I've been complaining about my AT&T Wireless experience since I first signed up with the carrier in 2008. One Blackberry and three iPhones later, the service still doesn't work where I need it most.
After a random tweet about how my iPhone usually fails miserably at Miller Park, the PR team from U.S. Cellular asked if I'd do a head-to-head test, which I did. Then, AT&T contacted me, and asked if I'd take a look at one of their new phones and two new gadgets. I warned them that I was coming in more than a little jaded.
I'm not really in the business of reviewing Android cell phones, but the new $100 LG Thrill 4G phone AT&T lent me did some interesting things: namely, it worked where my iPhone didn't. Callers on the other end said voice quality sounded much better, and my calls didn't drop in two of the places my iPhone always does: by Veteran's Park and atop the Hoan Bridge. The phone, however, still couldn't place a call from my house with my Microcell turned off.
Additionally, the phone offers a 3-D camera (video and still), which is pretty amazing to see. It doesn't require glasses, and the effect is mind-blowing, if a bit novel. With its HDMI out port, you can easily export to a 3-D TV, if you have one. The Thrill also creates a wi-fi hot zone, which, if you have a signal, is quite useful at 4G speeds.
But one nifty Android phone isn't enough to salvage my experience with this carrier, and as soon as the iPhone 5 comes out, I'm breaking my contract and going to Verizon. I told this to AT&T's PR rep, and he pointed out that AT&T isn't just about cell phones.
Two projects they're working on makes me think the future might be brighter for AT&T. One is called the Vitality GlowCap. It's a cellular/Internet connected pill bottle cap that uses their network to help people remember when to take their pills. Designed for the elderly, the bottle not only lights up and makes a sound, it can also text a phone and communicate the with the patient's doctor and family. It also features automatic refills. This soon-to-market application is nothing short of brilliant and is the kind of outside-the-box thinking AT&T needs to continue to embrace.
The second innovation is called the Garmin GTU 10, and it's like a "LoJack," but for whatever purpose you might want. Put it in a kid's backpack, and you can track your child's location. Attach it to your dog's collar (it's waterproof for 30 minutes) or put it in your glove compartment and build a "geofence." If your teenager drives outside where you want her to, you can be alerted by e-mail or text, and of course, you can also watch the location live on an App or on your PC. At $200, this is an amazing combination of GPS and cell technology. And it's available right now.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
