Which Is Easier? Android Or iOS?

ANDROID VS APPLE - SIMILAR DIFFERENCES?

Okay folks, the topic of today's SoundCloud podcast is the following question: "Which is easier to use? Android or iOS?"

This question has come up from time to time, and the answer used to be a resounding iOS. But that's not necessarily true anymore.

"Tune in" to the podcast and hear my reasons why this discussion is a moot topic. You might be surprised to hear what I have to say about this.

I'm an Android fan who has 2 Apple iOS devices on the side. What do you carry in your pocket? Which operating system appeals to you, and why?

Sound off in the comments section and let the world know!

Carlton Flowers
Geek Podcaster Supreme

Could LTE Bury The Dinosaur Cable Coax?

WHY THE DAYS OF HIGH SPEED CABLE INTERNET ARE NUMBERED

I'm enjoying surfing the net on my home computer at speeds upwards of 28Mb/s. It's fantastic. I never thought I'd be enjoying such high speeds.

To my surprise, the Mediacom company is offering 2 packages that are even faster that what I currently have: a 50Mb/s Ultra, and 105Mb/s Ultra Plus.

That's insanely fast, as far as I'm concerned. Just a few years ago, the techie prognostocators said we'd never see Internet speeds of even 50Mb/s like Europe, because the US is too spread out and we don't have a majority dense tightly packed city population like they do with a great copper wire network.

But as awesome as it sounds to surf at 105Mb/s on your home computer with Mediacom, they might be obsolete within a couple of years. Chances are, they are topped out on how far they can go with increases in speed packages.

To get the Ultra Plus 105Mb/s package, Mediacom had to do a lot of hardware upgrades to their network. They worked hard on updating modems, switches, and the fiber optic lines. But they also had to find a source of available bandwidth to run the data.

From what I know, I believe this came from decomissioning 2 different sets of available bandwidth from their analog television channel offerings. They had to trade out the use of those frequencies, and add them to the existing 2 frequency ranges that they were already using in order to create the 105Mb/s package. Each range has a capability of pumping out roughly 25Mb/s of data.

Long story short, it looks like they are topped out. All the while, the big mobile network providers are rolling out LTE (Long Term Evolution) 4G service across the nation, with no wires, providing download speeds as high as 54Mb/s. Which do you think has the most capability for expansion? The topped-out big fat wire from the cable service provider, or the wireless LTE network?

Things will get interesting once we see the full rollout of LTE service right here in my home town. Once AT&T (my provider) tweaks the system and can reproduce the super high speeds that we already have in St. Louis and Kansas City, I might run out of reasons for keeping my cable modem.

The only stumbling block will be data charges. Can a mobile service provider dole out enough data for download at a reasonable price that can compete with the cable company? Right now, the answer is no.

Even at the lowest level for Mediacom, called "Launch", you get 150Gb of total data to download for your 3Mb/s service. Each package increases the amount you can download for the month, ending at 999Gb with Ultra Plus.

As we know, the cell service providers like capping us greedy data downloaders off at 250mb, 3Gb, and 5Gb. That pales in comparison. This could be the saving grace for Mediacom's high speed cable internet service... for now.

Carlton Flowers
Data Hog

AT&T 4G LTE Arrives In Jefferson City Area!

CENTRAL MISSOURI GETS LTE! WHO NEEDS T-MOBILE ANYWAY?

Last friday while at work, something came as a bit of a surprise to me. I found out that 4G LTE was launched and pumping out super speed Internet juice to Jefferson City devices.

One by one, I had several fellow geek buddies at work come running to me to tell me that the 4G LTE icon lit up on their phone. I was shocked, and super excited.

At first, I thought to myself, "maybe it's a mistake, and they accidentally switched the logo on". But there was no mistake about it.

2 friends were downloading at speeds of 25Mb/s right here inside the office. The best speeds under optimum conditions that we had received before was 11Mb/s under HSPA+ service.

Apparently, the system is still being tweaked. Several people have already told me that their download speeds have increased over the past week. So we are officially on the high speed map!

I had worried about how long it would take for the expansion after the merger between AT&T and T-Mobile was shot out of the sky by our fabulous regulators. I was a strong proponent of the merger, and I knew it would slow the LTE expansion process when it failed. But who needs T-Mobile now?

We don't!

Even if the T-Mobile merger did go through, it may not have sped up the expansion for Central Missouri anyway. At the time, T-Mobile did not even have a 3G tower in our area. We were paying for HSPA+ "4G" service, and getting Edge Network speeds. I'm guessing that the same amount of work would still have been required to build the LTE infrastructure here.

But I digress... AT&T 4G LTE is here in Jefferson City, and I couldn't be more excited! Next month I hope to get my hands on a Samsung Galaxy S IV when my upgrade becomes available. That will be perfecct timing to pick up my new device right when the LTE network has just gone live!

No more bragging, my Jefferson City Verizon friends! You're not the exclusive Central Missouri LTE service any more! Well, U.S. Cellular already took that title away from you. However, pretty soon I'll have the ability to "one-up" you... when I call you on your smartphone and surf at LTE speeds at the same time! Sorry, you won't be able to surf while you're taking to me.

;-)

Carlton Flowers
AT&T LTE #CentralMo #Fanboy #Loyalist

--------Official Press Release---------

AT&T 4G LTE AVAILABLE IN JEFFERSON CITY

Customers to benefit from nation’s fastest 4G LTE network on the latest devices

JEFFERSON CITY, MO. APRIL 3, 2013 — AT&T* has turned on the nation’s fastest 4G LTE network** in the Jefferson City area, including Holts Summit, Taos, Wardsville and California, bringing customers the latest generation of wireless network technology. Watch here to see several of the benefits AT&T 4G LTE provides, including:

• LTE technology is capable of delivering speeds faster than many other mobile Internet
• AT&T offers several LTE-compatible devices, including new AT&T 4G LTE smartphones and tablets.
• LTE technology   

“We continue to see demand for mobile Internet skyrocket, and our 4G LTE network in Jefferson City responds to what customers want from their mobile experience — more, faster, on the best devices,” said John Sondag, President of AT&T Missouri. “This announcement demonstrates our ongoing commitment to bring consumers and businesses the most advanced communication network. Important infrastructure investments such as these are due in part to the good business climate in Missouri.”

AT&T invested nearly $2.15 billion in its Missouri wireless and wireline networks from 2009 through 2012. AT&T launched 4G LTE in Farmington in April 2013, St. Louis in April 2012 and Kansas City in November 2011.

AT&T’s 4G Network

AT&T’s innovation and investment has resulted in the nation’s largest 4G network, covering 288 million people with ultra-fast speeds and a more consistent user experience. Our 4G LTE network delivered faster average download speeds than any of our competitors in PCWorld’s most recent 13-market speed tests.

AT&T’s 4G LTE network delivers speeds faster than many other mobile Internet technologies, as well as multiple innovations that optimize the network for performance. Our network’s radio components are placed close to the antenna at most cell sites, instead of inside the base station, which helps minimize power loss between the base station and antenna and, in turn, improves the performance of our 4G LTE network. The network also is designed with its core elements distributed across the country, which helps reduce latency, or the delay when using the Internet, because your request isn’t traveling as far.

Even as AT&T continues to expand its 4G LTE coverage, customers can get 4G speeds outside of 4G LTE areas on our 4G HSPA+ network, unlike competitors, where smartphone customers fall back to slower 3G technologies when outside of LTE coverage.

AT&T’s focus to deliver the best possible mobile Internet experience goes beyond 4G to embrace additional connection technologies. AT&T operates the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network**** including more than 32,000 AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots at popular restaurants, hotels, bookstores and retailers, and provides access to more than 402,000 hotspots globally through roaming agreements. Most AT&T smartphone customers get access to our entire national Wi-Fi network at no additional cost, and Wi-Fi usage doesn’t count against customers’ monthly wireless data plans.

AT&T also is a leading developer of Distributed Antenna Systems, which utilize multiple small antennas to maximize coverage and speed within stadiums, convention centers, office buildings, hotels and other areas where traditional coverage methods are challenging. 

Over the past five years, AT&T invested nearly $98 billion into operations. Since 2008, AT&T has invested more capital into the U.S. economy than any other public company. In a July 2012 report, the Progressive Policy Institute ranked AT&T No. 1 on its list of U.S. “Investment Heroes.”

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

** Limited 4G LTE availability in select markets. LTE is a trademark of ETSI. Claim based on a comparison of U.S. national carriers’ average 4G LTE download speeds for Android™ and Windows smartphones and iPhone 5. 4G speeds not available everywhere.

*** 4G LTE device and data plan required.Learn more about 4G LTE at att.com/network.

****A Wi-Fi enabled device required. Other restrictions apply. See www.attwifi.com for details and locations. 

"Pinterests" - Pinteresting Things Business Owners Should Realize

SOME PINTERESTING FACTS YOU MUST KNOW AS A BUSINESS OWNER

Business owners, sales professionals, service consultants, and everyone else who works in some type of entrepreneurial profession, there are some "Pinteresting" things you should know about marketing your business with Pinterest. I have made a brief list of "Pinterests" for you that will move you into action.

These are the interesting things you should keep in mind if you aren't yet marketing yourself on the hot new mega pictoria social media site. Enjoy!

TOP REASONS YOU SHOULD HAVE A BUSINESS PRESENCE ON PINTEREST

• The bulk of users in this online community have a household income ranging from $25k to $75k per year. This is a fertile target market for your business.
• 60% of the users have a college education, and the majority of them are females. In households, the women are usually the decision-makers when it comes to purchasing.
• The average Pinterest user spends 88.3 minutes per day on the website. Couple that with the fact that there are 10,000,000 unique visitors coming to the site every single month.
• Pinterest is the #7 traffic source on the Internet today. That means you can potentially drive massive amounts of visitors to your website. More traffic is generated on a referral basis than from YouTube, Google Plus, and LinkedIn combined.
• If you have any type of product or service that can be represented in a nice photo, you could get viral exposure, all for free.
• Because of the visual nature of human beings, Pinterest is a highly effective way to establish and maintain top-of-mind dominance in your niche for your brand by keeping a regular presence.
• When you post pictures that link to your website, you get powerful backlinks that add to your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) score. That means you’ll have a better chance of showing up on the first pages of Google when people are searching for your product or service.
• Pinterest isn’t just for pictures… you can also post videos. The possibilities for generating buzz for your business through videos is endless.

Want this in a nice PDF format to keep on your computer, or to post and share on social networks? Then click this link to download the Free report! --> http://bit.ly/YTlHjn

Carlton Flowers
Business Marketing Expert 

Where Can I Get Answers To Life Questions? New App Has Answers!

ANSWERS TO YOUR CRAZIEST QUESTIONS WITH HOT NEW APP

Where can I get answers? People often ask this question... answers to what, you ask? To anything about life in general! We've all seen Ask.com and Yahoo Answers, but there's a hot new app on the market that is a social media community of people asking real questions, and giving real answers. It's called TextThatQ!

The app was the product of creative genius Jake Seeman, who is the CEO of CoMo Coding LLC. He was joined by Chief Programming Engineer Stephen Lindauer, who completed all of the coding for the app.

What makes this new app unique, and separates it from all the rest, is the fact that it is an anonymous social media communtiy. Instead of asking "experts" or "fact hunting", you have the chance to chat with a complete stranger about anything on your mind.

Some people ask silly questions, some ask real serious questions about problems or challenges they are having in life. But the key to what makes this app so much fun is that you are getting answers from random strangers.

There's a signifiant number of folks out there who want to know what "normal" or regular every-day-life type people think about the stuff that presses them the most. It could be a random opinion about a reltationship issue, or getting feedback on their point of view on something.

Or, some people just show up because they are bored, or lonely, and they can have instant access to strangers that will talk with them and help them pass the time. That's the beauty of TextThatQ. It can be used in many different ways.

Something else that sets this new community apart from the rest is the fact that you can add "interests" and "criteria" to the questions that you post. For example, a young lady might want to hear the opinions from only guys, between the ages of 21 to 30, who like the outdoors, sports, traveling, and have a college background. The app looks for available users that fit her custom set of criteria, and then ships them the question.

After receiving her answer, she can give it a "thumbs up" or a "thumbs down", and also chose to carry on a conversation. Users rack up points on a monthly basis and compete for the top 5. Prizes and recognition are awarded for the top users, which adds a sense of competition to the community.

TextThatQ was originally made for the iPhone, utilizing iOS 5.0 or higher. You can load it on an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. Soon, there will be a web-based app that will run on all platforms including Android devices. But there are also plans for making an Android-based app for the Google Play store too.

It's been a phenomenal time since the app launched in mid-January of 2013. There are high expectations for the app, and the activity has been growing strong. I'll be posting regular updates over time, as we try to break into the elite group of social media platforms this year with our unique idea.

Have an iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch? Jump to the app store and download your copy now. It's completely free! Come tap into the action and chat it up with a stranger today!

Carlton Flowers
Vice President, CoMo Coding, LLC
Creators of "TextThatQ"

GET YOUR COPY NOW! CLICK THE LOGO AND JUMP TO THE APP STORE!

The Next Giant Set To Fall - Paradigm Shift Coming?

ON THE BRINK OF CHANGE - THE FUTURE OF TV

Newspapers thought they were invincible. They were rendered obsolete. The telephone companies bit the bullet next. Movie rental companies got moth balled. Then the bookstores. Is television the next slaying ground for a behemoth that needs to be laid to rest?

Yes. And the dinosaur is called the cable company.

I really never thought it could happen until now. Cable television is about to be put out to pasture. The cable companies are teed up and ready to be whacked right down the center of the obsolescence fairway.

All the signs are there, and the cable giants know that the clock is ticking. This will be the last hoorah for cable television as we know it. And the day that LTE coverage blankets the entire map, the final nail will be put in the coffin.

Have you ever thought about the fact that the average household pays well over $2,000 a year for TV programming, all while being given the worst possible service at the highest possible price? Up until now, we've been held hostage.

I've had fairly decent luck with my cable service provider. Customer service is decent, but response to problems is not. I've had instances where we were forced to wait 3 weeks for a service tech to fix an outage. We had no recourse, because there was very little competition.

But what will put this problem over the edge in short order is the fact that the majority of programming is now available over the Internet. I've never considered going the route of replacing my cable TV with a Roku box or something similar, because of one big missing piece of the programming puzzle...

Sports.

There's no way I could cut my cable TV and live without Monday Night Football. Or watching Mizzou basketball live. Or the NBA playoffs. Or the Minnesota Lynx with my cousin Maya Moore.

But times are a changing. The NFL now provides subscription services that allow you to watch games online. So do several other major sporting networks.

With this last significant piece of the puzzle quickly filling in, I could realistically pull myself away from my addiction to my cable TV service and just continue on with high speed cable Internet. But I would still be somewhat stuck... until LTE comes to Central Missouri.

The advent of LTE will set the captives free, while providing high speed wireless internet service at double the speed of the big fat wire. And how many times does the cellular network go down in comparison to cable TV? Answer that yourself.

My best guess is that LTE service from AT&T will be in my neck of the woods sometime this year. Verizon Wireless already has blazing fast 4G LTE service in Central Missouri as we speak, and wireless devices run on their network faster than you can even imagine.

The cable company won't give up easy, though. They have just rolled out a 105Mbps package for those that want ridiculous download speeds. But that comes at a cost.

The cable company had to decommission several analog channels to swap out the bandwidth needed to provide the 105Mbps service. All they are doing is running several frequencies in parallel to get the desired new high speeds. But their ability to expand beyond this point is finite.

Unless research & development comes up with a breakthrough way to compress data and get more speed out of the existing network of cables, their doomsday is already within sight. Plus they have to fight against a decrepit, aging infrastructure that takes an enormous amount of maintenance.

If 4G LTE service arrives before the cable TV providers figure out a way to continue ramping up speeds, it will be too late. All things being equal, why would I stick with the less dependable and overly expensive big fat wire when I could possibly combine my cell phone service with wireless Internet for my computer?

Unless something catastrophic happens, or the cable company has a huge trump card, I give it a year before I dump my cable TV service in the same trash can that my land line phone service is sitting in right now.

The changes we see in the next year should be exciting. And we might be hearing a resounding THUD as the giant we call cable TV breathes its last breath and goes the way of the newspaper, the record player, the telephone, the bookstore, the DVD rental store, and the portable CD player.

Carlton Flowers
Technology Prognosticator

Samsung Galaxy S IV Derails My Clear Plan Of Action

UPGRADE DECISIONS: GALAXY S IV OR GALAXY NOTE II?

I'm starting to get caught up in the rumors surrounding the Samsung Galaxy S IV that is to be released sometime this spring. My heart was set on the Galaxy Note II after my 2-week review of the AT&T device, but one new rumor on the S IV could change my mind...

Will the Samsung Galaxy S IV have an S Pen?

Some tech blogs are saying that Samsung won't do this, because it would make the Galaxy S IV compete directly with the Galaxy Note II, and it would be too early in the life of the Note II to offer up a direct competitor.

But over the past few days, more and more tech prognosticators are saying that the Galaxy S IV will in fact have an S Pen. If that's the case, I'm going to definitely opt for the S IV when my upgrade is available in May of 2013.

It looks like you're going to get everything that the Note II offers, and then some, plus with a slightly more managable 5" diagonal display. The S IV will rock the quad core CPU just like the Note II, and I would expect to see even more features since it comes 6 months further down the developmental highway.

If this pans out, and the Galaxy S IV comes packing an S Pen, we'll have a device with the best of both worlds. All of the magic of the Note II should be included in this new smartphone that might get upgraded into the "Phablet" category, plus all the latest bells and whistles that Samsung has to offer. And of course it would also include the latest Android operating system, Key Lime Pie.

Let's watch and see what happens over the first few months of 2013. I think it will be an exciting time for tech and gadgets.

Having the extended early upgrade requirement might end up as a blessing to me after all.

Carlton Flowers
Samsunged

Facebook Holdouts In 2012 - Wise Reasoning, Paranoia, or Social Ineptness?

A VIEW OF FACEBOOK HOLDOUTS IN 2012 - THE PHENOMENON EXAMINED

It is the final month of the year 2012, and the global Facebook population is at an astounding 1 billion people. Yet in your community of educated professional people, there are still holdouts.

What are the common reasons for the restistance to participation? Are some of the reasons logical? Are they fear-based, anti-social, or with valid reason?

Whatever the case may be, one thing is for sure. We have experienced a paradigm shift in the way that we as a people communicate and interact in this society, and whether you like it or not, it's called Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg has forever changed the world with the idea he hatched over a decade ago.

But getting back to the topic at hand, the Facebook Holdouts come several different flavors. We'll take an in depth look at each one, and then hold a general discussion. So let's have a look at the variety of the common Facebookless citizens of our world!

THE FOUR FACEBOOK HOLDOUTS - "PROFILES" DEFINED

The Technologically Challenged Facebook Holdout - this holdout doesn't participate on Facebook because they simply don't know how to. They are either elderly or unplugged from all technology, living off the land somewhere deep in the woods. This type of holdout could care less, because they don't have the wherewithall to figure out any type of technology more complex than a feature phone. They get a pass for not participating.

The Paranoid Conspiracy Facebook Holdout - due to an enormous fear of "big brother" watching every move they make, this Facebook Holdout wouldn't dare post a single detail on such a public forum for fear that the government will use it against them whenever they round up all the people and throw them in concentration camps. Forget the fact that this paranoid individual doesn't break the law in any way. That doesn't matter. But the fear of retribution from posting about posting your favorite cookie recipe is real.

The Ostrich Facebook Holdout - this individual is antisocial and would rather bury their head in the digital sand and not be known. They are happy in isolation, and could care less about interacting with people. Facebook would only be an intrusion into this person's perfect quiet life in isolation.

The "I-Don't-Trust-My-Spouse" Facebook Holdout - Infidelity fuels this holdout's funk with Facebook. With the divorce rate as high as it is, and the growing number of affairs that start on social networks, the IDTMS types not only stay off the network themselves, but they also forbid their philandering significant others from flirting with the Facebook family. Sadly, Facebook forbiddance fails to fend off the frivolous behavior.

Enough about the obvious Facebook Holdouts. We've seen these types, and they are no surprise. But what really gets me are those that don't have an excuse to hold out on the world's largest social community.

What leaves me confused are those who would obviously benefit from having a Facebook profile and interacting with people. This would include business owners, sales professionals of all types, those in medical professions, consultants, attorneys, and others of similar nature.

People with these backgrounds have no excuse to hold out on Facebook whatsoever. It goes against the very purpose of their profession - to interact with people and transact business.

Let me paint a scenario...

It's 1975. A new business opens up in a local town. It's a bakery. The owner has the greatest tasting pastries and breads that any tastebuds could ever experience. He wants everyone to experience his award-winning goods, and is excited to open for business.

But before he opens, he tells the phone company that he refuses to have a listing. He chooses to keep his number unlisted. He also is against signs. He will have no part of any signs being erected on his structure.  He also has a beef with the local newspaper, so he refuses to place any ads for his bakery in the paper. Plus he doesn't own a radio or TV, so he can't see spending money advertising with either.

Do you think this would be a wise marketing strategy for a startup business? Of course not! Sure, maybe this guy could generate a fair amount of traffic from the waft of fresh bread baking in the ovens. But he would be turning a deaf ear to the majority of his market by not making his presence known.

I know what you're thinking... that was a stupid example. But it's no more stupid than a professional or business owner in 2012 that refuses to leverage theirself with a Facebook presence.

It is an undeniable fact that the majority of the eyeballs in this world are plastered on Facebook. It's the new town hall, the new phonebook, the new high-tech hangout. Call it what you want, this is where people now live and play.

But for the Facebook Holdout that can find no credible reason for their refusal, what fuels their fight against the most obvious free marketing opportunity on planet Earth?

Carlton Flowers
Self-Proclaimed Facebook King

Coming Soon: How I Figured Out The Golden Path to Facebook Marketing Success Without A Single  Advertisement!

Fall 2012 Mid-Missouri Wireless Service Coverage Status – What Route Should You Take?

THE LTE ROLLOUT RACE RAMPS UP – WHICH IS BEST?

With the LTE coverage race looking like a singular and lopsided win for the big red cellphone carrier, many people in Central Missouri  are trying to make the tough decision on whether or not to make a switch, or hold fast.

In our state’s capital of Jefferson City, the only LTE service currently available comes from Verizon Wireless. The timetable for the rival competitors of AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile (snicker) is unknown at this time. So for a person considering what the best provider for this area would be, it looks like an easy decision. Or is it?

A good friend of mine, Scot Nichols, owns 2 Droid RAZR smartphones for he and his wife on Verizon Wireless. He’s pretty pleased with the service thus far. We did some testing, and the results were pretty impressive for Jefferson City.

The download speeds for the Droid RAZR under Verizon’s LTE coverage ranged from 10 to 20Mbps. The upload speed was even more impressive, running between 13 and 19Mbps for our tests. That looks clearly better than the HSPA+ speeds I usually get on the AT&T network ranging from 1.5Mbps to as much as 10Mbps with uploads going from 500Kbps to 2Kbps.

But after Postal Jim Stuckey sent me screen shots of his Speedtest results while sitting in the Cardinal’s stadium in downtown St. Louis, I can tell you that this paints a different picture. His Samsung Galaxy S3 was averaging 20Mbps upload and 49Mbps download.

I don’t know what is documented as “typical” from the AT&T company, but several users in the STL area have reported the same speeds using Samsung, Apple, and HTC devices that are equipped with an LTE radio. 50Mbps down and 20Mbps up is quite typical with newer technology.

Back here in good old #CentralMO (Twitter hashtag), I don’t know what the timeframe is for LTE expansion. There aren’t any published reports on a timetable. It could be better than a year out. But I’m not swayed on switching services, knowing what potentially super high speeds are coming to my devices.

The choice to #CentralMO users is simple. Go with Verizon Wireless for LTE speeds right now, and slower CDMA 3G speeds when off the LTE map. Or stick with AT&T for a while, with respectable HSPA+ “4G”, and blazing fast LTE speeds at some point in the future. Or, you could go with T-Mobile that is running on the blazing fast EDGE network, with blinding speeds upwards of 5Kbps (more snickering).

Something else to consider is the plan for Verizon to drop all of the current 3G CDMA network in order to fully go with LTE service. AT&T will continue to have the HSPA+ backdrop as they expand LTE coverage.

My choice and recommendation is for sticking with AT&T. I don’t think you can go wrong with Verizon, it’s a good service. Sprint is not something I recommend for #CentralMO until we know what their future direction is, and T-Mobile gets a flat-out FAIL for our area (they have much better service in STL, however).

In the long run, I think I’ll be better off sticking with my AT&T service to have the widest range of options. But what are your thoughts on the choices of carriers in #CentralMO, or in your area of residence? Shout me out a holler in the Disqus comments section!

Carlton Flowers
Techno Craver

Does Verizon Wireless Have Their Central MO Blog Radar On?

VERIZON WIRELESS YET TO DISCOVER AMAZING CZ BLOG

About a year ago, AT&T St. Louis discovered the best tech blog site in the Midwest, the CZ Blog. They noticed my articles talking about their devices and wireless service. AT&T seems to be on top of all social media activity surrounding their company.

Since I was first contacted by AT&T, I have gladly made myself available to test and review many of their wireless devices such as smartphones and tablets. I don’t get paid to do it, so my opinion is somewhat unbiased.

I say “somewhat unbiased” because I am an extremely happy customer, having had my AT&T wireless account for the past 7 years. I was formerly with Sprint. I enjoyed Sprint for many years, but had to make the switch due to a big dead spot at my new place of employment.

The question I have right now is, how long will it take Verizon Wireless in Central Missouri to discover the amazing CZ Blog? I have written quite a few articles that cover their products and issues, so there should be a blip on their blog radar.

In my opinion, there are only 2 choices for wireless service in Central Missouri: AT&T and Verizon. AT&T provides excellent customer service and good coverage. Verizon has good coverage, plus 4G LTE service in Central Missouri already. Sprint is spotty, and T-Mobile doesn’t even have 3G coverage in our area. how sad is that?

To keep it fair for the top dogs in the Mid MO market, I would love to review Verizon products and report on their usability and service if offered. A lot of my readers want to know how the different providers do in our area, so this would be very valuable.

I’d love to hear a report from T-Mobile concerning the timeframe for expanding respectable high speed coverage in our market.

As of last year, when I broke the contract for my wife’s T-Mobile smartphone, they had no idea when an upgrade would come. That was during the midst of the possible AT&T buyout that did not pan out. Maybe they have new plans. I would love to hear about it if they do.

Until then, I’ll keep reporting on AT&T developments straight from the horse’s mouth, and I’ll fill you in on any worthwhile news from the other carriers concerning our Show-Me state market area.

Carlton Flowers
Avid Gadget Tester

News Site Armageddon Is here - Pulse Is On The Web

PULSE NEWS EXPLANDS BEYOND THE APP - WEB VERSION IS LIVE

I'm a huge fan of news aggregator Pulse News. It's an Andoid & iOS app that pulls the latest news stories from all of your favorite blogs and online magazines. It's simply the best news app on the market today, and it's free.

I have been waiting for over a year for Pulse to release a web-based version of the popular app. People like me who love the app as much as we do prefer to have it available on every single device we own. So this announcement is a happy day for Pulse fans!

What makes this announcement even more exciting is that all you have to do is sign in to your regular account and all of your presets will populate into the web version. And it doesn't matter which browser you use. Pulse works on Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari as well.

So I recommend you check out Pulse and see what all the fuss is about if you haven't experienced it as of yet. You will be browsing all of the latest news in science, gadgets, business, health, marketing, or wherever your interests may be!

Carlton Flowers
Proud Pulse Promoter

"Dare To Compare" Why Sprint Unlimited Is Useless

SRPINT THINKS DATA CAP-FREE BUT CRAPPY SERVICE DEAL IS GOLDEN

Sprint is launching a campaign on their "Dare To Compare" webpage that attacks AT&T over data caps versus their unlimited data package.

Is it just me, or did someone forget to tell Sprint that unlimited crappy service is not better than limited service that works? The last time I checked, Sprint has the outdated dinosaur "4G WiMax" network that they are phasing out, while the company attempts to make the change to 4G LTE.

Right now, Sprint has a boatload of money tied up in their WiMax network. It's not helping the company at all, being forced into abandoning their version of 4G service for the newer LTE standard. Give them a year, and we'll see what happens as they promise to unlease a nation-wide LTE network.

I was a Sprint customer for 10 years, even before they were Sprint (Bell Telephone was the name in our market). I enjoyed their service, but had to let them go as AT&T nailed the first smartphone market with the iPhone, leaving the other carriers in the dust.

But the main reason that forced me to finally switch from AT&T to Sprint was the simple fact that there exists a huge dead spot in Sprint coverage where I work. Our offices moved in 2005 from central Jefferson City to the East side of town, into a dead zone. AT&T had great coverage, so I had to make the switch.

I haven't regretted making the switch. I've been very satisfied with AT&T in Jefferson City, and nationwide as a whole while traveling. I'm on pins and needles as AT&T expands LTE coverage in the State of Missouri, starting out in the St. Louis market area.

I'm hoping Sprint makes it through the pinch and ends up with a viable LTE network. Competition is good in this industry, and the more healthy competitors we have in the field, the better the products will be. But for now, if I were Sprint, I wouldn't be "daring" to compare anything until they get their network together.

Carlton Flowers
Callin' 'Em Like I See 'Em

Psycho Social Networking - Are We All This Crazy About Sharing?

SOCIAL NETWORKING OR NARCISSISTIC NETWORKING?

This is an interesting infographic that makes you stop and think just a bit. Are we just in the midst of an interesting techno-psychological age, or are we more self-absorbed as human beings than ever before?

Read this, then you be the judge...

Is this news to you? Do you relate to these statistics, or are you different? Post your thoughts and comments below!

Carlton Flowers
Self-Proclaimed King of Social Media (Narcissist)

Nextel Push-To-Talk Punches Out, AT&T Plows In

AT&T PUSH-TO-TALK SERVICE EVENT COMING TO 27 US CITIES IN 2012

Do you remember how popular the "push-to-talk" feature was around 10 or 15 years ago when feature phones ruled the market? If you are a business customer, you quite possibly could could still be using it to this day.

Sadly, Sprint will be shutting down the Nextel network that plays host to goo-gobbles of customers using legacy push-to-talk phones.

Apparently, Sprint is pushing their new Direct Connect push-to-talk phone devices that will run on the regular Sprint network.

All the while, AT&T push-to-talk service is rolling strong, and they will be marketing a new enhanced version with events occurring in 27 cities, including Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri.

AT&T will be knocking out a huge event called the "Field Force Automation Forum" on October 2nd in STL-MO, and October 25th 2012 in KC-MO to introduce the newly enhanced service. Check out the KC event registration page, and the St. Louis event registration page by clicking the links.

Push-to-talk is a convenient and often integral part of business communications, offering a much-needed method of 2-way conversations similar to a walkie talkie radio.

It is heavily used by construction site workers, engineers, police officers, service and repair professionals, event planners, taxi drivers, and more. The big benefit is the ability to talk to a group of people instantly, without waiting for someone to answer.

Carlton Flowers
Communications Collaborator