Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere

U.S. Cellular Provides Halloween Apps for Fun and Safety

Pumpkins have become the ultimate symbol of fall, and one of the hottest fall trends. Many residents will soon head out to the local farms to pluck their favorite pumpkin straight off the vine to carve it up for their Halloween jack-o’-lantern or pumpkin pie. The total number of pumpkins produced in the United States valued $113 million in 2011 according to the census. And the love for pumpkin-flavored products continues to grow with the demand for everything from spiced lattes to local ales to potato chips.

“The wonderful smell and taste of pumpkin can take us back to cherished memories of childhood,” said Jack Brundige, director of sales for U.S. Cellular in the Mid-South. “Using your smartphone to locate the best pumpkin patch, sketch out pumpkin carving ideas, and find favorite recipes are some examples of great ways to use technology to share more family time together.”

U.S. Cellular’s local tech experts share these tips to help you take advantage of everything pumpkin on the latest mobile devices like the Samsung Galaxy S4 from U.S. Cellular which is available on the 4G LTE network:

• Curb your Pumpkin Craving. Find your favorite pumpkin spiced latte using Google Maps which can provide point-to-point directions to your favorite coffee shop or use Yelp for recommendations from people that have visited local restaurants and other haunts and rated them online. Or download BigOven for recipes from a great pumpkin pie or roasted pumpkin seeds to dinner in a pumpkin for that crisp fall night. 
• Finding the Great Pumpkin. If you’re not sure where to find the perfect pumpkin you might try searching for local farmers markets and pumpkin patches at this website (for a state-wide list)  www.funtober.com/pumpkinpatches. Before you head out, check the weather at weather.com or download the weather app, from the Weather Channel for the latest up-to-date information and breaking news alerts sent to your phone. 
• Carving the Perfect Jack-O’-Lantern. Apps like Halloween Pumpkin Carver can help you visualize the perfect jack-o’-lantern without ever making a first cut. It’s a perfect app for those that want to explore ideas and little ones that want to try their hand at free-style finger carving for safe, on-screen fun. Or just want to have a laugh? Use Pumpkin Maker to create the best Halloween faces! Funny, Goofy, Scary - you can make them all with the huge selection of pumpkin making items that can be shared via email or posted on Facebook. 
• Decorate. Once your jack-o’-lanterns are finished, displaying them outside as part of your Halloween decorations can be great fun.  Halloween has become the second largest retail holiday for spending according to the National Retail Federation. They also reported that last year 51 percent of those who planned to celebrate the holiday, planned to decorate. And those decorations can range from one pumpkin outside to a full-fledged haunted house, grave yard or entire neighborhood display. For outdoor decorating ideas download the Houzz app and you can browse photos by style, room and location and save them to your virtual ideabook.
• Scare and Share. So you certainly want to capture all of your spooky outdoor décor and costumed kids using the latest mobile via HD camera and video to store and share. Apps like Muzy offer a way to instantly share to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, email, SMS, or just save it for later. You can frame your pics with dozens of classic layouts and add various photo effects to make them appear vintage, sepia, black and white, and more. That way you can enjoy your memories for years to come.

About U.S. Cellular

U.S. Cellular rewards its customers with unmatched benefits and industry-leading innovations designed to elevate the customer experience. The Chicago-based carrier has a strong line-up of cutting-edge devices that are all backed by its high-speed network, which has the highest call quality of any national carrier. Currently, 61 percent of customers have access to 4G LTE speeds and nearly 90 percent will have access by the end of 2013. U.S. Cellular was named a J.D. Power and Associates Customer Service Champion in 2012 for the second year in a row. To learn more about U.S. Cellular, visit one of its retail stores or uscellular.com. To get the latest news, promos and videos, connect with U.S. Cellular on Facebook.com/uscellular, Twitter.com/uscellular and YouTube.com/uscellularcorp.