I recently started using the Gmail feature “chat to text”, and believe you would find it useful as well. When you’re on your computer it’s much easier to type on a full keyboard as opposed to your cell or smart phone text entry. And if you don’t have “unlimited texts/sms”, then this can help save you money as well. It works great to send a text message to one of your contact’s cell phone.
You have to tweak a few settings within your gmail account, but it only takes just a few minutes to set up. The video below will help you get it set up and going. I spent about a half hour or more trying to figure this out, because I was certain you could do it. It was just a matter of finding the instructions. Hopefully, this post and video will help save you some time.
Being a real estate professional, I’m always looking for ways to make my business run more efficiently. A big part of that is organization, which can be a challenge for me…at least my desk that is Another thing that helps with efficiency is having access to important information while out of the office. I have been using a free service from DropBox.com that is awesome for both of these.
The Drop Box Cloud Computing Process
Drop Box uses “cloud computing” to allow you to store, sync and share files between multiple computers. Basically, the way it works is to download a file on each computer, which installs a special folder on the computer. Add any type of file, including pictures, audio, video, and office docs (.doc, .ppt, .xls, .pdf, etc) to that folder, and the files are then synced across the different computers. Each file that you add is also added to your Drop Box online account. So, you don’t have to worry about backing up the files that are in the folder, because they are also stored on the Drop Box servers. Currently, I am syncing files across 4 computers (3 pc’s and 1 Mac), and it has worked like a champ! The limit on files is 2 GB, however you can purchase additional storage for a fee. You can also get an additional 250 MB if you sign up through the link below. (*** be sure to read the update at the bottom of the post.)
Drop Box is also available as a mobile app for iPhone, iPad, and Android. Their website says an app for Blackberry will be available soon. I am using Drop Box on Android, and it really comes in handy. For example, today, one of my agents was having problems getting an “offer to purchase” form to work on his home computer. He was puzzled, so he called me to see if I was in the office so that I could email it to him. I was out for lunch, but I had already added our most often used forms to my drop box folder. So, I told him to give me a few minutes, and it would be on the way. I got my phone out, went to the drop box app, and accessed the needed file. I then shared the file via email with the file attached. Within a few minutes, he had the file and was able to get his form filled out without too much stress or coming back to the office to get it. Pretty sweet!
Since I use Android, I will explain the process of how to install it.
First set up your account (and just a reminder, if you use the links on this site, you will automatically get 250 MB extra for FREE).
Then go to the Android Marketplace to install the app (make sure Drop Box is the developer.). You can also scan the QR Code to the right and below.
Dropbox QR Code
Click “Install”
Sign in with your account user name and password.
Android Screen Shot
You are now ready to access your Drop Box Files. Once you open the file, it is stored on your phone’s SD card. You can then hit the Drop Box Menu and share the file through various Android programs.
To summarize using Drop Box on your smart phone. You can do the following:
Access your Dropbox on the go
Download files for offline viewing
Sync photos and videos to your Dropbox
Share links to files in your Dropbox
I rate Drop Box a 5 Star out of 5. It’s truly an awesome product to use. Sign up for Drop Box, install the app on your smart phone, and check it out for yourself. You will become more organized and ready to do more business away from the office.
*** UPDATE 12/10/2010 – It looks like there is a another sync app called SugarSync with gives you more than double the free dropbox account at 5GB. I just installed it today, but it looks promising. I’ll review soon, but check out for yourself and get FREE BONUS storage at the following link. Sugar Sync Free Bonus Storage
Recently I commented on a facebook post that I was able to extend the daily battery life of my HTC EVO. And several people asked me to explain how I did it. So, here’s the 411.
First of all, download the “Advanced Task Killer” app. Background apps can eat at your system resources, and many Android apps open randomly in the background. With Advanced Task Killer, and you can close all those processes and apps slowing down your phone and eating up your battery life. With one-click, users can close all running applications in the event that their Android device is running too slow. It also includes the ability to ignore certain apps to prevent closing things you want to keep running. It runs in the background and you will be able to see an icon at the top of your phone’s “task bar”.
Second, go to menu/settings/wireless & networks. Here, you can turn off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 4G. There’s no need to have 4G on if it’s not available in your area yet. Unless you’re in a major metropolitan area like New York or LA, you probably don’t have it yet. You can check Sprint’s 4G coverage at the following link. Sprint Coverage Map. I checked it, and there is a link for “Data Coverage” and then a tab for “4G”. Nothing showed up so it must not be updated yet.
Then, go to menu/settings/accounts & sync – I have left the “background data” and “auto-sync” on. However, you can uncheck “background data” to get even better batter life, but some apps won’t work as well if you don’t give them “background” access. You can also change the sync frequency of each of the apps or even turn some of them off. I have turned the news and stocks off, changed facebook to “8 hours” (turned the calendar off b/c I got tired of seeing 10 “birthday” appts every day – I can see birthdays when I actually go logon with my computer), twitter 1/day, and weather 1/3 hours. I have left “Google” sync on, but I’m not sure how often it syncs (contacts, calendar, and gmail).
And by the way, Google Calendar works great! If you have ever been through Floyd Wickman’s course, he teaches you to categorize your calendar. Green for “money making” activities (prospecting, closings, showings, listing appts, etc), yellow for “important job related tasks”, and pink/blue for “personal”. If you have a Google account, and you should if you’re using an android phone, you can set up multiple calendars which will sync with your phone. (I like it! I like it a lot!)
Next, go to menu/settings/sound & display – Here, you can adjust your Brightness (I have mine set about 1/3 of the way up), Animation (“some animations are shown” is my setting), and Screen Timeout (I use 30 seconds).
I also took the animated “clock and weather” widget off of my home screen. It’s cool to see the animated thunder and lightning during a storm, but if I can get a little more battery life by taking it off, that’s what I decided to do. (To remove the BIG DIGITAL CLOCK & Weather from your home screen: Touch the widget and hold it there until it “undocks”, and then slide it down to the “Remove” area at the bottom of your screen).
The last thing that I have done is to add a “Power Control” widget to one of my app screens. I added it to the “Google Search” widget screen, because they are the same layout size. This widget gives you a one touch on/off button for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Sync, and Display Brightness. (Your task bar icons may look different than this, but the widget is the same.)
I just read that Sprint recommends that you turn off “Automatic Roaming” if you have good Sprint service. (menu/settings/wireless & networks/mobile networks/roaming/Spint Only) I’m going to try it now, and I will comment later to let you know if I see a noticeable difference.
Here’s a good video that touches on most of these settings.
If you’ve been battling with your phone’s battery life, give these recommendations a try. I know it will make a big difference. And you will love your phone even more!
Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G Android Touch Screen Phone Hits a Home Run!
I’ve been a Sprint customer for over 10 years, and my first smart phone was a Palm Treo 300. Remember those!?! Wow, how technology has changed! All in all, I have used 3 different Palm Smart Phones: The 300, 600 and 650. I’ve been a Blackberry Curve user for a couple of years. I had been considering a switch to Android after my wife got an HTC Hero last Christmas. I’ve been out of contract with Sprint for awhile, and was holding out for an iPhone (or something better) to come to Sprint or possibly Verizon. I gave AT&T some consideration, but AT&T’s spotty service and outrageous cost (at least $50 per month than my current Sprint plan), was a deal killer. So, when I saw the ad for the HTC EVO 4G, I knew I had to have it!
I’ve had the phone for a month now and love it! I love all of the applications (apps) for the Android OS. (I’ll talk more about those in future posts.) After the first couple of weeks, I would have given it a 4 Star out of 5, because of the battery life. Like most successful Realtors, I’m a power user, and I was only getting about 7 hours of battery life. Plugging in by 3pm was a must. It was a little irritating, but I still loved the phone. Now, I’ve made a few tweaks, and I’m getting an extra 5 hours. So, on an average day, I can go from 8am til 8pm. Not too shabby.
Some of my “must have” apps for Real Estate are the following: Zillow, Drop Box, Action Complete, Home Loan Calculator, NewsRob (rss reader for all of the latest Real Estate news), and Spring Pad (quick notes and reminders). And I can’t forget Easy Tether. This one is great to use at an open house. You can connect your laptop to your phone’s 4G (or 3G if 4G isn’t available yet), and then stream the virtual tour of your listing or access the MLS at no additional cost (if you have unlimited data). Pretty sweet! If only any buyers would have shown up at my last one! Ha!
To read a more in depth review (and more videos) go to the link below.
Of course, you can also keep up with all of your social networking buddies with facebook, twitter and Google Buzz apps (but I recommend to change the default settings of how often they sync. I changed mine to “8 hours” when I made the tweaks to improve the battery life. I also have a the Daily Bible and Affirmations apps for some daily motivation. It comes with an 8 GB SD card, so you can put some music or videos on there as well. I use MixZing because I like it better than the default music player (DoubleTwist is not bad either). Plus catch a little ESPN Mobile on Sprint TV. I’m telling you, this phone does it ALL! If you’ve been thinking about dropping your Blackberry for Android, go for it! You won’t be disappointed.
Another thing that helps with efficiency is having access to important information while out of the office. I have been using a free service from DropBox.com that is awesome for both of these.
