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This is tech-rumor at the moment, but if you are thinking about going to a smart-phone, this is at least worth taking into account.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/20/...-style-limited-data-plans-later-this-mo/

"...we're hearing that Big Red intends to move to some sort of tiered bucket strategy on July 29."

We have been talking about upgrading my lovely bride's handset, it may be time to bite the bullet.

FYI - I have a grandfathered unlimited data and unlimited tethering plan from ~ 5 years ago, so grandfathering can be a big deal over time.

Could get expensive. We have a lot of phones for clinic staff and most are on data plans. I don't think we will be getting Sprint any time soon up here. (right next to Canada)

If the handsets are going to be used on campus, one thing to keep in mind is that current Android and the follow-on tablets will almost all support encrypted WIFI, which would reduce the amount of network data you would consume while at the clinic.

I have an app on my X that tracks usage day/week/month, just so that I know what I am consuming for spec'ing customer use cases.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting you sign up for any vendor, rather if you are already a BigRed customer, just a friendly heads-up.

Indy,

Did Verizon go with the tiered data plans? Will Verizon get the iPhone?
...Ken
p.s. my pre-teen daughter just sold her Nintendo DS lite and got a ipod touch. Interesting how the mandatory data plans for 3G phones on Verizon has suddenly made it seem like a good deal to get ipod touch's for the whole family (rather than sign a new 2 yr contract with verizon and upgrade our phones)

I agree, at least for the preteens who you don't need a full cellphone, but they can text & call unlimited in WiFi, like at home:

iPod Touch + Toktumi "Line 2" app = own telephone # with unlimited Wifi text & calls for $15/month.

It will be funny if Verizon gets the iPhone given all of the famous commercials pointed at one another.

IPOD touch plus textfree - free texting using wifi - assigns you a phone number to text to and from .......

Ken - in answer to the data plan question, my 20yo daughter's BB just died, and when we moved her to an X, she still got unlimited, so as far as I know they haven't gone to tiered data.

One big offset to data fees is that most new phones have WIFI, something that was unheard of a few years ago.

Another offset is Google Voice, SMS and voice at no charge, just need a live number to do the initial setup. It comes as a Android app, or can be run from a browser.

For those that are curious, you can get DIDs (10 digit phone numbers) that can then ring you (wired/wireless/ computer) phone in most markets in the US, you just have to have a service to have those numbers terminated through a VOIP provider - a whole other discussion.

There is a literal wave of Android/HP/Dell tablets (think iPad without the Apple surcharge) coming to market that will offer much greater functionality without data plans, and in different form factors to boot. WIFI and multi-touch are the keys here. Different form factors as well; 5" to 10"

The great thing about WIFI based devices is it becomes far harder to use them in a moving vehicle. (not impossible)

Google Voice is unbelievable. Strange thing at Verizon today was the salesperson asked if I wanted to add text. I said I have had it for two years.

They even put the screen protector on. The store I got mine at is the number one store in the country -- according to them anyway.

I was just flipping through it, and it just has every conceivable networking setup. Four different VPNs, etc.

I am just so happy I convinced Indy to get one.

Bert - you should go full time with the time-shifting thing!

I knew there had to be a reason why I wrangled the hidden X the first day.

I like that. Time shifting.

AHA! - I got one.

Amen to that! Although I have used McDonalds wifi on my ipod touch while at a stoplight :-)

Why can't the ordering systems at places like Dunkin' Donuts have Bluetooth? If you have a Bluetooth phone or device, you could program things in by number. Click on a button and the order would go right through to them and show up on their screen, and the price and cholesterol amount would show up on your phone, iPad or whatever.

Bert, I've heard of google voice, but know little about it. can you enlighten me just a little. Yes, I do promise to "google it."

While we are waiting for Bert to lay it down, here is a quick link:

http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html

I use it for my personal extension/phones since we are often using our hosted switch to experiment and test new converged apps.

I also use it for certain international markets where their termination rates are actually lower than what we can get.

It's free to try.

With Android being made by Google and, of course, GV being made by them as well, the integration between the Droid X and GV will likely be seamless (Indy chime in here).

It seems as though the sky (or should I say cloud) is the limit with what we will be able to do with these Android phones.

I plan, like Adam, to move completely away from an answering service and straight to a web-based, Smartphone, Visual voicemail (GV required to voice to text) in the near future...battery life being the only limitation.

I envision (again Indy) the patient leaving their phone number or it automatically being captured via the Google Voice/Smartphone version of Caller ID, where I can just immediately reply if I don't answer straight out with a one-click dial. And, of course, all voicemails being handled by the website as well for archiving.

I kind of deviated from your question Wayne, but I figured Indy handled it pretty well.

Thanks.

PS Indy I know you are all over the above ideas. Please don't be afraid to "dumb it down for me." I don't think you realize how easy this tech talk is for you. You certainly won't hurt my feelings.

It's late/early, but I wanted to drop this in about the latest features coming to GV on v2.2 of Android. Bring on da Froyo! (v2.2)

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/12/google-voice-actions-for-mobile-announced-write-messages-find/

Oh, and Droid tip of the day, Since Nuance provides part of the voice recognition engine, you should take some time and train your X to respond to your voice commands. And yes, I chuckled when I typed that.