Tag: "Verizon Wireless"

Verizon Palm Pre Plus - Keeping Me On Schedule And Organized

Not long ago I promised myself that I was going to try and organize myself better. I have a calendar on the computer, in Thunderbird, that I keep everything in. I have a calendar on the hallway closet door that I use for scheduling, when I remember to update it. I also have a calendar in my wallet that I keep all of my appointments and things to do on. Somehow I seem to miss updating it about a third of the time. Two weeks ago I scheduled myself for two doctor’s appointments at exactly the same time AND managed to forget about of those appointments. Of course the one I forgot is the one that doesn’t give reminder calls beforehand but that’s another story. The upcoming months are REALLY busy for me courtesy of track practices, track meets, Special Olympics, sign language classes, CCD and CCD class gatherings, doctor’s appointments, date nights and bingo nights. The Verizon Wireless Palm Pre Plus is proclaimed to be an organizational mastermind, so I was curious what it could do for me.

I have not kept my main schedule online in the past because it was too difficult, or impossible, to get to at times. My last cell phone wasn’t very internet friendly and I can’t get onto the internet at work at all. So the first thing I needed to do ws get my calendar into the Palm Pre Plus. I couldn’t find instructions on how to go from Thunderbird to the Palm Pre Plus so I took one extra step and exported my calendar from Thunderbird as an ical file. Then I imported that into a Google calendar. From there all I had to do was sync the Palm Pre Plus to the Google calendar and everything came over. The Palm Pre Plus can also sync with calendars in Microsoft Exchange and Facebook.

Once your calendar is in the Palm Pre Plus you can view it in a daily, weekly or monthly view. Not only can the Palm Pre Plus manage your calendar, it can manage multiple calendars using a Layered Calendar view. I myself don’t currently use multiple calendars but can see where they could be very useful to those that do. My parents travel a lot. If they used a Google calendar I could bring their calendar in, which would be great for when I’m planning ahead and need to check when I’m dog sitting.

For things you want to remember but not necessarily schedule, you can use the Memo Pad, which appear as little notes on a cork board. I have found this ideal for notes to myself for errands and groceries.

Scheduled events can have as many or as few details as you like. You can even set reminders for scheduled events. You can customize the calendars somewhat as far as colors but the customization doesn’t apply to the monthly calendar. I have a hard time seeing the default light gray so being able to choose my own color here would be a welcome additional feature. The other thing I wish I could do is sync my phone to my computer. It’s really easy to sync your phone to your google calendar, it requires one click. Since I use my computer at home for calendaring I’d like to see the ability to sync with Thunderbird.

I can honestly say that the Palm Pre Plus is helping me be more organized, and in the right place at the right time.

Verizon Wireless supplied me with the new Palm Pre Plus and are paying for 1 month of service and data plan, in order to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received. Please note that the opinions reflected in this post are based on my own views and opinions and have not been influenced by the sponsor in any way.

Apr 07, 2010 | 1 comment | View Post

Verizon Palm Pre Plus - Social Networker

There’s a reason you don’t see me much on Facebook and Twitter during the day, when I’m away from my home computer. I could never get Facebook to work with my last cell phone. I was able to get Twitter to work but it was such a pain, what with all that clicking because there was no keyboard. With my new Verizon Palm Pre Plus these are no longer the case.

I’d like to say that the keyboard is the only reason it’s easier to go on the web but it isn’t. The other reason is the cards. You can bookmark your favorite sites and cards are created. To access the site you want just click on the card and the site opens.

Facebook actually pretty much looks like Facebook. When I click on my Facebook card I am brought to my news wall. From there I can read updates from friends and even leave comments.

Twitter. If I feel the need to Tweet or just see what’s going on in the Twitter stream I just click on that card and my Twitter page opens. From it I can access my home page with everyone’s updates, a tab with just mentions of me, a tab with my faves and a tab with my direct messages.

If you receive a phone call or need to do something else while on any of these sites you can do so without leaving the site and having to return later to start over.

All of these features make the Verizon Wireless Palm Pre Plus a very efficient and friendly social networking tool.

Mar 28, 2010 | 4 comments | View Post

Verizon Wireless Palm Pre Plus - How To Take A Screenshot

As I have been testing out my new Verizon Palm Pre Plus I have found myself wanting to take pictures, to help illustrate what I’m talking about. I’ll be writing today about the social networking capabilities of the phone and found myself taking pictures of the cell phone. Each and every one of the pictures was completely blurry and awful to look at. Fortunately for me, the phone itself saved the day.

How is that, you ask? Here’s how. My Palm Pre Plus can take screenshots. How neat is that! Now only is it helpful for trying to show you what I’m talking about on the phone but it’s also really helpful if there’s something I see on the web that I need a shot of.

To take a screenshot on the Verizon Palm Pre Plus all you need to do is simultaneously press the white button on the lower left corner of the keyboard, the Sym button and the P button. Click those three buttons at the same time and the Palm Pre Plus takes a screenshot of whatever is on the screen at that moment. Once you’ve let go of the buttons, go on over into your Photos folder. In the photos folder you’ll find a folder called Screen Captures, where you’ll find, yes you guess it, screen captures. What’s in it? Yep, all of the screenshots you took. Now that’s just cool!

Mar 28, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Verizon Palm Pre Plus - Texting Made So Much Easier

The Verizon Palm Pre Plus has a keyboard. It’s actually got every letter of the alphabet, laid out in QWERTY fashion just like a real keyboard. The keys have a definite click feel when you press them, which I think is great. This makes texting so much quicker and so much easier. I actually find myself texting more now that I have this phone.

Texting on my last phone was a real pain, because the phone only had the regular number keys to work with. One of the reasons I didn’t text much was because of how much effort it took to send a text. Let me give you an example - let’s say that I was sending you a text message saying hello.

On my old phone I would have clicked twice to be able to create a new text message, then clicked twice to get to my address book, clicked about three times to get to the entry for you. That would just get the message open so I could enter my message. For a message of hello it would have taken 13 clicks to spell the 5 letters of the word. Then I’d click once to send. Whew. 21 clicks and about a minute of time. That’s a lot of clicking for five letters, isn’t it? Now you know one of the reasons I didn’t text much.

Let’s see what it takes to send that same message using the Verizon Palm Pre Plus. Click once to open the launcher and once again to open messaging. Click the + sign to open a new message. The cursor is in the to field, just start typing who you want the message to go to. Since it’s you, press y once and there you are. Now you can type the message. It takes 5 clicks to type hello, one click for each letter in the word. One final click to send the message and you’re done. That’s 10 clicks in about 15-20 seconds. Much faster! I don’t hate texting any more.

The only thing I wish is that the + sign was positioned slightly differently, or that there was another way to start a new message. See the Verizon Palm Pre Plus keeps text messages in a fashion similar to gmail. That is to say, all of my text messages to one person are accessible in one place. Sometimes a person’s folder is close to the + sign and I’ve started a new text to the wrong person. You have to be very careful where you click to avoid doing this. In the beginning I couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong but once I figured it out things went smoothly from then on.

Mar 26, 2010 | 4 comments | View Post

Verizon Wireless Palm Pre Plus - Check Out This Cool Charger That Looks Good And Saves Me Money!

Unlike one of my previous phones, the Verizon Wireless Palm Pre Plus does not have tons of ports on it’s exterior. At the top of the phone you will find a headphone jack. On the right side of the phone you will find a Micro USB port (shown below in blurry picture.)

That port allows you to connect your phone to your computer, as well as to the wall charger. The way that this phone charges is actually one of the neatest things about it.

The Verizon Wireless Palm Pre Plus has up to 5.5 hours talk time and 350 hours standby time. Obviously you will have the need to charge this phone, as you would any other.

I don’t know about you but my house never seems to have enough plugs to accommodate all of the things I need to plug in. We charge in order of importance and often times you will find one item waiting to charge while another is charging.

Check out the cable that comes with the Palm Pre Plus. One end goes into the Micro USB port on the phone. The other end goes into either the wall charger or the Touchstone charging dock. What I like best about this cable is that it’s got a small silver dot showing you which side is up. Very helpful if you’re like me and sometimes try to plug the wrong side of the plug in.

The wall charger is nice. It comes with the phone and is ready to use out of the box. I have a small problem with it, however. Remember that Micro USB port in the side of the phone that I mentioned? I have fingernails and can never get the little cover open. In the past I have broken nails trying to remove covers like these. I’ve also scratched a phone and sent it flying. On my last phone I just removed that little cover. Now I could remove the port cover on this phone but it would detract from the sleek look of the phone. Enter the Touchstone Charging Dock.

To use the Touchstone Charging Dock you plug the dock into the wall with the Micro USB cable. then you place your phone on top of the dock. That’s it.

You’ll know that your phone is in place from the feel, it’s very snug. I was curious to see how strong the hold was so I turned the dock, phone onboard, upside down. The phone did not fall.

Obviously I am not telling you to constantly hold your phone upside down. What I was wanted to show you is that your phone really is on there and shouldn’t get knocked off if bumped by something else on the counter or desk.

The Palm Touchstone is an inductive charger that lets you charge your phone without plugging the phone in. That means no messing with that little port cover! That saves my fingernails, as well as the money it would cost to repair broken nails or phones. Plus it just looks cool. And, in case you were wondering, you can still use the speakerphone and access other features including music and video while the Palm Pre Plus is charging on the Touchstone. Nice desk accessory!

Mar 25, 2010 | 1 comment | View Post

Verizon Verizon Wireless Palm Pre Plus - Ready To Go Out Of The Box

Last time we touched base I had just picked up my new Palm Pre Plus from the Verizon Wireless store on a Friday night. I spent most of the weekend playing with it.

When I got home and first opened it I noticed a couple of things about my new phone. I’d bought a package at a discounted price in order to save money.

The package included the phone, a vehicle charger, a home charging dock, a bluetooth earpiece and a case. The box for the home charging dock stated another piece was needed in order to use it, and that piece was not included. I found the prospect of not having everything I needed and making another trip to the Verizon Wireless store somewhat annoying.

I opened the box the phone was in and saw that it contained another case. Two cases? I don’t need two cases. I found that somewhat annoying as well. Besides the phone the box also contained a wall charger.

The next morning I returned to the Verizon Wireless store. I asked them to sell me the piece I needed to make the home charging dock work. The rep asked me what I’d bought and then showed me that in fact I did not need another piece to charge the phone on the home charging dock. As it turns out I had everything I need and then some. No extra purchase was needed besides the package. The phone actually could be used all by itself if you just buy the phone. I think the phone package could have been better put together and the packaging could have been more clearly worded. While I was at the store I was reminded that I could come to the store at my convenience and take a free training session on how to use the phone. I thought that was pretty cool that they’d teach customers how to use the phones for free, and figured out that I’d know within the first few days if I needed that class or not.

In my next post, tomorrow, I’m going to tell you about the charging options for the Palm Pre Plus. They’re so neat they deserve a post of their own.

Mar 21, 2010 | 1 comment | View Post

Date Night - Picking Up My Verizon Palm Pre Plus

We have date night most Fridays. Sometimes we spend it with LB3 and Diva. Sometimes we spend it with TJ. Sometimes it’s just the two of us. That’s how it was on a Friday night, just the two of us. We were on our way to dinner while TJ was at a play and I told RB that I needed to run into the Verizon Wireless store for “just a few minutes”. Can you guess where I’m going with this?

I was going in to the Verizon Wireless store to pick up my new phone, the Palm Pre Plus. While we waited for our turn we spent some time looking at the phones on display, particularly the Palm Pre Plus. It is a very sleek looking phone. It’s rounded edges make it look quite modern and streamlined. The display phone was on one of those tether things that keeps it connected to the display but had enough give on it that I could pick it up and handle it. I was curious how it would look and feel with the sliding keyboard out, and wondered if it would feel heavy. Oops! I set off the alarm and one of the reps immediately came over to be sure I wasn’t trying to steal it. RB walked away, claiming not to know me. I saw him checking out all of the phones. Five minutes later it was our turn.

As it turned out the Palm Pre Plus I was buying was the first one that my sales rep William was selling. William was very friendly and helpful and even checked our plan while we were there, telling us we did not need to upgrade. I love a company that doesn’t always try to sell you something, telling you that you need more than you really need. That’s just one of the reasons I love Verizon wireless. The only hard part about the purchase was waiting to be handed my new phone. After we got the sale squared away I was taken back to the Tech area, so they could move my contacts from my old phone to the Palm Pre Plus. While EJ activated my new phone I tried hard to be patient. (I failed.) Finally I was handed my new phone.

The first thing I thought when handed the phone was “this phone is light!” The Palm Pre Plus weighs less than 5 ounces. I was also surprised how thin it was for a phone with a keyboard, measuring only 0.67 inches in thickness. It’s also pretty small, measuring 2.3 inches wide by 3.9 inches high. I was wondering a bit how I would do with a touch screen. In the past whenever I’ve gotten a new phone before I usually just press things until I know what’s what. The Palm Pre Plus forces the new user to go through a tutorial on how to move around within the phone. It doesn’t take long and it was really a big help. The main way of navigating the phone is with finger gestures. (No, not that kind.) A flick to the left takes you back. A flick upwards hides the current screen. It seemed easy enough but I’ve always had to click buttons for everything so I wondered how this adjustment would go.

Shortly we were ready to leave. I was looking forward to going to the restaurant, so I could feed the bottomless pit that is my husband and so that I could explore my new phone. We weren’t even out of the parking lot when TJ called, the play was over and he needed a ride home. Playing with the phone, as well as dinner, was just going to have to wait.

Mar 10, 2010 | 2 comments | View Post

I’m a Verizon Palm Pre Plus Mom Blogger!

See that badge? It’ll be over in my sidebar for a while. I am thrilled to announce that I have been chosen as a Verizon Palm Pre Plus Mom Blogger. Over the next month I will be blogging my experience with the new Palm Pre Plus.

I know the Palm brand from way back when, when I was in computer sales and they were the go to name for PDAs. It seems as each day goes by I have more things to juggle. I would love it if I could find something that would help me stay organized and on top of things. The folks at Palm believe that their Palm Pre Plus, a 3G Smartphone new to Verizon Wireless, can do just that. Some of the built in features and capabilities that the phone has include 3 megapixel camera, internet, social networking interface for Facebook and Twitter, multiple calendar syncing, a notification panel showing you incoming calls, texts and emails without having to answer them and GPS navigation.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be putting the Palm Pre Plus through its paces and sharing the experience with you so stay tuned!

Feb 24, 2010 | 2 comments | View Post