Talk Up A STORM!

October 8th will go down as a HUGE day for the BlackBerry Storm... even I'm *almost* getting sick of reading about it (mission accomplished RIM et al!!). But in case you're one of those CrackBerry Addicts still longing for more, after the jump you can read the contents of this week's edition of Talk Up a Storm. This is the internal mailer that is going out every Wednesday to Verizon employees to get them hyped up about the Storm's hopefully-soon release.

Talk Up A Storm #4 - VZ Navigator & Visual Voice Mail Heat Up The Storm

Related: (links don't work as they point to VZW's intranet, but will leave them for authenticity's sake)

Our BlackBerry Storm will come loaded with VZ Navigator and Visual Voice Mail, which means the Storm will not only deliver all of the dependable functions BlackBerry is known for, it will also connect customers to the popular services and applications they have come to expect from us.

VZ Navigator With Traffic Integration

Customers will enjoy the following features when using VZ Navigator on the BlackBerry Storm:

  • Routes Calculated Using Historical And Real Time Traffic - Historical information allows customers to see on average whether the traffic is impacted by traffic lights, heavy traffic or school zones. Incident and flow information tells customers how traffic is flowing and includes details about reported accidents, disabled vehicles and congestion. VZ Navigator's historical data covers over 750,000 miles of roads in 48 states.
  • Traffic Alerts Allow Users To Choose Whether Or Not To Request Re-Route - The traffic tracking center continually monitors conditions along the customers' routes, sending proactive alerts to drivers about conditions ahead of them on their chosen routes. Detour options allow users to compare estimated times of arrival and conditions before selecting a new route.
  • Local Movies And Events - Customers can now search for show times, critics' ratings and other details for movies, concerts, plays, sporting events, and other social events based on the physical location of their phones.
  • Gas Finder - Provides customers with information on the location of gas stations close to their physical locations and even provides gas prices as reported by many gas stations in the area. Once a customer selects a station, VZ Navigator can also provide turn-by-turn directions to the selected gas station.
  • Weather - Provides current weather conditions and forecasts based on the physical location of the customer's phone without manually inputting an address.

VZ Navigator is available for $9.99 for unlimited monthly access.

Visual Voice Mail

Visual Voice Mail is an application that lets customers manage their voice mail on their phones. With Visual Voice Mail:

  • Customers can manage and check their voice mail messages on screen. - Visual Voice Mail provides an easy-to-use display screen with one-touch access to listen to voice mail messages.
  • Customers can scroll through messages, pick the ones they want to listen to, erase messages or archive messages. Customers can also call back, text and add to contacts directly from the Visual Voice Mail application. - Customers can delete, reply and forward their voice mail messages without having to listen to prior messages or voice instructions. From the phone display, customers can select from a number of options, including call back, reply, forward, add to contacts and archive message (to internal or external memory).
  • Customers can view a list of voice mails and manage them in order of preference, allowing customers to get to the messages that are most important, quicker than ever. Visual Voice Mail also gives customers an alternate, discrete way to reply. - Visual Voice Mail allows customers to see a list of all of their voice mail messages with important information, such as date and time of receipt, as well as message duration, in order to prioritize and efficiently manage their voice mail messages directly from their phones.
Customers can purchase Visual Voice Mail for $2.99 monthly access.

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