Home Business Autopilot

Documents to Go—a must have for da Droid

I saw an immediate problem when I opened the Motorola Droid for the first time. My first response was almost to put it back in the box and send it back for the same reason I was never interested in the iPhone when it first came out. It had no built in software for handling Microsoft Office files such as Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint, not to mention PDF files. A serious PDA user interested in mobile productivity needs to be able to access, edit, and crate programs in these formats on the go.

What is the solution? Don’t buy anything but a Windows Mobile device? Well, there are some note taking programs that will allow you to do word processing after a fashion. There are some programs that allow you to view various kinds of documents, but you cannot edit them or create new ones, which make them next to useless.

There is, however, one magnificent solution, and that is Documents on the Go. It is the only program that will allow you to view, edit, and create Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. It also lets you handle PDF files.

If you want to try it out before you buy, or if you only need Word and Excel documents, try the free version, which doesn’t expire. With the trial version available in the Market on your Droid, you will have full access to all the features of this product for both Word and Excel.

Should you need the full version with the additional ability to process PowerPoint and PDF documents, you will need to purchase the full version, which normally sells for $29.95, but for a limited time, it is available in the Market for only $14.95. My advice is the grab it now while the special is still in force.

The Word module allows you to view, edit, and create Word documents including .doc and .docx formats. What I particularly appreciate is the ability to edit docs and track changes and even email them to other contributors while you are on the road. You can literally do almost anything in the Documents to Go program that you can do on your desktop version with some exceptions that wouldn’t matter to most users. The original formatting is preserved when you send or open a document in your desktop.

Sheet to go is Documents to Go’s version of Mircosoft Excel. It will open, view, edit, and create new Excel documents right on your handheld device. It supports both .xls and xlsx versions of Excel. I am amazed at the power of this portable document processor. It can crunch your numbers, update values, insert functions, and monitor your data on the go.

Slideshow to Go is the functional equivalent of Microsoft PowerPoint that, as you may expect by now, view, edit, and create actual PowerPoint docs. What a great tool to have in your pocket on the road when you need to tweak a presentation or quickly create a new one. No, it doesn’t have all the features of the desktop version, but it will serve most of your needs in a mobile environment. It could really save your bacon. You can use it to review slide notes and monitor your timing. It handles both .ppt and .pptx files.

The quadruple suite of document processors is completed with the ability to handle Adobe .pdf files. While you cannot edit or create new .pdf files, you can view them, specify screen format rendering, zoom, rotate, create bookmarks, and search for quickly finding what you need. You can also select, copy, and past text from a .pdf doc. It also lets you deal with password protected files. Now you can manage files in this popular format while you are at home or away with your handheld.

Documents to Go will allow you to open password protected files in all formats, as long as you know the password.

For your convenience, its file manager lets you open recently opened files and gives you the ability to browse files and folders in main memory or on the expansion card.

You can send files as an attachment with your Gmail account or through Road Sync, another DataViz program.

Here is an excellent video on the capabilities of Documents on the Go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iicDyaCrk14

My recommendation

If you are in the least bit interested in mobile productivity, you should not leave home without Documents to Go on your non-Windows Mobile device. It is the only application available that allows you to view, edit, and create Microsoft documents on an Android unit. Do take advantage of the half price offer now in effect before it disappears. It’s available in the Android Market on your mobile device or visit www.dataviz.com .

Where Twitter Drops the Marketing Ball

Brought to you by Bryce Marshall

Many marketers misunderstand the distinction between the micro-blogging social media service Twitter and opt-in SMS marketing. The most common misconception is that Twitter is a viable alternative for opt-in text message marketing. Or, at least, the benefits of "free" far outweigh the potential benefits of any SMS marketing initiative with hard costs.
This misconception has the unfortunate consequence of making it tough to sell the CMO on why a comprehensive SMS marketing program is justified. Here are some arguments to break through the Twitter-vs.-SMS misconception and help justify investment in an opt-in SMS marketing program.
Twitter is not mobile marketing
Many marketers operate under a fundamental misconception about Twitter, confusing the 140-character text limit for tweets as being the hallmark of mobile or SMS marketing. Sure, the 140-character limit on tweets is there in part to ensure they can be created and delivered as SMS messages. But this does not mean that tweets are SMS.
Some Twitter users have tweets delivered as SMS messages, but many do not. The 140-character limit for tweets simply ensures the content is always small bites of information, quickly digested, and very disposable. This does not necessarily mean the content is consumed through SMS. In most circumstances tweeting does not qualify as mobile marketing either in the technical sense of being accessed on a mobile device or in the spirit of mobile marketing, which is designed to leverage timeliness and location to define a unique and valuable interaction.
Free isn’t "free"
Yes, SMS marketing will probably require a budget to cover transmission fees and perhaps other short code, technology, or services costs. Compared with the free Twitter service even a modest SMS budget can seem like a bitter pill to swallow. However, considering the resources, time, and materials necessary to promote a Twitter account, it is easy to realize there are costs in play no matter what. To obtain a critical mass of followers and achieve any semblance of mass-marketing, investments have to be made. To leverage Twitter to its strengths for maintaining more personal dialogs, well-educated personnel need not just monitor the Twitter presence, but actively engage. Getting value out of the free Twitter service is an investment in itself.
You can’t take it with you
Two-way communications through Twitter are excellent, and the application — when used well — really does foster legitimate interactions. Those interactions supply profound insights into a consumer base. However, this intelligence is locked away in Twitter. Simply, Twitter followers do not represent a database in any valuable sense outside of Twitter. It is impossible to compile, package, and export knowledge gathered there in a concrete sense. It is impossible to make those insights portable and actionable in meaningful ways across other digital or offline channels, because those consumer attributes are not in a database.
Now, think about the organizational value of data that can be mined through smart, two-way SMS marketing programs; for instance, discovering where SMS program subscribers live or shop, based on a zip code volunteered in exchange for more relevant offers and information. Or, a subscriber may share demographic information when participating in a mobile poll and receive an instant coupon in exchange. Or, understanding which subscribers are converting in-store or online based on unique coupon codes and tying that insight back to a database profile. These are all valuable pieces of knowledge — database optimization — that simply cannot be managed with, or extracted from, Twitter.
Twitter is not database or direct digital marketing
Twitter is not database marketing, and please do not let anyone argue that it is. As noted above, Twitter followers do not represent a marketing database in any viable way, not like the proprietary opt-in database of profiles built with savvy SMS marketing. Additionally, Twitter does not support the scalable application of message relevance and personalization for direct digital marketing on a mass scale.
Twitter followers are fans, and perhaps even loyalists, but they are not individually addressable in a scalable way. Marketers are unable to gather additional data points such as a location, product preference, or purchase history and then layer these attributes to create more comprehensive follower profiles. Marketers cannot segment and target tweets based on these attributes, as is possible with SMS marketing. Marketers cannot personalize tweets in any scalable way.
Marketers cannot insert dynamic text in a tweet, or have the user click through to a personalized mobile web page with a targeted offer, or generate a unique barcode for in-store redemption, or track an individual user’s preferences, activity, and behavior. These capabilities are the domain of intelligent database and direct digital marketing and can only be achieved with opt-in SMS programs.
Twitter is a 5/8" socket wrench
Twitter is a single, specialized tool. While it can accomplish some excellent tasks when used well, it falls short as a comprehensive online communications tool at critical mass. In comparison, well-designed opt-in SMS marketing programs provide not just offers or notifications of sales events, but also can automate valuable services, such as providing information on store locations and driving directions, execute delivery and shipping status alerts, provide reminders on bank balances, send alerts when out-of-stock items are now in-stock, or help online shoppers get in-store help with a purchase decision. All of these services — and more — are provided through a comprehensive SMS marketing approach that delivers extraordinary value and brand experiences for customers.
So what is that 5/8" socket wrench — Twitter — good for? Twitter delivers very real marketing value in these ways:
- Establishes brand key terms and positioning points with hash tags, tapping into the power of trending topics and searches
- Builds a network of advocates who help distribute a message across their social network through one-click retweets
- Develops and hones a brand personality through the highly social, dialog-based nature of the application
- Exceeds expectations with customers by managing fantastic customer support programs that could never be replicated through SMS alone.
Conclusion
Twitter is a microblogging service that delivers real marketing value to organizations, if they are willing to invest education and resources to the management of interactive relationships with their customers. Twitter is a marketing phenomenon unto itself and does not need — or deserve — to be muddled in with the definitions of mobile or direct digital marketing. Twitter will be a strong and valuable complement to work in the digital channels, not a replacement.
Bryce Marshall is the director of strategic services for Knotice.

You’ll get a charge out of this

It seems that one of the clear themes at CES this year was the advance of wireless technology, particularly with respect to wireless charging. Proporta.com has just announced that it has thrown its hat in the ring of wireless chargers now available on the market.

The WildCharger Pad comes bundled with eight different connectors that will accommodate most popular devices for the perfect solution to wireless charging, including Android devices.

It will charge up to 5 devices simultaneously, a feature I notice that is lacking in some of the other chargers.

The Wildcharger automatically gets down to business as soon as contact is established with the device to be charged. There is a sleep mode that conserves energy when not in use.

Wild Charger Pad comes with the Universal PowerDisc set of connectors although both items are available separately.

Price $84.95. Check it out at http://www.proporta.com/F02/PPF02P05.php?t_id=4916&t_mode=des.

5 Benefits of Text Advertising for Restaurants

Restaurant marketing is a complex issue. There are so many ways to promote these days: Text advertising, print media, social media, word of mouth and many others. Here are some benefits of text message advertising to help you choose.

1. Generates repeat business from existing customers

You will be advertising to customers that have asked to receive your messages. One goal of text advertising is to get existing customers to visit you more frequently. By offering them updates and text coupons you can remind customers of events and ask them to come enjoy a special offer.

2. Bring customers through the door on slow days

Like any business you have days that are slower then you like. Text message advertising allows you to send immediate offers to your customers when you need them to come in. No other advertising provides this kind of immediate response.

3. Attract new customers

Encourage your opted-in patrons to share your offers with friends. Text coupons can be forwarded from phone to phone; so go viral, make an offer worth sharing and get friends of your customers to come through the door with a special offer. have them opt-in to your text campaign and grow your list for future ads.

4. Measure the effectiveness of other ads

Are you spending money on print, radio or TV ads? You can put a keyword response into each ad to measure how many potential customers those ads are creating for you. If you see that certain ads have little response, cut them from your budget and save yourself some money.

5. Engage your customers

Utilizing Text-To-Win and Text-To-Vote campaigns can be a fun way to interact with customers. Learn what they like and drive business through the door.

Text message advertising is easy to implement and drives measurable results for your business. So get started today and change your business for the better.

Phoning it In

In an unprecedented use of premium SMS text message donations, Americans have contributed over $27 million, and counting to Haiti earthquake relief victims.

When it comes to disaster relief for earthquake victims in Haiti, Americans are phoning it in at a record pace.
Red Cross has raised $27 million for Haiti through a text message campaign.

Red Cross has raised $27 million for Haiti through a text message campaign.

As of Tuesday, January 19, over $27 million has been donated to the Red Cross thanks to a simple text message that Americans have embraced like none other that has come before it—Text HAITI to 90999. When a consumer sends a text message for Haiti, his cell phone bill incurs a $10 charge. This is certainly much easier and more spontaneous than putting a check in the mail.

And, it hasn’t stopped there. The Red Cross is still accepting text message donations for Haiti so it’s impossible to know where it will all end. The Red Cross has acknowledged just how important the text message donation program has been; 20% of its entire donations for Haiti have been received via text message in the United States.
Text Message Donations Go Prime Time

The Haiti earthquake relief program operated by the Red Cross has far surpassed any previous use of premium SMS technology for making text message donations. Thanks to a bevy of announcements by celebrities and first lady Michelle Obama in popular shows like 24 and the National Football League playoff games, the text for Haiti program has been a smashing success. In fact, Red Cross officials confirmed that it was receiving a half million dollars worth of donations via text message per hour during the NFL playoffs.

President and Mrs. Obama visited Red Cross headquarters in Washington earlier this week and discussed the premium SMS program. It was actually the Obama administration that first recommended text message donations as a fundraising tool for the Red Cross. The Obama administration should know a thing or two about the power of mobile marketing—text message marketing played a vital role in Obama’s march to the White House in the 2008 election.
Text Message Donations “Unprecedented”

While President Obama’s use of mobile marketing was unprecedented in terms of the political arena, the amount earned by the Red Cross is beyond unprecedented. “I need a better word than ‘unprecedented’ to describe what’s happened with the text message program,” said Roger Lowe, of the Red Cross.

The amount raised by the Haiti earthquake premium SMS campaign shows just how far text messages and premium SMS has come in America. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, for example, a similar text message donation program raised just $250,000.
How to Start Your Own Premium SMS Program

Premium SMS, however, is more than just a convenient way to make a non-profit donation. You are most likely familiar with premium SMS from television shows like ‘Deal or No Deal’ which allows viewers to participate in the television program from home. Perhaps, you have also seen some late night advertisements that enable you to purchase cell phone ringtones or receive horoscopes by paying via a premium SMS program.

There are the typical applications like horoscopes, TV newscast voting, and sports handicapping picks that can be used by premium SMS. Many of these applications were the early money makers twenty years ago when 900 numbers provided an equally convenient billing mechanism to the landline phone. There are also newer applications like internet access and computer technical support.

If you have information that you want to sell to the 270 million cell phone users in the United States, here’s how premium SMS works.

First, you need to contact a mobile marketing service bureau to provide you with the premium SMS short code. The short code is the abbreviated phone number that is used for mobile marketing programs. You will also need to secure a keyword with that short code. In the case of the earthquake relief program, “HAITI” is the keyword and “90999” is the short code.

You can choose a price from as low as .10 per text message to $10.00. In general, the carriers take 45% of the price of the text message. Most service bureaus will remit 50-70% of the net proceeds after the carrier’s share to the sponsor of the program. Expect to pay a fee to start the service and a monthly fee too. You will obtain your share of the transactions in 90 – 120 days after the end of the month.

While the costs, especially those attributable to the cell phone carriers, may appear to be high, it should be noted that most of the carriers and the service bureau have agreed to forego its share of the profits for the Haiti program. When it comes to a disaster in a poor nearby country that most of us know very little about, cell phone carriers and the American public have shown that they can be extremely generous.

Phone it in America.

Text HAITI to 90999.

Eye-Fi Fo Fum

The words in the title were not uttered by Thunderdell the giant, but Google the giant has a killer deal I’d like to share with you. It concerns Picasa and a free Eye-Fi card.

Picasa is Google’s free photo organization and storage service. You can download the program for free and use it to edit, organize, and turn your photos into albums, slide shows, and videos. You can then post them online to share with others. However, you only get 1 GB of free space, and that’s not a whole lot when you are an avid photo buff.

One of the exciting new features of Picasa is that it will search all of your photos and use sophisticated face identification technology to label all the folks in your people pix. It works surprisingly well and can save you untold hours of manual identification.

Accordingly, to accommodate an expanded storage plan, Google has made an offer that seems to be too good to be true and too good to turn down. If you expand your storage plan to 200 GB for $50, Google will give you a free Eye-Fi card that costs $99. So, for a hundred bucks you get a $99 Eye-Fi card and 200 GB of storage.

What an Eye-Fi card you ask? Well, it’s a standard size SD card with 4GB of memory that you put in your camera. It also has a built-in Wi-Fi transmitter that connects to your computer and uploads your photos automatically. All you have to do is turn on your camera, it connects, and starts uploading your photos seamlessly. You can connect to 32 different networks.

Eye-Fi will also upload your photos to any of the popular photo storage services online such as Flickr and Picasa. You can control the photos you want to share and with whom. You can even upload to your Facebook account and automatically share photos with friends. By the way, it sends both photos and videos so that you can upload to YouTube as well.

But, that’s not all that Eye-Fi will do for you. It also geo-tags each photo before uploading it. It doesn’t work with GPS but rather with cell phone tower triangulation. So, if you are in a poor cell-phone reception area, your geo-tags may not work too well. But so far, it has been an incredible tool that can save hours of manual labor.

Normally, Eye-Fi charges an extra $15 a year for the geo-tagging service and $10 a year for the upload service to online storage facilities. However, this is all free with Google’s amazing offer. These services will continue to be free as long as you maintain your minimum 200 GB storage agreement with Google.

All you need to take advantage of this offer is a Picasa account and an SDHC compliant camera. If you’re not sure, take a look at the list of compatible cameras. If your camera uses an SD card, it will probably work with Eye-Fi.

There are many different Eye-Fi cards available that range from $49.95-$149.95 and from 2 GB to 8 GB that you can buy in retail outlets such as WalMart, but you won’t get the deal offered in the Google Picasa storage bundle. To secure your free Eye-Fi card, go to http://www.eye.fi/google.

Note that the card you will receive is the 4 GB Home Video version. It may take a couple of weeks for it to arrive in the mail, so you have to be patient.

Not surprisingly, as Android phones are a Google enterprise, there is a free application that allows you to upload photos from your camera to your Android phone. The app is called Eye-Fi Droid. Learn more about it at the developer’s Website: http://eyefidroid.leshak.com where there’s a video of the upload process in action.

I highly recommend the Google Picasa/Eye-Fi bundle. It’s an amazing bargain, a real no-brainer. But you should take advantage of it ASAP, as it’s a limited time offer.

Mobile Marketing: Why This Method Of Advertising Is Working

Cellflarenews.com Staff posted this in Mobile Advertising on January 20th, 2010

9 tweets retweet

In the digital age, companies that want to stay ahead need the tools to do so. Mobile marketing is one of those tools. This method of advertising allows businesses to connect to those that they need to, effectively. It allows the organization to spend messages to mobile phones to promote a product or a service. It also for them to tell their targeted audience that the store parking lot they just pulled into has something on sale. Or, it allows them to know that today is the last day for the lowest price of the seasons. Mobile marketing works for several reasons.

Convenience

Let’s face it. We are all working on finding the best way to accomplish all that we need to in the fastest, most convenient way. Mobile marketing allows individuals to receive the information they need to reach their goals, when they need it. It is convenient because it allows for not external needs. They don’t have to get online to see the ad. They don’t have to have the radio on a specific channel either. They don’t have to watch the television commercials to hear it. They get the information on their mobile phone. How many people that you know don’t take their phone with them?

Get It To The Right Audience

Mobile marketing is targeted advertising. You don’t find yourself pushing a new electronic gadget on the senior citizen that doesn’t know how to send an email. Because there is an activation process, the marketing goes to those who it will work for, those who are interested in the products and services available. There are few other mediums that can do that.

Personal Touch

The personal nature of mobile marketing also is effective for this type of advertising. The message is sent directly to them, not to a broad range of people. This personal nature is quite effective at making them click and buy.

Mobile marketing is an excellent type of marketing that we can count on seeing more of down the road. Because of how well it works, more and more companies are getting it that this is the marketing of the future. Why waste money, precious advertising dollars on a ‘maybe they will see it’ type of advertising? Mobile marketing is fast becoming the advertising medium.

Sandy Baker is a well respected writer and recommends using http://www.juicewireless.com , the leading provider of highly successful and a lauded mobile marketing company , providing solutions to major consumer brands and media companies.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandy_Baker

Draping the Droid

Whenever I get a new pocket pal, one of the first things I do is search for a suitable suit of armor to protect it from the nasties lurking in my pocket and in my gadget bag. But it can’t be just any old suit off the rack. I detest holsters or anything that attaches to and dangles from the belt. I like something that is form-fitting and sleek without any bumps, clips, or extraneous protuberances. You’d think it wouldn’t be too difficult, but there are some really clunky cases out there with flaps, magnets, Velcro, clips, pockets, swivels, zippers, and snaps.

As the Motorola Droid is relatively new, there are not a whole lot of accessories for it on the market yet. I realized I would probably have to be content with a sort of generic case or maybe just a tube sock from WalMart. But after a fairly thorough search without much success, I came to my favorite case place, Proporta.com. Lo and behold, I found the perfect case; it fit all my specifications as listed above. Ecstatic, I was getting ready to place an order when my wife handed me the mail.

Now you’re not going to believe this, but in the bundle of mail there was a package from Proporta. And guess what. The very case I was about to order, which was still up on the screen, came tumbling out of the package. How did they know?

Talk about spontaneous serendipity and convenient coincidence. It makes me a true believer in the Law of Attraction. But sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for because you just may get it. However, in this case, it was the perfect case, and it was a perfect fit.

By the way, did you know that Proporta’s logo is the armadillo? Proporta is in the UK, and, as far as I know, there isn’t an armadillo within 5000 miles. They don’t even exist on the continent of Europe, but I suppose they must be in zoos there. They are strictly a New World species distributed from Texas to South America. In Texas they are called speed bumps.

Did you know that, as a defensive mechanism, armadillos can jump up to four feet in the air? I think this is why they are such common road kill in Texas, not that people purposely run over them all the time. Did you know that armadillos mate in the missionary position? Ok, that’s probably more than you wanted to know about armadillos.

So why is the armadillo a logo for a UK company that supplies digital accessories? Actually, it’s a pretty good name for a company that offers cases to protect digital gadgets. In Spanish, armadillo means the little armored one.

In Mexico, they make little guitars out of armadillo shells. Maybe Proporta should import them and start selling armadillo guitars. Just to be up to date, they could offer electric armadillo guitars. Then they could even offer cases for them too.

The handsome cases that Proporta presents for the Droid come in three colors: tan, black, and pink with suede-like contrasting interiors. Constructed of high-quality, soft, imitation leather, this Maya II case has a lifetime warranty and measures 65 x 120 x 15 mm. On the back is a small, flush metal ring that can be used with a lanyard (sold separately for $3.95).

At $20.95, it is not the least expensive case on the market, but I think it is a good value compared to other bulky cases that can cost more than twice as much. Delivery is fast, reliable, and inexpensive. Check it out at http://www.proporta.com/F02/PPF02P05.php?t_id=4863&t_mode=des.

Case closed, the Droid is armored.

Dread the Droid, iPhone!

Technorati Tags: Droid,Motorola,Verizon,iPhone

I really don’t want to waste a lot of time in a review of the new Verizon Motorola Droid comparing it to the iPhone. Let’s get that topic out of the way by listing a few of Droid’s killer features that should catch your attention and put iPhone on the alert:

· Droid has a bigger screen than iPhone

· Droid has infinite expandable memory

· Droid has a lateral, physical, slide out QWERTY keyboard

· Droid is integrated with all the Google mobile apps including Google Voice

· Droid has a removable/replaceable battery

· Droid has a 5 MPX camera that can take pictures in the dark

· Droid has an open source OS

· Droid on Verizon is a better network than AT&T

· Droid desktop is totally customizable with widgets, applications, and folders

· Droid notification bar alerts to every kind of incoming data, e.g. email, Twitter, Facebook, SMS, RSS, etc.

· Droid is multi-tasking: you can have more than one application open at the same time

· Droid offers free Google voice navigation with voice search and street view

As far as I’m concerned, these features leave iPhone back at the starting line. Yes, I know that there are 100,000+ apps available for the iPhone, but most of them are junk compared to Windows Mobile programs. (Except, of course, for my son’s Mixology iPhone app ) Even in its infancy, the Droid platform already has 20,000 apps and growing—most of them are free. Unfortunately, you sometimes get what you pay for, but that’s a whole other discussion best left for a later blog entry.

Now, let’s forget about the iPhone and take a look at an exciting, new product on the market that you may want to call your new pocket pal. The Motorola Droid comes loaded with the latest iteration of the Google Android 2.0 operating system. Before we take a look under the hood, let’s walk around the chassis and kick the tires.

First a quick word about packaging and what’s in the box. This will be a short discussion because the Droid comes barebones in a box that barely covers it. Nothing fancy here. You get a phone, a charger, a USB cable, and a 16 GB micro SD card plus a quick start pamphlet and warranty information—not even a CD.

I remember the good old days when no self-respecting PDA would come without some CDs, a printed manual, a cradle, a charger, sometimes a car charger, a sync cable, an extra stylus, and a carrying case. Those days are long gone.

External features

The first time I picked up the Droid, I had just put down a Palm Treo Pro. The Droid was noticeably heavier at 169g or about 6 ounces. Well, being the he-man that I am, I think I can handle that. The slide out keyboard is the culprit here for the added weight. Its metal construction also adds to the weight. Overall, it’s a shiny black, squarish, but sleek presentation. Even with the keyboard, the overall dimensions are a trim 60 x 115.80 x 13.70 mm.

On the top, we have a standard 3.5 mm audio jack, which is good instead of a goofy, proprietary clunker adapter that takes up half the real estate. On the right top corner is the power switch that will, when held down, allow you to power off completely, run in airplane or silent mode, which is a handy feature.

Right side top sports the volume control rocker switch. I find this protuberance a bit annoying because you have to be careful not to hit it with your thumb when also engaging the power switch or when just holding the device. This can result in turning off the volume inadvertently and missing calls. Placement could be better or at least less sensitive. Also, it is kind wobbly and flimsy plastic, unlike the rest of the presentation. Why not give it a more classy appearance like the substantial camera activation button below it, which is a flashy gold guy?

There’s nothing on the bottom edge. On the left side, there is a port for the micro-USB cable. It bugs me that the developers chose to use a non-standard adapter instead of the more predominate mini-USB port. It means that I have to take yet another cable and charger with me when I travel. What a bother.

On the back, we have the impressive 5 MPX camera lens with dual LED flash and the battery cover. There is no little mirror for self portraits, which would have been welcome as I indulge in so many self-portraits. The battery cover easily slides off to reveal the 1400mAh battery. In fact, the battery cover slides off all too easily. I have found it separated from the phone in my pocket. You must remove the battery to insert the micro SD card, which is another bother. It comes with a 16 MB card–nice. Also on the back is a gold colored speaker grill just south of the battery cover.

The face of the Droid sports an ample 3.7 inch touch screen (854 x 480). Note that the iPhone screen is 480 x 320. I can already hear iPhonies chortling that the Droid doesn’t have two-finger pinch zoom or whatever they call it. Well, my immediate response is who cares? Nose mining iPhonies need two fingers to perform something that can be done with the tap of a single finger on a Droid, which I consider twice as efficient.

However, if you must have two-finger zoom on your Droid, no problem. Just install the free app called Dolphin Browser, and you’ve got it. But now zooming becomes not just a two finger operation, it is a two handed operation. Try holding your PDA and zooming with two fingers in one hand. Ha!

One problem with this touch screen as far as I’m concerned is that you cannot use a stylus for precision pointing like you can on a Windows Mobile device. This is unfortunate, and I wish it were an option.

You can set the screen to shift automatically from portrait to landscape when you tilt the screen or slide out the keyboard.

I found the screen to be brilliant, crisp, clear, and a joy to behold for all viewing situations.

Below the screen are four flush buttons that light up when needed. To the left is a Back button that takes you to the previous operation. Next comes a menu button, which is context sensitive. After that is the Home button that will take you to your Home desktop screen from anywhere in any application for easy navigation. Finally, on the right, is the Search button.

Let me note that a single tap on the search button brings up a Google search box with recent search listed below it for convenience. When you tap on the search box, the screen keyboard automatically pops up whether in portrait or landscape mode. The on screen keyboard does not pop up if you already have the physical keyboard out. Holding down the search button brings up the speech search screen.

Under the Hood

All right, let’s take a peak under the hood. Perhaps the easiest way to handle this is with a list of all the specifications for your reference:

Network

o CDMA dual band (1900/800 MHz)

o 1xEV-DO rev.A

o 3G Capable

Size

Dimensions

o 4.56 x 2.36 x 0.54 inches (115.8 x 60 x 13.7 mm) Size Compare

Weight
- 5.96 oz (169 g)

Battery

Type
- Li – Ion, 1400 mAh

· Talk

6.41 hours (385 mins) of Talk time

Standby

270 hours (11 days) of Stand-by time

Display

Resolution
- 480 x 854 pixels
Type
- 16 777 216 colors, TFT
Physical Size
- 3.70 inches
Touch Screen
- Capacitive, Multi-touch

Camera

Resolution
- 5 megapixels Resolution
Video
- 720×480 (DVD)
Features
- Flash: Dual LED; Autofocus, Image stabilizer, Geo tagging, White balance, Scenes

Multimedia

Video Playback
- MPEG4, H.263, H.264
Music Player
- MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, WAV, AMR, OGG, MIDI, Album art cover

Memory

Memory Slot
- microSD/microSDHC

OS/Processor/Memory

Smartphone
- Android 2.0
Processor
- TI OMAP3430, 600 MHz
Memory
- 256 MB RAM / 512 MB ROM

Input

Predictive Text Input
- Yes
Keyboard
- Full keyboard (QWERTY)

Connectivity

Internet
- HTML
USB
- microUSB

· WiFi

802.11b/802.11g/802.11i

Bluetooth

2.1, Stereo Bluetooth

Headphones connector

3.5mm

Other Features

PhoneBook
- Capacity depends on system memory; Ring ID, Picture ID, Multiple numbers per contact
PIM
- Alarm, Calendar, To-Do / Tasks, Calculator, World Clock
Voice
- Dialing, Commands, Recording, Speaker Phone
Email
- IMAP/POP3/SMTP/Microsoft Exchange
GPS
- A-GPS, GPS

Keyboards

The input panel screen keyboard for the Droid is very nice. I like the way it pops up and enlarges a key when struck so that it makes typos less likely. If you hold the key down, all the possible diacritical markings appear and allow you to select the one you want, which is super convenient for typing foreign words. If you hold down the period, a grid emerges with 14 different punctuation possibilities. Nice. There is even a smiley face that, when depressed, will offer 15 different Smileys covering a wide range of emotions. Fun.

Pushing the 123 key brings up a numerical keypad plus a whole slew of punctuation marks. Pushing the Alt key brings up a panel full of symbols for your convenience.

In the horizontal orientation, the keyboard is even bigger and easier to use. I have to say that, in comparison, the iPhone keyboard is a total disaster. What I really do not like about the on screen keyboard on the Droid is that there is no way that I have discovered to backspace without deleting characters, which is a major annoyance when you need to correct typos. It’s a good thing I never make any mistakes. Remember that there’s no way to use a stylus like you can with a Windows Mobile device for precision pointing.

On the pullout physical keyboard, it is easy to back up to correct typos or make insertions because it has a five-way navigation button. The pullout keyboard works pretty much the same way the on screen keyboard works including the hold down key for diacritical markings. I can attest that it works great for German, French, and Spanish, and do doubt many other languages as well.

The search button on the keyboard allows you to search the Web for the term you just typed in context. Wow!

What I don’t like about the pullout keyboard is the problem of discerning one key from another. The keyboard is completely flat so that it is difficult to differentiate one key from another. This unfortunate feature makes typos more rampant because it is easy to depress more than one key at once. It drives me crazy. But then I do tend to have bear paws and a more delicate fingered person may not have any difficulty. It will take some getting used to for sure, but I do appreciate the option.

I find I make more mistakes trying to use the pullout keyboard in my hands. I make fewer mistakes when I lay it on a flat surface. Frankly, I actually prefer to use the onscreen in-putter at this point. I also like to be able to use just one hand sometimes when making short entries.

Sidebar for ladies and guitar players

If you like to cultivate long fingernails, you may be in trouble using the keyboards on a Droid (on an iPhone too for that matter). Long nails tend to preclude use of the physical keyboard keys, and it is difficult to use your fingertips. You cannot use your nails as a pointer or stylus on the screen keyboards either—you have to use your fingertips. I suppose you could use your nose, but unless you are a witch the precision may suffer and typos abound.

Some Test Drive Comments

Google Mobile Apps

Being a Google product, the default search engine is Google, but with some nice advantages. The entire mobile suite of Google products is tightly integrated into the Droid. These applications include Search, Gmail, Maps, Talk, News, iGoogle, Photos, YouTube, Calendar, Reader, Earth, Book Search, GOOG-411, Docs, Notebook, Blogger, and Tasks.

In my preliminary testing, all the apps performed as expected with a few exceptions worth noting. For instance, In Photos or Picasa, I was unable to get any of my movies or slide shows to play, yet YouTube and other videos performed admirably. This was disappointing.

One of the first challenges in setting up any new machine is to get all your contact and calendar or PIM data ported over to the new device. If you are connected to a Microsoft server through your company, this is no problem on a Droid. For those of us who are not hooked to a server, there is a challenge. I solved it by setting up my Gmail and Google calendar to sync with my Outlook data. Then it was a simple matter to get Droid to sync with my Gmail accounts, and all the data pours in automatically and continually.

Google Maps is so good that I will not even miss some of my favorite third party navigation applications now that there is turn by turn voice and self-correcting navigation should you make a wrong turn. You can turn on satellite view to see actual pictures of where you are as you travel. You can layer data such as restaurants, gas stations, and cultural attractions. Note, iPhone users, that this is a completely free service—no fees required.

There is even a brilliant little app you can download from the Google store (Market) called Google Goggles. This fun but functional software allows you to search by taking a picture of what you want to find whether it be a monument, a book, DVD, landmark, logo, business card, product, barcode, or just some text.

Of course Google maps will get you to the place you search for if you wish. If it’s a business you don’t even have to take a picture, just point your Droid at the business, and it will pop up on the screen with all the particulars. Brilliant. Pretty soon it may even work with people. Heh…

Google Search is totally integrated into Droid from anywhere. You can use the traditional text input box or you can simply talk and it will find whatever you wish. It really works, and it’s not only useful but fun. I have to keep reminding myself to use it. I’m amazed every time I do.

I really like the fact that the new Google Tasks is integrated into the Gmail menu now. However, I was disappointed that Google Docs will not allow editing of Word Docs although it is possible to edit Excel spreadsheets. I wish this could be fixed.

Microsoft Office and PDFs

Speaking of documents, I am disappointed that there is no possibility of integrating Microsoft Office Suite directly with Droid. Fortunately, there are some third party applications that allow you to view and edit office docs and PDFs. I have yet to try these and will review them when I do. I have high hopes because without this functionality, the platform would have limited appeal for me.

External Bluetooth Keyboards and Mouse

Another must have for me is the ability to hook up to an external Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. I’m still exploring this possibilities with high hopes. I like to leave my laptop at home when I travel but need an external keyboard to perform serious inputting. I’ve written books on my Pocket PC using an external keyboard and expect to do the same on a Droid. I’m hoping to use my Freedom Universal Bluetooth keyboard. It’s nice to be able to use a Bluetooth mouse on a PDA too.

Software

I was surprised that the Droid seemed to come with so little software installed. About all it comes with is software for photos, minimal PIM apps, SMS, maps, browser, and integrated Googleware. It does have a cool widget on the home screen that gives you instant access to all your all your phone communication systems such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and Syncing as well as brightness control.

Then I tapped on the Market icon on the desktop, and a whole new world opened up to me. It is Google’s answer to the iTunes store where there are already over 20,000 applications in almost any category you can imagine waiting for you to download. Most of them are free. Those that cost money are more than reasonable. Many are only $.99. I’m used to Windows Mobile applications costing $25 to $50, but maybe you get what you pay for. In truth, I’ve experienced some apps that do not perform as expected and have very poor technical support. But most work admirably.

What a lot of fun I’ve been having discovering new apps and installing them. It’s an entirely different experience for me than what I’m used to in a Windows Mobile environment. Apps from the Droid store download instantly and install seamlessly directly into the device. With Windows Mobile you usually download the app to the mother ship and then sync your device to the desktop to install, which is a lot of bother in comparison.

The Market is restricted to software applications. For tunes, Droid has a deal with Amazon where you can go with a tap of a widget and get instant downloads for a fee. However, there is software available that allows you to sync your iTunes playlist and other media already on your hard drive including photos to your Droid. Downloads from Amazon are over the air and convenient.

Camera

The 5 mpx camera is impressive as is its ability to take pictures in the dark with the help of a dual LED flash unit that paints the subject with light for focusing in the dark before taking a flash picture. I must say that the camera seems to have some difficulty focusing, and as a result sometimes the pictures can be blurred. I love its ability to record the location of a photo using GPS and Google maps. I like the way you can zoom in and out by just tapping the screen. I found the high resolution video camera to perform very well with more than acceptable results.

Unlike most digital cameras, the Droid screen doesn’t turn into a black obsidian mirror in the sunlight. You can still see an image quite well for framing a shot. Way to go!

I have found no acceptable method of taking screenshots on the Droid. This is lamentable and critical for a reviewer, and I need to find a solution without having to hack the operating system. For instance, I would have liked to share some screen shots in this review. Any suggestions?

Synchronization

Once set up, the Google apps such as Gmail, Task, and Calendar are automatic over the air. You do not have to link with your desktop. If you do wish to transfer data, you can mount your SD card and hook up via USB cable to your desktop computer to transfer files.

Unfortunately, I have been unable to find an application that will display the Droid screen on my desktop and allow screen capture, file transfers, and the use of the mouse and desktop keyboard on the Droid.

Perhaps I haven’t discovered this missing app yet, and I would appreciate someone pointing me in the right direction. Otherwise, here is a great opportunity for any aspiring developers out there.

Bar Code Reader

My Droid came with a Bar Code reader installed. Just imagine being able to scan a bar code to find out the price of the item and where you can buy it. It’s great for comparative shopping and for saving money. However, I am disappointed that it is only successful about half the time and the scanner seems to have difficulty focusing. I hope it will improve with time as it is a handy application to have.

Home Screen Desktop

One of the first things I do when setting up a new Windows Mobile device is to install a desktop program that will give me instant access to launching my favorite programs. Droid has taken care of this with a great triptych screen approach. There is an additional screen to the left and right of the main screen that you can glide back and forth to with the flick of a finger. On these three screens, you may place any widget, application or folder for quick access.

I got really excited with the possibility of adding content to folders as a means of organizing applications and files and saving screen space. However, I discovered that the items you put in the folder count as items you would put on the screen. Boo hoo.

It’s very easy to place and remove icons on the home screen. To put an item on the screen, simply press on a blank area where you want the icon to appear and select it from a list that pops up. To remove an item, press it to highlight it and then drag it to the slider tab at the bottom of the screen, which turns into a trash can.

At the bottom of the screen is a tab that you can slide up to reveal a scrolling screen containing all of your installed applications. It is similar to hitting the Programs button on a Windows Mobile device.

Notification Bar

Always visible for constant access on the top of screen is the Notification Bar, which contains time, battery and connectivity status along with open app icons. You can slide this bar downward, and it will reveal notifications of incoming messages of all sorts such as email, RSS, SMS, software updates available, Twitter, Facebook, and more. It’s a great tool.

Battery

I found the battery life to be no problem when mindful of what’s running in the background. One should take care to turn off applications that consume power when not in use such as GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Otherwise the battery gives satisfactory service.

It’s always a good idea to pack a spare battery, which I highly recommend. I’ve already noted that the battery cover tends to slip off easily and could be a tighter fit. It’s nothing that an ugly piece of duct tape won’t cure, but I hope Motorola has a better solution.

In the future, I would like to see an SD card slot that is accessible without having to remove the battery.

Mine Fields

When first getting acquainted with the Droid, it was like walking through a mine field for I would be constantly frustrated with unwanted screens popping up all over the place for no apparent reason. The reason became apparent when I realized that the various buttons are very sensitive and will respond if you even breath on them. I had to train myself to be very mindful what I touched and where I put my fingers, and then everything was fine. But, first-time users beware of the sensitivity of the buttons. Learn where to place your clumsy fingers or you will have the home screen or the camera or the sound bar and more popping up and unwelcome.

I would prefer next time around that the touch buttons on the touch panel at the bottom of the screen be actual physical buttons so that they are not so easily and accidentally depressed. While we’re at it, the volume control should be more substantial and not so easily activated.

One last thing

I saw an iPhone commercial on TV the other night that boasted about being able to talk and surf the Web at the same time. It laughed at Verizon customers because they couldn’t do it on their phones. Well, obviously whatever genius put that commercial together never used a Droid. Of course you can talk on a Droid and surf the Web simultaneously. I’ve been doing that for years on Windows Mobile devices. What a strange thing to brag about, but I guess that when you don’t have a multi-tasking product, you have to find something you can puff your chest out about, but that didn’t do it iPhone. Sorry.

Conclusions

Is the Droid an iPhone basher? You will have to make up your own mind, but I would certainly rather have a Droid than an iPhone. Yes, there are some things I would like to see improved, which I’ve pointed out below. But, I think the collaboration of Verizon, Google, and Motorola is a winning combination that will benefit the consumer. What a powerhouse.

The things I would like to see improved or added to the Droid include the following:

· Make the battery cover tighter fitting

· Fix the camera focus

· Allow unlimited items in desktop folders or at least don’t count them as desktop icons

· Make Word Docs and PDFs viewable and editable in Google Docs

· Integrate with Microsoft Office

· Make it possible to make screen captures

· Make it possible to view movies and slide shows in Picasa

· Make the bar code reader more reliable

· Make the keys on the slide out keyboard more distinct

· Create an app allowing interactive Droid screens to appear on a computer screen

· Screen keyboard needs a backspace key

· Give access to the SD card without having to remove the battery

· Replace the micro-USB with a mini-USB adapter

Now this is a relatively short wish list. I remember when the iPhone first came out, I had a list of over 40 things it couldn’t do compared to a Windows Mobile device with such unbelievable deficiencies as the ability to take videos, send pictures, and copy/paste. I’d say the wish list for the Droid is far less serious and more easily remedied. But, these things take time. The iPhone is now three generations old, and it still has room for improvement, but it keeps getting better and that is nothing but good for the consumer.

All things considered, the Droid with its 2.0 operating system is an attractive alternative in the marketplace. I hope the competition it creates will benefit us all. I certainly think the new Droid is worth your consideration. Above all, it is a great phone with a fist full of fun and productive features. I will make a place for it in my pocket anytime knowing that it will just keep getting better and better over time.

Yes, iPhone should indeed dread the Droid.

Email Marketing Yields Highest ROI

While the return on investment from e-mail far surpasses other channels, the gap is closing and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, according to a new report from the Direct Marketing Association.

E-mail’s ROI in 2008 was $45.06 for every dollar spent on it, according to the DMA’s just-released Power of Direct economic impact study. This compares to $48.34 last year, and a projected $43.52 in 2009, according to the annual study.

The DMA predicts e-mail’s return on investment will steadily drop to $37.99 for every dollar spent in 2013.
But while e-mail’s ROI is slipping, it still has a long way to go before it drops to the return delivered by other channels.
Non-e-mail Internet marketing delivered $19.94 for every dollar spent on it this year and is projected to deliver a slightly higher $19.97 for every dollar in 2009, according to the DMA.

Catalog marketing delivered $7.28 for every dollar spent in 2008 and is projected to deliver $725 for every dollar spent in 2009, according to the DMA.
Moreover, non-catalog direct marketing’s ROI was $15.55 for every dollar in 2008 and will be $15.50 in 2009, according to the study.
And while e-mail’s ROI far outpaces every other channel, spending on it lags far behind, possibly because it remains primarily a retention vehicle and its deployment costs are far lower than other channels.

The DMA estimated marketers spent $600 million on e-mail in 2008 and will spend $700 million on it in 2009.
In comparison, the DMA estimated marketers spent $24.1 billion on non-e-mail Internet marketing in 2008 and will spend $28 billion on it in 2009.
Marketer’s biggest expense, according to the DMA, is telephone marketing, with an estimated $42.5 billion spent on the channel in both 2008 and 2009.
Not surprisingly, e-mail remains a bottom feeder in terms of share of budgets, as well.

The channel is getting a paltry average 0.4% of direct marketers’ budgets in 2008 and the figure isn’t expected to change in 2009, according to the DMA.
Telephone marketing and direct mail account for most of direct marketers’ spending with telephone accounting for 24% in 2008 and 23.2% in 2009, and direct mail accounting for 19.9% in 2008 and 19.8% in 2009, according to the DMA. And also not surprisingly, e-mail marketing is also small jobs-wise.
The channel employed 98,300 people in 2007 and 111,700 in 2008, according to the DMA.

However, e-mail marketing’s growth during that period—13.6%—was the highest of the various marketing channels. E-mail’s employment growth by percentage edged out non-e-mail Internet marketing—which went from 1.7 million to 1.9 million—by 0.3%, according to the DMA.

In other news, the DMA project that in 2009, for the first time Internet sales will surpass all other channels. Non-e-mail Internet marketing will drive $559 billion in sales in 2009, according to the DMA. At the same time, non-catalog direct mail—the next highest performing channel sales-wise—will drive $561.7 billion in sales in 2009, the DMA estimates.
For its part, e-mail will have driven $28 billion in sales by the end of 2008 and will drive $32.6 billion in sales in 2009, according to the DMA.

Exerpted from an excellent article by Ken Magill found at http://directmag.com/magill/