I was stranded. No cell phone signal, no WiFi. I blame you Tracfone. 

When I got finally got back home, I checked my Tracfone app. It showed a $125 payment in December for a year’s worth of service, but my credit card statement did not. The Tracfone’s website said my number now started with “143.” That’s a scammer’s prefix, according to a telephony expert at Quora.com. I wanted out.

I went back and forth with Tracfone via the chat bot on their website. They told me to use the phone or an advanced chat. When I phoned, a robot answered, saying: “Your number is being ported.” When I tried the advanced chat, it wouldn’t accept my real number. Nuts!

Tracfone is great if you have no problems, but if you do, look out. I got seven months of free phone service, unbeknownst to me, then was cut off without explanation. At first, I thought it happened because I switched my SIM card from one phone to another. But most carriers allow that. I can’t get through to find out.

Consumer Cellular to the Rescue

After the Tracfone fiasco, I turned to the champion of customer service, Consumer Cellular. It has been ranked number one by J.D. Power for the twelfth time in a row. I also bought an unlocked Motorola phone, the Moto G Power 2021, to replace my dying Pixel 3a. 

I could have stuck with the Pixel, replacing its fading battery. But that would have cost $120. For $160, I got a new, unlocked Motorola, delivered the same day, from Amazon. 

My Motorola’s Moto G Power is supposed to last three days without a recharge. In my usage, it’s at least five. The features are great. It has a slot for a memory card, making it easy to store extra photos and videos. I also like the facial recognition. It unlocks when I look at it. The operating system is Android 11 and will upgrade to 12. It doesn’t have 5G, but I don’t care about that. 

I bought the 2021 version instead of the 2022, though the 2022 was only $10 more. There were too many complaints about the 2022. Comparing it to Motorola’s 2020 model, a reviewer said, the 2022 has “the worst display, the worst sound quality and the worst camera.” Another wrote: “The 2022 version is garbage. It’s extremely slow and its battery life is short. They keep adding extra useless features which makes it laggy.” That’s because the 2021’s Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 662 processor is superior. Benchmark tests prove it.  

To check your phone’s processor, Google the word “Geekbench” along with the model. After looking at both Motorola phones, I Googled “Geekbench Pixel 3a.” Even my old phone scored better than the 2022 Moto Power G, though it came out in 2019. My six year-old iPhone SE didn’t do too badly either.

Reader Question

A reader wrote: “Recently, notifications have started popping up on my Chromebook, saying it has had its last update and it is time to buy a new one.” His Samsung model is six years old. Should he replace it? I say no. 

Even Google’s support page admits that if everything’s working, you’re OK. For extra safety, you could use a super-safe browser such as Firefox or Vivaldi (both easy downloads). Or you could use AVG’s “Secure Browser,” or MalwareBytes “AntiVirus for Chromebook.” The possibility that you’ll pick up a virus is remote. Just avoid suspicious links and websites. I have a friend who used an unprotected Windows 98 PC right into the middle of the Windows 10 era, without problems.

Lift Off

Fifty years ago, experts predicted we’d have an airplane in every garage by now. That’s laughable, but personal flying machines aren’t far off. Plans are underway to fly busy executives in vehicles using “Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing.” The “Zeva Zero” should be operational by 2024. 

Built for one passenger, the Zero can go 50 miles on a charge at 160 miles per hour. Its slogan is “Zero wait, zero traffic, zero emissions.” It will come in a kit you put together yourself, at least at first. It looks like a giant Frisbee. There are no pilots. It’s all automatic, like a drone. 

A version for consumers is expected by 2040. According to Mashable, you could take off from your driveway if you have enough clearance and your neighbors don’t mind. The FAA might require a special license. More info at ZevaAero.com.

Internuts

• “This Bubble Car is Built for Socializing.” Google that phrase to see the AKXY2 concept car. It has a clear roof that lifts up to make it easier to party in your car.  Might be the ultimate tailgating experience.
• “Is Lightyear’s Solar Powered Electric Vehicle for real?” Search on that to discover the world’s first solar-powered car. Only 946 of them will be produced. The price is $263,000.

Bitcoin Down, Blockchain Up

Investopedia says: “The blockchain is a ledger with portions of Bitcoin stored on it.” Does this mean that the blockchain is on shaky ground, given that Bitcoin has lost two-thirds of its value since November?

Nope! Even if Bitcoin went to zero, there are private blockchains, called “Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), that don’t use it. For example, Moderna will use the IBM blockchain for vaccine distribution. Walmart is using Hyperledger, hosted by the Linux Foundation, to trace the origin of over 25 food products from five suppliers. See “Six Blockchain Use Cases” from TechTribune.

Filed under: cheap calls, crytpocurrency, environment, Internuts, phones, trends