Smart Phone Help

Ok, I’ll join in here because we’re up for a new renewal on our phone package and I’d like a new phone and I know you guys would love beating me up on this.
I currently have a cheesy flip open phone than can text and takes very bad pictures..… that’s about it.
The wife says I can get a free new phone that slides open (don’t know how else to describe it) and has a full keyboard with a shift key etc etc and it takes average pictures, not much else to it.
I’m thinking I want to go better than that but don’t want to spend a whole lot.
My eye sight also sucks without reading glasses so there is that.
I do not need internet on my phone. I’m behind a PC ¾ of the day at work and a lot at home.
I don’t travel on business very much so don’t need internet for that. I also don’t need this phone for business related stuff.
I don’t know shit about apps but I’m sure there a lot I would like of them.
So what do I want?


THIS, I have a pantac also I notice that nobody has AT&T and I want to ask why,we don't use our phones much I have almost 2500 roll over mins so far this year and that is with myself,wife and daughter on the family plan.To me my phone is fine my daughter already has the 4s and the wife wants one also, any help would be great?

With 4g I get around 13.6 mbps down and around 3.0 mbps up. Those numbers are good enough so I can play madden on my ps3 online with no lag and my wife can still surf the web on her tablet. It's a godsend when we travel by car and I can just fire it up in the car and let our son watch movies on the ipad.that's awesome, i'm really hoping it's possible w my htv one v.

THIS, I have a pantac also I notice that nobody has AT&T and I want to ask why,we don't use our phones much I have almost 2500 roll over mins so far this year and that is with myself,wife and daughter on the family plan.To me my phone is fine my daughter already has the 4s and the wife wants one also, any help would be great?check out virgin mobile or some of the other no-contract carriers, could save you some scratch.

$35/month : 300 minutes / unlimited messaging and data

$45/month : 1200 minutes / unlimited messaging and data

$55/month : unlimited minutes, messaging, and data

so far so good w virgin mobile service, wanted to share my home screen
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/8660/20120928221645.png

anyone w android tried this, robin, the siri challenger? it has it's shortcomings, but it's pretty cool.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.magnifis.parking&hl=en

also a huge fan of this swipe/slide style keyboard, does the iphone have one of these available?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cootek.smartinputv5&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5jb 290ZWsuc21hcnRpbnB1dHY1Il0

Google has had their voice commands for some time. The structure is a bit more strict than Siri and not everything comes through the GUI like Siri. However, I've found it to be quite effective to send texts, look up an address in Maps, etc. Robin looks like a way to really utilize the google technology through a prettier UI.

I'm shocked at the accuracy of those swipe keyboards. I didn't think I would but I like them a lot. I use a different software, but enjoy it a lot!

As far as rooting -- I root my phone. There are advantages and disadvantages. The main disadvantage is if you're not really sure what you're doing it can void your warranty (but a quick google can walk you through it) and if you really jack it up you can brick your phone. Also, it can affect the stability of your operating system. If you're not interested in 'tinkering' then it's probably not worth it. I run a 'stable' OS I can always swap to if I need it, a 'fun' one that I mess with, and then play with a few others.

However, it lets you get rid of the bloatware, update the radio (which can improve efficiency for both battery and signal quality plus some other things). I like the freedom to bounce around with different, customized, OSes. Cyanogenmod is the defacto standard for android and is a fantastic balance of customizable, stable, visually pleasing, and support.

I'm far from an expert, but I'll gladly try to answer any questions about it here.

Google has had their voice commands for some time. The structure is a bit more strict than Siri and not everything comes through the GUI like Siri. However, I've found it to be quite effective to send texts, look up an address in Maps, etc. Robin looks like a way to really utilize the google technology through a prettier UI.

I'm shocked at the accuracy of those swipe keyboards. I didn't think I would but I like them a lot. I use a different software, but enjoy it a lot!

As far as rooting -- I root my phone. There are advantages and disadvantages. The main disadvantage is if you're not really sure what you're doing it can void your warranty (but a quick google can walk you through it) and if you really jack it up you can brick your phone. Also, it can affect the stability of your operating system. If you're not interested in 'tinkering' then it's probably not worth it. I run a 'stable' OS I can always swap to if I need it, a 'fun' one that I mess with, and then play with a few others.

However, it lets you get rid of the bloatware, update the radio (which can improve efficiency for both battery and signal quality plus some other things). I like the freedom to bounce around with different, customized, OSes. Cyanogenmod is the defacto standard for android and is a fantastic balance of customizable, stable, visually pleasing, and support.

I'm far from an expert, but I'll gladly try to answer any questions about it here.yeah i was amazed by the swipe keyboard too, i paw at it like a drunk savage and it gets it spot on 19/20 times. i've been creeping on phandroid and xda devs for a radical rom, haven't been able to choose one.

what phone are you using?

I'm not a big fan of my phone. I got it when Verizon was rolling out their LTE network and they said if I bought now my plan would get grandfathered. Misleading at best on that one. I have an HTC thunderbolt. Will probably hold out for the Galaxy S4 or one of the LG beasts.

this being my first smartphone, value my opinion accordingly, but i strongly recommend the htc one v for the > $150 range

this is awesome! use your phone as a hotspot w/o rooting or buying an additional plan. wish my data was faster, but it does the job.

FoxFi - Turn Android into free WiFi Hotspot (no root) (http://foxfi.com/)