My new phone

My new telephone (not in iPhone) will do everything except talk the officer out of a speeding ticket (no, I really haven't tried that yet) or bleep at me when I turn into the Dairy Queen parking lot. Costly little red critter - even more costly for all the do-dads that can be added. Not only do you buy a program for each application (do-dad) but you also pay a monthly fee and with some of them you use your precious minutes.

However, I now have learned to use the QWERTY keyboard with my thumbs as long as I'm sitting still. I have trouble answering my cell phone when I'm driving and, even with good suspension, I don't do well texting as a passenger, unlike my friend who was involved in a major car accident as a passenger. She and I were texting at the time. She texted, "Wreck, wreck, bad wreck" and then nothing for a long 20 or 30 minutes. Rear ended by a large truck, their little Hundai was totaled. The driver has a vertebrae injury and bruises and scratches for my texting friend and their pup.

Back to the phone. The outside has a picture of my beautiful snowball viburnum as a background, and the inside is the creek behind our home. Many people have their pictures appear when they call, and some even have special ringtones. Not that I recognize them yet - hmm, wonder whose ringtone that is?

I can store music, pictures, documents in the phone memory or insert a memory card to carry all my information. I can sync the phone and its memory with my computer. I can download songs, podcasts and even videos from the internet as well as receive my email if I wish - and I don't wish. Can you imagine trying to watch kd lang with all her expressions as she sings "Hallelujah" on a 2 inch screen.

The camera has a flash and a zoom with 3 megapixels. I can send the pictures to my computer via text messaging. And, I understand that I should be able to send text messages to my phone from my computer. Of course, that seems needless. Costs less just to say it to me...and I don't like talking to myself when I can't answer instantly.

For a small fee, I can read my voice mail messages. Of course, I'm curious about how voice recognition programs can translate sounds into words accurately - could be some interesting voice mails. LOL

Mostly, I just want the blasted thing to send and receive phone calls well. Now that Alltel has merged with Verizon, calls aren't going through as quickly - you hear that blip, blip, blip.....all too often. Other than that, it works pretty well. A new toy!