Wonder what impact your cell phone has on the environment? GoodGuide has just published a report rating the top 5 “virtuous” cell phones. The ratings are based upon not only environmentally safe practices, but also takes into consideration the social attributes as well? “Social attributes?” you may ask. This rating has to do with the safety and labor policies of the company manufacturing the cell phones. GoodGuide ranks individual models and manufacturers on 3 levels: health, environment, and social attributes. 576 phone models were rated.

GoodGuide Lists Top “Virtuous” Cell Phones

Which phones were rated highest by GoodGuide? According to an article posted by Martin LaMonica, GreenTech, “Nokia phones hold the top spot with a model that contributes to a score of 7.7 out of 10. That’s followed by phones from Samsung, Motorola, Palm, and Sony Ericsson. BlackBerry and its phones are at the bottom, with the lowest score a 3.3 out of 10. Phones from LG, Garmin-Asus, Casio, and Sharp contribute to scores that are largely between 4 and 5.” Apple’s iPhone came in just about middle of the ratings.

How are the ratings derived? Rating the environmental attributes, GoodGuide took into consideration the cell phone’s standby power consumption, as well as the use of recyclable materials used in the packaging and the phone itself. Those products not using bromide flame retardants and PVC are rated higher. Cell phone radiation emissions are not factored in, as there is no consensus about the amount of radiation allowable.

The social attributes rating is based on several factors. Compliance with labor laws is only one aspect. Another consideration is how a manufacturer rates on policies and practices related to conflict minerals, according to the Enough Project. Employee safety is another big concern affecting the ratings. The ratings even include the ethics of the manufacturer.

Are consumers concerned with how their cell phone rates by GoodGuide? I’m not sure too many people are even aware there is a rating like GoodGuide’s. However, as more awareness grows, consumers may make their cell phone purchases based not only on the features the cell phone offers, but also may take into consideration some of the issues rated by GoodGuide. What’s your take on the cell phone ratings? Do you see yourself consulting the ratings by GoodGuide before purchasing another cell phone?

Microsoft may need to buy a cell phone maker in order to compete in the highly volatile market. Although Microsoft has announced the new platform, Windows Phone Series 7 (WinPho 7), it may need to buy RIM BlackBerry or possibly Nokia to stay in the game. (Experts think it would be cheaper to buy HTC, however, with more marketability.)

Windows Phone Series 7 may not save Microsoft

Unless most of its competitors, Microsoft doesn’t make its own devices. RIM, Palm, Apple, Nokia and Google all make their own Smartphones, but Microsoft relies on others to market the Windows operating system on cell phones.

Microsoft doesn’t need to buy a cell phone manufacturing company. It doesn’t actually make the Zune or XBox 360 either. In addition, Microsoft is keeping the Mobile 6.5xx around for a while, possibly renaming it Windows Mobile Classic. The “Classic” may appeal to the Enterprise crowd more than WinPho 7, which uses more of an iPhone style form factor.

Is Microsoft in a sinking ship? Not likely. With their vast resources, they just need to refocus their attention. Perhaps a new partnership would be better than going into the cell phone manufacturing business.

Apple, Google, BlackBerry, Nokia and Palm are all fighting for the number one spot. With more and more demand for content rich apps on Smartphones, the very competitive market is the driving force for these companies. So how is the Smartphone war going?

The Smartphone War

Apple has held the number one spot for the past 3 years. But the mighty Apple iPhone is losing ground. Apple’ stock prices have flattened. The iPad isn’t the fix all that was predicted by Apple. Verizon won’t be carrying the iPhone this year, which would have boosted the iPhone sales. Is Apple in trouble?

The new Android trend is catching on quickly. With new devices, new apps and new service providers, the Droid is gaining momentum. Google’s willingness to upgrade the Android when new features come out is part of the draw. HTC has several Droids with more being released. Motorola has a Droid with Verizon and Google even has an HTC Droid of its own, an unlocked Smartphone available through Google’s website.

BlackBerry, once the leader for email syncing, is losing ground. Perhaps with Google Mail being available on the Droid, the BlackBerry needs to upgrade. With all the features being offered on other Smartphones, BlackBerry needs to get on the bandwagon and offer more.

Nokia, the Finnish manufacturer, is seriously in trouble in the Smartphone market. Nokia had no new device to show off at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona. With the trend moving towards feature rich Smartphones, Nokia better “smarten up.”

Palm is struggling to keep up. They released the new Pixi hoping to compete in the market, but sales have been weak and the lack of cash flow is crippling Palm. Palm has moved to a partnership with AT&T, which will hopefully bring in more phone sales. The analysts predict Palm is going to continue to be pulverized.

Where are you headed with your next phone? With the unlimited talk, text and web browsing options being reduced in price from the service providers, the new Smartphones are much more attractive to me. How about you?

Apple put Google’s Voice app into perpetual review, essentially blocking the app from the iPhone. Just when Apple and Google seemed to be making friends again, Apple turned into a proprietary bully. Apple claims that the Google voice app duplicates several iPhone features like the dialer and text messaging.

Google works around Apple’s iPhone

Google responded by developing a free Web app, rather than an Apple-approved native app. The free web app works on HTML5. Google has used HTML5 to develop a mobile Web interface to Google Voice (at m.google.com/voice, for iPhone OS 3.0 and higher and Palm Web OS devices) that works much like a native app. It integrates easily with the new Droids as well, (Good for you, Google!!)

Google Voice offers you free texting, cheap international calls and transcribed voice mail. It gives you a different phone number you can direct to any of your phones. The down side is that it doesn’t interface with the iPhone contact list, but you can get around this by exporting that list into Google Mail and then uploading it back to the Google Voice list.

Why can’t the big guys play nice? There is always a work-around, so why not just work together in the first place? Do you have an iPhone? Are you tired of Apple’s proprietary behavior?