Viigo has done it again. While their original Viigo app is still ‘da bomb’, their new Viigo News app is great for people who want “just the news”. Especially for those folks who have precious little memory left on their Blackberry devices. Keep in mind, you cannot download Viigo AND Viigo News, only one or the other.
Cell phones have been around for a relatively long time. Many people I know claim they used to have bag phones, I personally do not remember anybody having a bag phone. Then a while later we had those Nokia bar phones with the horrible screens and we all thought we were cool. So how much have phones changed since a few years ago?
We have always been able to make calls, some people debate the coverage and call quality. My favorite lines go something like “With my bag phone I could make calls underwater and they sounded perfect”. Then we started taking advantage of text messaging, web, e-mail, media. That is where we are now, we have devices available that do so much more.
I have a Blackberry, Blackberry and Palm have been in the smartphone market for some time. Blackberry has been constantly evolving, albeit a little slower than some other companies. Palm has basically reinvented themselves to use their new WebOS. With my Blackberry I send/receive text messages, I can update and read my Facebook, I update my Twitter, I read news and other RSS feeds with Viigo (which is super awesome). I do so many more things it is hard to list them.
As much as I love my Blackberry, Apple’s iPhone is, in my opinion, what changed the game. Apple made a device that has much more memory that RIM devices or Palm devices had. They released a fairly simple development kit to developers. The iPhone became more about the apps than the phone. People thought “Wow I never knew I would be able to do this with a phone”. Apple is very smart and they did a great job marketing and showing us some of the cool apps, they also give the feeling that there is an application for everything you could imagine.
Windows has been making their Windows Mobile platform evolve. I am really excited for Windows Mobile 6.5 to come out. I used to have a Motorola Q, which was my first smartphone, I liked it but did not love it. I liked Windows Mobile, I love Blackberry OS. I am keeping an eye on this one to see how it goes.
The next big contributor to the smartphone realm was Google. For me Google is just an awesome company, some people know them for their search engine only, but now they have thing Chrome browser and Google Voice which are cool products. Google initially had a good relationship with HTC, but now Motorola and LG are going to start making Android devices. It is open, so I think many manufacturers will start using the Android OS and tweaking it to fit lower end and higher end devices.
Our phones have always done what they have done, they have slowly added features and we have been familiar with the layout. The main things that change are what carrier you have. A Sprint phone’s menu may look different from an ATT phone. The first time you pick up a Blackberry you are lost, although once you get the hang of it YOU LOVE IT, at least I do.
Carriers know applications (apps) are what people are falling in love with, they are trying to cater to these apps a little more now (think LG enV3). A dumbphone will not let you cater to apps, at least not in the capacity that will make them successful. I see business users using Blackberry for years to come. Some business users I think will also use iPhone. Google Android and Palm WebOS are the operating systems to watch. With their abilities they can be tweaked to fit into a consumer or business customer device.
If you have any questions you can contact us. You can also reach me on Twitter @gizmoalex or Charlie @phonestore. We like to think we are smartphone experts, but we also love using our gadgets and devices and we want people to enjoy them too. If you have any questions or any suggestions let us know.
I am so happy. I have been following this device since it was codenamed the Niagara and now it has officially been announced. I have been a little bummed out because all the rumors led me to believe Verizon would get this device several months before Sprint. Thankfully Sprint surprised me and announced the Tour as well.
If you do not know what the tour is, it is RIM’s latest offering. Has a full HTML browser, 3.2 MP camera, DataViz (for Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and a slew of other features. It is a great looking device and is going to be a CDMA/GSM phone. Crackberry already has a review on the phone. So it was a hard 2 weeks knowing I had an upgrade and not knowing what to do with it. This announcement has helped me out, and I look forward to being the proud owner of a Blackberry Tour soon.
The official pricing should be $299 with $100 mail in rebate. Not too bad for what it is. If you have any questions contact us. You can always @reply me on Twitter @gizmoalex or @phonestore.
Okay, it has been announced for a few months. I am eligible for an upgrade (with Sprint) and my inner Crackberry addict is really struggling against my inner “I want every new tech toy that comes out”. I feel committed to Blackberry. I started with the 8830 and now I have the 8330. I have not had it nearly as long as some other addicts, but I do love it just as much.
That “it” I am referring to is the Palm Pre. The coolest phone Sprint has hyped up in a long while. There has not been a really cool consumer type phone that has looked like it was going to live up to the hype since the Fusic. I know it was a few years ago, but it was pretty cool. So the Palm Pre is a touchscreen, slideout QWERTY, angel of a phone.
The Boy Genius has recently put his little paws on the phone and says it is a pretty solid choice. He did not write too much, but says the touchscreen is good. The only gripe he had was with the top row of keys on the QWERTY. I am a BB fan, a Windows 6.5 fan, the new WebOS fan, and an Android fan, It is hard to like all of these things, but relying heavily on e-mail keeps me glued to my BB. So a coin flip may determine whether I get the Pre or not. The other determining factor may be an announcement of another cool device (Blackberry Tour/Niagara) in the coming months. If you have any questions contact us or you can @message me on Twitter (@gizmoalex) or (@phonestore).
Hi guys, long time no see 
I hope you enjoyed the vacation because you will be getting a lot more of me. I wanted to touch on an issue we have been having. SMS messages have been delayed and at times they do not go through at all with Boost Mobile.
This is a good thing and a bad thing. It is good because the product and pricing is so great, the good people over at Boost have had a hard time keeping up with the demand. It is bad because some messages may not be going through in a timely manner. Boost Mobile is aware of the issue and they are working on resolving it as soon as possible.
They have given a window of May 7th. So for those of you who have Boost hang tight, help is on the way. Also, Boost’s really awesome QWERTY Phone is coming very soon. If you have any questions you can direct message @gizmoalex on Twitter or you can contact us.
I always was amazed to have internet on my phone. I think it was really cool, but not quite the work of “wizards”. I have come a long way from my older phone. I went after that to a few different phones, a Moto Q, Blackberry 8830, and the new (well not so new) love of my life my Blackberry Curve 8330.
Okay, so I have internet on my phone, so what? Before, my internet connection on my phone was used to only search for movie times and the default news on the home page. As time has gone on, I now use the internet on my phone to receive e-mails, settle late night bets via Google, and even check the status of my friends currently playing XBOX. The point is besides all those TinyTwitter and a billion other things I use the web for on my phone, it is still not where it will be in the future.
Verizon is one of the major carriers that have been testing for LTE and Sprint has being doing the Wimax/Xohm thing for some time. These technologies are going to make us even more connected. They are increasing the speed a whole lot. From what I understand right now you are lucky to peak at 1 Mbps and soon you should be able to multiply that by 15-20.
Think about it, our devices will have to obviously change to take advantage of this. Over the years they have already started getting bigger screens, keyboards, bigger built in memory. I would love to add a movie download to my Netflix Streaming Queue and watch it while I am waiting at the Dr.’s Office. I do not mean watch choppy video, I mean watch an HD stream. Will we all be carrying netbooks that have a built in ability to talk in a few years?
The exciting news is it is not just the biggest boy on the block doing this, Metro PCS apparently has plans to go the way of LTE, and if I had to place a few bucks on it I think Leap Wireless/Cricket may follow suit with the same technology. So I am excited to see this happen, I am excited to see where this might go, and how this will help us connect better as people. If you have any questions contact us, or you can always Tweet @gizmoalex or @phonestore.
We usually post some industry news or new applications (mostly for Blackberry). Today I want our post to be another way to find help for your phone, instead of searching “The Googles” for forums. There is a huge community of people that belong to Twitter. The great thing is some of these people are tech oriented, and many of them seem to be very nice.
Now on Twitter it seems like there are some people out there to solely promote their business. There are also great people like @johnmccrea from Plaxo that reach out to their customer base and address questions or issues they have regarding their product.
One fairly common link is many people that are on Twitter usually Tweet from their phones, and many are tech oriented. Just the other day, I found a cool case for my wife’s Blackberry Storm just by asking, “Does anybody know any good cases for the Storm?” This simple question gave me many opinions. The same rule applies. There are people out there asking, which phone should I get, or how do I (fill in the phone question here). Sure enough, the Twitter community usually comes to the rescue and responds.
For my phone, the Curve, I use an application called Twitterberry to update. You can download at http://www.orangatame.com/products/twitterberry. There are other options as well for Blackberry. Gizmodo has provided a great battlemodo of Twitter apps for the iphone here. So if you have any questions you can contact us, or send me a message @gizmoalex, and I will respond as soon as I can.
It seems like Boost Mobile is trying to become super competitive in the Pay in Advance market. Boost Unlimited has been available in some markets and it has tethered off Sprint’s CDMA network, while Boost Pay Go tethered off Sprint’s iDen (Nextel) network. Boost Unlimited was fairly successful in the markets it came out in, but could not really compete with Cricket and Pocket’s much lower rates.
The plan is supposed to launch January 22nd, and I think it can make a big splash in the wireless world. Many people had Boost Pay Go for the unlimited walkie talkie, but now that you factor in unlimited voice and text, you have a double whammy. I can even see some small business that do not want a contract benefiting from this. Think about it 5 lines Instant communication with Direct Connect and no worries of overage for $250. Not too bad if you ask me.
Boost has a variety of phones and if you would like to set one up contact us. If you want the best possible devices for your business, TAKE THE CHALLENGE!!!
Okay, so I am not sure if the MiFi will be a standalone product, but my Spidey senses are saying that it will probably be available for Sprint. I could be completely wrong and it could be an ATT or Verizon exclusive, but instincts tell me something else. Anyways enough guessing on where it is going, what is Mifi? I am not misspelling Wi-Fi. It looks like it will pretty much be a pocket Wi-Fi.
Novatel has been making great PCMCIA, Express, and USB internet cards for some time.It looks like they are ready to make the next leap and offer the MiFi. According to the awesome folks over at Engadget the MiFi should be able to support up to 5 users transmitting a wireless signal within a 30 foot radius. This is really cool, I think, and should be the perfect tool for college students crammed in a dorm room, a meeting at a hotel without Wi-Fi, and a million other situations.
Believe it or not here in the USA there are some places that do not have fiber optic internet, cable internet, or even DSL. Many of these customers have to rely on an aircard and in a multi computer home the decision has to be made who could use it when. Or you could buy an awesome router from the good folks at Cradlepoint. The MiFi should eliminate that decision and let everybody (up to 5) run harmoniously from something the size of a Blackberry. I am really excited about this and if you have any questions contact us and ask for Alex.
Okay, it has been murmured for a long time, but Palm has finally announced their new UI(User Interface) along with a brand new phone to host it. The Palm Pre will be a touch screen phone with a QWERTY slider. It is coming with Sprint EVDO rev. A (which is awesome) and it will also include WiFi which most Sprint Phones do not.
Early reports say the phone’s is very smooth and you can do many things without it getting choppy or having too many delays. It has been a long time since I have been excited for a Palm, but with the success of the Centro and the more business-centric Palm Pro, it is a great change for the company. I look forward to the phone, and the thing I am most excited for is THE WIRELESS CHARGING. As always if you have any questions contact us.