Verizon Wireless Mobility Seminar

Just attended a workshop on wireless mobility sponsored by Verizon. Speakers from Blackberry, Verizon, and Microsoft, gave 30 minute presentations on how mobile devices can enhance productivity.

Todd Eckman from Lockheed Martin gave the keynote speech during the box lunch that was provided. Part of his presentation included a video “commercial” showing what Lockheed Martin is doing with wireless technology. It was especially interesting since many of the examples were from Hanford, the local DOE instalation.

The Tri-Cities does not yet have high-speed ‘EvDO’ access but the Verizon rep said plans are to have it available by the first of the year. Even with just ‘regular’ mobile wireless internet access, anyone whose job requires them to spend alot of time out of the office can remain productive. The Verizon rep was quick to point out that with a verizon data card, “you are the hotspot.”

I sync my Tungsten|T3 manualy using a docking cable. It would be great to be able to keep my PDA sync’d wirelessly no matter where I happen to be during the day.

I picked up some of the swag the vendors were passing out, including a Microsoft baseball cap. Each of the vendors also had prizes that they gave away after lunch by drawing business cards that were collected at their booths. The prizes included a Blackberry, two Motorola Qs, a Verizon Data Access Card, a Treo of your choice, and a copy of Microsoft Office. With only about 35 people at the seminar I knew my chances were good. Sure enough, my card was drawn for the Motorola Q! Now I have to figure out what to do with it. My current cell phone is a Motorola V710 through U.S. Cellular. I doubt I will be able to use it with U.S. Cellular and am not ready to move the 4 phones the office pays for over to Verizon.

I think I will have to attend more of these seminars.