311 Blog - Web Design and Technology Tips

Fios by Verizon

It's hot right now (if you can get it in your area) especially with a free 19 inch LCD TV till 2/4. I currently have the Internet service and it has been excellent. So I called to check on pricing for a bundle. I currently use Vonage for phone and Comcast for TV. That's when the saga begins. After my first 15 minute call to Verizon using a number from a mailed flyer, I was told by a very courteous representative that I needed to call a different number and she would transfer me. Then after just getting to the second rep the call was disconnect. So do over.

And here's what I found out... that flyer that said $99 per month, well that doesn't include equipment costs. So add at least $5 per month per TV (that's for analog) and $10 per month for digital. For 3 TV's the total came out to $141 per month. Way above what I'm now paying with my economy cable plan.

Saving on your cellphone bill?

T-mobile is re-advertising their phones that work with home wireless networks. Four of their phones can connect to your wireless network at home and make calls. But not for free. It costs at least $9.99 to add the service so you'd have to be a serious cell phone talker at home to make up the difference.

My suggestion? Resist $10 per month for the rest of your life and check out a skype wireless phone for $100 or so if you want to roam around the house and talk for a few pennies per minute even overseas. Or better yet get an unlimited talk plan from Vonage.

Technology Dollar Saving Tip for 2008

I got tired of $65 per month for my Blackberry although Tmobile's service was good and the Blackberry performance was excellent. There was not a viable Tmobile alternative since the Sidekick is no longer available in pay as you go format. So, I was looking for a lower monthly bill and who isn't?

So I researched a prepaid, no contract option and came up with the Kyocera Wildcard (review on cnet) from Virgin Mobile.

Now that I have it in my grubby little hands, my take is similar to the review... the Wildcard is a phone first and a middling PDA/email reader second. The email is limited to a few providers such as yahoo, aol, aim, comcast, juno, verizion, etc. It doesn't look like you can setup a pop account like the Blackberry can... so if you are a total email addict the Kyocera isn't a great solution but for an occasional message it should be fine. It also does IM and has a 1.3 MP camera which is handy when out shopping and you're trying to figure out is this the one the wife wants? Snap a pic, email it and you're golden! :)

Still for about $25 per month vs $65 per month I'll live with the shortcomings... at $25 I get 100 minutes of talk time and 200 messages (email, IM, text).

Labels: cell mobile

Super cool widget for creating multimedia on your site... I don't like the part about "no web developer needed" though :)

Labels: video

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