On the bank of Iceland’s world-famous Blue Lagoon, the Nokia 5500 Sport leaped into the world arena, displaying its sleek, sporty design with an athletic lifestyle appeal. The Nokia 5500 Sport features all the technology that every active-minded consumer needs, and is specially designed to withstand the daily rigours of work and work-out.

“The Nokia 5500 Sport combines the passion and spirit of sports with the latest in mobile communications. It’s an ideal companion for an active, urban lifestyle,” says Heikki Norta, Senior Vice President, Mobile Phones, Nokia. “There is a very sizeable audience of consumers who demand sport-inspired products, even if they are not professional athletes themselves. The Nokia 5500 Sport offers these consumers a mobile phone suited to their specific needs - during a jog in the park, a day at the beach and even that dress-to-impress first date.”

A mode to match your mood

A single button serves to activate three dedicated “modes” - a phone mode to stay in touch, the music mode to unwind or power-up, and the sports mode to help you break a sweat. The Nokia 5500 Sport also offers “text-to-speech” technology. Don’t take your eyes off the track or that magazine, just tap the Nokia 5500 Sport and the message is read out to you. In sports mode, the Nokia 5500 Sport reads the status of your workout, allowing you to stay focused on the task, or the excercise, at hand.

When music is on your mind, the Nokia 5500 Sport gives you a jump start. Supporting a multitude of different digital music formats and memory cards of up to 1GB (microSD), the Nokia 5500 Sport can hold approximately 750 songs. With your music collection in hand, every activity has its own soundtrack!

Switched into sports mode, the Nokia 5500 Sport helps you keep track of work or your work-out. The integrated pedometer feature serves to monitor distance walked or calories burnt -during a busy day in the city or that breathtaking cardio session. For extra durability, the Nokia 5500 Sport features an ergonomic stainless steel casing, complemented by a splash and dust resistant shell and rubber grips.The sleek Nokia 5500 Sport is engineered with materials used in the latest high performance running shoes which make it look good on and off the court.

The triband Nokia 5500 Sport (GSM 900/1800/1900) is scheduled to sprint into stores during the summer (3rd quarter) of 2006 and is expected to retail for around 300 EUR before taxes and subsidies.

Visit our website to read more on the Nokia 5500 Sport mobile phone

There are a variety of opportunities for holiday shoppers,
including stores, catalogs and the internet. If you’re heading
out to the mall this year, have your shopping list ready. It’s a
good idea to shop early in the season because, if you wait too
long, that perfect gift may already be under someone else’s
tree. Always remember to be polite. The holidays are extremely
busy and store employees are working overtime, so be patient as
you wait for assistance.

If you have a big list, but not quite a budget to match,
consider a layaway. Many stores offer a convenient layaway plan,
which would allow you to make payments up until Christmas. It
saves you from having to charge up credit card bills or spend a
lot of pocket money all at once, so consider a layaway if you
have a big shopping list.

If you’re shopping from a catalog this year, be sure to place
the order early. The most popular items sell out first, so get
your order placed and on its way as soon as possible. There’s no
need to wait for a catalog to arrive in the mail because you can
log on to the internet and find many catalog companies online
with product photos, descriptions, size charts and special
‘internet only’ sale prices.

If you do decide to shop on the information superhighway this
year, it will save you a lot of time standing in line at the
mall. You can literally shop worldwide with the click of a
button. Browse photos, compare prices, read customer reviews and
see a huge variety of products without having to leave home.
Best of all, in some cases, you won’t even have to pay sales tax
on internet orders. Some stores offer free shipping, quantity
discounts and all kids of other incentives to lure you into
their site. In addition, several televised shopping networks
have websites in which they offer an easy payment program on
select items. This means that you make one payment, using a
credit/debit card, and the product ships out to you immediately.
The remaining payments are billed to your credit card, until the
item is paid in full, for the specified number of months.

If you have a lot of people to buy for, and aren’t exactly
certain of their taste, consider buying in bulk. You can
purchase a nice package of scented candles, divide them up into
multiple gifts and present them with a beautiful bow wrapped
around the glass jar. These types of gifts are ideal if you have
teachers, doctors, co-workers or other special people that you
want to wish a Merry Christmas. Another terrific idea is to
purchase small Christmas tins and several bags of assorted
miniature candies. Divide the candies up into each tin and
present them with a beautiful bow on top. These are ideal gifts
because they are thoughtful, but also budget conscious. You can
purchase a pre-designed tin similar to the one described, but
you will get a much better deal if you make your own. As an
added bonus, you get to decide which candy to include, which
isn’t always the case with pre-packaged gifts.

Happy shopping!

Are you thinking about buying or selling a home? Starting and operating a small business of your own? Maybe you need a little help with personal motivation or computer technology… If so, you may find this column useful over time because we will be discussing ways you can save time and money, protect your legal and financial interests and deal on a more level playing field with industry operatives to help you avoid costly mistakes made by so many people. Let’s face it, it’s a complex world out there and either you operate from a position of knowledge and insight or from guesswork and blind trust. Money Matters is designed to help remove the blinders. Knowledge is power right? We believe applied knowledge is powerful.

To jump-start this column we decided to throw out a few tips for homebuyers and sellers before the real estate season begins. You may want to clip this article and tuck it away for safekeeping. Buying or selling a home is the largest investment of a lifetime for most people…it’s a BIG business deal composed of people, emotions, contracts and cash…all the ingredients for legal and financial pain if you don’t know what you are doing (and most people don’t).

1. Buyers: real estate agents legally represent sellers, NOT buyers…their job is to get the highest possible price for the property. They are not “your agent” and what you tell them may be used against you. Caveat Emptor is legal jargon meaning “buyer beware”…

2. Buyers: avoid giving more than $100.00 when you write a purchase offer on a home. In this way, if you cannot complete a transaction you have less money at risk. Large good faith deposits do NOT guarantee you will get financing. Why risk your money?

3. Buyers: arrange your home financing first, BEFORE you look for a home. Doing so gives you the same power as a cash-buyer You can use your financial pre-qualification to SAVE THOUSANDS when buying a home if you are a smart negotiator.

4. Buyers: when you sign a purchase offer, make sure that you write above your signature the clause “subject to buyer’s attorney’s approval”. These 5-magic words (known as a weasel clause) can get you out of a bad deal if your attorney does not approve… you can (weasel) out of a bad deal…

5. Buyers: remember; a purchase offer becomes a legally binding contract when accepted by the seller. Fully understand the legal details before signing ANY contract or document.

6. Sellers: avoid signing long-term listing agreements with any real estate agent. Keep the listing contracts limited to 90-day increments so that you can review selling performance.

7. Sellers: Avoid signing a listing agreement with part time agents. Use only full time agents so that you increase your chances for more professional representation.

8. Sellers: Interview multiple agents before signing a listing contract. Make sure the “potential selling prices” they are quoting you are accurate. Many agents will quote high selling prices just to get the listing contract. There is a saying in the real estate business “if you don’t list, you don’t last”…many agents will do and say most anything to get you to sign a long term listing contract. (See tip-6)

9. Sellers: avoid signing purchase offers with unqualified buyers. Doing so removes your property from the market while waiting to find out you are dealing with a dud.

10. Sellers: Make sure your agent presents you with an itemized marketing plan detailing the selling activities that will be performed during the listing agreement.

If you are interested in further information about Smart Books, check us out online at www.smart67.com

Copyright © 2005
James W. Hart, IV
All Rights reserved

James W. Hart, IV, a consumer advocate and CEO of Smart Books Publishing, has been involved in the field of residential and commercial real estate mortgage financing since 1987. Hart, previously licensed to engage in the sale of real estate in the state of Ohio, has been directly involved in the origination of residential and commercial mortgage financing and has worked with residential and commercial mortgage lenders, large commercial mortgage banking firms and life insurance companies for financing. Hart is an honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. Army, graduate of the University of Toledo and graduate of the Cleveland Institute of electronics. He is a member of the National Panel of Consumer Arbitrators and the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. During 1992/93 Mr. Hart appeared on a number of radio and TV stations throughout the U.S. including WJR-AM, WWWE-AM, WHUR-FM, WRC-AM, WLW-AM, WTVN-AM, WSPD-AM, KDKA-AM, KBGS-AM and CNBC-TV and many others…