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AT&T Assistance During Hurricane Lane

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Got this text message from AT&T informing customers that the company is not charging overage fees for impacted areas of Hawaii.

 

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According to att.com/hurricanelane, AT&T mobile customers have access to unlimited talk, text, and data from August 24-28. This applies to all AT&T wireless customers with billing addresses in the state of Hawaii.

Thanks AT&T! And I gotta say their Disaster Preparation page is very informative letting customers know what actions AT&T has taken and what customers can do for themselves. I just hope AT&T won’t have to activate their National Disaster Recovery program for us.

Starbucks Ala Moana Now Tolerable with Mobile Order

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Wow, what a profound effect the new Starbucks Mobile Order & Pay has, especially while cruising at Ala Moana. Gone are the days of waiting in the long lines at Starbucks.

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Right after finding parking, you can mobile order and pay for your drink and pick it up, bypassing those infuriating lines. It’s so simple! Now I have to decide if getting a free refill is worth the wait in line…

Siri and Starbucks Mobile Order & Pay

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sbux-recent-ordersThis combination has to be in the works and watch out when it surfaces. The Starbucks Mobile Order & Pay app works great. You place your order via the mobile app and pick up your drink in a few minutes. The most difficult aspect is actually placing your order on the mobile app while driving. Easy if there’s a passenger, not so much if your the sole vehicle occupant. If you’re re-ordering a previous drink, it’ll be on the Previous Order menu, making it a little easier.

But if you wanted to place a new order, you have to browse for the drink or search for it. Either requires tapping on your device. Instead of this dangerous distraction, why not just tell Siri what you want and let he/she/it order it for you? Okay, so you probabably have to acknowledge the order either with a tap of approval or perhaps a Touch ID “unlock” but just imagine the ease and convenience!

And of course, Siri would get trained from your commonly ordered drinks and better understand your verbal order. Or perhaps the app could simply assign numbers to your “quick order” list so all you need to say is, “Hey Siri, order a number 3.”

I can definitely see this happening, and I can’t wait.

Unlimited No Longer

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And I feel the same. After getting the original AT&T unlimited data plan with my iPhone 3G and carrying it over for years, I finally gave it up, switching to an AT&T mobile data sharing plan. Truthfully, I never approached “unlimited” data in my usage, averaging less than 2 GB per month. So instead of keeping the cool sounding unlimited data plan, I opted for other useful services (hello text plan).

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I also said goodbye to my iPhone 4. This phone really cranked up the camera quality, making the iPhone my preferred camera.

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When Is Starbucks “Sweet 15” Free Drink Going Mobile?

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With the Starbucks mobile app and Mobile Card, it’s a wonder why they haven’t moved their free Sweet 15 drink offer to a mobile platform as well. Don’t get me wrong, I love getting these postcards in the mail, but keeping track of them and their expiration date is somewhat humbug. But I guess that is the point. If I forget to use the card, then it’s my loss and Starbucks’ gain.

But still, if I can pay for my Holiday-themed Peppermint Mocha with my iPhone, why can’t I redeem my free drink using my iPhone?

Introducing AmazonWireless

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Want a hassle-free way of shopping for mobile phones and service plans? Amazon just launched its AmazonWireless site where you can shop for phones from AT&T, T Mobile, and Verizon. All phone orders comes with free two day shipping. You can also upgrade your existing cell phone or start a new service contract.

So if you’re in the market for a new phone, check out AmazonWireless.

My Cell Phone Sucks!

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mpx200aI’ve had my Motorola MPx200 for about a year, and it sucks! The thing runs the Windows Smartphone OS which is mistake #1. It takes forever to power on and be ready to use. When navigating menus, there’s a delay. Reception’s been bad even with the switch from AT&T to Cingular. And it doesn’t sync with my Mac without 3rd party software.

Yesterday, the phone was frozen. It wasn’t responding to anything, and I couldn’t even turn it off. I had to remove the battery to reset it. The final straw.

I’m on the hunt for a new phone (still with Cingular though). Besides the usual wants like cheap, long battery life, and light weight, here are some of the features I like:

  • Flip/clamshell design – smaller than the “candy bar” shape
  • External display – to see the time and caller ID info-useful when wanting to ignore calls 😉
  • USB capable – to sync contacts with my Mac using iSync
  • Easy to use interface – I’ve always thought the Nokia phones were easy to use. Motorola’s interface took a while to get used to
  • Speakerphone (optional) – could come in handy with Merynn to tend to
  • Camera (optional) – not a fan of the crummy pictures but it’s harder to find a phone without a camera
  • Music/FM player (optional) – probably won’t be used with my iPod around
  • Internet capable (optional) – does come in handy when it’s the only Net access around

Cingular offers these phones that come close:

  • Samsung X497
  • LG C2000 – Amazon review 4 stars, but the external display is a waste of time
  • Samsung P207
  • Nokia 6102 – Amazon review 4.5 stars
  • Motorola v551
  • Motorola RAZR V3 – too expensive
  • Samsung D307 – ugly!
  • Motorola MPx220 – you kidding me after my MPx200 experience?

The Nokia 6102 sounds like a good one. Any recommendations?