Audio

As a high-end phone, the KRZR necessarily offers MP3 capabilities. Users may buy and download songs directly to the phone, or upload files from a PC via USB cable. Bemoaners of monopoly, beware! Verizon and Microsoft have teamed up to make their customers victims of the Format Wars by banning iTunes files from the KRZR. Users may only upload songs from a Windows computer via Windows Media Player 10.

Songs are downloaded via VCAST, under Verizon's Get It Now! umbrella. Upon purchasing a song from VCAST, consumers receive access to two song files: one specifically tailored for the phone and one higher-quality copy to be downloaded via Windows Media Player 10 onto a PC. It should be noted that the phone itself can support AAC files, and that users with a carrier other than Verizon should have such an option.

Other than the exclusion of AAC files and general disregard for Apple users, the KRZR's music package meets all expectations. The phone's built-in Music Library sorts music by Genre, Artist, Album, Song, and Playlist, as well as offering Play All and Shuffle playback options. Music can be controlled with the flip open via the Menus or with the flip closed via the touch-sensor buttons on the frontplate of the phone. The phone comes packaged with a headset adaptor so that users may connect standard headphones via the USB port.

The phone supports MP3 ringtones, downloadable via Verizon's Get It Now! store. The phone comes preloaded with about two dozen ringtones, ranging from practical chimes to flashy (but generic) tunes.

The KRZR K1m also features a speakerphone and a "Talking Phone" setting which announces digits as they are typed. A Voice Command feature allows users to dial, lookup a contact, or check the phone's systems. The phone features neither FM radio nor Push-to-Talk.

The KRZR's featured MP3 capabilities do not innovate the technology in any way, but seeing as this feature is becoming standard for even mid-range phones, they are a necessary feature for this higher-end device. The Apple incompatibility on Verizon phones will no doubt annoy non-Windows users. As for practical features, the phone hits up the biggies, including both speakerphone and Voice Command.

Messaging

The KRZR offers both simple text (SMS) and multimedia (MMS) messages, the latter capable of sending video and photos. Third party email, chat, and instant messaging are all available to round out the messaging package.

Multimedia messages, which are as a matter of course more costly to send than simple text messages, may be sent to up to ten recipients, and may contain one picture or video in addition to 1000 characters of text. Under the umbrella of "picture" messages, users may also send recorded sound files. Users may preset a custom signature, which is automatically added to both MMS and SMS messages.

The plain text messaging system is rather standard, consisting mostly of plain text with a couple of small flairs available. Users may add simple graphics, sounds (such as the alert tones that come with the phone), and Quick Text. Quick Text automatically inserts into a message handy phrases such as "What's up?" and "Would you like to join me on a date tonight?"

The Quick Text feature is found on many phones, but users might find it particularly useful on the KRZR, since the phone uses iTAP rather than the more familiar T9Word for predictive typing. A simple attempt to type "Hey" was met with "hewed," "hexing," "heya," "geyser," "hez," and "he9," but not the target word. In order to type "hey," the user must scroll to "heya," then press the space key to make the unwanted "a" disappear. Not the most intuitive system around, but users should be able to adjust to it.

The phone also offers access to Email, Mobile IM, and chat. Yahoo!, Hotmail, and AOL mail are all available via Verizon's Mobile Web service, as is access to various chat rooms. Users may also choose from IM standards MSN Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger.

With plain text and multimedia messaging in addition to third-party email access, chat, and Mobile IM, the KRZR K1m facilitates on-the-go instant communication beyond simple phone calls.

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