Cell phones can be traced; they have a built in GPS tracker in them. With Sprint if my kids were still young I could go online and see where they were at any given time. I've never heard of cell phones being affected by power outages unless it can knock out the towers or something like in a tornado. A few years ago when all of the electric polls in my neighborhood was knocked out from a hurricane my cell phone was my only way to communicate.

Just got my first smart phone, the Thunderbolt with Verizon, and love it! I don't text, rarely receive phone calls, but discovered that having Internet access anywhere, anytime, is very handy. Also, I don't have to bring my Nook to appointments because of the Nook App on the phone - works great.