Being a self described geek, picking the Top 5 Smartphones for Business is an easy task. You can find me reading the latest news on new devices and sharing that information with friends. However, when I researched this topic and saw the top 5, I was only surprised with one device that made it on the list.
Here are the top 5 smartphones for business according to Enterprise Mobile Today.
1. APPLE iPHONE 3GS –$199 (16GB), $299 (32GB) AT&T
2. MOTOROLA DROID–$199 VERIZON WIRELESS
3. HTC TOUCH PRO2–$269.99 (T-MOBILE) $349.99 (Slither)
4. BLACKBERRY BOLD 9700–$130 (T-MOBILE) $99 (AT&T)
5. GOOGLE NEXUS ONE–CARRIER T-MOBILE–$179 WITH CONTRACT, $529 UNLOCKED
With respect to the list, let’s look at the number 1 device first, the Apple iPhone 3GS.
Apple has done a great job with this blueprint, making it user gracious with a multitude of business applications. iPhone owners become addicted to it because they believe it can do everything a handheld computer would do. The 3GS browser is an improvement over the 3G, critics say the browser is “superb.”
However, my one drawback on the device is that it is more a multimedia device than a phone. The phone experiences frequent dropped calls, and sound quality is terrible and the battery drains fast. But, everything else, the graphics, the video recording, and the apps are beneficial. I recommend working on the phone element of the device for the next generation of iPhones. As a business owner, dropped calls are unacceptable.
The Droid is the phone that Motorola is betting the store on. With all its financial upheavals at this perennial communications company, the Droid is being touted as the phone that will save Motorola from itself.
In a nutshell, the Droid’s battery life is awesome, no frequent recharges here; and it boasts a huge 3.7 inch high resolution conceal. However, I found the keyboard to be cumbersome if you have large fingers. Maybe this keyboard is better for someone with small hands.
Like in previous Motorola phones, the sound quality is lacking. Even on maximum volume, sound quality is average. I’m sure Motorola is working on that problem as I type. The rush in which the Droid responds to commands is lightning fast, so you may forget about not hearing your caller and just keep the phone for the duration of the contract and get the upgrade as soon as it becomes available. As a business device, the one drawback is the sound quality, everything else stacks up to a good device.
My personal favorite is the HTC Touch Pro2. I bought this device because it allows me to receive all my emails, preserve track of my favorite social networks, and runs on the Windows Mobile platform. I didn’t know how I would need Windows Mobile Office until I was taking a train straggle recently and didn’t have access to the internet.
A client needed a document that was stored on my laptop ASAP, so I merely connected my Touch Pro2 to the laptop, moved the document from the laptop to the phone, and sent the document by email as an attachment. My client was happy, and I got paid. The only thing I recommend about this phone, is definitely buy a vehicle charger. It sucks up battery life really fast! But, other than that, being able to perform a task like making my client happy paid for the price of the device.
Being a former Blackberry owner, I can identify with having ‘crackberry’ syndrome. That is, the occurrence of being addicted to using your Blackberry and never letting it out of your observe. I owned a Blackberry Curve before I jumped to the Touch Pro2 and absolutely loved it. I unbiased got tired of the RIM service outages.
Another dislike of mine with Blackberry is the browser, because RIM chooses to run its own, this short changes owners from experiencing a true web experience. The Blackberry has always been the ultimate business smartphone, however, competitors are spring boarding smartphone concepts that Blackberry started and making them better. The phone looks good, the browser is a little better than before, but RIM needs to get some proper creativity going before it loses its core customer base. As a business smartphone, there are better options out there.
Few know that the Google Nexus One is made by HTC. That being said, the phone has a lot of potential, and for this being Google’s first jump into the smartphone/Android fire, it’s a good one. Google also kind of threw out a challenge of things to approach to other wireless providers, it offers the Nexus One in an unlocked version, meaning you can buy this phone without a contract and run it on a CDMA network.
Here are a couple of glitches that will probably be resolved in the next generation of Google phones, that is the puny internal memory (the need for a memory card slot is necessary); the media player is just, okay, it doesn’t effect you want to use it a lot; you cannot sync your Outlook calendar on this phone, maybe because Google has its own calendar and wants to promote use of that. Also there isn’t any multi-touch or Bluetooth dialing on this arrangement. Oh, and early termination fees hit you double by both Google and T-Mobile. Ouch!
Truly, one day, the Nexus One will become the smartphone that changes the game. But apt now, it has to work out some internal difficulties. Maybe when the Nexus ne grows up, it will be the smartphone that changes the game. PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait…wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait… PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait…wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…
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Filed under Small Business Verizon by on Oct 7th, 2011. 
The Blackberry Tour 9630 is my third Blackberry device. It is uncommon to Verizon Wireless, and so far, it is the best Blackberry I’ve ever owned. Manufactured by Research in Motion (RIM) located in Waterloo, Ontario Canada the Blackberry Tour 9630 is one of the first devices to implement RIMs new, sleeker acquire.
After several years of success, RIMs Blackberry Curve (83xx series) line was beginning to glean a bit out dated. RIM had recently launched the Blackberry Storm on Verizon, their first touch screen devise, which included an updated physical design. Adding darker colors, and steeper angles, the Storm looked like a completely new devise. The Storms initial lackluster sales prompted RIM to hit the design floor and begin to update as much as possible to avoid losing market fraction. The Tour 9630 was one of the first results of this redesign process, and designed to replace the aging 8830 World Series, a popular corporate unit.
The Blackberry Tour is a QWERTY devise, similar to the Curve 83xx series. It boasts a 480×360 hi res display, showing over 65,000 colors. It comes in slightly larger then the Curve 83xx series at 4.4″x2.4″x.56″, but still smaller then the powerhouse Bold 9000 series, and its predecessor the 8830. It packs the standard features, such as GSM and CDMA radios, a 3.2mp camera, GPS, and stout 3G capabilities. Battery life is listed as 14 days standby, 5 hours talk time. In my experience, with light to moderate exercise, you may be able to pull 2 days, but nightly charges seem necessary. Of course, battery life is subjective to your usage, background apps, and many other factors. The Tour has a Bold style keyboard, which features raised keys, with no space in between, unlike the Curve 83xx series, which had individual keys with spaces in between. This seems to have really sped up my typing, and its one of the easiest thumb QWERTY keyboards I’ve ever feeble. In fact, I’m tying typing this review on my Blackberry Tour. The phone is very light, at 4.5oz, almost too light. I’m coming from a Motorola Droid, which is very heavy, so I’ve had to adjust to make sure the Tour doesn’t cruise out of my hands. The encourage battery cover is plastic, but boasts a nice carbon fiber effect.
All in all, the Blackberry tour is a great devise, that I am enjoying using. The Blackberry operating system is a work in progress, but it’s a professional system, that’s focused on getting the job done, instead of looking pretty. Email is what RIM built their business on, and that’s what the Blackberry shines at. SMS, MMS, Instant message, chat, and their own Blackberry Messenger application all work together to make sure that you can contact whoever you need to, whenever you need to. The phone handles multimedia well, but it’s not designed for watching movies, and the conceal is a bit small for some multimedia functions, but will work in a pinch. One of my favorite recent additions is the Kindle app for Blackberry. Many complain that the screen is too small to read on, but I’ve had no trouble, and really luxuriate in having my eBooks with me wherever I go.
I would recommend the Blackberry Tour to any Verizon user who wants a QWERTY devise, and who doesn’t want to be bogged down by flashy social networking phones. The Blackberry is a work horse, and will get the job done.
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Filed under Small Business Verizon by on Nov 29th, 2010.
The LG EnV Touch is fairly new in the Verizon Wireless phone lineup. First released in early summer 2009, the phone has held its beget. For Verizon customers wanting easy access to e-mail, Word, and other business and home computer type programs, the smart phones including Blackberry and various other makes, are very pricey. It costs at least thirty dollars a month just to have the smart phone activated…and that does not include an unlimited data package for e-mail and internet use on the phone. Therefore, it is worthwhile to investigate Verizon’s high tech basic phone options.
Out of Verizon’s regular cell phones, the LG EnV Touch takes the cake. It has not only a fully-functioning touch mask, but also a convenient clamshell design with full QWERTY keyboard. The attached QWERTY keyboard does make the phone a bit heavier than other touch screen models, but it is expansive for texters. The keys are nicely spaced apart and the design is very user-friendly. The EnV Touch has several stand-out features. In addition to full-spectrum Bluetooth capabilities, it has a document viewer which is mammoth for business people and students. Though Word and PowerPoint documents cannot be edited from the document viewer, they are still downloadable from a computer to the phone. Extra memory from a card may be needed for adding on multiple titanic documents. Students can use the document viewer to discover over class PowerPoints, while businesspeople can use the viewer to practice presentations and notion quarterly reports. The document viewer supports at least the file types .doc, .xls, .ptt, and .pdf . LG’s EnV Touch is currently the only basic phone offered at Verizon with a document viewer-making it the closest thing to a gleaming phone without paying the much higher label. Also, with a smaller unlimited data price ($9.99 a month) than a smart phone ($44.99 a month), users can surf the web, access e-mail, and listen to music. The touch screen is easy to expend with zoom in and out features as well as a scroll panel to allow for full viewing of web pages. Shortcuts to Facebook, Myspace, and other favorite websites can be placed on the phone’s main veil.
Adding to EnV Touch’s features are a drawing pad, notepad, and notebook. A notepad icon can be added to the main touch screen. It displays notes and memos at a spy. The larger notebook, found in the tools section of the phone menu can hold much larger notes. Continuing, the 3.2 mega pixel camera is not bad. It has enhanced photo features to perfect images. Also, the touch screen camera mode allows the user to take a photo from multiple angles.
Music listening is a breeze on the EnV Touch. The side of the phone’s headphone jack fits all standard headphones. Many cell phone models need some sort of adapter for music because the headphone jacks are too small for standard headphones. Using a memory card, the phone can hold all kinds of music files. Video viewing and making is also accessible through the phone’s multimedia section.
Overall the LG EnV Touch should be rated a 4.8 out of 5 stars. As with all touch screen phones with only a touch-lock screen feature, dialing contacts can happen accidentally.
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Filed under Small Business Verizon by on Aug 22nd, 2010.