As many of you have already noticed on twitter, I purchased my first ever Smart Phone yesterday!

I’m already addicted.

Before we continue the story, I have to make note of two smalls things:

1. Remember this post about my hatred of Smart Phones?  Uhhh…oops.  I guess my opinion has since changed.
2. Remember this post about how Lloyd and I were trying to decide which mobile carrier to switch to?  We happily decided on Sprint.  Sprint’s world headquarters is located in Kansas City, so I think we get decent deals and the coverage is excellent (in my opinion).  The unlimited mobile, messaging, and data plan was $30 cheaper at Sprint than at Verizon – SOLD!  This meant that Lloyd had to switch over to Sprint from Verizon which was surprisingly easy.  We are officially on a family plan!  Awww…

I ended up going with this little gem, the Samsung Intercept (in pink, no less – come on, have you seen my twitter page?):

Isn’t she a beaut?  Does anyone else have an Intercept or the previous model – the Samsung Moment?

After all the rebates are said and done, the total price of the phone will clock in at around $91.  Not bad considering all the amazingness that comes with this little nugget.

I currently pay $40 total every month for my non-data phone.  The new plan will be about $130 total per month for Lloyd and I both (which means it’s about $65 per person).

The total overall increase of $25 per month isn’t great, but isn’t horrible considering I lived in the dark ages of basic messaging phones for so long.  (I already know I could never go back.)

While I’m not too excited about the extra expenses, I feel like this will make me better at my part-time job (blogging, writing, etc.) which could in turn lead to more income to counteract the extra expenses.  (Yes, that’s my rationalization.  Don’t burst my bubble.  Ha.)  So, expect to see me twittering, facebooking, and selflessly promoting others (shout out to the Yakezie!) like a crazy woman in the weeks and months (and years?) to come.  You know you’re excited.

Tell Me About This Android Thing…

My phone uses the Android platform…which I think is just the operating system?  I’m such a newbie.

My first thoughts on Android:

• I really like that you can download apps.
• I like the customizable desktop.
• The standard apps are amazing and I love that it already syncs up to my various social media accounts automatically and I don’t have to keep typing in my passwords.

My dislikes so far:

• It already feels like a computer operating system.  There are lags in speed, screens will freeze for a split second, I’ll hit a button and it won’t react, so I’ll hit it again, etc.
• When I hit the little “home” icon on the phone, it will either take me to my desktop (which is what I want) or it will bring up a tray of the 6 most recently used applications (which is not what I want).  I haven’t figured out the logic for which screen it takes me to, but it’s annoying.  Anyone else have this problem?
• The battery drains like crazy!  Wow.  My old basic phone could literally go weeks without being charged.  But, I guess that just comes with having a cooler phone.

My Questions For You:

• What are the best social media apps?  I already have the basics for facebook and twitter but I’m wondering if there is something better out there…
• I am looking for some organizational apps: scheduling, to-do lists, calendars, etc.  What are the best organization apps?
• What are some tips and tricks that any Smart Phone newbie should know?  (For example, I have a slight suspicion that I don’t need to capitalize Smart or Phone when referring to my new device, but I continue to do so?  Oh well, I think it deserves the recognition.)
• What are some can’t-live-without-apps that everyone should be using?

Okay, I’m signing off now so I can go sit on the couch next to Lloyd with my Smart Phone so we can completely ignore one another and tap mercilessly on our Qwerty keyboards.  Until next time!