by Lori Cunningham

I just posted the article below on AT&T’s LosetheLaptop.com website for the contest I’m competing in against 10 other bloggers.  This article gives an overview of all the ways I have found so far to use the HTC  Tilt2 — or any smartphone for that matter– to make life easier — and more fun.

Follow the links over to LosetheLaptop.com and please register and vote for me — daily if you can.  This is the last month of the contest and whoever has the most votes and creative content will win $5000!  Even better, one lucky reader/voter will also win $5000!  Vote everyday to increase our chances of winning!  Thank you!

=====================================================================

The 4th of July is an important holiday for our country.  It represents the birth of our nation, and the remembrance of those who shaped our country and those who died for it.  It also represents freedom.

Freedom is something Americans have sought after and savored for years.  Freedom for Americans goes well beyond freedom for our country and freedom of speech.  Remember the old days when you used to have to get up and walk across the room to change the TV station?  What about when you’d have to stay seated close to your phone when talking because the handset was attached to the phone with a cord?  Remember when you were expecting an important call and had to  stay home all day to receive it? 

Remote controls, cordless phones, and cellphones have given us a lot of freedom.  I just finished writing an article about Moen’s new ioDIGITAL shower controls  with its optional remote control.  Now you can wake up, press your custom preset button on the remote control next to your bed, and the shower turns on and warms up to your desired temperature.  No more getting out of bed, turning on the shower, and waiting for it to get warm.  You can do it from the comfort of your own bed.  What’s next???  (Curious on what’s next, check out my article on TOTO toilets!!!)

When I started AT&T’s LosetheLaptop.com contest, I was a bit nervous.  In fact, I thought the whole concept was crazy.  Would I be able to lose the laptop?  I wasn’t sure.  But as I found out, what I thought would be more like a “disability” for me, ended up giving me new freedom.  Although I don’t use my laptop very often, I do use my desktop computer daily.  And to be honest, I still do.  However, now I’m not “chained” down to my computer.  With my Tilt2 I can receive and reply to e-mail’s from the dentist office, my car (parked, of course!), the grocery store, or even in my easy chair (yes, I’m the easy chair user in our family).  I can even help a friend by watching her children and blog my article about Day 1 on Spring Break using my Tilt2 at the same time. 

Now, I shop for great cruise deals and travel deals  with ease from my easy chair, take less technology gear on vacation (no more U-haul’s!), share the fun we’re having at Knott’s with friends on Facebook, and stand in line at Sprinkles Cupcakes while finding out on Facebook the Word of the Day is to receive my free cupcake!

I have found that I can now Shop until my Cellphone Drops (the connection!).  Black and white graphs (QR codes) and bars (barcodes) have new meaning to me and can greatly aid me in investigating products and comparison shopping.

Using my Tilt2 smartphone is actually a freeing experience.  Before the Tilt2 phone, I didn’t have a data plan and used my smartphone only to sync with my Outlook calendar.  I wondered if the data plan would be worth the money.  My conclusion?  Yes!  It’s worth the money!  I have new found freedom like never before.  As a part of the LosetheLaptop.com competition, I have been pushed to use the Tilt2 in new ways according to each month’s topic.  This contest has helped me to explore and use my smartphone much more thoroughly than I would have on my own.  It is my hope that some of the things I covered in my posts on LosetheLaptop.com  have enlightened you in new ways to use your smartphone as well.

As this is the last month of the contest, I URGE you to vote for your favorite blogger.  This month one blogger and one lucky reader will win $5,000!  Not to mention a free Tilt2 phone!  Think of how many mobile apps you could buy with $5,000!  (and other stuff too!).  Please vote and leave a comment today – it makes our day!