January '10 Newsletter

Special Smartphone Issue

This month we focus on "smartphones" – those cool, new gadgets that, quite literally, put the world at your fingertips. You may be wondering about the features and capabilities that make a phone “smart.” You’re not alone. The fact is, even the experts are confused. Searching the Web will turn up many definitions. However, most agree that all smartphones:

• Combine a wireless phone and computer-like functions into a single, hand-held device
  
  
• Include an operating system that allows you to install software applications to expand or enhance the capabilities of the device
  
  
• Provide mass storage capacity for installable applications, music, video, photos and/or business files
  
  
• Allow email/Internet access
  
  
• Include an alpha-numeric keyboard and some sort of pointing device (stylus, touch-screen, etc.) for interacting with the applications
  
  
• Offer the capability to synchronize data (email, contacts, and appointments) with a computer.

Over the past several years, the lines between portable computers, personal data assistants (PDAs), digital music players and wireless phones have become quite fuzzy. Many customers are pleasantly surprised to discover how productive they can be on these new devices.

Choosing a Smartphone

While the iPhone is still adored by critics and users alike, a recent wave of new smartphones is garnering rave reviews, giving the iPhone some competition. Google’s Android, Palm’s Pre and the latest Blackberry models from Research in Motion (RIM) offer features that compete favorably with the iPhone. We continue to feel that the iPhone is one of the most intuitive smartphones. However, for various reasons, the iPhone may not be practical for many wireless phone users. The biggest barrier? At this time, there is only one wireless carrier offering the iPhone.

Although Apple may authorize more carriers to sell the iPhone, AT&T is now the only one. For many customers who are bound by a service agreement, costly “early termination” fees can make it difficult to jump to another provider. Wireless providers offer a finite number of phones that are compatible with their service. However, even if your choices are limited, you should be able to find something cool that fits your needs. If you are not bound by a contract with your current wireless provider, well, the world is your oyster!

As you would expect us to say, the best smartphone is the one that is easiest to use while best serving your individual needs. Nearly all of them will allow you to send and receive email, manage contacts and appointments, and browse the Web via the wireless phone signal or any available wi-fi network.

When evaluating a smartphone, do not simply rely on a salesperson’s recommendation. Touch every phone and tour its primary features. Here are some important considerations:

1. Overall size, shape and form factor: How does the phone feel in your hand? Is it easy to grip or is there a risk of dropping the phone if you quickly yank it out of your pocket or purse to answer an incoming call?
   
   
2. Operating system design: Deliberately navigate through the main menu. Do the icons “speak” to you? Remember, you will likely be living with the phone for a couple of years, so choose the phone that seems to be the most intuitive and easy to use.
   
   
3. Keyboard/keypad design and layout: Texting and email generally require a full, alphanumeric keyboard or keypad – that is one that has separate keys for letters and numbers. On smartphones, keys may be physical buttons or touch-sensitive areas on the display. Again, there is no substitute for taking the keyboard/keypad for a "test drive." See what works best. Different people have different requirements. For example, someone with big hands may find that the keys on one phone are too close together, resulting in errors; and a woman with long fingernails will likely find a touch-screen keyboard to be completely useless.
   
   
4. Multimedia support: Most smartphones double as a digital music player and digital camera. Some models, such as the Apple iPhone 3Gs, even allow you to shoot digital video. You will need to determine whether these features are important to you and, if they are, to what degree. Compare technical specifications between phones, including media storage capacity (usually in gigabtyes), computer media player software compatibility (Windows Media Player, Apple iTunes, MusicMatch, etc.), and camera picture resolution (in megapixels).
   

Service Plan Considerations

Ah yes ... the monthly cost. Let’s not overlook that! Understanding the service plan can be difficult but it (quite literally) pays to be informed. Smartphones offer quite a bit more services than normal wireless phones, and these services often cost extra. Plans vary greatly from provider to provider but here are some of the basic considerations:

• Anytime phone minutes: This is the total number of prime-time phone minutes allowed by your plan. The hours of day considered “prime-time” vary slightly between providers but they generally fall under the category of weekday business hours.
  
  
• Night and weekend phone minutes: These are usually discounted or free minutes that fall outside of the “anytime” minutes. Make sure you understand when these periods start and end.
  
  
• Data (Internet & Email) plan: You will likely require a data plan on any smartphone to access email and the Internet. (If you do not want this capability, there is probably no reason to consider a smartphone.) Data plans almost always require and additional monthly fee, over and above the phone plan. Some providers will not even let you purchase a smartphone without a data plan. For example, the iPhone will not operate without one.
  
  
• Text message limit: The wireless providers know full well that texting is the rage and they make you pay for it! Make sure you (and, if applicable) the rest of your family understand the number of messages allocated to your rate plan(s). If you go over the limit, extra messages are expensive – 15 to 20 cents each – and they add up quickly. It is always cheaper to pay the extra monthly fee to get a larger allotment of messages than it is to routinely go over the limit. And remember: you are charged for incoming text messages, as well as outgoing messages. Cha ching!
  
  
• “A” list phone numbers: Different providers have different names for this feature. Essentially, your “A” list is a fixed number of phone numbers (usually 5 or 10) that you can call for free. Most people add their most frequently called numbers to this list – usually those numbers belonging to family members, friends and work-related colleagues. Calls to and from these numbers do not count against your “anytime” minutes.
  
  
• Service Agreement: Wireless providers offer promotions for which they give away phones or, at least, sell them at dramatically discounted prices. However, to take advantage of these promotions you normally have to commit to a long-term service agreement. It is very important that you clearly understand the length of the agreement, and the cost associated with terminating the contract early.

All About Text Messaging

What’s the big deal about texting? Why would you want to text a friend rather than call her? What’s the difference between texting and email? These are just a few of the common questions we hear related to text messaging, the latest rage among expert wireless (cell) phone users.

In many ways, wireless phone texting is similar to the old electronic pager technology that was so popular in the 90’s. Like paging, texting allows you to send an instant text message directly to a personal, electronic device – in this case, someone’s wireless phone. This can be a much less intrusive and more immediate form of communication. Phone calls require the recipient to answer and engage in a voice conversation, which may not be convenient or appropriate for certain environments. For example, it is widely considered “bad form” to hold a phone conversation in a restaurant or during a business meeting. Texting is a silent way to notify someone or to ask an important question.

Unlike pagers, texting facilitates immediate, two-way communication. Where a pager would generally require a follow up phone call at the next convenient opportunity, recipients can promptly and silently respond without the risk of disruption.

But isn’t texting just the same as email? Not quite. It is certainly true that these two forms of communication have similarities. They are text-based, sent electronically, and delivered quickly. However, email messages do not necessarily notify recipients you are trying to reach them. It may be hours or days before they check messages and even longer to respond. A text message is much more immediate, sent directly to a mobile phone number (rather than an email address). Instead of being delivered to an inbox where it waits to be read, a text message immediately generates a sound or quick vibration on recipient’s phone that is much less intrusive than a ring tone. In this way, the recipient is automatically notified of the incoming message.

As kids grow and become more autonomous, many parents are embracing text messaging as a standard form of family communication. As technology becomes mainstream, adults are discovering what the younger generation has known for years: texting is not only cool, it’s an effective way to communicate without bothering the people around you!

Tips for Texters

• DO NOT TEXT WHILE DRIVING! (We don’t need to elaborate on this. Do we?)
  
  
• Keep it short and sweet. Most wireless providers impose a 160 character per message limit. This means your text must be brief, direct and concise. If you find yourself unable to live within the 160 character limit, consider sending your message via email instead.
  
  
• Type in lower case. Typing on a phone can be challenging and, depending upon the alpha-numeric key arrangement on the phone’s keypad, switching case can be a hassle.
  
  
• Use abbreviations and “shortcuts.” Remember, you’re not writing a book and no one is grading your use of punctuation and grammar. Common substitutions include:
  • “4” for the word “for”
  • “2” for “to” and "too"
  • “U” for “you”
  • “R” for “are.”

Google Apps – Take Your “Smartphone” to the Next Level

Do you already own a smartphone that allows you send and receive email and keep track of your personal appointments? Would it be helpful to synchronize your email, contacts (address book) and calendar wirelessly between your computer and the smartphone? Finally, would all of these features be more attractive if they were 100% free? If you answered yes to these questions, we strongly encourage you to check out Google Apps.

Most smartphones include software and a cable that allow you to synchronize email, appointments and contacts between your computer and the phone. However, these rely upon a manual process that requires a physical connection between the phone and computer (via a USB cable for example). Your data is only as current as the last time you took the time to sync your devices. Google Apps, performs the same function automatically at regular, timed intervals. All of this occurs via your computer’s Internet connection and your mobile phone provider’s wireless network. “Look Mom! No wires!”

Google Apps Standard Edition is a free “groupware” product that enables workgroups and family members to communicate and collaborate with each other. Think of Google Apps and your own private InTRAnet – a mini Internet that is private to your workgroup or family. Each member has his or her own e-mail account and calendar. Users can optionally choose to share his or her calendar with other workgroup members. The group can also choose to create a separate calendar that is available to all members. For example, Mom can use a shared calendar to post important dates for vacations and holiday gatherings, so the rest of the family can stay “in the loop.” There is even a web-based file library that allows your group to exchange documents, pictures and other digital files with each other.

The email portion of Google Apps utilizes the standard GMail webmail interface, accessible from any Internet-connected computer. Each user gets up to 6GB of mailbox storage (and Google has increased this limit each year.) Most popular smartphones also provide direct support for this type of email, allowing you to send and receive messages directly from and to the phone. Likewise, the GoogleApps calendar seamlessly integrates with most smartphones as well.

The Premium Edition of Google Apps, only $50 per year per user, adds support for Microsoft Outlook. If it's installed on your office and/or home computers, you can use Outlook to manage email and appointments instead of the Google’s standard, web-based interface). Google Apps Premium users also get 25GB of email storage.

Aside from a smartphone and computer, the only other prerequisite for Google Apps is a web domain (www.yourfamily.com for example). Sounds expensive, eh? Think again. If you don’t have your own domain, Google will get you one for a mere $10 per year.

If you upgraded your family’s wireless phones for Christmas, Google Apps is a great gift for the New Year that will dramatically improve communication and enhance collaboration between family members or co-workers. If you think your smartphone is cool now, wait until you see this! Computer Home care can usually take care of the entire setup process, start to finish, in 60 to 90 minutes. Once everything is working, we can help you set up your phones and schedule a private “training session” for your team. Give us a call!

Frequently Asked Question: What is "3G?"

International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000), better known as 3G or 3rd Generation, is a family of standards for mobile telecommunications defined by the International Telecommunication Union .... Services include ... voice telephone, video calls, and wireless data, all in a mobile environment. Compared to 2G and 2.5G services, 3G allows simultaneous use of speech and data services and higher data rates .... Thus, 3G networks enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency.

Editor's note: In layman terms, 3G is "mo' betta', mo fasta'." Most of the major wireless phone carriers offer 3G service. However, at this time, 3G is not available in all areas.

Source: Winkled contributors, "3G," Winkled, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=3G&oldid=338959925 (accessed January 20, 2010).

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