Dare to iPhone?
Tags: Hardware
Last year I finally got a new cell phone, an LG Dare. It had everything I wanted, including a touchscreen for coolness factor and a QWERTY keyboard that popped up when you rotate the phone. I've been a Verizon Wireless customer for a long time now and this seemed to be becoming their premier phone, so it was a no-brainer. The LG Dare is not a smart phone, but I didn't need one. I occasionally need to check and respond to e-mail when I'm away from computers and with Verizon Wireless Mobile Email and the decent keyboard I am able to do so. The Dare also has a web browser that is supposed to be one of the better ones. The screen is just big enough to be somewhat useful to look something up but you're not going to want to spend that much time browsing the web.
Fast forward 9 months and, well, I'm kind of tired of the Dare. There are lots of arguments over which is the better phone with diehard radicals on each side. I'm not that crazy about things, but I do want some basic functionality to just work. First, the Dare is also a phone, right? But it's clumsy to get around sometimes and get the right screen up to hit the right button at the right time. The e-mail solution worked for a while, but lately it has not been synchronizing properly with my Lotus Domino/Notes e-mail, and tech support has been no help. They've been less than no help - they've just wasted a bunch of my time and haven't resolved anything. I now have a client with the same setup with the same problem so I know it's not just me. The web browser is pretty clumsy too, although I don't really know if any other devices do it any better. The e-mail and web browser applications are completely separate so if someone e-mails me a link I can't click on it. That's something I know other phones can do. I'm starting to think I might need a real smart phone that can synchronize my e-mail, contacts, and calendar. I knew I was going to get there eventually. Finally, the Dare apps available are just pathetic. It's not critical, but those iPhone apps do look like a lot more fun, and it seems like every time I turn around there's another website optimized for the iPhone and a dozen new apps available.
I'm still on a Verzion Wireless contract for another 14 months or so, but I'm getting itchy. And there are rumors about that a version of the iPhone might be coming to Verizon. We'll see if I can wait that long...
Last year I finally got a new cell phone, an LG Dare. It had everything I wanted, including a touchscreen for coolness factor and a QWERTY keyboard that popped up when you rotate the phone. I've been a Verizon Wireless customer for a long time now and this seemed to be becoming their premier phone, so it was a no-brainer. The LG Dare is not a smart phone, but I didn't need one. I occasionally need to check and respond to e-mail when I'm away from computers and with Verizon Wireless Mobile Email and the decent keyboard I am able to do so. The Dare also has a web browser that is supposed to be one of the better ones. The screen is just big enough to be somewhat useful to look something up but you're not going to want to spend that much time browsing the web.
Fast forward 9 months and, well, I'm kind of tired of the Dare. There are lots of arguments over which is the better phone with diehard radicals on each side. I'm not that crazy about things, but I do want some basic functionality to just work. First, the Dare is also a phone, right? But it's clumsy to get around sometimes and get the right screen up to hit the right button at the right time. The e-mail solution worked for a while, but lately it has not been synchronizing properly with my Lotus Domino/Notes e-mail, and tech support has been no help. They've been less than no help - they've just wasted a bunch of my time and haven't resolved anything. I now have a client with the same setup with the same problem so I know it's not just me. The web browser is pretty clumsy too, although I don't really know if any other devices do it any better. The e-mail and web browser applications are completely separate so if someone e-mails me a link I can't click on it. That's something I know other phones can do. I'm starting to think I might need a real smart phone that can synchronize my e-mail, contacts, and calendar. I knew I was going to get there eventually. Finally, the Dare apps available are just pathetic. It's not critical, but those iPhone apps do look like a lot more fun, and it seems like every time I turn around there's another website optimized for the iPhone and a dozen new apps available.
I'm still on a Verzion Wireless contract for another 14 months or so, but I'm getting itchy. And there are rumors about that a version of the iPhone might be coming to Verizon. We'll see if I can wait that long...
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
