You don't have to go into a cell phone store or call customer support in order to sign up for cell phone service.

National wireless provider i-wireless, which uses the Sprint network, now allows users to buy a phone at a grocery store and get mobile service using the cell phone itself. When you spend money at the grocery, you even get free minutes.

Using a self-activation application powered by Telespree Communications, the self-service offering from i-wireless is now available at more than 2,200 retail locations within the Kroger family of stores across 31 U.S. states.

This includes Kroger, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Food4Less, Fry's, King Soopers, Smith's, Dillons, QFC, Baker's, Gerbes and City Market.

A new user starts the process by entering a zip code on the phone, creating a password, selecting a calling plan, signing up for monthly credit card billing, activating the device and receiving a new cell phone number.

The self-service process prevents the need for calling customer care, using an automated voice system or needing dedicated retail assistance.

As part of the registration process, users can also sign up for a loyalty rewards program at Kroger stores. By submitting your shopper's card, spending $100 in qualifying Kroger purchases gets you 20 free minutes of i-wireless airtime.

A new service called Assurance Wireless from Virgin Mobile offers some low-income users initially free cell phone service and a handset at no cost. The service competes with SafeLink Wireless, which has a similar offering.

If eligible at Assurance Wireless, a low-income user gets a free Kyocera Jax cell phone and 200 free monthly minutes for local and long-distance wireless calling. Voicemail, call waiting, caller ID and access to 911 also come free.

While the Assurance Wireless service was announced on Wednesday with eligibility to more than 1.5 million lower-income households in New York, the program is also available in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

SafeLink Wireless, on the other hand, works with the FCC's Lifeline program. While the SafeLink offering is similar to Assurance Wireless, it has fewer monthly minutes and is good for one year.

The SafeLink Wireless program requires annual verification. Learn more about Assurance Wireless and SafeLink Wireless in my new article on low-income cell phone service.

Potentially more so than any other kind of technology, cell phones have emerged as a prevalent force in mainstream society today.

Over the past decade, though, which cell phone inventions are the most breakthrough technologies?

Some may say it's the full-keyboard cell phone for fast texting. Others could say it's the launch of smartphones and their mobile operating systems and software applications. What do you think?

This is your chance to share your own answer and be published on About.com!

When we last discussed how cell phones could help people with diabetes in June 2008, the conversation centered around how the need for finger pricking could be reduced or eliminated using mobile technology.

A new study was released today by the Center for Connected Health (a division of Partners HealthCare) that says parents of kids with diabetes are very receptive to using cell phones to help manage their child's diabetes.

To assist in diabetes management, there currently exists a prototype for a mobile phone glucometer that monitors a person's blood sugar or glucose.

More than two-thirds (69.3 percent) of the parents of kids with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes completing an online survey revealed a "very positive" response to the proposed mobile phone glucometer. As well, more than half of the parents expressed interest in signing up for the service.

This study was published in the Nov. 2009 issue (Volume 3, Issue 6) of the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology. The goal of the Center for Connected Health is to create "innovative interventions to deliver quality patient care outside of the traditional medical setting".

"These study results provide strong evidence for the link between current problems in our medical system and the willingness for parents to adopt new technologies that can overcome these problems," said Center for Connected Health director Joseph C. Kvedar in a Tuesday statement.

Overall, parents expressed the most concern with access to their child's provider with 84.9 percent wanting shorter waiting times and 78.7 percent desiring easier phone access to their physician.

The study also revealed that 77.8 percent want to be able to contact their provider via email to discuss their child's diabetes.

The center says diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in children and adolescents. About 151,000 people below the age of 20 years old have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Links to related information can be found below.

1. Cell Phones for Reducing Finger Pricking
2. Smartphone-Based Medication Monitoring