Cell phones are everywhere, but did you ever think that cell phones would be to us what they have become? If you could only take one thing with you everywhere you went I am positive 99% of you would say your phone. It has truly become our lifelines. They hold our precious photos, who puts down their phone to pick up your camera these days? Most of your appointments, important contact information lives within that little phone, right? Most of you wake up to the alarm set on your phone, eat when it says it time and use it to help you pick where to eat and what. The phone is your radio and closest exercise buddy. The cell phone is not just for making a call in an emergency anymore. But out of the phones out there are two that make a stand in the industry, Iphone and Android.

There are constant debates for which one is better. Ask your friends to give you advice on the next phone purchase and quickly those friends you’ve not spoken to in years will chime in with their input. It’s amazing. So what’s the difference, which is better? Well there are two main differences, well three, I see. Between Apple’s Iphone and Google’s Android one is cheaper than the other and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to pick which one. The Android is cheaper of the two.

Another difference is the operating system. There are some things you just can do with the Iphone due to it’s locked down OS. There are tons of apps out there for the Iphone and of course those Iphone apps you will not be able to use on your Android.

Carriers are another difference. Most carriers will cover the Android but only a select few carry the Iphone. More are expected to open up but for the time being the carriers are limited. Although price is one of the biggest fall back on the Iphone compared to the Android will only last a little longer. Iphone is said to be releasing a cheaper Iphone version soon.

Mobile phone sales suffered a surprising dip at the beginning of the year do to lessened demand for cell phones in the Asian market, but Samsung came away as the leader in the mobile phone market even with the lack of growth in the last quarter. Even though the mobile phone market was down as a whole, Samsung saw a 25% increase in sales over the same time period last year. With the release of several new phones to meet the ever-evolving needs of the business consumer Samsung has been able to bolster its sales, both in the United States and abroad.

Smart phones that run the Google Android platform account for the largest percentage of the smart phone industry, and the Google Android platform is the platform of choice when it comes to the smart phones that Samsung produces. One of Samsung’s main competitors, Apple, saw the sales of its iPhone 4S nearly double, but that was not enough to beat out the sales growth of Samsung during this quarter. Other rivals like Blackberry have experienced sales losses during this time period.

One benefit to consumers that results from the slowed sales is a likely reduction in the price of the models that are currently in stock. Many consumers like to wait just a little while after a new mobile phone model is released because they know that the price will quickly be slashed. While market trend forecasters are not completely sure whether the overall dip in sales is just an anomaly or whether it is an indicator of changes in the mobile phone industry, Samsung can be happy that their brand remains on top when it comes to mobile phone sales.

About six months ago, my husband and I started seriously looking at our monthly expenses, cutting things wherever we could in an effort to save money. One of the expenses we needed to reduce the most was our wireless phone bill. We needed our wireless phones for long distance calling, and with my husband being a pastor, he needed a wireless phone so he would be accessible to church members when not at home. We were kind of stuck in a catch-22 – we needed the wireless phones, but couldn’t really afford our current plan, which was the lowest “family plan” that our carrier offered.

Then a friend told us that her family recently made the switch to pre-paid wireless phones, and were really happy with their decision. Their wireless bill was half of what it used to be, and the coverage was actually better that what they had with their old plan! We did lots of research and decided to switch from our plan with AT&T to Net10.

The one small drawback to any pre-paid phone service over contract wireless plans is that you have to purchase your phone up front – which, depending on the type of phone you choose, can be as little as $20 or as much as $200. We were able to get a great Black Friday deal on a touch screen phone for my husband and I found one at a local retailer for myself for about $30 each. We made the switch a couple of months ago, and we have been pleased so far. Our wireless bill has been cut almost in half, which is a great feeling!