Sprint picture mail for the Holidays

Just about everyone knows that most cellular phones are now standard equiped with cameras. But not everyone takes advantage of the services and features that come along with the camera.

I had just recenlty bought the Samsung M540 Rant by Sprint. This devise has a 2.0 mpxl with a zoom feature. There is a self timer, a multi shot function, and resolution settings. There is also a memory card slot to save the images on so you do not fill up the phone memory. The carriers have really upgraded the quality of these devices.

Sprint has a picture mail pack you can purchase for $15 per month. You then register an online account with them at www.sprint.com/picturemail Once you have done this and logged in you will find all kind of features to use. When you take a picture or video on the phone you can immediately "upload" it to the picturemail site. You can create albums from the pictures and videos that you have uploaded. You can lighten or darken a picture, crop it, put a comic bubble next to the picture, even give it a cartoon look. You will create a contact list inside this site whom you can send the pictures to. You can also send the picture immediately from the phone to another phone (on any network) or any e-mail address. You can even order prints online and send them to places like Wolf Camera or Sams Club for pickup. Earlier today I was taking pictures of my daughters X-Mas play and texting them to my wife's phone so she could look at them as the play was happening.

This is a simple process but somehow I get the sense it is not being used by enough people. Once you save enough pictures online and have an album to look back at, I think it will be well worth the few bucks to create the memories. Get on board, start snapping and uploading!

Happy Holidays and Welcome to the future.

Mike

Hands on the wheel

As I drive around town I am amazed at how many people still hold a cell phone to their ear. Oh I know we have all done it before. But within time, there will be State laws requiring us to use hands free devices for using our mobile phones in our cars. Those laws already exist in Washington DC, New York and there are several more States reviewing this legislation. Look, having a phone conversation in the car is a distraction, with or without a hands free device. But I would rather have 2 hands than 1 to drive or react to a potential situation on the road, that I know.

I have tried Bluetooth headsets but have always found them to be uncomfortable for my ear. Plus I do not know if I like the Dr. Spok look! So I have been using a device built by Motorola called the ROKR T505. It is a Bluetooth device that clips to my visor in the car. This device is perfect if you do not have Bluetooth technology built in to your car. When I get into my car, I pair up my Sprint Blackberry (or any other cellular phone with Bluetooth in it) to the ROKR. Once they are connected my conversations can be sent either through the speakers in my car or through the ROKR's speaker itself. I love the conversation going through the car speakers because I can really turn up the volume. Both hands stay on the wheel, my drivers ed teacher would be so proud!

In terms of how I sound on the other side, most of the feedback I have got has been very positive. There are cheap Bluetooth devices and there are quality devices like the ROKR. It retails for $150 and is very easy to set up. Try to stay away from the cheap Bluetooth headsets that you see in places like Office Max. They are up next to the candy for crying out loud, how good do you think the quality is going to be?

Welcome to the future.

Mike

I already have wireless built in

As I speak to customers from day to day about their laptops I quite often hear this comment, "I already have wireless built into my laptop so I do not need an aircard" This can be a confusing topic for folks and I would like to shed some light on it.

Just about all laptops today have Wi-fi built into them. This means that the end user can connect to a hotspot. A hotspot is a small area like an office or coffee shop or a residence that has an Internet connection and a router. The router takes the high speed Internet connection and splits it so other laptops can share the connection. Sometimes you may pay a fee to access this connection, other times it is free.

But once you leave that hotspot you will lose connection to the Internet. That is where an aircard from a wireless provider comes in handy. A wireless card from a domestic carrier like Sprint allows you to jump on the Internet anywhere that you can connect to the Sprint network. Essentially anywhere your phone works, the card works. So there is much more coverage and far less restriction than connecting through hotspots. Most of these carriers charge $60 per month for unlimited data plans. The actual cards actually cost next to nothing with a new 2 year service agreement.

I have to say next to a smartphone, the wireless aircard is the greatest current product that our major carriers have been able to offer. The applications are endless for individuals and businesses to utilize these cards. So remember just because you have wireless "built in" to your laptop, that does not guarantee convenience in using Internet connections on your laptop like a wireless aircard does. Surfs up!!!

Welcome to the Future.

Mike

Rise of the Smartphones

You know, the day is coming when generic cell phones will become obsolete. You have seen them, you have owned them, the models made by LG, Samsung, Sanyo, Motorola. Flip or non flip it does not matter, these phones are losing steam. They are still out there, but they are losing market share to the Blackberries, and Windows Mobile type devices that are out there. The features that these smartphones bring to us make everyday life so much easier.

Let me give a couple of examples. I went to Las Vegas this weekend to meet some friends. I did not even have to bring my laptop in this case. On the way there in the airport I was still replying to e-mail that I had received at the end of the week. I went online several times over the weekend. I went to google.com from my browser inside the Blackberry to get restaurant info/make reservations/directions/mapping. Texting is also so much easier with a full qwerty keyboard. I even went to Southwest.com to do an advanced check in to reserve my seats on the way home. These are features that can be performed on regular phones, but it is very cumbersome to do so.

Smartphone market share is pushing 50% of the prosumer (professional) market. That figure seemed very accurate from my observations in Las Vegas. The everyday features are well worth the extra data plan fees to operate the smartphones.

Welcome to the Future!

Mike

Greenberry

Two nights ago I attended a SBA (small business administration) class at Wake Tech Community College here in Raleigh. As a small business owner, I found it compelling to understand another financing option that exists in this challenging world of ours. There were 20-25 people in the class. Our class leader started into the program. There was a lot of information to swallow so I took out my Sprint World Blackberry to take a note which is an option that rests within the main menu of the device. Give it a title, type away, save it, and then go back to the office and sync it with Microsoft Outlook on your PC. The note can then be edited, and even e-mailed. This was a much cleaner way to manage this activity than using pen and paper, besides this is 2008.

The beauty of this is that I had no paper trail. I hear all this talk about being green. Well this was my way to jump in and contribute. I would much rather have all this info created electronically than have it on paper that I could lose, or misplace and would eventually shred and throw away anyway. With the market share of smartphones soring, this is a simple and effective tool that is available to all of us. If RIM wants a new tag line, how about Greenberry? Hey Microsoft, tips appreciated.

Welcome to the Future.

Mike

Even at Busch Gardens

I took my family up to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg VA. on Sunday. We love it there, it is 3 hours from our house, and really a great place to go for the day. The lines are relatively short, the weather was perfect, and they had their annual Hallowscreem event going on. Halloween rocks!! I could not help but notice that football was in the air. It was Sunday and there were jerseys being worn everywhere. I saw Cowboys, Ravens, and plenty of Redskin garb. But what I really noticed was how people were using their cell phones to catch up on games, scores, anything NFL.

You know it was not long ago that of you could choose a theme park over your house and TV, that you would never know what happened until you returned home. Now you can go online from your phone and stay up to date. So I joined the fun and I pulled out one of my Sprint phones, and powered on my NFL live application. I lived in Arizona for years and follow the Cardinals over the years. I literally followed play by play during the game (which AZ. thankfully scorched the Bills!) for one quarter while my wife and kids were on a ride and I was sitting with our youngest who was napping.

You just have to have a data plan on your phone. Most of the carriers have these sort of plans to add on. They range from $10 to $20 and are add on features that can be added or deleted without any contract extensions. The carriers are really banking on all of us adding these kind of services. As voice rate plans have plateaued, the carriers really need the data revenue to sustain profitability. But I have to admit, on this Sunday I was more than happy to be paying for this service.

Welcome to the future.

Mike

Google Time

Today was one of the worst days on Wall Street I have ever seen. The DOW dipped 800 points and then rallied back to only a loss of 369. It finished under 10,000 for the first time in 4 years. There is widespread panic and fear, so much for the taxpayers bailout plan achieving results on Wall Street. Even Google dropped 4% today. This coming at a time when Google should be so excited about entering the wireless handset market. They have announced the launch of their G1 this month. The phone will be sold in T-Mobile stores in markets that T-Mobile has launched its 3G data network upgrade like Miami, LA, Houston, totalling 21 markets this fall.

The device will be accessible to other areas but it is formatted for higher data networks mentioned above. It will have a large touchscreen like the IPhone, but also have a trackball like the Blackberry with a slide out keyboard. It will not initially be setup for corporate e-mail functionality though so RIM and Windows Mobile smart phones and the IPhone still have quite an edge. Most 1st generation phones are not overly sophisticated though, there will be modifications coming.

But in an age of massive competition with the likes of Motorola, LG, Sanyo, Sansung to name a few, now we have Google jumping in. I wonder how long it will take them to pursue other carriers like Sprint or Verizon. T-mobile has its limitations just like IPhone does because it is exclusive to ATT. Microsoft and Yahoo are also investing heavily into the wireless handset market to slow this giant down.

Welcome to the Future

Mike

This stuff really works

Here I am, at football practice in Rolesville NC wayching my boy from my fold up chair. I love this time of year. The change of seasons, the break in the weather, and the football season upon us. I have my laptop with me , and I am typing away. I have my Blackberry in my lap also. I am receiving/sending/replying to e-mails that are still coming through for the day. I have my Sprint Sierra USB aircard with me to connect to this blogsite. It truly is amazing how we can use these modern day tools. Remember 5 years ago these cards only had 16k connection speeds, now we have true broadband speeds. "Too connected" I hear people say, referring to these devices. Well I view it as ahead of my competitors, on top of my business, and being efficient with my time. This stuff really does work!

Welcome to the future.

Mike

There is a first time for everything

Well, after all this blog talk over the last several months, I am up and doing it myself! I believe this is another modern day version of communication in this tech world we live in. This is a first for me. I am primarily going to focus on my busines, and my customer experiences. But I also am going to explore my day to day observations within my own life. I hope you will find this blog to be educational, but also humorous in my points of view. I would love to hear any stories of how my blog relates to your own life or business.

Welcome to the future.

Mike