This is where I express my opinions when they're longer than 140 characters.
You can see examples of my short attention span on Twitter: @kerskine
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The Optimus V is a great phone for $150 and no contract. It certainly gets the job done whether I’m playing Angry Birds, checking my mail, or calling someone (you know, talking?). Phone performance is excellent with great sound which I need (somewhat hard of hearing). I’m still getting used to Swype for text entry but time will tell whether I can truly live without a real keyboard on my phone.
Virgin could do a better job of provisioning the phone out of the box. When you turn on the phone for the first time, you’ll see an icon that says “Activate”. Clicking on it opens the mobile browser to a Virgin Mobile site that looks simply awful. I had to port my old mobile number, so the site told me (in really tiny text) that I had to call. Virgin, if you’re listening, this is first thing your new customer sees of your service. I would suggest that you get a really nice Android app that can get the new customer up and running. You can even get their payment right from the app! This makes your customer happy and reduces your costs to provision. That phone call I made had to have cost you most of my 1st month’s tariff. If you need an Android expert, let me know.
At MobileCamp I used my new Virgin phone as an example of what will fuel an explosion of smartphone usage in the US market. A $150 phone that can play games, run Facebook, and only require $25/month for a basic plan with data is a lot of value for consumers. Recent data shows that consumer uptake is on a same growth rate last seen with DVD players.
