AT&T and LG Team up to Offer a pre-paid Android Smartphone: Meet the Thrive

If you feel a certain kind of way about wireless contracts, but want to take advantage of all the business and productivity capabilities found in a full-fledged smartphone, well look no further than AT&T and LG as they bring you the first pre-paid Android smartphone to run on the AT&T wireless network.

With traditional wireless contracts, you are subjected to credit checks, a hefty deposit if you are establishing credit, and lengthy contracts. AT&T GoPhone pre-paid services skips all of the former and offers customers the ability to pay only for the days and minutes they choose to use, add to the plan as needed, or cancel at anytime. Previously there was a wide range of cell and feature phones you could choose from with the GoPhone service.

On April 17th AT&T, will begin selling the LG Thrive Android smartphone that you can use in conjunction with the GoPhone service. Features include:

– Android 2.2 OS
– Exchange email support
– Unlimited WiFi usage
– 3.2 megapixel camera
– 2GB microSD card installed
– Text/Picture and Video Messaging support
– Access to over 100,00 apps on the Android Market

In order to utilize all of the smartphone goodness, you will need a data plan. AT&T has got your back and is offering special data plans starting at $5 for 10mb of data usage, up to $25 for 500mb. To add these data plans, customers must sign up for either the Smartphone $0.10/min or $2/day plans. The LG Thrive Android smartphone will be available for purchase nationwide at AT&T company-owned retail stores and in select national retail locations on April 17th.

What all of this means is whether for business or personal, smartphone and mobile device users are starting to see options and if they choose to, can break away from their sometimes restrictive wireless contracts but STILL play Angry Birds stay productive on the go.

Remember the People You Meet with NameCatcher Biz App

With all the seminar’s, conferences and networking events you feel compelled to attend as a small business owner, remembering names can be a task in and of itself. Yeah, you could collect business cards from people to add to the mountain of business cards you already have (and never look at).

OR you could use the NameCatcher Biz iPhone App that allows you to not only quickly jot down a name, but assign names to categories and add little facts/details about the person. NameCatcher Biz displays those categories and hints about people you meet so you are constantly reminded. Glancing at your master list of names can help you make that visual connection about each person.

Additional features include:

Photo tool – snap an image and assign it to your names
GPS feature – shake your phone to pull up a list of people you’ve met at a particular location
Contact List Sync – Sync your names, categories, and details about a name with your phone’s contact list.

Every person has their own unique way of using memory tools. NameCatcher Biz was built to allow you to search how you want. If you want more details about a person, NameCatcher Biz has “additional info” fields to allow you to add more. Some of us want the bare bones…others want more visuals, more hints and even location reminders. The app can find the name you need in a blink, using it in whatever way works best for you.

NameCatcher Biz is $0.99 in the iTunes App Store (OS 3.0 and up)

Group Mail HD Simplifies iPad Contact Managing

This is one of those apps where you wish Apple would buyout (or blackmail) the app developer and make this app functionality a core feature. Group Mail HD simply gives you greater control over your iPad contacts.

The main portion of this app is the ability to create/edit contact lists (groups), a feature not available in the native iPad contacts app. Additionally, any groups you made if you sync with other mail/contact apps (Microsoft, Exchange, Google, etc.) don’t come over on the iPad. With Group Mail HD, you now have greater contact control on your iPad. Below are the additional contact options available:

– ADD / REMOVE contacts to/from groups and CREATE new contacts.
– SEND EMAILS to groups
– ADD / EDIT / REMOVE emails of contacts very easily and quickly!

Again, you would think functionality like this would be commonplace in the native contacts app. Since it’s not and you do want greater control over your contacts while surfing your iPad, go ahead and download Group Mail HD for $1.99 (iOS 3.2 or later) over on iTunes.