Mountain View Cellphones

The PRE has many great applications already out for use.

Many companies have already ported a version of their software into the PRE for use.  Here are some interesting great applications.

1.  Dining…OpenTable…like the mini web version.  This application allows you to make a dinner reservation from the PRE device.  What’s unique is that it references your location and you can quickly do a geographic search for nearest great eats.  Open Table usually targets restaurants that take reservations, so don’t expect a whole in the wall dining experience.  Reviews are also available.  Treat yourself and the restaurants by trying something new.   

2.  Keeping Passwords…This was a vital application.  I used this daily on my blackberry 8830, but with the new Palm PRE, the SplashID thru the download apps works like a charm.  It has many nice templates for different types of passwords (i.e.  frequent flyer miles versus web log-ins versus bank accounts).  A great plus to the Palm Pre.

3.  Shopping…in this economy, Craigslist has found a way to make your Palm PRE a mobile flea market.  Again, we can locate your position and find items available for sale by owner in the area.  I can even scan resumes of bilingual sales associates we are looking for.  This is a fabulous tool.  I can search for an electric bike on the cheap.

4.  Music…Pandora is one of the best applications for music.  The ability to play music by genres is great.  The greatest thing is that you can play music while you do other things on your PRE, like Craigslist, Web surfing, booking a dinner table, etc…  This is unique to the PRE and is a great reason for the phone.  Running multiple applications concurrently is a large advance that all smartphones will have in the future.

5.  Weather…AccuWeather has a crisp application for know the weather anywhere.  Always easy when planning a trip or what to wear.

6.  There are tons more apps on the way and they ARE NOT always in the app catalog.  These can be downloaded from the computer and loaded into the device.  You can get these apps on your PRE eventhough they have not been approved.  www.precentral.net  Go under the Home Brew Apps section.  It takes more effort but for the app you want, it’s worth it. 

Enjoy the PRE.  It’s a great device and $50 a month less than the IPHONE for unlimited everything service.

The PRE doesn’t have a big enough battery. I think this issue is true of it’s brother the IPHONE. These great devices have the same problem.

However, there are a few key things you can do to ensure the battery you have last throughout the day.

1. In Location Services, TURN OFF EVERYTHING. If these services are on, your phone is sending information or getting information from GPS satellites and Google. Turn on these services before you use Sprint Navigation or Google Maps.

2. Turn Off WIFI. If you don’t need it, don’t turn it on. It’s another chipset to run.

3. In Screen & Lock, lower the Brightness of the device. Also, Turn off after 1 minute or 30 seconds is recommended. Everytime the screen powers up, it will drain battery charge.

4. Don’t turn on bluetooth unless you need it. Bluetooth will drain more battery life and is know to do this rapidly.

5. Set email to receive at lower frequency. Set it for receiving at 10 minutes or 15 minutes if you can. If you don’t need it right away, don’t request your phone to work to get it without your need.

6. Don’t run many concurrent applications at once. Please cancel the apps when done with them. Perhaps you can have one open in the background that you really need quick access to, but don’t run more than two. The PRE keeps these applications up and running in the background, a unique feature of this phone, but a feature that will drain battery life.

Unfortunately, many “conservation” measures will make life a little more inconvenient, but it will “save energy.”

Sometimes the PRE screen will fade out when making a call or will flicker.  This is not a problem of the device.  This is actually a feature that is working correctly.

The reason we see this error is because a screen protector or the original protector is left on the screen.  My theory is that the screen is heat sensitive and the more you use it with a cover, somehow that heat is being saved/trapped by the cover and causing the screen to go dark.  The screen also goes dark when you put it up to your face (so you don’t dial/activate apps while on a call).  The screen protector is causing the phone sensor to behave like it’s up to your face.  Because the heat will disappate, it will return to a normal look an feel with the screen cover until you crank up some functions that heat up the phone (like talking on it). 

In conclusion:  don’t use screen protectors on the PRE.  Test them first and if you have problems after applying screen protector, then it’s the screen protector causing the problems, not the phone.

With the great launch of the PRE, we have been extremely busy in keeping up with demand. Sprint is on the right track with this product and who really wants to pay $50/month more for the PRE imitation without a keyboard.

As with any new product there are some problems.

1. When drained to much and then charged, the quarter full red battery with charging symbol appears. The unit won’t power back on, eventhough it is charged. This requires a physical reboot of the device by removing the battery.

In removing the battery, press the button on the bottom of the phone and lift up the back cover. Then run your fingers along the sides while lifting the back cover. It should pop off easily. Pull the black tab above the battery and this will release the battery from the compartment. This requires a little bit of force and often results in the battery flying out quickly. A little pressure down on the connection prongs with a pull on the tab may be more beneficial to getting battery out smoother.

After battery is removed, reinsert and replace back cover. Turn back on device and it should work.

More things to come as we learn from results.

We are launching a second store in Palo Alto and expanding out service business with PhoneMechanics.com. I have not had time to post due to all the events taking place and the stuff going on.

June 6th is the official date. We will have stock available for the customers at this time. It’s time to offer the world the Consumer Electronics Show Winner for 2009.

4/18/2009 by www.mountainviewcellphones.com

JD Powers recently awarded Sprint & Verizon a tie as the #1 network in the West.

“Highest Call Quality Performance Among Wireless Cell Phone Users in the West Region”

"Sprint has shown sequential improvement since the 2008 study, outpacing the industry average."

"Disclaimer: Sprint Nextel received the highest numerical score among wireless
service providers in the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates2009 Wireless Call
Quality Performance StudySM - Volume 1. Study based on 27,754 consumer responses
measuring five providers in the West region (AZ, CA, CO, ID, IA, MN, MT, ND, NE,
NM, NV, OR, SD, UT, WA, WY) and measures opinions of wireless users about the
call quality of their service. Proprietary study results are based on
experiences and perceptions of consumers surveyed in July - December 2008. Your
experiences may vary."

Here is a link of other Sprint Accolades.

The turnaround is clear here and the reason why PRE is launching with Sprint is indisputable.  The best phone on the best network.  We aren’t going to have the bandwidth issues ATT had and still has with the iPHONE…you will be able to surf the web at a very brisk pace (where there is 3G coverage).

1.5 years of putting back the focus to the company on a few core objectives is bearing fruit.  Stock up and soon subscriber growth will return.  Value beats out great commercials in this economic environment.

4/18/2009 by www.mountainviewcellphones.com

Opera is a common name among people who have an interest in improving their browser experience.  Opera now ships standard on windows mobile phones and will hopefully be standard on many other phones as well.  For example, the Samsung Instinct can now adopt Opera in newer updates.

Opera is great for several reasons:

1.  A full HTML experience browser with zoom in/out capabilities for a small screen.

2.  Easy access to bookmarks and management of the booksmarks.

3.  Integration of web pages with regular phone functions like dialing a number from a web search

4.  Integration of your desktop Opera experience with your phone to sync many data points

Opera provides a better browser experience overall than standard shipped web browsers on many phones.  Opera on a Blackberry far surpasses the Blackberry browser.  The best part is that it’s free for the users to use and download.

Opera can be downloaded at mini.opera.com.  Get it and your use of the web on the phone will jump dramatically.

by www.mountainviewcellphones.com

Sprint recently introduced a great loyalty and a great program for new customers.  It’s the Sprint Premier program.  This is the best program in the world for loyal customers that spend more than $69.99/month on cell phone service and families spending more than $99.99/month.

Some great advantages:

1.  Equipment upgrades for the primary line EVERY YEAR.

2.  Promos and coupons to save more.

3.  Advance notice of products and new services.

4.  Entry to special contests to win more prizes.

5.  Sprint plan optimizer to change your plan without contract extension.

This is a great deal.  A new phone every year at the lowest prices for the best and higher paying customers.  Fabulous.

This is unmatched by ATT, Verizon, and T-mobile.  In fact, I’m kind of worried as to how they are going to pay for all these new phones.

There is a small catch…you need to have a stellar payment history to qualify and have plans that are high enough.

3/19/2009 by www.moutainviewcellphones.com

It’s now very feasible and inexpensive to use your mobile phone to process credit card transactions.  This only works with Nextel, Blackberry, and Windows mobile devices, but it’s a very elegant and fast solution. 

You only require software that cost $100 for the phone and a merchant account to process credit cards.  We have great partners who can give goods rates for processing if anyone is interested.

All you need to do is activate the application, put in the credit card number, process, and you get an authorization and capture in 3 seconds.  It’s very fast. 

To improve the system, you can buy an additional portable bluetooth printer and swipe for $150.  This provides the ability to get a full swipe rate for the card (generally about 0.25% better) and print a receipt for customer right on the spot. 

This is great technology we can help your organization with.  

Lastly, with Sprint Blackberries, you pay about $20/month less than ATT and Verizon and you get GPS navigation for free.   Now, you can get where you are going and you can transact at the lowest rates.  Any questions, feel free to inquire with us.