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MAY 2006 VERIZON WIRELESS VCAST MUSIC LAUNCH
The phone was already activated with a number and music account in my name. Since the V CAST launch was not until January 16th I messed with the phone and accessories for the next week or so. The phone is a very solid product. The local signal is strong here in Key West so the phone worked well. I really liked the large display inside. When you entered a phone number it was BIG and readable. On the other hand I needed my glasses to read the clock/calendar on the outside display. The menu system was easy to use. All connecting points for earphone, battery charging and USB connection to a PC were rock solid. Along with the charger/PC connector there are three buttons on the outside of the phone for music control as well as a slot for the 1 gigabyte miniSD card and a stereo earphone connection. Once the Launch date arrived I installed the V CAST Music software on my PC. Verizon Wireless has elected to use Microsoft software in the phone as well as integrate PC/phone syncing their downloaded music on the PC with Windows Media Player so I found it easy to use. Music can be downloaded directly to your phone for $1.99 or to your PC for .99 per tune. Either way you can “sync” a copy to either location from one or the other by using the USB connecting cable. It was much easier for me to search the V CAST music database using my PC than to move through all the menus using the phone screen. Music is listed by artist, album, and title. There are areas called “What’s New?” and “What’s Hot?” that I avoided like the plague as I did not recognize any of the titles there. I found the “Artist, Album, Song” Search area to be where I was able to zero in on the “older” music I was looking for. There is a fairly good selection of older hits like Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley and His Comets, Run For the Roses – Dan Fogelberg, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down – Joan Baez, My Blue Heaven – Leon Redbone, Famous Blue Raincoat – Leonard Cohen, Will the circle Be Unbroken – Nitty Gritty Dirt band, Tonight’s the Night – Rod Stewart, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, Paul Simon, Imagine – John Lennon, American Pie – Don McLean and so many others I worry about my future credit card balance. I had no problem adding existing MP3 music files from my PC to the VX8100 phone. If required Windows Media Player translated those files to Windows audio format before copying them to the phone. Using Windows Media Player I was also able to burn several CDs filled with those songs that make me feel Forever Young (52 different versions listed). With half a million tunes in their list at the launch, and an expansion in mid April to more than a million songs, those of us looking for gems from our past can find many more memories. Also, to the many teenaged Verizon Wireless phone users who will be grounded for months when their parents see their cell bills, I say, “It will be worth it!” To sum up: I love the LG VX8100 phone, V CAST music service, Microsoft and Verizon Wireless for making it all come together. |
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During the Consumer Electronics Association Show in January, 
At the end of the presentation Verizon Wireless backed up their product launch by providing a bag of goodies so we could all try the service. In the overflowing bag were a LG VX8100 V CAST phone, a V CAST music essentials kit with download software and stereo headset kit, and connecting cables. Just to make us all drool even more, they added a vehicle charger, a lambskin case, desktop charger with music port that connected to your PC, a 1 Gigabyte Sandisk MiniSD memory card, and, to cap it all off, a Jabra EarWave Stereo Headset so you could answer calls when listening to music. Verizon Wireless was very serious about getting our attention. They sure got mine.