Saving Companies Thousands. Be One!

Anybody that knows me knows I love gadgets and media. For this reason Best Buy is one of the places I have a strong gravitational pull towards. That is usually “the spot” for me to get my movies, video games, ipods, and so on. They have a great variety, but today I read about something else they are doing to make me like them less. They are charging customers in their California stores $9.99 to pair a Bluetooth.

I know everybody is not as technologically inclined as an employee that deals with the product, but I do not like people being taken advantage of, and although it seems confusing pairing a Bluetooth headset it is usually a pretty easy process. You normally have to hold a button on the headset down for a few seconds and type a passcode into your phone. They say that $9.99 fee is for convenience, but 60 seconds of work should be a courtesy for your customers! If you have any questions contact us, we will do our best to help you. Not only that, but when you need help from true wireless experts swing by one of our stores, or check out our online store.

We are so excited for the press we are getting with The Smartphone Challenge. Blackberry Cool has a podcast with the President of The Phone Store, Charlie Slaughter, and for those of you who are still not sold on trying out The Smartphone Challenge listen to the podcast. The podcast has a great Q&A session with Charlie Slaughter and it should answer any additional questions you may have. If you have any further questions as always contact us.

We have really tried to put together a great package any small to medium business can take advantage of. We have several partners ranging from Rackspace for your e-mail hosting to Otterbox to physically protect your device. We want to make sure all angles are covered so you are as satisfied as you deserve to be.You ask, “Why should I want one?” The very easy answer to that question is it will save you time and make you more productive. I am not constantly glued to my computer waiting to reply to important e-mails. I can meet with clients and my e-mails come through on my Blackberry.

Every single member of our staff believes in taking care of our customers like nobody else. That goes from the bottom to the very top of our company. You have nothing to lose! Sign up for The Smartphone Challenge, prepare for your devices, get ready for the party, and enjoy the Smartphone.

I got a great tip from our friend Nan from Sales By 5, that Windows LIve Messenger is finally available for Blackberry. I do not know how many of you use any type of Instant Messaging service on your Smartphones, but it is another very helpful way to communicate. Blackberry has their great Blackberry Messenger built in, and most Blackberrys are  highly compatible with G-Talk, Yahoo Messenger, and AIM.

Every single staff member with our company has a Windows Live Messenger address. Not all members have Blackberrys, so we can’t use the Blackberry Messenger to communicate with everybody. With Windows Live Messenger we can communicate perfectly again for free. There are third party applications that provide an all in one messenger, but I would rather get the official one for free! Windows Live Messenger and other Instant Messaging products are great for quick communication, I like to think of it as the “Walkie-Talkie” of the e-mail world. It is less formal and more to the point. You can download MSN Messenger now!!!

I came into work this morning and I saw some newer and clearer pictures of the Blackberry Thunder. We originally posted this article when there was early whispers and some speculation of this device. Here we are a few weeks later and this new phone is looking awesome. I have heard this will be a Verizon exclusive device using both CDMA and GSM technologies to make it a World Phone.

Now one of the really cool things it is rumored it will have a glass screen. This may not sound like much, but when you see it on a phone it looks extremely classy. It is a really great looking phone and Research In Motion makes a fantastic product. There are other great manufacturers out there, but I would have to say RIM is the most consistent.

Now the pictures that have been leaked are of the Media Player and it looks crazy awesome! It looks to have a very clean interface and the icons remind me of the Blackberry Bold’s icons. Of course it looks like you could turn it sideways to take advantage of the 360×480 widescreen to watch videos. We will have to keep an eye out for this device. We hear iPhone Killer almost daily now with new touchscreen phones becoming a dime a dozen, but RIM does not disappoint and I predict this will be the new Gold Standard for Consumer and Business TouchScreen devices.

If you all have not heard the news yet Virgin Mobile is buying Helio. Many people have not heard about Helio, maybe this will sound familiar, “Don’t call it a phone.” Helio is actually a really great product with many innovative features they give to their customers.They have a really great Myspace and Youtube application built into their Helio Oceans.

The purchase is really not going to change what most Helions are accustomed to. I actually think the purchase is a really good thing and it will combine the older teen/young adult demographic. Virgin Mobile is a great pre-paid service and Helio is a great contract service. From what I have read Helio will be kept as Virgin’s “Top Tier” product.

So keep an eye open. If you want a Helio phone do not be afraid to still buy one. I really think this will help make both companies stronger and since they both run off Sprint towers there will not be much of a change in their infrastructure. Remember Sprint has the largest mobile broadband network in the United States. So buy a Sprint Blackberry for yourself and get your kids set up on Helio!

I just finished reading an article from our good friends over at Blackberry Cool and they say that almost 400,000 small businesses (defined as a business with less than 99 employees) are either using a Smartphone or are planning on purchasing one in the very near future.

Now why would a small business do this, why would a small business customer invest the money into a more expensive device? Once you have seen what Smartphones can do the answer to that question is easy; a Smartphone will allow you to compete with your larger competition. One of the biggest problems small businesses face is real-time communication. A Blackberry, Palm, or Windows Smartphone allow you to e-mail, talk, and use the Internet in a nice little package. We feel Blackberrys are the best for e-mail integration. I almost always receive my e-mail on my Blackberry before it hits my Microsoft Outlook. Think about it,  your most important client sends you a time sensitive e-mail at 2:45 and you are out of the office. You do not get back until 4:30, you walk to your computer and you missed the deadline your client gave you. That is a lost client opportunity and your client has a little less faith in you. With your Smartphone you get the e-mail at 2:45, respond instantly, and you become your client’s hero.

Let me tell you, as I have said before my Blackberry has really made my life easier. It is a little easier, but the more important thing is that my customers are more satisfied. That is so important for a small to medium business, give your customers a reason to do business with your for life and that little extra cost for a Smartphone will be a no-brainer. Still not convinced click here.

Recently, on our trip to WES, we saw some great technology that is expected to hit the market soon.  Below, you’ll see a Pico Projector from Microvision.  The guy handling it told us that the projector was always in focus, ran off of 3 lasers (red, green, blue), lit each pixel individually instead of scanning by lines and that the majority of the device was a battery.  This type of device could potentially be integrated into phones of the future or used as an accessory device, as you see in the picture.  Would a projector in a phone be enticing to you?  Let us know in the comments.

The BlackBerry Thunder, the first touchscreen from RIM is tentatively scheduled for release in the 3rd quarter on Verizon.  According to BGR, the phone is expected to be a World Edition (both CDMA and GSM) with high speed data on both.  Could this be an iPhone killer?  Let’s see what RIM comes up with on the web browser.  If they get it right, it could be a great battle between some excellent devices!

We are excited to announce our partnership with Rackspace! The Phone Store and Rackspace are both driven by incredible support for their customers, so the match up for us is natural. Being partners with Rackspace, we have also developed the Smartphone Challenge to test out our abilities. Doing so will put a fleet of BlackBerrys in your company’s hands to test out with full Rackspace support. Check out the press release after the jump to find out more about our partnership. If you want to know more about the Smartphone Challenge, check it out here – www.smartphonechallenge.com

Read more about the new partnership at Forbes.com ».