Cell phones with WIFI, no data plan required on Page Plus – and more

This originally started with a single post: Cell phones with WIFI, no data plan required.  I saw that post get a lot of traffic, and from the comments left it seemed this is a topic that a lot of people have in common with me.  So, I decided to create a page that contains the results of the research that I found.  I eventually switched to Page Plus Cellular and I’m very happy with it so far.

Page Plus Cellular is a prepaid cell phone service provider with nationwide coverage on one of the largest networks in the United States.  Page Plus uses Verizon Wireless to provide CDMA cellular service to it’s customers.  They offer plans that allow a customer to use a Smartphone without needing to purchase an expensive data plan.  If you have a smartphone that uses CDMA, you can have them try and set it up on Page Plus to see if it’ll work for you.

Verizon Wireless Phones Confirmed working on Page Plus

Phones page on Page Plus website

Motorola Droid

Samsung Omnia i910

Samsung Saga

Another List of phones from HowardForums.com

If you need help porting your existing number to a phone on Page Plus, see Festoons on EBay.  They’ll port your number for $0.99 and you can even get discounts on the Page Plus Prepaid plans through them.
UPDATE 03/16/2011: Festoons isn’t providing this service anymore.

Predictions and Rants on the future of Smartphones

In the smartphone market: Palm is about dead.  Blackberry is dying fast.  The big players are Apple and Google, with Microsoft fighting to catch up.

Here are some articles that I’ve read that show some interesting data on what consumers are trending to:

– 03/31/2010 – Why Blackberry users will defect – After what may become the final act for Palm, more attention is being paid to Blackberry.  From the article, “BlackBerry has long been the choice of tech-savvy executives who are wirelessly tethered to their jobs. But as evidenced in the study, only 7% of BlackBerry owners still use their device exclusively for work.”  The article goes on to say, “the BlackBerrys, the Palm Treos, and the Windows Mobile devices never successfully adopted the veneer of “recreational smartphones” nearly as well as Apple or Android.  Put simply, iPhones, Droids, and Nexus Ones just look like more fun. And as the “fun factor” became a significant reason why smartphones became as popular as they did, any manufacturer still focusing on the business aspects fell out of favor with users.”  Personally, I think it goes beyond just the “fun factor”.  The “fun factor” plays a very large role, but the lack of innovation in Palm and Blackberry further lead to a lack of excitement in their products.  Google and Apple provide more for less.  Palm and Blackberry seem to have that formula backwards and now they are paying a big price.  One last note, I know Apple and Google fans want to throw Microsoft in the same group as Palm and Blackberry, but you are missing some key features that gives Microsoft an advantage over Blackberry and Palm.  Namely, Bing and XBox Live.  These services platforms integrated into a wireless device (if they continue to be actively developed and continue to become more full featured) will allow Microsoft a chance at competing with Apple and Google.  The services platform integration (not the phones themselves) is what will determine the main players in this market down the road.

– 03/16/2010 – 40% of Blackberry users willing to trade in for an iPhone – An interesting note about my Blackberry theory: ArsTechnica had an article that showed that 40% of Blackberry users would switch to an iPhone, while 32% would switch to Google’s Nexus One.  Another side note from the article: “About 90 percent of current iPhone and Android users plan to stick with their current platform for their next phone upgrade.”