a difference? We'll see…

Clark loves free services and has 2 new ones to share with you. The first comes from a company called HauteSecure.com, which protects your computer if you mistype a web address. Too often criminals will register bogus domains that may be just one letter off from a legitimate address. When you hit those fake sites, your computer may become infected with a keylogger program. So the free download at HauteSecure.com protects you by blocking sites that could threaten your computer.

The second service Clark has discovered is called ChaCha.com. This free mobile phone service allows you to ask a question by calling 800-2-CHA-CHA. You then receive a text with your answer. It's like Google for your cell phone. So far the results have been hit or miss. While it worked well during a pre-show meeting, it returned a wrong answer when Clark tried it out on air by asking, "Who won the 1964 World Series?" He received a dud answer via text message -- The New York Yankees -- in about half an hour. It was the St. Louis Cardinals who beat the Yanks in 7 games!

The iPhone has been the phone to beat since it first came out. During a recent trade show, many companies rolled out plans for their hot new iPhone killers. Samsung has gotten a lot of buzz with a new model called the Instinct, which supposedly surfs the web at 10 times the speed of an iPhone. The Instinct should be available for Sprint customers at the end of the spring.

There's so much good stuff just around the corner. Clark's phone is from a Taiwanese company called HTC. It has a built-in GPS as a standard feature. Unlike other GPS systems, this one works off cell towers instead of satellites. Meanwhile, American cell phone companies have blocked Skype from their units so they can continue ripping off people on international calls. The FCC has upheld the block, but they're bound to lose in a few years when the case works its way through the courts.

With cell phones becoming so commonplace, the cell carriers are wondering where to get their next million customers. Clark thinks they may tap the preschool market after they get done with the elementary school kids! In reality, they're focused on taking things that have become popular overseas and bringing them here.

Throughout Asia, you can go up to a restaurant that you don't know anything about; hold your phone up to the window; and photograph a barcode of sorts. That will bring up customer reviews and other information about the restaurant on your handset. The San Francisco Chronicle reports a similar service has now launched in the Golden Gate City. Look for it to become more widespread during the next 18 months to 2 years.

This business model won't just apply to restaurants. Let's say you're reading a magazine. There's an ad for a new release from your favorite musical artist. You'll soon be able to hold your phone up to a barcode on the page and cue up a sample of the artist's latest music. You'll also be able to click a button and purchase their new album. The cell carriers will, of course, get a cut of any e-commerce transactions.

Ultimately, you'll be surfing the web on your cell phone -- if you don't already do so. Clark recently got a Sprint PPC 6800 when his old cell broke. It turns out the PPC is the first cell phone to surf the web at high speeds like DSL or cable modem. When the Crackberry first came out, almost no one used it. Today 14 million Americans are Crackberry addicts. So the web will be huge on cell phones, and the barcode business model will be a part of the coming revolution.

People love their cell phones, but hate their cell phone providers. The Better Business Bureau now reports that the cell phone business has received more complaints than any other industry for 3 consecutive years. There are now 22 states with bills in various stages of consideration or adoption all seeking to establish a cell phone users' bill of rights. The response of the cell carriers has been to spend millions to fund lobbyists who are trying to get rules bent in the industry's favor. Why not just fix the bad business model instead? We're not talking about dropped calls here; we're talking about those rotten 2-year contracts. Clark is hard-pressed to find another country in the world that does these contracts.

For the longest time, the cell carriers argued that contracts were necessary because they helped subsidize the cost of cell phones. But this explanation turned out to be bogus; iPhone customers had to pay full market price for their phones, and then they were still forced into a contract! Clark has long thought consumers should be offered the choice to either buy a phone at market value with no carrier strings attached, or sign the 2-year contract with one carrier and get a free phone.

Meanwhile, all of the carriers are in cahoots with crooks. If you're not on an unlimited text messaging plan, they get paid every time you receive an unwanted spam text message. They're also ripping off teens (and their parents) by billing on behalf of third party carriers that offer ring tones and other premium services.

Why is there no movement in Washington, D.C., on the issue of a cell phone users' bill of rights? Simply put, the members of the U.S. House and Senate are in their Capitol Hill bubble. The cell industry is trying to get a preemption law that will make it illegal for any state to pass a rule governing the industry. Sounds like they're taking a cue from the airlines who managed to get New York's air passenger bill of rights overturned!

Have you been "smished" yet? Smishing is when a criminal goes phishing for your personal info via text message. This year, Americans will face an estimated 1.5 billion spam text messages. Those who use eBay, do online banking or access a brokerage account online are at the greatest risk of getting smished. So watch out for those urgent text messages seeking your personal banking info. The Washington Post reports even sophisticated people are falling for these ploys.

Text messaging is a big growth area for cons and legitimate advertisers alike. The cell carriers aren't interested in slowing down the traffic. After all, they're making money on every text you receive, unless you're on an unlimited texting plan. Meanwhile, there's a new level of security coming to your online brokerage account. Soon, you'll be able to use your mouse to put in a password on a soft screen -- instead of typing it on your keyboard. This will help minimize keylogger infiltration, where every keystroke can be remotely sent to a hacker.

Clark's executive producer Christa is walking on air because the penny-pinching guru recently converted their company cell phone plan to unlimited minutes. No longer will Clark and Christa have to fool around with 2 phones -- they used to carry one with unlimited minutes for local calling and another with a leash of minutes for all other calls. Clark decided to go with a Verizon plan that includes web surfing, texting, IM, music, e-mail, GPS and TV capabilities all for a flat rate! As a self-proclaimed flake, Christa says she's excited that she now only has to hold on to one phone.

Just days ago, Clark told you about Verizon's unlimited calling plan for $99. Verizon's move prompted AT&T and T-Mobile to match or best their offer in subsequent days. Sprint, meanwhile, took its time before jumping into the fray. Sprint was busy reporting a $30 billion loss and a projected drop of more than 1,000,000 customers over the next quarter. But if you're into deals, boy, does Sprint have one for you. They're offering unlimited calling, web surfing, texting, e-mail, GPS and TV for $99 per month. Each additional subscriber will pay $5 less per month on a family plan. This is a real long pass and Sprint is hoping it doesn't bomb. This move represents a real seismic shift in the cell business. Cell carriers have historically made big money on overages. But the future will be all about unlimited calling in different tiers (local, domestic, and even international). Meanwhile, new stats show that 33 million Americans are now exclusive cell users. That figure is up 50% in a year and will only grow.

Cell phones are getting cheaper and cheaper to use. Now Verizon -- the most expensive cell phone company -- is offering a bargain of sorts in the form of unlimited nationwide calling for a flat rate of $99. You'll pay extra if you want to include texting or Internet capabilities, but Verizon's move is pretty revolutionary. Think about the value proposition: You can eliminate your home phone, which can easily be a savings of $30 or $40 a month. Meanwhile, the typical cell phone bill is in the high $50s. Add those figures together and you're very near the $99 range, but you also get the added flexibility of a cell phone. Look for the other 3 big carriers -- AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint -- to now respond with lower pricing of their own. Another possible scenario is that this Verizon move will force Metro PCS and Cricket to marry and offer their own economical plan. This is the dawn of a new era in the cell biz!

There's something brewing right now that Clark considers akin to a national scandal. The cell phone companies are in cahoots with rip-off artists and they're stealing your money. Here's the background: Do you recall back in the landline days when people were falling victim to "The Cram"? Phone companies would bill them for fake charges attributed to a "marketing" company. These bogus fees would pop up on a page of unregulated charges on a monthly bill. The phone companies would get a cut of the action when they teamed up with these 3rd party aggregators who initiated the charges. Many people would pay year after year without questioning because they were so confused by their bills.

Now this same garbage is popping up with cell phones. The cell carriers are doing courtesy billing for 3rd party crooks that push a variety of messaging services. And of course they're getting a cut of the money once again. People are getting burned in 2 ways, actually, because cell companies are also raising the cost of text messaging. This is a virtually free transaction for them, yet they're raising rates to as high as 20 cents/text message. People are being billed for messaging services they never signed up for. For example, Clark is getting spam text messages ads. The cell carriers love this -- especially if you're not on an unlimited texting plan -- because every spam message is more money for them. If the history of "The Cram" is any indication, the FCC probably won't get involved for several more years. So you must take the responsibility of reviewing your cellular statement page by page every month. Many people just get their bill charged to their credit card every month and never see a statement. Don't be one of them! Get a paper statement and scrutinize it. This is war. They think they can get away with stealing your money, but they can only do so if you allow it.

Many years ago, Clark switched his mom's phone service to a non-traditional company that offered better rates and more features. That worked out fine for years. Then his mom recently moved, and an unreal odyssey began when they tried to get her phone service moved from the old address to her new one. Now his 83-year-old mom is without her landline. This is really laughable in 2008 when it takes just hours to move a phone number between cell phone companies. Clark had been trying for years with no success to get his mom to use a cell phone, but they aren't always senior friendly.

Recently Clark signed his mom up for a cell phone service called Jitterbug that's designed for senior citizens. Now she's a cell user for the first time in her life -- so much so that it will now be a big expense! In fact, she may no longer care about her landline when it does eventually get hooked up. There's a real business opportunity out there for entrepreneurs who can develop products that take modern technology and make it easy for elders to use. After all, seniors have all the money; why should technology exclusively be geared toward young people? Someone will make a bundle creating simplicity out of complexity.

Clark is a frequent traveler, and it's not too long ago that he recalls people queuing up in airports at endless banks of payphones. The mad rush for payphones in the pre-cell phone days gave rise to a dangerous crime called shoulder surfing. Criminals would pretend to videotape family members near the gates, but they'd really be filming people punching in their long-distance calling card numbers. The crooks would turn around and sell those codes all around the country within minutes of filming.

The days of shoulder surfing are now long gone; payphones may be the next to go. AT&T has announced that it's getting out of the payphone business. There are some 300 million people in our country and more than 250 million of them have cell phones. The 50 million that don't is largely made up of children, such as Clark's 2-year-old son and his 8-year-old daughter. But while we no longer have to worry about shoulder surfing, we can still fall victim if our cell phones are stolen. Clark gets tons of calls from people who get stuck with a huge bill when criminals make international calls on their phones. So it may be wise to get your international long distance blocked. At the very least, be sure to report your phone stolen as soon as possible. That way you'll be able to avoid this costly mess. On a related note, Continental Airlines in Houston now allows you to check in with your cell phone just by showing your e-boarding pass.

The Super Bowl is the biggest moment of the year for the ad industry. The cell phone industry, meanwhile, has the holiday season as its annual pinnacle. This is the time of year when people who are just getting out of their 2-year contracts look to switch carriers. So you'll see the Big Four advertising everywhere in an effort to woo new business. T-Mobile is one company that tends to give an early Christmas gift to the people every year. T-Mobile is like the weak sister of the Big Four, which is a shame because the Jan. '08 issue of Consumer Reports ranked it just behind Verizon in overall satisfaction. The irony here is that Verizon is the most expensive and T-Mobile is the cheapest of the bunch. In fact, T-Mobile is like the great compromise: You get the best rates and it's the one carrier people hate the least.

T-Mobile's current sale is a real winner. They're offering 1,500 peak minutes for $39/month. Notice that $40 is a real price point in this business; all the companies offer comparably priced plans before junk fees and add-ons. But 1,500 minutes is what makes this offer a keeper. For $10 more a month, you get the 1,500 peak minutes and unlimited free calling after 9 p.m. and on weekends. Just grab these T-Mobile deals fast because they probably won't be around for long. On a related note, Consumer Reports says that Sprint came in dead last in 20 major markets across the country. AT&T didn't do too much better; they came in just a hair above Sprint. But AT&T has a new leader that Clark thinks will turn things around, while Sprint remains leaderless.

There are a number of new developments in the cell phone world that have Clark excited. There's a low voltage price war between a few smaller carriers that most people don't know about, plus Verizon has an exciting new development. Let's begin with the Verizon news. Starting next year, you'll be able to bring any phone to their network and use it without having to buy a Verizon phone. You can thank Google for this. It turns out that Verizon is scared of Google launching an open wireless market. So they're trying to make themselves more competitive.

The other big news involves buying cell phone minutes, which is part of an outdated business model that may be on its way out. The move started initially with Cricket and Metro PCS, who both offer unlimited calling for a flat rate starting around $35/month. But traveling with these companies has always been a problem. Now Sprint's sub-brand, Boost Unlimited, is offering unlimited calling plans for $45/month in a dozen or so new states. Boost has an edge over Cricket and Metro because they only charge 15 cents/minute if you travel and leave your home calling area. If you're a business traveler, you may also want to check out Helio.com, which offers unlimited Internet, texting, calling and more for $119/month.

Here in the United States, cell phones are controlled by the Big Four carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile) with an iron fist. But that may soon be coming to an end. Sprint has entered into a new settlement that will allow you to keep their phone after you finish your contract. You can then go to another provider that runs on a compatible network -- such as Alltel and Virgin Mobile -- and you won't have to buy a new phone!

The old business model where cell phone companies tie you into their phone and their network makes no sense. Most of the world runs on a network called GSM. We are actually one of the only countries with two competing networks -- GSM and CDMA. Meanwhile, public revulsion over the Apple/AT&T iPhone deal is really helping to bring about a new day in the industry. Isn't it funny that with all the talk of smart phones our mobile devices are actually much dumber than the phones people use overseas? In fact, Verizon takes smart phones and dumbs them down on purpose to disable functions that they can't figure out how to monetize yet! So Clark loves the outcome of the Sprint lawsuit because it will really help open things up. Soon we'll buy phones like we do any other piece of technology. You don't buy your computer from your Internet service provider, do you? No, you buy it elsewhere and then hook it up. Cell phones will one day be like this.

Some of our recent callers have alerted us to cell-phone horror stories when traveling overseas. They've been burned for charges ranging from $5/minute on a cruise to an $8,500 bill for a variety of international calls. A slightly cheaper option is to enroll in your carrier's own international calling plan. If you choose to go this route, make sure you get an e-mail confirmation of your enrollment before you travel. A better and cheaper option still is to buy a prepaid SIM chip online. You might want to use Telestial.com, which is good for when you're doing a single-country trip. Check out RangeRoamer.com if you're going to be traveling to multiple nations. What if you're taking an action adventure trip in uncharted terrority? Try buying or renting a satellite phone, which will still cost less per minute than the usual charges from your carrier. Another tip for travelers: Get an unlocked world phone. T-Mobile will unlock your existing handset after 90 days, while AT&T requires you to complete your contract before they unlock you. You can also try going on eBay and buying an already unlocked world phone on the cheap.

The whole text messaging phenomenon is really misunderstood by many adults. Clark recently heard a government regulator in the telephone industry admit he's not familiar with texting. Parents are often similarly oblivious. That's why unlimited text messaging is a real help. If you have text-happy teens, it helps ensure that your kids don't run your bill into the ground every month. But those unlimited plans don't cover all text messaging services -- especially some premium services that are advertised on MTV and elsewhere. There was a recent news report about one developmentally disabled teen that ran up a $10,000 bill in one month using these services. The sad thing is that the child's parents had an unlimited text messaging plan through Sprint. The cell phone carriers get a kickback for doing the billing, so there's no real incentive for them to modify their practices. Parents need to be aware of this danger and teach their children not to give into alluring services that offer dating opportunities, a joke of the day or horoscopes sent directly to their handsets, among other things. But there's a larger problem here. How can you even get the FCC on this issue if the commissioners don't know what text messaging is?!

If you were expecting Google to announce the rumored Gphone today, you might have been disappointed. But Google did announce a new platform called Android that promises to shake up the traditional cell phone monopolies. Soon you'll be able to take any wireless device you want and access phone calling, e-mailing, web surfing, music and TV on your digital device. This is not a Star Wars thing that's 10 years away; this should start happening late next year! Google found support for Android among a lot of big-money players. They all see the financial advantages of busting up monopoly cell phone companies who want to control everything on their platform. What the future holds from here on out is almost limitless. But free cell phone calling will probably be one benefit!

Good news for some cell phone customers who thought the industry's contract termination fees were too heavy-handed. AT&T recently announced that it will begin prorating its cancellation fees. Right now you have to pay the full cancellation fee if you want out at any time before the standard 24-month contract ends. But under the new rules, you'll be able to just pay a fraction of that cost because it will be pro-rated. AT&T is simply following Verizon's lead here. No word yet if T-Mobile and Sprint will follow suit, but it all begs the question: Is the cell phone industry ready to usher in a new customer-friendly age?

The dominance of the iPhone has really blackened the eye of the industry as people saw how the major carriers pervert capitalism by locking people into two-year contracts. Think about it: Each carrier forces you to buy a cell phone from them and then they make it usable only on their own network. Clark believes this is idiotic; it's like the power company telling you that you can't use a toaster that you didn't buy from them. Walt Mossberg, a usually chipper Wall Street Journal columnist, recently wrote with vitriol about the four carriers' stranglehold on the industry. He compared it to you buying Internet access and then the provider saying you can't visit a certain website. We need to bust this chokehold because it's bad for the country and consumers alike.

Do you remember when it was free to call directory assistance? Some free services are making a comeback thanks to a new ad-based business model. Clark's teenager recently called old-fashioned directory assistance and was charged a $1.80 before he told her about 1-800-FREE-411. Google has also launched a free service (for business listings only) available at 1-800-GOOG-411. Meanwhile, AT&T has its own service through 1-800-YellowPages.

People sometimes gripe that the numbers they get from these free services aren't always correct. But there was a recent study that found the numbers you get from paid services are just as likely to be wrong. So why pay extra for the chance of a wrong number? Clark often turns to the Internet when he's looking for a number. He practically never looks in a phone book anymore. Remember the 1979 move The Jerk starring Steve Martin? There was a scene where the new phonebook arrives and Martin goes running for it, looks up his name and shouts, "I am somebody! I'm in the phonebook!" Pretty soon people won't know what the whole phonebook phenomenon is about. In the future there may not be any phonebooks, because the costs to print and distribute them are so high. The bottom line is that you shouldn't be paying for directory assistance when there are so many free options out there. On a related note, Clark was talking to someone who lost their cell phone just a few days ago. The person discovered that thousands of dollars in international calls had been made by the thief. Under the current law, that person is responsible for those costs. To avoid a scenario like this, call your cell phone provider and get an international calling block.

Some of you may recall when Clark mentioned that Google is trying to develop a cell phone you can use for free in return for watching ads on it. It's been one of the worst kept secrets in the electronics industry. Google is getting ready to bid on spectrum at an upcoming federal auction to facilitate the proposed build-out. Mind you there's be no confirmation from Google of all this. But Verizon is terrified that Google will launch free cell phone service and destroy their costly pricing model. In fact, Verizon filed suit against the federal government trying to invalidate the rules for the upcoming auction.

How realistic is it that cell phone use could be free? Well, in Britain there's already a company called Blyk that offers free calling and free text messaging. The initial Blyk rollout is only for people between the ages of 16 and 24 -- so they can tightly target them with certain ads. Coca-Cola was one of the first advertisers to sign up. So what Google is talking about behind the scenes is already happening overseas. Meanwhile, Clark thinks Verizon is foolish to try to use the courts to block innovation. The truth is that they run a good company, and they shouldn't be afraid to compete in the free market.

The iPhone has been a huge hit for Apple. It's also left a lot of people disgruntled because of Apple's exclusive deal with AT&T. Users of the iPhone are handcuffed to a two-year contract with the phone carrier. Apple released the iTouch to quell some of the criticism. The iTouch has the look and feel of the iPhone and all its bells and whistles. But it is not enabled for phone service! Now Verizon has become envious of the iPhone's success and done something it never does. The company has announced some vaporware in the form of competing products that are due around Christmas. They're supposed to be like the iPhone or even better, but we'll have to wait and see if they materialize. No word yet if T-Mobile or Sprint will do the same.

Clark recently was in an Apple store in a mall and it was packed with people on a night when other the stores were empty. Customers were playing with Macintosh computers, iBooks, iPods, nanos, iPhones and more. The sleekness of Apple products looks like something from a science fiction movie of the future. Clark is really impressed with Apple's design sense. For example, Clark's wife has a Mac now for her business. It cost a fortune, and Clark could have bought four desktop PCs running Vista for the price his wife paid. But his wife has a connection with her Mac like it's a person. That's because Apple's Steve Jobs is a creative genius who knows how to really make products pop. Look at Pixar. Also co-founded by Jobs, Pixar combines artistry and electronics in a way that's warm, exciting, colorful and stylish. Most people are willing to pay for all the pizzazz -- but not Clark!

Do you get spam text messages on your cell phone? Clark recently got the same spam message on both of his cell phones from two different carriers. It was a text message for a "hot" stock that he later read was making the rounds. This whole field has become a new battleground in the cell phone business as spammers have moved from e-mail to text messages. The cell phone companies benefit whenever you get spammed because most people are on metered plans and pay five or 10 cents for every text they receive. If this sounds like you, call your carrier and ask to be reimbursed or credited for every spam text that hits your phone. After all, it's your money -- no matter how little it is. You may also want to get unlimited text messaging if you have teens on your plan. Some teens use text messaging a hundred times a day! Finally, you might also want to have international calling blocked on your cell. This will protect you from hefty expenses if your phone is stolen and someone tries to call overseas.

As the nation's third largest cell-phone provider, Sprint has caught a lot of heat from Clark over the years. He often cites the company as perhaps the worst example of customer-no-service in modern American capitalism. But Clark isn't the only one slamming the company. Consumer Reports, the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power have all given Sprint the lowest ranking in their surveys of the four major cell-phone providers. The company recently went through a quarter where they lost a lot of customers, but now they're slowly gaining some back.

Today Clark gave Jerry Adriano -- Sprint's VP of Customer Experience -- air time to outline how the company is trying to improve itself. Adriano explained that after many requests, Sprint is now confirming all customer transactions via e-mail to ensure there are no misunderstandings when you speak to a representative. They're also going a step further by rolling out "transaction wizard" software on their end to guide customer service reps through all transactions steps. On the retail level, Sprint wants to address its understaffing problems so that customers will be served whether they're at a store to make a new purchase, have a phone repaired or get some help with routine account maintenance. A lot of these changes have been in the works for the past three or four months, so if you're not already seeing them in place you should in the next 60 days. Adriano also advises customers to use the existing tools online for help, such as the rate plan advisor tool and the network coverage tool. Finally, he shared an e-mail address Sprint has set up to help customers get their issues resolved. Customers should send their problems to customerresolutioncenter@sprint.com and include name and contact info.

The Apple nation is in an uproar because the computer giant has slashed iPhone prices by $200. When the iPhone first hit the market, it sold for $600; now it's selling for $400. All the Apple loyalists who stood in line and camped out to buy the iPhone on the first day feel the company owes them back their extra $200. Early adopters always get their wallet emptied out for them. They pay big money to deal with the bugs of something that's new so the rest of us can benefit from it down the road at cheaper prices. No word yet from Apple if they'll make any concessions to those who paid $600. Meanwhile, one big gripe from iPhone users has been that the whole system is built on AT&T's outdated Edge system. So now Apple is offering the iPod Touch. For the same price, the Touch features all the iPhone capabilities except for the phone service! It works on wifi networks, so savvy customers who use Skype and other VoIP providers will still be able to use it to make calls.

In other tech news, there's a new product out there being marketed under the Vudu brand. Vudu is essentially a $400 box that hooks up to your TV and allows you to watch movies on demand instantly. There are 5,000 titles at your fingertips ranging in price from 99 cents for older films to $3.99 for new releases. When you hit play, the movie starts with no download delay. This is possible because the first few minutes of all the movies are stored in the Vudu box. The remainder of the film you select is then downloaded while you watch the flick uninterrupted. Best of all you don't have to leave your home to rent a DVD or wait for it to come in your mailbox. This is very convenient, but you'll be a beta tester if you buy this now. Historically, whenever you shell out for new electronics you're always at a disadvantage. Clark recalls paying $499 for his first GPS unit and now he sees sleeker models that are easier to use for $149!

Metro PCS and Cricket may be getting ready to merge. These companies are like the Southwest Airlines of the cell phone business. They run extra-lean operations and undercut traditional cell phone operators by a handsome margin, passing the savings on to customers. With Metro and Cricket, flat-rate calling usually starts at $30/month for unlimited calling. The only problem is that if you travel, you may or may not be able to use your phone because Metro and Cricket don't have coverage across the country. Metro is now looking at the possibility of buying Cricket's parent company. If this happens, it would create a fifth major player in the telecommunications industry. Metro and Cricket together would offer an all-you-can eat buffet, so to speak, instead of having customers sign terrible contracts and pay all kinds of fees like the other four major providers do. Clark is guessing that Sprint or T-Mobile will be the first to cry uncle and start offering more customer-orientated plans if the merger takes place. Sprint is already offering some such plans through their Boost Mobile division. Things can only get better for the consumer!

Few industries have higher dissatisfaction rates than the cell phone industry. That's probably because Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile continue stubbornly to force people into lousy two-year contracts. When you sign up, you get a phone for a very little or free that comes with a two-year agreement, usually printed in mice type. The contract is like a handcuff that forces you to stick with the carrier whether they're doing a good job or not. Fortunately a lot of the growth in the cell phone field has been with under-the-radar players like MetroPCS, Cricket, Boost Mobile (a division of Sprint) and others. Many of these companies offer unlimited calling with no contract. Verizon is staring to wise up slightly and now pro-rates its fees for cancelling a contract. But AT&T still claims that contracts subsidize the cost of free phones. So how do they explain the fact that the iPhone, which retails for between $500-$600, has a two-year contract? There's no logic here.

AT&T recently lost a lawsuit in a federal court of appeals that will now pave the way for a number of class-action lawsuits. The company had hoped to prevent customers from going the class-action route by forcing them into kangaroo court arbitration. But the courts ruled this practice is illegal. Now one of the class-action suits coming down the pike alleges AT&T continued forcing customers into contracts even when its network couldn't handle the number of subscribers and the company's call reliability dropped. Keep in mind that you can try getting out of your contract by trading it away if you're not the class-action type. CellSwapper.com and CellTradeUSA.com are two companies that charge a fee of about $20 to transfer your contract to someone else. And remember that when you get some mice type in the mail saying the service fees are changing, that is your opportunity to exit from your contract without paying a cancellation fee.

There are “moisture” strips inside cell phones that show whether your phone has gotten wet or been submerged. Cell phone companies use these like law to void your warranty and deny you repair service. The cell companies claim they are “foolproof,” but in fact, according to the New York Post, they are faulty lots of times. It’s been proven that just by putting a damp cloth next to the phone, you can change the color of the strip! So if you have a problem with your cell phone, and you were told your warranty is void because you got it wet (when you know you really didn’t), here’s what Clark recommends. Find an old cell phone you’re not using anymore, take it back to the store, put a damp cloth near the strip on the battery, and prove to them right there that the strip is not accurate!

All around the country, state laws are being passed that ban teens from talking, texting and e-mailing on cell phones while driving. But what about adults who are still doing all this stuff while behind the wheel? Clark has a self-imposed rule that he tries to follow with varying degrees of success: If he needs to make or take a call, he pulls off to the side of the road. Clark is also acutely aware of the addiction some people have to their Blackberrys. He's set his Blackberry so that he only receives e-mail 16 times throughout the day instead of every time a message comes into his inbox. That helps prevent him from becoming a "Crackberry" addict. But for some people it gets to the level that they have to shut down their Blackberrys for weeks at a time to break the addiction. In fact, one in five people feels "tech gadget remorse," according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Meanwhile, text messaging is so much a part of our culture that there have been lawsuits against Deal or No Deal, The Apprentice and 1 vs. 100. These shows charge you roughly a dollar to text in and win prizes related to the program. Isn't that like illegal gambling?

China is a communist country that has many capitalist tendencies. Mobile phone technology like text messaging now allows people to express opinions to each other without the fear of censorship. Just as modern technology makes it possible for there to be a variety of voices, it also makes it harder for one person or political party to have a huge influence. Books like 1984 were filled with fears that technology would aid dictatorships, but China is showing the opposite proves true. China's fellow communist neighbor in North Korea is now frightened that its people will revolt after hearing radio ads from South Korea where there's a free-market economy pushing new cars, appliances and so much more. It seems like there's always skepticism about technology. Now there's even a question in the medical field about whether video games can be addictive. But the reality is that technology is so useful to us in so many ways.

If you really want to annoy someone, call them up on their cell phone with a poll or survey for them to take. Unlike using a landline, people pay for their minutes when they receive incoming calls on the cell phone. So they don't want to talk to pollsters while the meter is running. Pollsters traditionally collect their data by landline, so they're having a real problem in the age of the mobile phone. One in seven people no longer have a home phone, and that number rises to about one in three for households with people up to the age of 30. A San Francisco Chronicle story that Clark read recently made the point that it's going to be very hard to have realistic polling data for the 2008 presidential race because of the popularity of the cell phone.

The unlikely impact that going mobile has had on politics isn't limited to skewing the results for pollsters. Cell phone-only homes are more likely to be Democrat than Republican, with 53 percent of the households identifying themselves as blue voters and 30 percent as red voters. And if in the future, home phones may die out all together, that's when polling will become really difficult. Already traditional call-out research in the radio and TV industries (where people in a given area are called and asked about their favorite artists, songs or shows to help compile playlists) is on the decline. So where is polling research headed? To the internet, of course, thanks to online surveys! There may even come a time when politicians have to go back to making decisions based on their gut, rather than what some survey or research tells them.

Sprint manages to be at the front of the cell phone industry pack for the world’s worst customer service. Sprint has fired 1,000 customers because they asked for too much customer service! What kind of company fires customers because they want to talk to customer service too often for billing problems and technical problems? The real problem is that Sprint runs a lousy business—they are the only major cell phone company losing customers. If you call customer service too often for their taste, Sprint lets you out of your contract! So if you’re unhappy with Sprint and don’t want to pay the cancellation charge just call a lot for help and you’ll get dropped! This is your way to get rid of Sprint: by making them want to get rid of you.

One more trick of the trade: If the four major cell phone companies -- Verizon, AT&T (formerly Cingular), Sprint and T-Mobile – send you some legal mumbo-jumbo and try to change your contract, and you are unhappy with them, you can deny the new terms of service and get out of it without having to pay a penalty. On a related note, Clark says the new iPhone is absolutely neat. That’s mostly because Apple demanded to be in charge of the cell phone’s abilities. Apple went to the various carriers and demanded control over the phone. AT&T was the only one that took them up on the offer. However, Clark doesn’t like the iPhone contract AT&T insists that you sign.

T-mobile has just released a new technology where your cell phone can switch over to wifi automatically when it senses it in range. They have a new plan where you can get unlimited minutes in a wifi spot for $10 a month as the introductory rate. This means that when you make calls from a wifi spot it won't count against your minutes. As of today, the service is available nationally. This also would make calls based out of your home, if you have wifi, totally free. So check it out, it might save you some dough.

People are already lining up to buy the iPhone, even though it doesn't go on sale for a few more days. To get it, you're going to need to sign a two year contract. AT&T always claims they make you sign contracts in order to subsidize the phone, but this time, they're just lying--you're purchasing this phone from Apple! Apple's made the iPhone as sleek and easy to use as their other products, and it's packed with features. In other countries, there are no restrictions on what features a phone can have, but in the U.S., the cell phone companies control what a cell phone is allowed to do. Let's say you want GPS....U.S. phone companies want to be the ones to sell you that service, so they make cell phone makers deactivate the GPS feature. Apple has been aggressive towards these cell phone companies, and maintain that no one can say what the phone does except them. Apple has made this a true consumer purchase, letting the consumer decide what it will do, as it should be. So ultimately the iPhone is going to democratize the cell phone industry.

Over ¼ of people in their twenties have no home phone, only alternate forms such as a cell phone. This is such a great thing because land lines have become so outdated. So make a conscious effort to see how much you use your monopoly phone line in your house. If it is only on rare occasions, ditch it and save yourself some money.

Do you have a credit card with your school’s logo or mascot on it? How about a certain organization you love? They are called affinity cards and the new trend is to manufacture affinity cell phones. You will be able to get a cell phone with your university on it or companies will be able to offer phones with their logo. Clark won’t be running out to do this because the pricing is nothing great. Not to mention the fact that there are enough complaints about cell phones already. Clark doesn’t want his cell phone causing people problems. But you may want to check it out when these become more popular.

People have a love-hate relationship with their cell phones. Sometimes they’re great and very handy. But the companies we must deal with drive us nuts. Normally, with so much competition in a particular industry, companies do a great job serving customers. But that’s not the case with cell phones. The companies tie us to contracts because they’re basically afraid to lose us as customers. Most companies require at least a one-year contract, but some still require a two-year contract. It’s unbelievable. The one national exception is Verizon, which pro-rates the cancellation fee, depending on how long you’ve been with the company. Two local companies don’t require a contract at all: Metro PCS and Cricket Communications. The good news is that a new company is coming to the States and it allows people much more flexibility with their options. It’s called “Car Phone Warehouse,” and it lists every single phone and its pricing options. Basically, you are able to see all of the options right there instead of having to travel from store to store. The company is only in Europe right now, but it will team up with Best Buy and soon set up shop in the Northeastern U.S. The prediction is that Car Phone Warehouse will offer many more options and, therefore, will help reduce cell phone costs.