Cell phones, smart phones, and PDAs

More than 90 percent of Americans own a cellphone today, and a growing number of those cellphone users are children. But how young is too young for a cellphone?

Cellphone or smartphone for kids?

Dear Maggie, This is a two-part question. I'm considering getting a cellphone for my 11-year old daughter for Christmas. A lot of girls in her class already have phones. She's been begging me for one. But I'm not sure if this is too young. What do you think?

Also, at what age do you think it's appropriate for a child to switch … Read more

It's Black Friday, the busiest day of the shopping year, and Ask Maggie is here to help you with questions about holiday shopping.

In this edition, I offer some advice to one mother considering substituting an Amazon Kindle Fire for an iPad as gift for her son. And I suggest a game console for a gaming newbie, who wants to get the whole family up and moving this Christmas.

Ask Maggie is an advice column that answers readers' wireless and broadband questions. The column now appears twice a week on CNET offering readers a double dosage of Ask Maggie'… Read more

Amazon and Barnes & Noble have made e-readers and now tablets so inexpensive that almost anyone can get them, even poor students. But are these tablets up to the task of replacing those big, heavy college textbooks?

In this edition of Ask Maggie, I try to answer that question. I help one mother who is considering getting either the Amazon Kindle Fire or the Nook Tablet for her college-student daughter so she can download digital textbooks. But it's still early days for e-textbooks. And I caution her to do some homework before she buys either of these tablets.

Also … Read more

The first Google Android phone sporting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has hit store shelves in the U.K. And now every other Android owner is wondering when they'll get to taste this yummy new OS.

Google released the source code for Ice Cream Sandwich earlier this week, which is good news for these Android enthusiasts. This means that device makers and other developers can get to work on porting the software to other devices. Will your Android samrtphone be one of them? If not can you still get Ice Cream Sandwich anyway? In this edition of Ask … Read more

At less than $250 a pop, Amazon's Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet are sure to be hot gifts this holiday season.

The new, low-cost tablets are ushering a new era in tablet computing by making these devices more affordable. In fact, they're so cheap in comparison to other devices on the market that a shopper could get two Kindle Fires or Nook Tablets for less than or the same price as one Apple iPad.

So which low-cost tablet is right for you or for those on your shopping list? In this edition of Ask … Read more

Cash-strapped wireless subscribers can now get unlimited everything smartphone service for less than $20 a month. So what's the catch? And is it really worth it?

That's the question I help answer for one reader in this edition of Ask Maggie. Indeed, Republic Wireless's $19 a month plan requires customers use Wi-Fi wherever they can. While this may be a good fit for some wireless customers, it's not for others.

The same is true of other prepaid services. While the advertisements may make some prepaid services seem cheaper than services from bigger nationwide rivals, consumers need … Read more

Corporate types are kissing their company-issued BlackBerry smartphones buh-bye. And Ask Maggie is here to help the newly liberated choose a smartphone of their own.

Companies large and small are recognizing the benefits of allowing their employees to bring their own smartphones into work rather than issuing them devices. Additional on-device security features and productivity apps on Google Android, Apple iPhone, and Microsoft Windows Phone smartphones is making corporate IT departments more comfortable with opening the networks to other devices, too.

But with so many smartphones to choose from, where does a smartphone newbie begin? In this edition of Ask … Read more

I am the first to admit when I am wrong. And indeed, I made a mistake a few weeks ago when I mentioned in this column a certain Web site as a place to sell an old iPhone without checking the reputation of the site mentioned.

In the October 4 edition of Ask Maggie, headlined Where to unload your laptop for top dollar, I listed the Web site CashForiPhones.com as a place to sell a used iPhone. Since then, I've learned from various readers and through my own investigation, that this particular Web site has a reputation for … Read more

When it rains it pours. And for Verizon Wireless subscribers, there's a deluge of Google Android phones about to hit the market.

But which new phone is Verizon's flagship device? In other words, which one is the cream of the crop on the carrier's 4G LTE network? In this week's Ask Maggie, I try to help one reader figure out which new Google Android smartphone is right for him. I also offer some advice to Verizon Wireless customers who are waiting for Microsoft's Windows Phone smartphones.

Ask Maggie is an advice column that answers readers' … Read more