Did you know that consumers have a free way to change the name that displays when you make a call on your Verizon Wireless Smartphone? This works for any type of cell phone on Verizon and you can make the change yourself for free (business users must pay $1.99 per month). Verizon calls this Share Name ID which enables you to customize the name that others see when they receive your call on a device enabled with Caller ID. It is a free service (except for business lines). Here is how to set it up on your account.

How To Set Caller ID / Share Name ID On Verizon

To set your caller ID on Verizon, first login to your Verizon account online.

Next click on Change Name ID.

On the following screen simply change your Caller ID Name (maximum 15 characters).

According to Verizon Wireless the changes may take up to 24 hours to update and become effective.

Verizon Share Name ID FAQ

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I’ve beeng using a Droid X on my Verizon line for a little over a year. That’s actually quite a long time for me as most of my phones seem to last maybe 6 months before I upgrade. Overall I love the Droid X and the large screen. It’s my favorite Android phone and I recommend it (actually the Droid X2)  to anyone who is in the market for an Android.

Recently I found that I was responding to more email while on the road and decided to make a swap for a while to a BlackBerry 9930 Bold from Verizon. What attracted me is really the larger keyboard and the faster processor. I’ve used the BlackBerry 9700 and the BlackBerry Torch 9800. Both were nice but offer somewhat cramped keyboards.

The BlackBerry Bold 9930 arrived yesterday and here are my quick 5 thinks that immediately struck me about this device.

Five Places The BlackBerry 9930 Wins

Keyboard. The keyboard is greatly enhanced, has a great clicky feel and is a pleasure (and easy) to type on. If you’re on the fence about this BlackBerry model head into a Verizon or Sprint store and test the keyboard. This is the single feature that convinced me to try BlackBerry again (though admittedly primarily for email as I also have a Nexus S and iPhone 4).

Speed. Say goodbye to (most) spinning hourglasses. Whereas before I used to watch the hourglass spin and make me wait while the BlackBerry processor was playing catch up – I don’t see that hourglass as much. It has appeared once or two – but quickly vanished.

Build Quality. No creaky battery cover, side rails. Prior BlackBerry devices were often fraught with minor manufacturing imperfections. Not enough to send them back – but enough to be annoying. This device (so far) seems solid. The one drawback is the back battery cover is tight. It will require strong fingernails or a screwdriver to pry off — and even then you’ll wonder if you are about to break the door.

Improved Screen. The screen color is greatly improved over prior devices. I’ve had no problems reading the screen outside in bright light.

Web Browsing. While I don’t think the web browser is any faster – the pinch to zoom feature works much better. Re-sizing the page by pinching and zooming is instant. In prior BlackBerry devices (assuming they offered this option to pinch/zoom) you’d wait for a while for the “checkerboard” to disappear as the device struggled to resize the screen.

Conclusion:

I’m only one day in and this is the honeymoon period. If you’re a BlackBerry user who intends to remain a BlackBerry user because you need the email functionality – this device is worth a look.

If you’re a new user and heavy email and/or keyboard use is not on your list of prioritized needs then I suggest that an iPhone 4 is probably a better bet for both cost and vastly expanded numbers of applications available.

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I’ll admit that I’ve not yet ready every review of the new 4G Verizon Thunderbolt (essentially a Sprint EVO redesigned for the Verizon network and the 4G data service called LTE which is only available in some areas).

This morning I noticed that through May 15, 2011 you will be able to use unlimited free mobile hotspot when you purchase a new Thunderbolt. For most of us that’s a $35 per month value (the price Verizon charges for 2 GB of data).

Verizon

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There’s been a lot of chatter about the Verizon $69/mo unlimited talk, text and data plan. Up until now it’s been mostly a private promotion sent to select customers via email. If you hadn’t received the email but call to Verizon and ask to be enrolled you might have lucked out and found a sympathetic customer service representative to enroll you.

Many users (including myself) were denied by Verizon saying that unless we received an email that we were ineligible to enroll. Now a user in Howard Forums shares this picture which he claims was taken in the Galleria Mall in Middletown NY.

It’s possible this is only a regional offering — however it can’t hurt to call and plead your case.

via Howardforums:

As I mentioned in an earlier post, it looks like for my area, this promotion is being made available to anyone. The picture doesn’t show the fine print all that well, but it does say you get unlimited data for $10 more. It also says at the very bottom that they also throw in Friends and Family numbers.

The small print in the sign says…..

“includes 450 Anytime minutes
$59.99 mo. Access Talk & Text plan,
$9.99 data package*
Plus get Friends & Familyat no add’l charge”

HOFO

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Some existing Verizon Wireless subscribers are reporting that they’ve received an email offer direct from the carrier offering a 450 minute monthly plan with unlimited text and data. This offering would match (except for the unlimited mobile to any mobile – the Verizon plan only allows VZW to VZW mobile unlimited) that which has been offered by Sprint on their Everything Data. According to members in the Fatwallet deal forum – some users have had luck getting the plan added and others have been told they don’t qualify. This may be a geographically specific plan or there may be other unpublished restrictions making certain users ineligible. At these prices it’s worth the call to Verizon to see if you qualify. The deal states that you must extend your contact by one year in order to swap to the plan.

Verizon via FW

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You’ve purchased a new Droid device from Verizon. Now what. Do you have questions and aren’t sure where to turn? There’s always the online discussion forums such as Android Forums, however if you feel more comfortable with some one on one classroom training Verizon is rolling out a series of in-store classes scheduled for November through January 2010.

A good number of classes are schedule for after the holidays – making it  a perfect way for anyone on you Droid holiday gift giving list to get a little training about how to use their shiny new smartphone. If you’re a little shy about hanging out in the store with other Droid owners – check out Verizon’s Online Learning.

Verizon Droid Classes – Northeast

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The Samsung Fascinate launches today and is available online from Verizon for the 2 year contract price of $199 and right off the line there’s a 2 for 1 sale.

Super AMOLED™: A brilliant 4.0” Super AMOLED™ screen that provides a brighter image both indoors and outdoors (in direct sunlight). The Super AMOLED screen uses less power and has a thinner profile than other screens.

Android Ecosystem: The Fascinate has the Android 2.1 platform + TouchWiz UI with an 1GHz application processor for faster downloads and streaming.

Integrated Social Hub: Unified Contacts contain all the contact information for Twitter, MySpace and Facebook, IM and email accounts. Unified Calendar provides a single point of scheduling for Outlook and Gmail calendars, as well as Facebook birthdays.

Swype: Optimized “typing” on a touchscreen phone for greater efficiency.

Multimedia Entertainment: The Fascinate comes with a native music player, a DivX video player (for better video playback quality), a 5.0 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash, games, access to YouTube and Android Market to make the most of all the latest and greatest in what entertains you.

Integrated Productivity & Multitasking: With Wi–Fi capability, 3G Mobile Hotspot, a pinch zoom–enabled Android browser, Skype mobile, VZ Navigator, Visual Voice Mail, Quick Panel (enables quick access to major features), and Notification & Quick Reply (to quickly respond to messages without task interruption) everything you need is at your fingertips. ThinkFree Office is included for viewing/editing Microsoft Office docs.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsuoEQpRK08[/youtube]

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I’ve been living with what I consider to be terrible call quality on my Motorola Droid. I figured that I’d stick with the device until the Verizon capably Nexus One was available. Unfortunately it seems that the Nexus One (which I use on T-Mobile) will never arrive for Verizon. Instead the Droid Incredible which just went on sale last week is recommended by Google.

Because I’ve been burned once by a sub-par smartphone I’ve decided to sit back and let the actual users review the Incredible before making any decision to purchase one to replace my Droid. Reviews are starting to trickle in and I just noticed a message thread over on Android Forums where someone asks if other users notice “sub par” audio quality on the Droid Incredible. Uh-Oh.

I’ve long found that reading user discussions on forums such as these is the best way to gather some real world feedback on potential issues with new technology. In this case several other people have chimed in to say that they are experiencing problems (as well as many others saying — no problem – sounds great).

Call Quality Very Sub-Par on Droid Incredible

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Looks as if just maybe Google is saying that the upcoming Verizon Droid Incredible IS the Nexus One. The Google web page is now redirecting those asking ‘when the hell is the Google Nexus One going to be available for Verizon?’ to the Verizon Droid Incredible which is scheduled to launch April 29.

I still haven’t read any official announcement on this — however the Google Phone web page has been updated so that a Verizon version of the Nexus One is not longer showing as “coming soon” and instead the Google site redirects users to sign up for the Droid Incredible. Whether users will be able to buy the Droid Incredible without a contract direct from Google on launch day (4/29) remains to be seen. The reported no contract price of the Droid Incredible is $529 which brings it in line with the pricing on other no contract Nexus One models that Google has offered.

Update: Hard to say for sure but based on this release it appears that Google  is out of the phone biz

Google Phone

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Amazon has the new Palm Pre Plus (Verizon) marked down to a relatively cheap $49 (requires 2 year contract) with no rebate required. This bests the official price on Verizon Wireless by $100 and is $30 cheaper than the Sprint version (less memory). The Palm Pre Plus has had generally good reviews though has been hampered by an initial lack of third party applications when it was first introduced on Sprint last year. The device has also been criticized for seeming sluggish although a recent 1.4 OS upgrade appears to have diminished speed complaints somewhat. The strength of the Palm Pre Plus is that it easily synchronizes your contacts, calendar and emails from a variety of sources (Google being one of the most popular) along with the social contacts from Facebook. The biggest downside to the phone is that Palm recently issued a warning that the devices aren’t selling nearly as well as they projected causing many to question how long Palm can survive as an independent entity.

Palm Pre Plus – Verizon $49

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