Satellite v Cable: The Winner Is...

The Dish On Satellite TV Versus Cable TV

A fierce battle is carrying on between satellite TV and cable TV in America. While cable has lots of option with numerous providers, satellite also has lots of choices but only two providers – DishNetwork and DirectTV. The choice between the services is such a close call that it boils down to preference. Some cable fans quickly point out that satellite is a fair-weather friend and some satellite fans boast of satellites versatility in channels. You be the judge and weigh each side.

In the United States, satellite TV subscribers have a choice between Direct TV and DishNetwork. Cable TV providers, on the other hand, are more abundant. Most cable subscribers choose either basic cable or digital cable. Digital cable has many more options than basic cable. Both satellite and cable hook up with DSL Internet service, HDTV, TiVo, parental control and other fun features. However, to get these services, you'll need extra equipment. Satellite TV scores one up on cable in this round: high definition reception automatically comes through satellite TV, whereas cable TV currently makes customers pay extra for this reception. This advantage will soon end once HD is mandatory on all new sets and all channels will come through HD. The time-line for this change in the United States is anticipated by the year 2007.

The more options the better, according to many subscribers. Satellite wins hands down in this arena, although cable undoubtedly carries lots of channels. Many fans of satellite TV believe its reception is crisper and love the fact you can interact with many channels. You can also watch a satellite sports channel and turn off the broadcaster or watch a sports event and leave out commercials. Cable TV may soon catch up since it's trying out a few new interactive channels such as Time Warner Cable's interactive games and sports news.

Cable TV doesn't limit all you TVs to broadcasting the same channel on every TV. You can watch different channels on different TVs. This isn't so easy to do with satellite TV. You need a separate receptor box to get a different reception than what's showing on a different TV. However, one receptor box can be hooked up to as many as 6 sets. The satellite TV providers are now offering these boxes for free rather than charging for additional boxes in the past. Even though cable TV comes through a cable line hooked up to your TV, cable seems to win in this department.

While weather can sometimes affect cable reception, a lot more can interfere with satellite TV signals. A satellite TV dish needs to be obstruction-free to the south of where it's placed (reception of satellite TV comes from the South). Most subscribers have their dish located either on their roof or porch. While some homeowner associations and landlords try to ban this placement, homeowners and renters have FCC regulations on their side.

No one can say for sure who's winning in the battle between cable and satellite. The call appears very close. Whichever service you decide has more to do with your preference for one option or another since the costs even look close and the issues look pretty upfront. So, which side are you on?

About The Author
Copyright 2005 Frederick Greystone. All rights reserved.
Frederick Greystone is the owner of RGW Satellite Inc which one of the best resources for information on satellites on the internet. Be to take a look at his complete archive of articles: http://www.rgwsatellite.com/

Just What Is Surveillance Technology?

The technology of surveillance equipment is continuing to advance at a very rapid pace. As a result surveillance equipment has become almost ubiquitous in retail stores, public schools, gas stations, and airport terminals all across the United States. There is a wide range of surveillance technology that is available on the market. Surveillance equipment ranges from wiretapping phone and internet based equipment to high tech facial feature recognition computer software known as biometrics.

Surveillance equipment makes the world infinitely more manageable for people who need to protect their belongings and protect people and make its far more difficult for people who actually want to commit crime. As more of the high-tech surveillance equipment becomes more and more easily available to the general public and small business owners, more and more people will reap the benefits.

The basic concept that underpins a piece of surveillance-equipment is one of 'you will be seen'. The gist of it is that criminals may well think twice about committing a crime if they think they might be seen, identified and then found later on and be charged with a crime. Although it is unlikely that everything can be caught on surveillance camera at one time, on the occasions when surveillance does pick up activity, it does provide enormous help to security and police in identifying the offenders.

These days the more advanced surveillance equipment operates in the same way in an effort prevent crime from occurring, so it has not veered from its original intent. Indeed many small businesses decide to install dummy cameras that don't actually record anything, indeed don't even turn on, but act more as a preventative measure for potential offenders.

One of the main reasons for the establishment of surveillance equipment is to prevent the theft of merchandise from stores and warehouses. Usually offenders come from outside the company and so the theft can be caught on tape and referred to the police. But on occasion the offender will actually come from within the company and then employee policy needs to be implemented. Upon discovering the internal offender that employee will usually find themselves without a job.

Apart from the examples outlined earlier, shopping malls, parking garages, office buildings, and warehouses and financial institutions all now commonly use video based surveillance equipment in order to protect their wares and to also to limit the costly losses incurred by dishonest employees. Major department stores who have high internal theft rates use these video surveillance systems to actively prosecute thieving employees.

About The Author
Julianna Munro is the owner of First Surveillance which is a premier source of information about Surveillance. For more information, go to: http://firstsurveillance.com

Choosing a Cell Phone Plan

Choosing a cell phone plan can be exciting or confusing. The reason is so many options are available and each one is claimed to be the best option. There may be several options available to you but the best option should be one that fits your lifestyle and needs.

There are two major ways to choose a cell phone plan : By considering prepaid or post paid plans, and frequency and area of coverage.

A prepaid service may be suitable for someone who does not use the phone everyday or regularly as the credit ca be extended over a long period of time. Why pay a fixed amount each month for a service you may be using once a while?

A prepaid service will not require rigorous background checks like credit checks. So if you have a poor credit rating, this is your obvious choice as credit approval is a requirement for connection to this service.

If you are uncertain about future income, prepaid is ideal as there are no monthly service charges to be honored.

Additionally, prepaid does not involve bills and a highly mobile person will find the post paid and its resultant bills uncomfortable as he keeps moving away from his permanent address.

If you are allergic to paperwork and contracts, stick to post paid as post paid demands contact, documents and a lot of administrative work.

Prepaid is also ideal for people who need to conceal their identity as there is no way you can be identified with a prepaid service.

One great disadvantage of prepaid is that a lot of features are not available to you.

With regards to coverage and frequency of use factors, where you intend to use the phone and how often you use the phone will determine which service to go for.

If you travel a lot, then you will have to go for one that allows you to roam whilst still maintaining your cell number. If the company does not cover your area of business, then it may not be worth going forth.

Again some carriers charge according to the geographical area you would be making the call from so it is prudent to subscribe to the service that will cover your area..

On the other hand, if you will remain home for most of the time, then you may have to choose a local service plan as a wider geographical area will cost you more unnecessarily.

You may need to ask yourself "Am I going to use the phone for emergencies, occasionally or for business?" A business phone needs a service that is cheap and highly flexible so you can be able to run your business with great ease and least cost.

If you would need the phone for only three hours a month for example, then you may not have to go for an expensive monthly plan which has to be paid for each month irrespective of the usage.

Lastly, do you want a digital or analog service? If you a simple caller with no sophiscated needs, you may need a simple analog service but if you an advanced user you may have to go for a more expensive digital service.

Your phone plan is a reflection of your needs and profile. Moderate users should choose the least expensive option to save money and advanced users should opt for enhanced features which come at a greater cost but essentially serve their needs.

About The Author
Peter Lenkefi
For more more information about choosing a cell phone plan please visit http://www.free-cellular-phone-deal.com
plenkefi@yahoo.com.au

All You Wanted To Know About Ringtones

Ringtones are the sounds that mobile phone make to signal incoming calls or text messages. The essential characteristics of ringtones is that it can be customized to suit the individual's taste and that feature could be said to influence consumers so much in the choice of phones.

Ringtones are popular for several reasons:

They can be assigned to specific numbers so you know who is calling by the sound

They help individuals in crowded settings to know their phone is the one ringing

And for the youth, it is a way of carrying their popular songs with them wherever they go to.

There are three kinds of ringtones in operation now.

Monophonic ringtones are basic sequential notes that makes a single tone at a time. In effect they are not musical as one note success the other like a piano composition.

Polyphonic ringtones can play i6 notes at a time and therefore highly musical. It can produce harmonic sounds and they are a regular feature of modern phones.

Digital samples use mp3 and wav files as ringtones; making them the most sophiscated as it means computer generated sounds can be used as ringtones.

Technically, a ringtone is a program that activates the phone's speakers anytime it picks text messages or incoming call signals.

Ringtones are based on a programming language called Ringing Tone Text Transfer Language (RTTTL) which was developed by Nokia .

Ringtones are available in various forms. They can be hard-coded onto your phone from the factory. In that case, you only have to scroll the phone menu and pick the one you would like to use as your tone.

You can also download ringtones from the web. In this case, you can use a data cable and transfer the files to your phone and then use as ringtones. Ringtones on the web can also be downloaded onto phones through WAP services or SMS transfer. You can alternatively use the key press sequence offered by various sites. With this method, you only follow the steps on the web page to accomplish the composition.

Lately, you can compose your own tones by pressing the various keys on your keypad to mimic various notes. Generally, the alpa keys on the phone correspond to the tonic solfa and with a little ingenuity you can compose some primary tones.

If mobile phones have increased in popularity, ringtones have played a big role. As more and more ways to generate tones evolve, so will be the demand for them.

About The Author
Peter Lenkefi
For more more information about cell phone ringtones please visit http://www.samsung-mobile-phones.net
plenkefi@yahoo.com.au

Getting Wallpapers And Logos For Your Mobile Phones

The concept of mobile phone wallpaper is the same as that of a PC.

They are backgrounds, usually graphical, that appear on the phone when the handset is switched on. On some phones, wallpapers can double as screensavers that appear after some inactivity on the phone.

Wallpapers are fun to implement as it is one of the features of a mobile phone that you can customize to suit your preference. Many people use pictures taken with the phone's own camera, downloaded images or graphics sent via SMS to them.

Wallpapers were created as an extra incentive for buyers to patronize phones in the face of competition in the industry. It is one of the areas of converging technology where computer application are gradually being merged into mobile phone applications. Phone manufacturers added wallpapers to their phone features to serve as incentive for buyers who would like to see their phones featuring their favorite PC wallpapers. These innovations have the aim of producing innovative features to their buyers so that the mobile phone use becomes more fun and interactive.

No matter the brand of your phone, be it Nokia, Motorola, Siemens Panasonic, Alcatel, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Philips, Sagem, Sharp or Toshiba ther are many kinds of wallpapers to suit any kind of handset.

Your phone may come with a preset wallpaper or non at all. Setting up or changing the wallpaper is no hassle at all and the menu interface is there to guide you through the process. If your phone does not have interesting wallpapers, you can download some from the web if your phone supports it. It is however of importance to note that wallpapers would normally work with color screens.

Like ringtone, you can download wallpapers from the web using either a cable transfer, WAP server or SMS service.

If you are zealous about wallpapers you may have to consider screen resolution and sizes. Before downloading the wallpaper ensure that your screen resolution can support the wallpaper graphics. High resolution graphics especially pictures can occupy a large amount of space and therefore requires increase in memory if you would want to obtain them. Aside that, the screen size may not be compatible with the graphic you are downloading.

Now let's search the web for some free wallpapers.

http://www.freemobilefun.net features colorful wallpapers which several phone sets can support. Each page displays about 15 pictures and together there are about 15 genres to select from.

Wallpapers add vitality to mobile phones especially with handsets that can use them as screen savers. Remember they can be customized from your stored digital pictures if you want to be constantly reminded of a favorite scene anytime you make a call.

About The Author
Peter Lenkefi
For more more information about mobile phone wallpapers and logos please visit http://www.cell-phone-wallpaper-search.com
plenkefi@yahoo.com.au