Insight Community

0. Easy access to my entire schedule, advisor numbers, etc. on one page. I want to get to one thing on my phone and be able to leave it there to have access to the things I need the most, especially where my next class is and reminders for that next class so I don't miss it playing frisbee on the green. 1. School class maps. At a big college, it is confusing to be fiddling with a map to where all the classes and rooms are, to get turn by turn directions inside the buildings would be sweet. 2. Local search for the college specific functions. I should be able to get access to what's going on, on-campus, for tonight. Without knowing this in advance, the social prospects for new students are greatly reduced because they'd have to go to the building to see the flyers for the event. To post all that in one place and make it available on a mobile makes the events accessible to everyone at any time. Kids younger than college probably aren't allowed to have their phone in class, but a homework tracker for their classes would be great. I was always having trouble keeping track of which assignments were due when, and that could all be online now.

Mobile phone services can be really helpful for students so that they are familiar with their classes and their mates out there. Students can connect with their would-be friends in the new school using the mobile social network. School or college community on the mobile phone social network would help students in connecting with like minded guys and girls so that they get along well when their sessions actually begin.

Lot of students go to schools and colleges that are located in places with which they are not familiar, for them mobile maps, locations based services would be of greatest help. Having the location of the restaurants, popular hang-out joints, police stations, hospitals on their mobile phone will help students to easily access these services. Popular weekend spots in that area can also be one of the service. Also locations map of the school/college campus on their mobile phone can be an added advantage for students. 

Other value added services can be, students getting tips on subjects they have chosen on their mobile phones. Student can send the relevant data (subject list) to the service provider and in-turn they get tips on how to study these subjects and also links to useful resources, this can make studying a really fun thing to do.

The economy's in trouble, and college has gotten expensive, so the most obvious piece of advice is simply watch your cell phone bill. In China, Unicom even offered 56,000 college students $200 apiece — $50 for each college year — after a May 12 earthquake in Sichuan collapsed several schools across the province. And in the U.S. there's been rumors of a mysterious company that would pay your cell phone bill — or most of it — by running a phone network that was supported by cell phone ads. But in February, one service had failed to materialize after 14 months (and an unfortunate SEC investigation). Maybe the lesson learned is simply that there's no such thing as a free lunch.

But there are lots of free services for students with cell phones. Google has a whole suite of mobile applications on a cell phone-ready page at M.Google.com. They're now even able to deliver search results based on Google's approximation of your location, with the matches displayed on Google maps. (And of course they're touting their mobile support for YouTube videos.) Google Talk works on the iPhone (as well all the major cell phone brands, including Nokia, Sony, Motorola, and Samsung), and they store transcripts of your chats in your Gmail account, letting you access them later via the web. The service even lets you make free long distance PC-to-PC phone calls. And don't forget their Google Scholar service. ("Stand on the shoulders of giants," reads their slogan.) It's a search engine for academic materials like theses, books, articles and abstracts —though not all of them will look good on your cell phone display.

But Google's not the only game in town. Meebo also works on the iPhone, and it unifies all your chat identities into a single interface — AIM, Yahoo, MSN, and even Google Talk. And Helio's "Buddy Beacon" feature let's you do more than chat with your friends — it pinpoints their location on a map!

College students are 42% more likely to use a mobile device to send email than the typical cell phone user — and one study predicts that within three years, more than half the students between ages 8 and 12 will also have a cell phone. But be aware that some schools have negative feelings about cell phones. Some secondary schools and colleges have already established bans on text messaging because it's an easy way to cheat. (A dozen students were all caught cheating with text messages at the University of Maryland in 2002.) Ironically, many other schools tried establishing a text-message warning system after the Virginia Tech shootings — only to discover that most students though the schools were over-reacting, and didn't bother to sign up for the services.

There's one very important historical note for college students with cell phones. When Google's Android system is released, there will be lots of cool new homegrown widgets for your mobile device — so be sure compare your cell phone's applications with those of your friends. "Open" cell phones have taken a long time to arrive, and college students will probably be the first people to discover the cutting edge of new cell phone applications.

For high school students, Wal-Mart is offering wake-up calls from 15-year-old Miley Cyrus (who plays Hannah Montana) — but the novelty wears off quickly. There's exactly 3 messages — a wake-up call, an activity reminder, and even a reminder specifically for shopping. ("This is Hannah Montana. Seriously, it is. And you know what else is serious? Back to school shopping. Wal-Mart has the gear, the fashion, and the music you love....") It was a slick opportunity for some co-branding between Disney and Wal-Mart — but why settle for a recording of Hannah Montana? For $20 you can get a live cell phone call from other celebrities on your birthday at Hollywood is calling — including world heavyweight boxing champion Larry Holmes and even Dennis Haskins, who played the kindly principal on "Saved By The Bell!"