Why did the Verizon Dealer Cross the Road?
For the loyal customers that patronized our previous location in CVS Center on H Street for over a decade! We’ve moved across the street (to the corner of Central and H, next to KFC) to give you a bigger, better and more interactive Verizon shopping experience in Lompoc! And if you haven’t had a chance to try us yet – now’s the time!
We’re hosting a GRAND OPENING event to celebrate the move and to showcase our NEW location!
Join us THIS Saturday, April 13th, from 12 noon to 2pm! The Lompoc Chamber of Commerce will do a ribbon cutting at noon, and 95.7 The Beat FM will be there, playing tunes and telling listeners about why they should join the party!
We’ll be providing a FREE BBQ lunch, and lots of opportunities to WIN prizes and giveaways! Register to win a Wireless Prize Package worth $250! Other prizes and giveaways will be awarded, and special discounts will also be available.
The first ten individuals that activate a new phone over the weekend (4/13-14) will earn up to $35 in credits on their Verizon Wireless bill. Get 10% off Otterbox cases! Get a FREE screenprotector set with any phone activation. The Samsung Stellar smartphone and mobile hotspots are FREE after mail in rebate, with two year activation.
Join the party! Help us celebrate the opening of our NEW and IMPROVED Lompoc location. For more information, call #805-735-6170.
The Grand Opening celebration of our new Verizon Wireless Pismo Location was a hit! We were honored to have City of Pismo Beach Council member and Mayor Pro Tem Ed Waage in attendance. Members of the Pismo Chamber of Commerce came out to do an official ribbon cutting.
After the ribbon cutting, we shared a barbeque lunch, socialized and enjoyed showing off the new store. A big thank you goes out to our Inventory Manager Lucy and her husband Terry for cooking! We appreciate them so much.
There was a lot of talk about the upcoming launch of the Samsung Galaxy S4. Lucky for us, our Samsung field sales manager Caitlyn was on hand to answer questions. Thanks Caitlyn! Central coast country station KJUG 98.1FM was on site broadcasting. Local DJ Pepper Daniels did a great job spreading the word about our new home in Pismo Coast Shopping Plaza, since our recent move from OSH/Ross Center on Oak Park Road in Pismo.
The first six customers who activated a new line of service were lucky enough to receive $35 in Verizon Wireless bill credits. Also, everyone who attended the event was able to register to win a 4G HTC Incredible 2 smartphone, plus a fantastic package of accessories. The big winner was Ms. Shawna Davis. Thanks for playing, Shawna!
The staff at Pismo Phone & Wireless is excited to give Central Coast residents the quick, convenient and friendly customer service they deserve. THANK YOU to all of those who planned and attended in our event!
For our customers who knew and loved us at our previous location in OSH/Ross Center, from which we served you for 19, yes, 19 years! This one’s for you.
We’ve moved to a bigger, better location in Pismo Coast Plaza on Five Cities Drive, and we’re hosting a PARTY to celebrate it!
Come, join us on Saturday, March 23rd, from 12 noon to 2pm, and enjoy music from KJUG Country 98.1 FM and a casual BBQ lunch, courtesy of Phone & Wireless. The Pismo Beach Chamber of Commerce will do a ribbon cutting at noon.
While you’re here, you can check out live demos of the latest Verizon devices, and register to win a FREE smartphone! Other prizes and giveaways will be awarded to lucky guests, and special discounts will also be available!
The first six individuals that activate a new phone over the weekend (3/23-24) will earn up to $35 in credits on their Verizon Wireless bill. Get 10% off Otterbox cases! Get a FREE screenprotector set with any phone activation. Mobile hotspots are FREE after mail in rebate, with two year activation.
Staff on Moving Day
New store displays
New and improved
Open for business!
We hope you will join the party, and help us celebrate the opening of our NEW and IMPROVED Pismo Beach location. We are proud to serve you for 19 years and counting!!
Part of having a smartphone is learning all the fantastic things it can do to make your life easier. Of course it takes time to learn all the settings on your phone, but dive in and do it! The benefits can be quite impressive.
Case in point, if you have a Droid Razr, Droid Razr Maxx, Droid Razr M or Droid 4, check out the SMARTACTIONS™ app. The app lets you set your phone to initiate certain tasks automatically, whenever or wherever you want them to occur.
How Does it Work?
SMARTACTIONS uses a combination of scenarios and resulting actions. First, create a catalyst, such as location, time of day, battery level, number of missed calls, etc. Then, specify what action will occurs after that catalyst. These can include changes to phone Settings, sending a text message or launching a specific app. The app will even suggest new rules or ways to enhance existing ones.
Here are some suggestions on how SMARTACTIONS could be used.
Facing the Day
Catalyst: The time on your phone hits 7:30 a.m.
Result: Your favorite song begins to play, your ringer is re-enabled, and a weather app launches, showing the day’s forecast.
A Trip to the Grocery Store
Catalyst: Getting into your car, you connect your phone to a Bluetooth in-car speaker.
Result: GPS is enabled and a navigational app launches to help you find the organic grocery store you’ve been dying to try.
Your favorite drive-time music playlist is queued up and begins to play.
Getting to work
Catalyst: You arrive at the office, your phone picks up the company’s Wi-Fi.
Result: Your primary email shifts from personal to work and social media push notifications are turned off. Your ringer is auto-set to vibrate so calls won’t disrupt your morning meetings.
Battery conservation
Catalyst: Your phone battery hits a certain level of remaining charge.
Result: If the display is off, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS are disabled. If you are using your phone, the display is dimmed and data usage is economized.
How to get it
The SMARTACTIONS app is available pre-installed on the Droid Razr, Droid Razr Maxx and Droid 4. If you don’t have it, visit www.motorola.com for more information.
Portions of this article were excerpted from “Eight Smart Actions Everyone Could Use” from www.youreguide.vzw.com
Be it a little one’s first steps, a dance recital, a surprise party or just a silly every day moment, capturing our memories on video is one of the coolest abilities technology has brought us.
Now that most of us have fantastic smartphones with high definition video capture capabilities….why are we still taking video that’s just…OK? A big thanks to Thorin Klosowski from Lifehacker.com for putting together these helpful tips on how to shoot the BEST quality video with your smartphone.
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Upgrade Your Video App and Make Sure You Have Enough Free Space
The default video apps are fine for taking a quick video in a well lit area, but you’re better off with one of the inexpensive alternatives. For iPhone, we likeVideo Camera+ because it supports multiple video quality settings, has composition guides, and video stabilization, but is still easy to use. It also comes with native Dropbox support for easy sharing with friends. On Android, we’re actually fans of the default camera app, but if your phone supports it, Camera ICS has image stabilization, quality settings, and tap-to-focus. Regardless of which camera app you settle on, make sure you have enough free space left on your phone to actually shoot that video (iPhone: Settings > General > About. Android: Settings > SD Card and Phone Storage). HD video takes up a lot of space—around 76 MB per minute with the iPhone 4 camera—so make sure you clean up your Android or iPhone’s storage before you shoot.
Steady Your Shot
The biggest reason smartphone video looks like junk is that your hand is probably unsteady. It’s hard to keep your hands from shaking a little when you’re filming, but both of the above apps have stabilization features that help correct for small shakes, so you can start there. Also, make sure you’re holding the phone in landscape mode. Not only does your video look better, it’s also easier to hold the phone steady. Auto-stabilization can’t correct everything though. To keep your hands steadier when you shoot, MacLife recommends you hold your phone with both hands and tuck your elbows close to your body. If your footage is still too shaky, it might be time to build (or buy) a mount. You can make a tripod from binder clips, use string to steady your hand, or build a cheap steadicam to help stabilize your video. The point is to get your hands off the phone itself so you can keep it steady. Anything you can think of to do this should work.
Learn the Basics of Lighting to Get a Better Overall Image
Getting good light on a smartphone video is tough. If you can, you always want to try and film in well-lit areas, and you can follow the same basic rules of shooting photos on your smartphone for quality images. On the iPhone, you can control exposure to a point. If you tap and hold a focus area on the screen before you record you’ll lock in focus and exposure (you’ll see AE/AF pop up on the bottom of the screen). This means when you’re shooting video the camera will maintain the focus and exposure you set and will look a lot better. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a reliable way to do this across Android devices. If you have Ice Cream Sandwich you can lock exposure and focus on most Android phones with the same technique as the iPhone.
The Easiest Ways to Share Your Video
Once you shoot that perfect video it’s time to share it with friends. You have a lot of different options for doing so. The easiest way to do it with any video app you use is to simply upload the video to YouTube (you can do this privately if you like). If Facebook is more your thing, most Facebook apps have a built-in option to upload directly to your page. If you don’t want to deal with Facebook or YouTube, your simplest solution is Socialcam. While Socialcam is a little creepy with its frictionless sharing on Facebook, it has a ton of privacy options. For instance, when you upload a video, you can set it to private, and then share it with a text message or email link. You can, of course, also share it to a variety of social networks or directly to your Socialcam followers, but the fact an entirely private sharing system exists is handy. For total privacy, you can also share video with cloud storage. For instance, you can upload video into Google Drive or Dropbox, and share that link privately with friends and family. Unfortunately, you won’t find one single “best way” to share your video with friends. It depends on what you want to do with the video and who you want to see it. Hopefully now that you can shoot better video with your smartphone you’ll be more likely to share it.
************** Portions of this blogpost have been reprinted from Lifehacker.com
Thanks to CNN Money’s Laurie Segall for this informative article reviewing five of the hottest mobile payment apps and how they work in the real world!
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The mobile payments industry is expected to top $171 billion in 2012, and dozens of players want in. Are they ready for everyday users yet? I left behind my wallet for a day and went shopping.
Google Wallet
Google’s software has limited support right now. It requires an NFC chip — a technology that’s coming soon in many smartphones but currently available in fairly few. The list of devices that can run it includes just a handful of Sprint (S, Fortune 500) and Virgin Mobile phones, plus Google’s Nexus tablet and Galaxy Nexus phone.
I tested Google Wallet out on a Sprint Galaxy 3. Set-up was pretty easy: It took me about five minutes to create a PIN number and enter my card information into the app.
For my test-drive I went to Duane Reade, one of 25 national retailers that supports Google Wallet. It took me a few tries to actually get the service working. You have to open up the app and select which card on file you’d like to pay with. Next step: tapping the phone against the terminal. I got this wrong twice — I was tapping the front of the phone (the screen displaying my card info) against the terminal, when I should have been tapping the back of the phone. Not exactly intuitive.
The process took a bit more time than I’d expected, but I can see where it would come in handy. Google’s app includes Google Offers, which dangles deals at places you may be shopping. You can redeem those deals using the app — no coupons needed — and the service has a loyalty program built in.
What if you lose your phone? Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) built in a few safeguards, including the PIN that’s required to open the app. The software’s cloud connections let you shut Google Wallet off from the Web if your phone disappears.
Pay with Square
Square became famous for its small, white iPhone and iPad add-ons that lets merchants swipe credit and debit cards. Phase Two of the company’s vision is to wipe out hardware entirely: Its Pay with Square app lets you walk up to the checkout and pay by simply saying your name.
It sounds like science fiction, but it’s catching on fast: Square says 75,000 merchants nationwide are already using the system.
You can find nearby Square-enabled merchants through the app. Before you duck into one, click “open a tab.” Then put your phone away.
When I walked into Café Grumpy, the photo I linked to my Square account showed up on the barista’s iPad. (Square uses your phone’s GPS to keep track of where you are.)
“I’d like a scone, and my name is Laurie,” I said. The clerk clicked my photo on his iPad to charge me, and the transaction went through. All I needed was my name. I’ll admit, it was pretty cool.
In a recent interview, Square founder Jack Dorsey told me that future of mobile payments lies in technology we barely notice. He envisions tools that “go into the background, so people can focus on what’s most meaningful to them.”
Square’s definitely got “wow” factor — and a few small glitches. Café Grumpy’s barista identified me by my picture but mentioned that many peoples’ images are blurry. And if a big crowd of Square shoppers hit a venue at once (imagine trying to use this system for the iPhone 5 launch), things could get dicey. I wouldn’t be thrilled if someone slightly similar looking used my name to pay.
Pay Pal
Want to ditch your actual phone and pay by simply typing in your mobile phone number? You can do it now at Home Depot (HD, Fortune 500) and other large retailers that have teamed with eBay’s (EBAY, Fortune 500) PayPal.
The new partnership lets you link your PayPal account with your phone, set up a PIN, and check out by keying your phone number in at the payment terminal.
The actual check-out experience — I bought a Blue Diamond orchid for the CNNMoney office — was a breeze. The problem was the set-up. You’ll have to go into your PayPal account and enter in your mobile number. If the site already has the number on file, you have to specify that the number is mobile. When I tried to get all my details set, the site kept redirecting me. I finally had to call a representative, who helpfully walked me through the process.
Paying with just your phone number sounds a bit scary — many people have mine on file– but PayPal has a few safeguards built in. The first is the PIN. PayPal also sends a text message as soon as you make a payment. If someone is fraudulently using your account, you’ll find out fast.
Level Up LevelUp is a free app for iPhone and Android phones that’s easy to set up. First, you enter your card info. When you’re ready to make a payment at a participating merchant, the app displays a code merchants can scan. LevelUp targets small businesses, and has 3,800 participating retailers in the U.S.
I hit one set-up glitch. A feature allowing you to scan your debit or credit card with your phone’s camera flat-out didn’t work. I resorted to manually typing in my American Express (AXP, Fortune 500) digits.
I used LevelUp to buy coffee at West Village snack shop Victory Garden. It worked seamlessly: I held my phone up against the device LevelUp gives retailers, which scanned and charged my phone within seconds. The transaction was by far the smoothest one I had during my day of wallet-free shopping.
LevelUp’s hook for consumers is its built-in discounts and loyalty program. Retailers usually offer breaks. When I bought my coffee, I automatically saved $1. LevelUp says its users typically save $25 per month.
Venmo
Pay-by-text service Venmo has been gaining a following, mainly from friends using it to pay one another. Set-up is straightforward: Users enter their information into the app and receive a text message to confirm. If you connect the service with your Facebook account, you can search through your friends and click on their names to text cash.
Venmo, which was acquired by Braintree on August, is ideal for things like splitting the bill at dinner or paying your roommate for rent. The maximum amount you can send is $2,000 a week with a bank account and $2,000 a month with a card. Just enter the amount you’d like to pay, pick a person (you can enter their name, phone number or email), enter the dollar amount and click “pay.” If your friend doesn’t have a Venmo account, they’ll get a message suggesting they set one up to claim their cash.
The key difference between Venmo and some of the others I tested is the way you use the service. I’d use Venmo to square up a bill with a friend, but I’d turn to another mobile wallet app to purchase items in a store.
As the iPhone 5 madness has set in, many THANKS to cio.com for putting together this fantastic list of apps that everyone new to the cult of iPhone must experience. Check ‘em out!
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All the latest talk about the iPhone 5 is on the hardware, like a bigger screen, faster chip, LTE support, but it’s the apps that matter most. Lucky for iPhone owners, iOS apps are some of the best on the mobile market. Here are 15 apps – some classic, some new — that must be on your new iPhone.
Instagram
The iPhone has emerged as the go-to camera for amateurs and professionals. And the photo app that has taken the mobile world by storm is Instagram (free). Average-looking photos become works of art using Instagram’s filters. Instagram integrates tightly with Facebook – Facebook bought Instagram earlier this year for a cool $1 billion – letting you share your photo creations on social networks.
Weather+
Ask Siri about weather conditions, and the artificial intelligence engine will give you a voice response using information likely gleaned from Apple’s built-in weather app. But if you want something a little more visibly pleasing or want to know temperature changes throughout the day or the highs and lows throughout the week, you’ll want to tap Weather+ (free).
iWorks
Some of the best iOS apps come from Apple itself, not including ones built into the operating system. Apple’s iWorks (Pages, Keynote, Numbers) productivity apps, which cost around $10 each, turn the iPhone into a business tool. That’s not to say you’ll be reading and writing long missives using Pages or creating or giving a presentation using Keynote on your iPhone. Rather, you’ll be able to at least view important documents quickly and easily.
Find My iPhone
Find My iPhone (free) is another critical app from Apple. This location-based app has led to stories about the police tracking down and catching iPhone thieves. With Find My iPhone, you can use another iOS device to find your lost or stolen iPhone. On a side note, you can also track the location of other iPhones and iPads under your Apple account with this app, like, say, maybe your teenager’s iPhone. Shhh.
SecureSafe
One of our favorite iPhone apps is SecureSafe, which stores all your passwords in the cloud. The fact that passwords are accessible on a mobile device makes finding them a snap, as opposed to, say, a laptop that needs to be fired up or a Wi-Fi-only iPad that lacks connectivity. It’s also nice to know that passwords aren’t stored locally. Now you don’t need to use a single password for everything. SecureSafe is free for up to 50 passwords and files up to 10MB.
Facebook
There’s a reason Facebook’s stock is sputtering: lack of a good mobile advertising model. However, people are accessing the popular social network on their iPhones in droves via a native Facebook app. If you’re a heavy Facebook user, the Facebook app (free) is your first download.
CNN
Got news? One of the great features on the iPhone is that it delivers news at your fingertips. You’re never the last to know. But if you want to be alerted when news breaks, you’ll need a native news app instead of bookmarked Safari Web page. The best iPhone news app in the Apple iTunes Store is CNN. Best of all, it’s free (unlike, say, the New York Times app).
Evernote
The iPhone is handy (as in, close at hand) for jotting down notes. If you’re a casual note taker, the built-in Apple Notes app is good enough. If you’re a serious note taker, you’ll need a heavy duty app. Evernote (free) is the king of note taking iOS apps. With Evernote, you can take notes, voice recordings and even pictures – all stored and retrieved in an easy-to-use filing system.
Flashlight
It’s one of the most overlooked apps on the iPhone. But when you need it, you really need it. We’re talking about a flashlight app. While there are many in the iTunes Store, we like the Flashlight app (free). It turns on quickly and uses the iPhone’s camera flash to deliver a concentrated beam, rather than the light from the home screen.
FlightTrack Pro
There still isn’t a better way to check on flights than the tried-and-true FlightTrack Pro ($10) for the iPhone. It’s a classic, sure, and one of the best apps on the iTunes Store. Whether you’re trying to catch a flight or pick someone up, this app is invaluable. If you don’t have this app before heading to the airport, you’ll probably download it as soon as you get there.
Instapaper
This app gained instant fame because it solved a digital age-old problem: How can I read cool Web stuff later? Enter Instapaper ($4), an app that renders a Web page in a readable format and then makes it available on any Instapaper-supported device, from PC to the iPhone and vice-versa. In fact, Instapaper is so popular that Apple built in similar functionality in iOS – but it isn’t as good.
AIM
The iPhone’s many apps, from gaming to banking, dilute its primary function as a communications tool. People can now get a hold of you all sorts of ways: Text messaging, telephone call, email, social networking, to name a few. You’ll need an app to add instant messaging to the mix. We use the AIM ($3) app, which does a great job managing conversations. (Honorable mention, along these lines: Skype)
Pandora Radio
The iPhone’s roots are in the iPod and music, so it just makes sense to have a great music app. We’re going with Pandora Radio (free), which delivers songs in all kinds of genres. It’s an exciting way to go, rather than rehashing old playlists and songs from your iTunes library. Pandora stations are fresh and unpredictable. Right now, we’re listening to Flamenco Radio.
Tweetbot
If you use Twitter, you need a Twitter app on your iPhone; Twitter and mobile go hand-in-hand. Yet there are so many Twitter apps to choose from, and so little space on the iPhone home screen. Let’s make it easy: Tweetbot ($3). We’ve tried them all (or nearly all) and have settled on Tweetbot. It’s just a well-designed iPhone app that manages timelines and lists.
Banking App
Did you pay the electricity bill? Need to transfer funds quickly? Where’s the nearest ATM? Download a bank’s official iPhone app (free) from the App Store, and you’ll feel a lot safer about mobile banking – more so than visiting a bank’s website on mobile Safari. Truth is, iPhones and banks go together like deposits and withdrawals.
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Reprinted from article By Tom Kaneshige, CIO, October 01, 2012
The Grand Opening celebration of our new Verizon Wireless Buellton location this past Saturday was a great success! Executive Director Kathy Vreeland and members of the Buellton Chamber of Commerce came out to do the official ribbon cutting. Representing the City of Buellton, we were pleased and honored to have Mayor Holly Sierra, Vice Mayor Dave King and City Council Member Judith Dale in attendance.
After the ribbon cutting, there was opportunity to autograph the ribbon, socialize and learn more about the new store. The recent launch of the new iPhone 5 was a topic under much discussion, naturally! Our favorite valley country station KRAZy Country 105.9 FM was on site, broadcasting live and helping us to gain the attention of visitors to the center and nearby Albertsons. Local DJ Tyler Storey did a great job telling listeners all about our new location in Buellton and why they should quit driving out of town when they have a Verizon Wireless resource right in their hometown. Delicious taquitos and burritos were provided by our neighbor Rudy’s Mexican Restaurant. One great benefit of attending the opening was the $35 in Verizon Wireless bill credits that customers who activated a new line received. Also, everyone who attended the event was able to register to win a wireless gift package containing a $50 gift card, a bluetooth headset and more. Buellton Phone & Wireless offers the same products and services as the Verizon Wireless corporate locations, plus the expertise and service you come to expect from a local business. Our educated staff is excited to give Santa Ynez Valley residents the quick, convenient and friendly customer service they deserve. THANK YOU to all of those who planned and attended in our event! Buellton Phone & Wireless is located on East Highway 246, next to Blockbuster Video and Rudy’s Mexican Restaurant, in the Albertsons Shopping Center. For more information, call #805-693-3700 or click http://www.phoneandwireless.com/locations/buellton.phpPhone & Wireless has sixteen locations on the central coast, from Carpinteria to Salinas. Visit www.phoneandwireless.com for store addresses, hours and more.
Los Osos and Morro Bay residents! Ready for the most interactive shopping experience in town?
Phone & Wireless’ location in Los Osos has been remodeled for a more modern and shopper-friendly experience worthy of the Verizon 4G moniker…come on down and take a look!
We’ve added more live demo handsets, including iPhone and iPad stations, as well as a mobile broadband laptop station demonstrating the 4G internet options from Verizon Wireless. The accessories were moved so you can look at them more closely, too.
What else? It just looks good.
“We’re really proud of the new store look. We wanted to give our loyal Los Osos and Morro Bay customers a first class store experience, complete with the opportunity to use the products they are considering,” said General Manager Brendan Reitsma.
Phone & Wireless has sixteen locations on the central coast, from Carpinteria to Salinas. Visit www.phoneandwireless.com/locations for store addresses, hours and more.
A friend shared this story with us and we just had to pass it on to our readers! Want to really surprise someone with a new wireless phone this Christmas? Do what our friend from Tolosa Press did for her daughter last season!
Picture it, you’re all sitting around the tree and then…”Ring…ring….ring!”
“Um, sweetie, I think that’s for you! Better find it!”
Wrap up the cell phone on their wishlist and give ‘em a call on it. Then, watch the fun as they hunt through the packages to find their wireless surprise.
Part Christmas gift, part treasure hunt – this is a really fun and memorable way to surprise someone special with a new wireless phone.
All the hottest devices like the RAZR, Galaxy Nexus, iPhone and Bionic are available at Phone & Wireless now – just in time for Christmas! Happy holidays!
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