Whether a consumer is new to the world of cell phone plans or simply trying to select the best plan to control their costs, understanding the minutes involved is key. Matching the number of “free minutes” in a cell phone plan to an individual’s usage is the primary factor in avoiding extra fees and in assuring that the monthly bill is not higher than necessary.

If there are too few minutes in a given cell phone plan, the user may routinely exceed the plan limit and pay a high per minute rate for the extra talk time. If all of the available minutes are not used however, a plan with fewer minutes, and potentially a lower monthly charge, could save the user significantly.

To be able to really understand cell phone plans and make comparisons, consumers need to understand the common terminology related to the all important minutes described in the plan.

• Anytime Minutes: The anytime minutes in a cell phone plan cost nothing beyond the monthly fee. They include all calls received or placed Monday through Friday during the day time; generally considered peak times. The hours included in this time frame can vary somewhat by plan so reading the details of the plan can be important.

Any minutes used which exceed the allotment of anytime minutes are generally significantly more expensive. For instance, given an allotment of 500 anytime minutes the monthly fee might be $39.99 which averages out to just under 8 cents per minute. Minutes which exceed the plan however could run as high as $0.35 or $0.40 per minute. In addition, some plans charge roaming and long distance fees on minutes which exceed the plan, which may not be charged on anytime minutes within the same plan.

It is important to remember that the anytime minutes include minutes used to both place and receive calls in most cell phone plans in the US. There are some exceptions with specific plans which offer “free incoming” and free calling among a core group of frequently called numbers.

• Night and Weekend Minutes: If a cell phone plan includes night and weekend minutes there is no additional cost for these minutes and they do not consume the anytime minutes. In many cell phone plans, these night and weekend minutes are unlimited while others offer a set amount of time. These minutes are used during off peak times; generally between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. and all day Saturday and Sunday. Again, the specific hours included as night and weekend minutes are defined in the plan.

• Shared Minutes: Many families share a cell phone plan. Shared minutes allow them to use a common pool of anytime minutes. In many instances, this is more economical and certainly more efficient than having and monitoring separate plans for each individual. Shared minutes are also used by businesses which can use a single plan for multiple employees.

• Roll-Over Minutes: Cell phone use from month to month can vary somewhat of course. A cell phone plan that allows roll-over minutes offers the advantage of rolling over anytime minutes that are not used throughout the month. There are still limits however, as to how long the rolled over minutes will remain available so knowing the plan details is important to avoid losing unused minutes.

• Mobile-to-Mobile Minutes: Mobile to mobile minutes include calls within the same network; for instance, a call from a Sprint customer to another Sprint customer. Although it is unlikely everyone a user calls will be within the same network, this can still be a significant cost savings when signing up with a cellular provider that offers a large customer base or includes many of the people an individual calls frequently.

One twist on the mobile-to-mobile concept offers free calling to a select group of numbers identified by the user. Some T-Mobile plans for instance allow users to identify five frequently called numbers and provides free calling within that group. The five numbers can change monthly and can be different for the various members of a family that share minutes within a cell phone plan.

Although there is quite a lot of detail related to minute charges within cell phone plans, knowing this information can do a lot to control the monthly cost of such services when the rules of the specific policy are followed to get the most out of “free” calling.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) was funded, developed and controlled by the US Department of Defense. Since the late seventies, GPS has become an important aid to navigation around the world. Initially designed for the US military, GPS became publicly available years later and it is now considered an important feature in lots of consumer products.

How does GPS work? Well, basically there are three elements that make everything work: satellites, earth monitoring stations and receivers (ex: cell phone, telefone celular). GPS provides specially coded satellite signals that can be processed in a GPS receiver, enabling the receiver to compute position, velocity and time.

Today, most cell phones (telefone celular) are not limited to carry on just a conversation. Features like mp3 player, digital camera and video camera have all become standards in the latest cell phone models. It is expected that the GPS feature will soon be added to this list, and it will offer the capability of tracking any cell phone user.

The capability of tracking a cell phone user becomes important in emergency situations, like a car accident, thru the use of 911 emergency phone call, where every minute may be a matter of life or death. In situation like this, the GPS system may pinpoint the exact location of the road accident, enabling emergency services to be quickly dispatched.

It is important to mention that so far most GPS system in cell phone (telefone celular) is restricted to tracking information only. However, one can have navigational capability thru the use of full screen cell phone/PDA combos with map displays and other cellular phone accessories, and third party paid services. If one does not want to sign up for a monthly paid subscription service, he can make use of one-time-paid-only software programs that will enable some of the navigational capabilities.

Although there are many benefits in using GPS cell phones (telefone celular), there are some people who are concerned about the violation of personal privacy. Since the US Congress has not authorized location tracking without actual evidence of wrongdoing, there have been court hearings which have not approved the requests of government agencies in obtaining the cell phone GPS tracking information for suspects or ordinary citizens.

This privacy matter has made some progress towards the cell phone user`s rights, since there are some laws that have been passed which guarantees that GPS cell phone users will have some protection from the release of the tracking information, with the exception of 911 emergency cell phone calls (telefone celular). It is expected that these laws will guarantee that the benefits of GPS in cell phones will be enjoyed by everyone without infringing anybody`s privacy.

Sometimes when there is a technological innovation, there are also some concerns about privacy or some rights infringements. But no matter how much of a concern this is, it seems that a compromise will always have to be reached, so that new technologies will take their places in everyone`s lives. After all, we all live in a globalized consumer world. By the way, have you already got your GPS cell phone?