Review: Verizon Palm Pre Plus integrated features | Family, travel, mom blog

Verizon Palm Pre Plus Review: The word of the day is ‘integrated’

Posted by ThemeParkMom on March 11, 2010 | No Comments

I know, I know. I can’t stop talking about the webOS operating system on the Verizon Palm Pre Plus smartphone. But it’s just so different than the other cell phones and mobile devices I have used before.

In the broadest sense, I would say that my old smartphone was compartmentalized, while this new one is integrated. Everything on the Palm Pre seems to work together. This is particularly impressive (and useful!) for moms in two areas:

Integrated search. I can slide open the keyboard on my Verizon Palm Pre Plus and just start typing. I don’t have to have the address book or the Internet open at all. If I type “Stefanie,” she is found in my address book and my Facebook account. I can e-mail, call, send her a Facebook message or text her right from the same screen. If I type something that’s not in my address book, say “Six Flags,” I am presented with the choice to search for that phrase on Google, Google Maps, Wikipedia or Twitter.

This feature is such a time saver for me! I will admit that I simply don’t have room in my brain to have a bunch of phone numbers memorized, so I am constantly looking up my contacts. On many phones I have used, it seems like you have to go through three to five different screens just to look up a number and place a call. The simplicity of this is beautiful.

Also beautiful? The calendar on the Verizon Palm Pre Plus. Once again, the word of the day is “integrated” kids. I am a Google calendar fanatic. I keep my work calendar, family calendar, and editorial calendars for my blogging all separately on Google. With one step (one step!) I gave the Palm Pre my Google sign-in and password and voila! all those calendars are integrated on my phone. I can easily add to them and edit them directly from the calendar feature on the Verizon Palm Pre Plus.

And that group Yahoo! calendar that I have to monitor separately on my laptop? It’s integrated here, too. In fact, I have pretty much stopped working with these calendars on my laptop and use them exclusively on my phone, because it is actually easier there.

I don’t know about you, but for me, there will never be enough time in my day. Give me a device that’s going to save me a few seconds here and there, and it’s worth a mint to me. I am finding the Verizon Palm Pre Plus to be a major time saver.

Disclosure notice: Verizon paid for my Palm Pre Plus and is paying for one month of my service in exchange for me trying the phone and posting about my experiences on my blog. I’m still thinking for myself, though, and you can count on me to provide my honest opinion of this product.