Evo Falls to $149.99 in White and Black

Our online store partner was happy to let us know that the HTC EVO is not only in-stock, but we have the amazing news that it’s priced under $150 in both white and black!

Order yours today and take advantage of the free shipping (and of course returns if you aren’t happy with the service) and get yours today. You can grab it online at www.getsmartphones.info right now at these amazing prices.

The Latest And Greatest…

If there is one thing that drives me nuts about our wonderful EVO, it’s that there’s no options for making them better. Unless you root, you’re stuck with the stock software. Unless you hack, the HDMI out is limited. Unless you buy the HTC Flyer, you only have a 4.3” screen for blogging. And of course, unless you know some pretty powerful higher ups somewhere, you’re going to have to pay an arm and a leg for the upgrade next month.

With the EVO 4G’s shelf life coming to an end, the EVO 3D coming soon and the addition of the EVO View, Evocentric is about to take on an all new meaning. These new brothers or cousins or whatever you want to call them, are going to offer those EVO lovers out there an amazing selection of devices that will fill about any void in their multimedia loving lives.

The EVO is still full priced on Sprint’s website, so the rumors of a June 4th launch may be a bit premature. Usually, before a device gets pushed the way side, the carriers will try to drop inventories to an extremely low level by dropping the 2 year pricing. From the sounds of things, the $199 price point of the EVO 4G may not be going anywhere – even after the launch of the 3D and View.

The View should come out of the gate with a 32GB retail of $799 – well above an of its marketplace competition. The 2 year contract pricing might cut that to $399, but that still places it well out of the cost range of those that dropped $500 for the EVO a short year ago.

The 3D is predicted to hit at the same $500 that the original did. Unfortunately for most EVO owners, they are still another year away from that $300 upgrade price. We will see if Sprint steps up to get more fans on the EVO bandwagon and gives a great upgrade deal to those that ‘lost’ their 1 year upgrades in April.

Overall, the EVO family will soon have something to offer everyone. The keyboard lovers have the Shift. The gadget hounds will have the 3D. The folks out there that want a bit more storage and power can grab a View and use if for their entertainment and reading needs. Of course, that still leaves the original EVO owners with one of the best devices that has ever hit the market – even with the slightly less than optimal battery life.

How To Fandango

Fandango is one of those amazing little apps that everyone should own. The Evo is that multimedia powerhouse for digital entertaining, but every now and again, everyone needs to get out for a real movie.

The application itself is very simple, but the built in features make it awesome. When you first start the app, the GPS is engaged and it locates theaters near you. It will then tell you the new release films, top box office films and top recommendations for you.

A simple flick gets you through the movie list and a quick tap of the top menu sends you to the theaters near you page. The great part of this version over older models is that the GPS feature eliminates the need to know that zip code of the area you are in to find the theater.

Once you select the movie you'd like, you can view the trailer to make sure it's right for you. You can then one click purchase tickets if you have a Fandango account and walk up to the kiosk at your theater and grab your tickets. No lines, no waiting.

Fandango is simply a great app for the Evo or any Android powered device. Get it today in the Market or the Amazon Appstore for free.

Netflixing on the EVO!

Well, it took a long time coming, but the EVO is considered in the highest class Android devices on the market today with the launch of the official Netflix App with full queue management and – VIEWING!

The EVO has always been in the top of the class in video viewing with it’s amazing 800x480 screen. What was lacking was major player software from Netflix, Hulu or other online provider that could utilize that real estate. Fortunately, the hero’s at Netflix have finally come through.

The opening management screen is very straight forward, with quick clicks to popular films that fill your “Top Picks” and Past Views. You can also manage your queue of instant views and DVD subscriptions from the App.

The viewing experience itself is first class. The EVO does a great job of handling the resolution of the videos. The 800x480 format seems to be the resolution choice of Netflix for their mobile app.

The images are crystal clear and flow very well. Over Wi-Fi we experienced zero voice to image lag. Over indoor 3G, the quality dropped and there were some issues, but it was still more than adequate for basic viewing. TV Episodes are probably going to be the most popular choice for the viewing public. The TV selection is great and by skipping forward and backward, the videos load quickly and the buffer time is minimal.

Overall, the free app does an amazing job of providing another reason why the EVO should still be at the top of your cellphone wish list. The EVO is in-stock and ready to ship to your door with FREE shipping today. Purchase yours now with FREE shipping and try it for 14 days. If you aren’t happy, we will even cover the shipping back!

Purchase your EVO in black now at GetSmartphones.Info at an amazing $184.99 or choose the super popular white version with from GetSmartphones.info for the $149.99.

Frustrated With The Sprint/Google Voice Integration Process?

In the last few days, Sprint and Google have been rolling out their "Integrated Google Voice" experience. For many, this transition has been nothing but a monstrous headache. Can't port number... Won't complete porting... Phone's not allowing the Google number to become active... The lack of support from either company on the issues... It's enough to make one pull their hair out.

Fortunately for all involved, there is help. Just have to slow down the process, take a look at what's going on and realize why things aren't working. Below are the qualifications for numbers to become active on the new GV/Sprint system.

1) Private Personal Lines ONLY - if you receive a corporate discount, chance are your number is marked in the Sprint system as a Government or Public Sector account. Sprint does this by default to corporate users with discounts. 

2) Your account balance may have a 'due' amount. Even if it is not 'past due', Sprint may have a flag on the account to not allow transferring the number.

3) Google Voice does not work with any line that has Call Blocking or Call Tones enabled. You need to cancel both these services and allow 24 hours for the changes to take effect.

4) The GV system may have been overloaded when you tried the first 5 times. It's not a great answer, but it's one of the answers that Google is giving in random order. Try again tomorrow and see if it works...

The issue that seems to be plaguing most people is the "corporate discount" issue. It seems there are many users in Sprint land that were given a discount when they signed up that they really didn't deserve, and now they are going to suffer a bit for it by either giving up the discount, or losing the GV option. 

If you have a legitimate discount through your employer or school, simply call Sprint, have them disable the discount/account label, switch your number to Google Voice, then call Sprint back and have them reapply your discount. It's pretty simple. The official reason for this is that Sprint sold blocks of 'like' numbers to coporations, i.e. 555-555-0001 to 555-555-1000 and those companies have those numbers set up on an internal network. If random people starting porting those numbers to GV, it might interfere with the setups those companies have in place. Again, this is an easy fix, so just call and get it worked out - or better yet, stop by your local Sprint store for help.

If your account carries a higher balance, Sprint may have it flagged to prevent you from leaving with a large bill. This can even happen when you've ordered a new device and had it billed to your account. If you have any outstanding charges, Sprint will not allow the GV merger. If you have an excessive balance, even if it's not due yet, Sprint will not allow the GV merger. If your online balance shows $0.00, you should be ok to move assuming you have your account rolled to a personal one, not a corporate one.

The third portion of the conversion that is stopping many people is call blocking. Call Tones are also affecting a small percentage of users, but the majority in this class are being stopped by blocking. This is caused by the user has blocked a number at some point in time for some reason. It may be an Ex, or a collection company or even just a harassing wrong number dialer when you first got your new phone - but whatever the cause, if Call Block is enabled, you can't move your number. This again is a simple fix. Call Sprint, remove call blocking and any numbers that are currently blocked. The same applies for Call Tones - just have them remove the option and you should be golden.

The last reported error that EVO users are suffering from with the transition is the official Google Excuse - we were overloaded and had to stop for the day. Nothing you can do about this one, except for making sure that you are all set with the three steps above, then try again tomorrow. 

Overall, if you do a bit of planning and analysis ahead of time, the move from Sprint to Google should be a simple one. If you don't know the pitfalls, then you might not know what happened to your move. The other part to remember is the Sprint representatives can't help you with a Google problem and vice versa. Just take your time, and remember, it's a brand new process, so give them all a bit of a break.

Another EVO Cousin Rears Its Head...

Just when all seemed calm in EVO-land, yet another possible replacement to the original EVO 4G appears. The HTC Kingdom is wandering through the blogosphere right now, touting it's 1.2ghz processor and 4" display to anyone that will look at it. The device is certainly a worthy successor to the 4G, but is it enough of an upgrade to warrant waiting for it?
The 4G is bound and determined to hold on as long as it can to it's Sprint dominance. It has withstood the attacks from the Epic, the Shift 4G and even the new-fangled Echo. Eventually, its luck will run out, and it will become a second rate pony in the Sprint stables, but when?
The timing may be sooner than later for this one if the blogs are correct. The Kingdom is slated to hit the market with a single-core 1.2Ghz Snapdragon processor, 768MB of RAM, and a 4" qHD display. We believe the reports of this becoming the EVO HD 4G, and the direct replacement of the original EVO 4G. While this may signal the end of the EVO 4G's life span, the device has sat at the top of Sprint's lineup far longer than any other carrier's flagship device.
Other carriers have had dozens of devices since the 4G was launched, but Sprint stuck to a great device that has now run its course. It's time to replace our beloved EVO with something new, something shiny. It will be a sad day when it comes, but for those that want to wait, the wait will be worth it. No, not the wait for the new EVO HD, but the wait for the $100 price drop that the EVO 4G will get when they are ready to launch the new one.
With the Shift occupying the lowest position on the totem pole at $150, the 4G at $200 and the 3D expected to hit at $300, the HD should slide nicely into the second spot at $200 making the 4G's clearance price a measly $100.
Just don't wait too long trying to get that price, the EVO 4G has never had a great in-stock rate and might just disappear before you get a chance to grab one at that price.

< Image used courtesy of AndroidPolice.com  - http://cdn.androidpolice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/image5.png >

Going Stock... An Editorial View

Something that everyone loves about their smartphone is how easily they can be customized. If you don't like the way a certain app performs, you just get something else that will do it better. Unfortunately, thoughts like this can often undo the best features of a device without even knowing it. I'm going to leave the thoughts on the iPhone out of this completely for one reason - they have it right. That's right, they get the best app they can, and THEY bake it into the hardware/software/experience for the user. That's what everyone needs at this point.

After spending a few weeks with the 'stock' Windows Phone 7 HTC Surround, and a few weeks with the 'stock' Android powered HTC EVO 4G, something struck deep down inside with the term 'stock'...  What was really wrong with the program that came with the device?

The stock apps work better than any third party app for one reason - integration. At the hardware and software level, the manufacturer's apps are burned in to the device - buttons work the way they are supposed to and everything is 'almost perfect' in phone land. Of course, the issue becomes when you see the Sense music player and like it better than the 'stock' Windows Mobile player and want a change. You see the gallery viewer on the HP/Palm Pre and want something flashier than that for your HTC Hero. You might even see something like Handcent SMS's customized screens and demand that your new Droid Incredible 2 offer you the same customization. The problem is, there's a price to be paid with that change, and each app will have it's own ability to destroy your device in time.

Probably the most gaping hole in the HTC Sense program is the Messaging app. It's bland, boring and on the bigger screens, huge. A simple tweak to allow color changes and font changes would have made it aces. HTC had a good reason not to include this option, the additional resources needed to load and customize said changes would have slowed Sense down. So, do we then have the right to complain about the device, customize it using another app, and then complain more about the lowly speed of the device because we add something that shouldn't be there?

Mail programs are the same story. With the Samsung Moment, the stock email program drove us nuts - so on to K-9 Mail  we went. But K-9 had issues of it's own, and they degraded the quality of the device in different ways. All of the sudden email was downloading everything, battery life was down, data usage was up, it was a nightmare... So back to stock we go.

Browsers are another 'fun' one to mess with. Skyfire enables Flash, Opera syncs to my home machine, Firefox does the same and renders pages quickly and Dolphin is still the browser of choice for many out there. The bad part about all of these 3rd party apps is that they aren't integrated into the phone. They are an after-thought. Sure, cut and paste will work, but how well? Why can't we select a link and send it to someone from Skyfire like we can through the stock one? It's just a shame that no manufacturers will pick up the slack and install these great programs from the start.

Music and movie players are another one that creates so many issues. Why can't we just get Act1 and a good music player installed on all Android phones? Act1 plays everything under the sun, except for AVI files, which Rockplayer does quite nicely, so now do we put Rockplayer on instead? It's a never ending cycle of, "Oh boy! Something new!" that kills our devices.

There used to be a saying with Windows Mobile devices back in the day, "When it slows, reset it go's!" This really drove home a point about installing too much stuff. WM had everything you needed - as ugly as it was. Document editor, media player, email, texting (when phones hit), stupid games, and everything else to go with it. There was no need to install anything on top, because it did the job.

Today, these new devices being so customizable are more of an issue than anything else. The tech blogs are all about rooting, installing jailbroken or pirated ROM's - say what you will about that statement, but when you 'take the ROM from one device and start hacking it to pieces to reinstall it later, you are pirating it (even if it turns out way better than before!) - and making life terrible for the poor mother of 3 who's husband said this is the way to go. Those mom's and dad's go into a wireless store to get their voicemail working again only to have the clerk tell them it's broken due to the new ROM that was installed and they are out of warranty because their phone is hacked.

There is nothing wrong with keeping your phone stock. Stock is what sold you on the phone. Sure, hacking and slashing can make it go faster, but it can also make it go slower. By simple management of your resources, you can keep that device running like new for a long time. If it ever slows down too much, a factory reset will completely make it new again. But the simple things, keeping your text messaging box managed (maybe save the last 200 messages per conversation?), keeping your photos organized on your SD card (don't have 1 folder with 400 images in it, break them down using a file manager), install only apps and games you will play (feel free to download that Amazon App of the day, but don't install all of them), and for heaven's sake, don't feel you have to alter your device. We had rooted, unrooted and even 'other operating systems' running on the EVO and honestly, the stock experience is still great, even a year later.

So, take your time, if your phone slows, power cycle it. If your device lags constantly, check for apps that are always running. A bit of common sense maintenance and care to your device will make it last that full 2 years until your next upgrade. And whatever you do, don't go to a wireless store unless you have to. Nothing makes your older device uglier than seeing that brand new 10G $650 device sitting all shiny and pretty next to that beat up one.

<< Originally appeared on 5/5/11 on http://www.smartphonereport.info >>

How Amazing Is This Phone...

So, it's May, 2011, almost a full year since the HTC EVO 4G hit the market. The device is considered a dinosaur in smartphone years today. How then, is the EVO still able to do so well? How is it able to keep pace with the newest and greatest devices in the world? We're here to tell you why...

The EVO was designed as a 'long term device' for the tech junkie in all of us. Sure a dual-core processor will go faster, but the Snapdragon in this beast still performs better than 85% of the Android powered devices out there. HTC did a great job keeping Sense in the front, and all you rooters know you miss some of those cool widgets, but they didn't overpower the device with 3D effects or overly animated splash screens. HTC kept their software plain and simple - which saves those resources for things that need them, like Super Dynamite Fishing.

The internal storage was bound to be a serious problem on the EVO when you compared it to the 8GB monsters coming out now, but then along came Android 2.2 with the ability to install apps to your SD card... Problem solved...

The display is still one of the best out there, the camera is downright amazing - check out our editing options using the EVO camera and tell me they aren't sharp - and except for the battery life being so-so, there's not much to complain about with the phone.

The lack of being able to complain about the device is why it's still flying off the shelves at the Sprint stores. When I am in visiting, I always see people trying the Epic, then the Shift and coming right back to the EVO. It's a stand-out, amazingly crafted device that will have a very long shelf life, probably even after the EVO 3D hits. It's aimed at a different crowd and the device will still hold it's own against the stiff competition that's around the corner.