[nabs-l] accessible phones with verizon -- or should we switch to AT&T?

[Mandi Marks]

Last week my boyfriend upgraded his phone at Verizon Wireless to the HTC Ozone with Talks, and it has turned out to be an utter disappointment. Though the HTC Ozone appears to be a good phone in itself, it seems completely incapable of handling the Talks program. The phone crashes almost daily and frequently freezes up if you tap the keys too quickly. Verizon also requires him to pay an
extra $30 a month for the data package (since it's a smart phone), and the program isn't capable
of running anything that the data package is needed for. The software uses so much of the phone's processor that the
internet times out before it can even get a web page loaded. We have yet to be able to try out the internet or any of the apps on this phone because we simply can't get them to work with TALKS running. 

He is about ready to give up on it to say the least, but we are having a hard time finding another phone with Verizon that will give him the accessibility he wants. Really all he wants to do is to be able to know who's calling, manage his contacts, customize the sounds and ringtones, and text. I have an EnV which will do all those things and read text messages but won't read who they're from. He is somewhat considering switching to AT&T and getting the iPhone but that is a last  resort. So I'm really just looking for input from other blind cell phone users who have Verizon. Or even if you own an iPhone I'd love to hear what you think of it. Also, I heard that in 2010 Verizon will be releasing an Android software upgrade for their Droid phones which could provide free text-to-speech software, but I'm not able to find much information about it on the internet. Does anyone know anything about this?

Your feedback is greatly appreciated.