PhoneTalk

The HTC Droid Eris is available today for Verizon Wireless. The second smartphone running Google's Android OS also sports HTC's Sense experience, which will allow users more customization of the device and the ability to access text messages, e-mails, phone calls and even Flickr streams and Facebook updates from a single contact card. The Google smartphone will also sport a 5-megapixel camera, WiFi, a 3.5mm headset jack, GPS with a digital compass, a pre-installed 8GB microSD card for storing pictures, tunes and more. To get a closer look at the HTC Droid Eris check out Verizon Wireless' demonstration video below.

Tags:	In The Know	Verizon Wireless	Cell phone plans	Smart phones
	Business Use	WiFi	GPS	HTC
	Android	Google

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Google unveiled Google Maps Navigation, a free turn-by-turn GPS app for Android 2 smartphones - currently that's Verizon's Motorola Droid. It has many of the features found in navigation apps for cell phones plus quite a few additions such as street view -so you can see the street you're turning on (I know landmarks always help me when following directions), satellite view, and the ability to add stops (such as ATMs or gas stations) along the way finding the closes spot along your route. To see it in action watch the Google video below:

Tags:	Somethin' To Talk About	Motorola	Verizon Wireless	GPS
	Android	Google

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The much-anticipated Motorola DROID for Verizon Wireless launched today with an availability date of November 9th, which is less than 2 weeks away. The smartphone, which runs Google's Android v2.0 operating system will sport both a slide-out and touchscreen QWERTY keyboard, 5-megapixel camera, WiFi, 3G connectivity, and 16GB of on-board storage (expandable up to 32GB). Additionally, this smartphone is all about personalization with the ability to customize three home screens where you can add folders, apps and widgets for easy one-touch access. It also comes with Amazon's MP3 store. If you want the DROID, you'll need to subscribe to a nationwide voice plan and an Email and Web for Smartphone plan. Nationwide voice plans begin at $39.99 for monthly access for 450 minutes and an Email and Web for Smartphone plan is $29.99 for monthly access.

To get a better idea of what the DROID has to offer, check out the demonstration video below from Cesar Da Costa, marketing consultant for Verizon Wireless.

Tags:	In The Know	Motorola	Sports	Verizon Wireless
	Music	Cell phone plans	Storage	WiFi
	Video	GPS	Android	Google

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Let's face it, Nextel push-to-talk cell phones haven't been the most attractive phones available to date. That's all about to change with the Motorola i856. The new slider cell phone sports a 1.3-megapixel camera, a 3.5mm headset jack so you can use your own headphones to listen to music, and Bluetooth 2.0. Combine that with its sleek design and red slide-out keypad and you've got a pocket friendly push-to-talk phone. Additionally, you can add up to an 8GB microSD card for storing pictures and music. Speaking of music, you can even have music playing while you text and talk on a direct connect call. Finally, this lightweight cell phone also has access to Sprint's mobile web features such as TeleNav Navigation, NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile and NFL Mobile Live.

Tags:	In The Know	Motorola	Sports	Music
	Text messaging	Sprint	GPS

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Windows Mobile 6.5, the update to Windows Mobile 6.1, was released today. There aren't a whole lot of advancements found in this smartphone OS update, but there are a few noteworthy ones listed below.

• Along the lines of customizations, people can now create more personalized themes for their Windows Mobile phones. You can find out more information on how to do that by clicking here. 
• Windows Live has been enhanced to include new feeds and improved photo sharing to sites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr. We should note that many non-smartphones already offer similar photo sharing features. 
• There's an icon to access Windows Marketplace for Mobile for purchasing and downloading apps directly to the phone. 
• Windows Internet Explorer mobile browser has gotten a facelift with support for Adobe Flash Lite2. This will improve the mobile web surfing experience. 
• If you're interested in picking and choosing specific content for backup, such as pictures, appointments and contacts, check out My Phone. It's a free service that lets you sync this info to a web site so that all is needed is an Internet connection to see and manage your data. If you're someone who tends to lose your cell phone a lot, check out the Premium package (it's free until November 30th and after that can be purchased for $4.99). In short, if you lose the phone in the US, it will locate it for you on a map found on the My Phone site. This service is available for people who have Windows Mobile 6.0, 6.1, and now 6.5. 

There are some new cell phones coming out that have Windows Mobile 6.5 loaded, which include: HTC Pure and HTC Tilt 2 for AT&T, HTC Imagio for Verizon Wireless, and the Samsung Intrepid for Sprint (it should be available on October 11th). If you have a Windows Mobile 5.0 or 6.0 running on your existing Windows Mobile smartphone you will not be able to upgrade it to Windows Mobile 6.5. However, if some Windows Mobile 6.1 phones are eligible for updates, however, there's no announcement of when that will be. Here's the list of eligible smartphones:

HTC Dash

Samsung Jack

Samsung Mirage

Samsung Omnia Pro

HTC Ozone

HTC Snap

HTC Touch Pro 2

Pharos Traveler 137

Finally, here's a peak at what the new interface looks like on the HTC Tilt 2:

Tags:	Phone Smarts	Samsung	Windows Mobile	Smart phones
	GPS	HTC

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Recently, I rented a car and was on my way to return it at the airport. Seeing as I review cell phones, I always like to put them to the test whenever possible. In this situation, I didn't remember how to get to the airport so I decided to use the GPS service in the LG enV Touch that I had on me. The GPS service had a hard time locating the airport in the search, but it did find several other locations on the same street, so I simply selected that option. The directions were great - even gave me a shortcut to get through traffic. Once I was in the vicinity and started seeing the signs for the airport, I ended the application (it drains the battery a bit too fast for my tastes) and threw the cell phone on the front passenger seat. As far as I was concerned it was smooth sailing from there. Until I realized I had 45 minutes to return the car, board the rental car shuttle to the airport, check-in and get through security in time to board the flight.

After pulling into the rental car return parking lot, I checked out, grabbed my bags and ran for the bus. It wasn't until I got on the bus that I realized I had left the cell phone in the car. Gasp! I decided the wheels were in motion - literally. Thankfully, I had other cell phones with me in order to call the rental location. I know that's not the case for everyone, but the check-in counter has a phone that they would have allowed me to use. After spending 5 minutes calling the wrong 800 number on the envelope of the rental agreement, I looked deeper and found that I needed to call the number on the actual agreement. That's the number to the local office. Here's a tip: Call the number on the rental agreement and ask for lost and found. Through this method, I was able to inform them of the lost cell phone and get a direct number to call the next day.

Thankfully, in that time my cell phone battery died so I knew my information on the device was secure. I knew this because when i landed I called my number and it went right to voice mail. Next step: call Lost and Found. They had found the phone and are sending it back to me (at my expense). Here's another helpful tip: If you ever worry about the information on a cell phone set a lock code for the phone. This feature is available on most smartphones out-of-the-box.

All and all, if you lose a cell phone, best bet is to call the phone first. You might just get lucky. If not, retrace your steps and chances are you might just find it. Of course, you can always use a service like YouGetItBack for a different kind of insurance. It all helps, but the thing to really think about is how important is your cell phone to you? Have a story and tips to share? Post a comment below.

Tags:	Phone Smarts	Verizon Wireless	Customer service	LG
	GPS

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We used a Samsung Exclaim to put the Sprint GPS service that's included free with the company's Everything Plan to the test in downtown San Francisco. See if the service is right for you by watching the video below.

Tags:	Phone Smarts	Sprint	Cell phone plans	Samsung
	Travel	GPS

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T-Mobile announced availability of a new multimedia-centric phone, the Samsung Highlight. This 3G-enabled touch-screen cell phone is loaded with all the fun-to-use features you'd expect: 3-megapixel camera, video recorder, music player (ability to play MP3, Microsoft WMA, and Apple AAC music files), stereo Bluetooth, expandable memory supporting up to a 16GB microSD card, and GPS with TeleNav. The real story here is the web access. Not only does this world phone work on T-Mobile's 3G network, it also comes loaded with web2go widget, so you can customize the web experience complete with icon-based bookmarks to favorite sites and receive a live news feed. The Samusng Highlight is available in Fire (an orange color shown below) or Ice (looks like cobalt blue).

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In The Know

GPS

T-Mobile

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The GPS phone from Pharos, the Traveler 137, will come with a customized version of SPB software. On board will be SPB Mobile Shell for a widget-based desktop with 3-D animation; SPB Keyboard; and SPB TV for watching live TV. The SPB software will add a few other features, as well. The SPB software is essentially an overlay over the Windows Mobile OS that makes using the smartphone much more user friendly and customizable.

Tags:	In The Know	Windows Mobile	Smart phones	GPS
	T-Mobile

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The Samsung Eternity for AT&T is a touch-screen phone that's loaded with multimedia features such as a 3-megapixel camera, tons of music apps and support for Mobile TV. Is this cell phone as much fun as it sounds? Watch the video below to find out.

Tags:	In The Know	Music	AT&T Wireless	Samsung
	Camera	GPS

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