Welcome to the 411, my Q&A column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have the same questions, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I'm stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at nicole.lee@cnet.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, let me know in the e-mail.
Hello, My question is I received an LG Chocolate as a gift. Do I have to have a Verizon deal/contract to get it to work? Or can I buy minutes and use it that way? Thank you--Al, via e-mail.
If you plan on using your phone on a relatively frequent basis then a Verizon contract would be good as you might save more money over the long run. However, if you want, you can buy prepaid minutes and use them with your new Verizon phone. You may need to ask Verizon if your particular phone--the LG Chocolate in this case--is supported, however--I understand Verizon only offers prepaid minutes for certain phone models.
You also bring up a good point in regards to gift-giving when it comes to cell phones--you need cell phone service for them to work! If any of you plan on giving cell phones as gifts this year, do remember to do a little research on what carriers your recipient prefers and if things like prepaid minutes or data plans are options. Do your research so they don't have to!
Help! I want a small simple cellphone, I don't need texting or camera capability. I am with Verizon's National Freedom 300 plan ($35 monthly). Plan is no longer available to new subscribers, I want to keep the plan. Can you suggest a phone for me? I have an old Motorola currently, battery won't last the day. Thank you.--Zeb, via e-mail.
There are a number of simple cell phones on Verizon that don't have cameras. The Samsung Knack, for example, is a very basic phone that has an easy-to-use keypad and a slim profile, and it's only $39.99 with a contract. If you prefer a more rugged model, the Motorola Barrage can be bought without a camera either, but it is more expensive at $129.99 with a contract. If you don't mind having a camera, you can get various phones for free with a contract--they include the LG Chocolate 3 and the Nokia 7205 Intrigue (At the time of this writing anyway). Unfortunately, Zeb, I don't think you can keep your current plan if you want to get any of these phones under contract. You might be able to keep your plan if you buy these phones without a contract, but the price would be significantly higher. The Samsung Knack, for example, would be $159.99 without a contract. Maybe you can ask a Verizon representative and persuade them to let you keep your plan. Let us know if that works out for you.
Ms Lee, I had owned two Gz'One Boulder telephones, both of which suffered from a poor receiver speaker. The speaker sounded extremely muffled on both, so I gave up on the Boulder. Can you tell me if this problem has been addressed on the new Gz'One Rock? Thank You. Dale, via e-mail.
The speaker on the G'zOne Rock is no longer as muffled as the one on the original G'zOne Boulder, so you're in the clear there. We still thought it sounded rather echoey and tinny, so your mileage may vary.
I really need a Bluetooth speakerphone recommendation! Price isn't an issue if the product is excellent quality...and small size that will cip to car visor... Kim, via e-mail.
I'm personally a fan of the BlueAnt S1 thanks to its voice recognition, streaming music ability, and affordability (currently around $65 online), but you might also take a look at the Motorola Motorokr T505, which earned an Editor's Choice last year for great features and performance. Hope that helps!
This is the last 411 column for the year, so thank you so much for your response in my inaugural year fielding your cell phone questions. Happy holidays to everyone and may you enjoy full signal strength in 2010!
Verizon's letter to the FCC
(Credit: FCC)A few weeks after the FCC sent an inquiry about its early termination fee (ETF) increase, Verizon has replied back with a seven-page missive of its own in defense of the fee hike. If you recall, Verizon increased its ETF from $175 to $350 specifically for "advanced devices," which we assume means smartphones like the Droid.
Verizon claims that the ETF allows the company to offer the phones at lower upfront prices and to reduce its losses if the customers do break their contracts early. Even with such a fee increase, Verizon claims it would still be losing money, since the carrier does prorate the ETF the longer you're in the contract (never mind that you still owe $120 in ETFs if you quit in the 23rd month). Verizon also points out that additional revenue from the ETFs is useful to keep its broadband network strong (a dig at AT&T, perhaps?). The company answers the FCC's questions about ETF awareness by saying it is making it very clear to customers, with advertising and marketing material.
We were hoping that we would get at least a lowering of the ETF out of all this, but it seems that Verizon is holding strong to its fee increase. It's the FCC's move next, to see if we can get any kind of reprieve at all.
Source: Verizon's response to the FCC via Phonescoop
Verizon Wireless released new desktop software on Monday to help its customers better manage the media between their cell phones and computers.
Based on Smith Micro's QuickLink Media Software, V Cast Media Manager is available as a free download and lets you transfer photos, videos, and music from your phone to your PC via USB cable and provides you with tools for organizing, editing, and viewing the content. With the software, you can do such things as touch up photos, create slideshows, and rip and burn CDs. In addition, V Cast Media Manager can help you sync your multimedia library onto a new phone.
Be aware, however, that the software is currently only compatible with a certain number of phones, such as the Samsung Rogue, LG enV 2, LG Dare, and RIM BlackBerry Storm. Verizon said it is working on bringing support to more devices in the coming months, including Android smartphones. To see a full list of compatible phones and to download the software, check out the V Cast Media Manager product page.
(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)
We don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that the Motorola Droid was the hottest Android phone to be released in 2009. Of course, the Verizon Wireless ads attacking AT&T and the Apple iPhone did a lot to bring attention to the smartphone, but it wasn't all hype. The smartphone delivered with excellent performance, an attention-grabbing 3.7-inch WVGA touch screen, and the benefits of Android 2.0, including Google Maps Navigation.
With the combination of clever marketing and just being a solid device all around, the Droid has quickly become one of CNET's most popular smartphones and more than 1 million units are expected to be sold by the end of the year.
Perhaps you're one of the thousands who purchased the Droid and are enjoying all that the smartphone has to offer. However, to help you get even more out of the device, we've rounded up some of our favorite accessories and apps for the Droid, as well as some frequently asked questions about various features, tips and tricks, troubleshooting, and more. Of course, this is just a sample of what's out there, so if you have any favorite accessories or tips that you want to share with other fellow Droid owners, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below.
Accessories
Motorola Droid accessories
Cell phone accessories blog
Software update
Android 2.0.1 for Droid users coming soon
Applications
Yelp
AndroidStats
Fring VoIP
Cooking Capsules
Photoshop for Android
Slacker Radio
Pandora Radio
Personal Assistant
Facebook
Droid FAQ
All about the Droid
The Droid and hands-free calling
(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)
Verizon announced on Thursday that it has begun pushing out a software update to HTC Droid Eris users.
Like the upgrade for the Motorola Droid, the over-the-air update (specifically, ROM version 1.16.605.1/Radio version 2.32.40.11.09) will be delivered to small group of customers first and then slowly rolled out to everyone within a week. Users will receive a notification on their smartphone alerting them when the update is ready for download.
Highlights of the update include:
- While on a call and the device is in screensaver mode, pressing the End key now takes the device out of screensaver mode, and a second press will end the call
- Device now switches effectively from 1x mode to 3G
- Device no longer requires users to reselect a default e-mail after power-cycling
- SMS and MMS messaging delivery is improved
- Eighty-character MMS/SMS message subject lines are now allowed
You can view a full list of feature enhancement and bug fixes here (PDF) and for step-by-step instructions on downloading the update, please check Verizon's support page.
(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)
While Motorola Droid owners are prepping to get Android 2.0.1 delivered to their smartphone in the coming weeks, HTC Droid Eris users might be wondering, "Hey, what about us?" Well, the good news is that there is an update coming. The bad news is you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
Verizon said Friday that it plans to release an OS update for the Droid Eris, which currently runs on Android OS 1.5, in the first quarter of 2010. The carrier did not specify which version of Android it would release for the smartphone, but did say that customers will get support for Google Maps Navigation.
On a somewhat related note, Verizon is running a buy-one, get-one-free promotion for the Droid Eris starting Friday, December 4, and ending Monday, December 7. During that time, if you buy an HTC Droid Eris or a Motorola Droid, you can get a second Droid Eris for free.
Samsung Omnia II
(Credit: Samsung)On Monday, Verizon Wireless announced that it will offer the Samsung Omnia II starting December 2 for $199.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate.
First introduced in early June, the Omnia II will take over for its predecessor, the Samsung Omnia, and brings a number of enhancements and new features, such as a 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED touch screen and Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional Edition.
The Omnia II will sport Samsung's TouchWiz interface, allowing you to customize the home screen with various widgets and shortcuts and includes a similar 3D cube interface like the Samsung Behold II. In addition, Samsung has included a virtual QWERTY keyboard with Swype technology, which allows you to input text with a continuous swiping motion onscreen. (Check out a video demo here.)
Other goodies of the Samsung Omnia II include a 5-megapixel camera, support for DivX and Xvid movie files, 8GB of internal memory (expandable up to 16GB), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Opera 9.5.
Motorola Droid
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)Shortly after we posted our Motorola Droid review, we received quite a few e-mails from CNET readers who were concerned about the phone's inability to support hands-free voice commands and dialing. Indeed, the readers were correct and Motorola's support forums continue to buzz with user complaints regarding the issue.
As part of our original Droid review we did not test whether the handset supported hands-free voice dialing. We apologize for that, but we've now updated the review to reflect our findings.
Below is the passage from the review:
Unfortunately, the Droid does not support Bluetooth voice dialing or commands. In order to use the Voice Dialer feature, you first must select the icon from the main menu (you can move on a shortcut to the home screen). After speaking your command, you then must confirm it via a prompt on the touch screen. Though we found the voice dialing feature to be quite accurate--it successfully picked up a command when we were a few feet away--it is not an ideal scenario for people who need to completely hands-free. We hope this omission is corrected in a future software update.
In the future, we will report on hands-free voice dialing in our smartphone reviews. As more state and local areas pass laws mandating hands-free driving, such capability will only grow more important.
Starting Friday, Verizon Wireless customers can purchase the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530 in stores and online for $99.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate.
As the CDMA kin to the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8520, the Curve 8530 is more of an entry-level device so you won't find some of the higher-end features found on the BlackBerry Tour, such as world roaming capabilities and a high-resolution display.
However, the Curve 8530 certainly brings some worthy upgrades to the aging Curve 8330, including a next-gen processor, an optical trackpad, and dedicated media controls, and one key feature that even the Tour lacks: integrated Wi-Fi.
On paper, it seems RIM has another crowd-pleaser on its hands, but we have some reservations about the phone's design and Verizon also happens to have another capable messaging smartphone in its lineup, the HTC Ozone, which offers the same features plus world roaming and costs $50 less.
RIM shipped us a Curve 8530 to check out, but it didn't include all the software that would ship on the final version, so we'll hold off on posting a review and verdict till we get a final product. In the meantime, however, you can read some of our first impressions in our hands-on photo gallery below and get a better 360 view of the phone in our First Look video. Stay tuned for more.
On Sale Now: $79.99
View the latest prices for RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530 - black (Verizon Wireless)
On Sale Now: $79.99
View the latest prices for RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530 - smoky violet (Verizon Wireless)
Casio G'zOne Rock
(Credit: Verizon Wireless)After seeing the Casio G'zOne Brigade at the Verizon Wireless event a few weeks ago, we had thought that would be the only G'zOne product we would see for a while. It turns out Casio and Verizon have been working on yet another rugged phone, and it's the Casio G'zOne Rock, which looks a lot like a successor to the G'zOne Boulder.
Along with an exterior that is MIL-STD-180F certified to withstand the elements (water, shock, dust, humidity, salt fog, solar radiation, altitude, high and low temperatures), the G'zOne Rock is even more of an outdoorsman tool than its predecessors. It now has G'zGear software that operates in six modes: Earth Compass, Walking Counter, Thermometer, Astro Calendar (provides the moon's age and days until a full/new moon), Sunrise Sunset (shows the current time and position of the sun, and times for sunrises and sunsets), and Tides (shows the tidal graph and time of tides, plus the best time for fishing).
Other features include Push to Talk, EV-DO Rev. A, a 2-megapixel camera/camcorder with flash, microSD card storage up to 16GB, support for V Cast videos and V Cast Music with Rhapsody, and stereo Bluetooth. The sub-display on the phone has touch controls for the music player.
The Casio G'zOne Rock will be available in matte black for $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year service agreement. You can buy it online starting November 20, or you can buy it in Verizon stores starting November 30.
On Sale Now: $149.99
View the latest prices for Casio G'zOne Rock - black (Verizon Wireless)
