Messaging

The Alias 2 has multiple methods for messaging. The phone supports instant messaging on AOL, Yahoo! and Windows Live; access to multiple wireless chat rooms on Facebooks, MySpace and others; and access to corporate email on RemoSync and personal MSN Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL Mail, Verizon.net email accounts or others.

Mobile Web Mail allows a person to send and receive personal emails for free. Mobile Email is a pay service on the Alias 2, and offers access to a wider variety of email providers than Mobile Web Mail.

Text and multimedia messaging is also supported. The Alias 2 can send, store and receive picture and video messages but will not send live video to a contact. Messaging is one of the few times, the other being when the camera or camcorder is on, that the phone does not start at square one when the phone is closed to switch from horizontal to vertical mode and vice-versa.

Unfortunately, services like email and visual voice mail cost extra, and figuring out how to send a message can be trying.

The phone's keypad has so many quick touch symbols it can be confusing to keep them straight. The key that automatically takes users to a text message screen is available when the phone is opened to horizontal or vertical view, but only right when the phone is first opened.

If a person makes a call and then wants to text, the button only appears in the second of three landscape keypad options when the phone is opened horizontally. That's the same keypad view that displays the QWERTY keyboard, which is a convenient pairing, but it's inconvenient that the QWERTY keypad appears in the second menu instead of the first because that's the most likely keypad option a person would choose when opening the phone horizontally.

The Alias 2 has many ways to message and each method is quick and reliable. However, getting to the right screen and the right keypad to type and send those messages takes some getting used to.

Entertainment

With crisp, voluminous audio like the Alias 2 offers, it'd be a shame not to download some songs onto the phone. Users can organize their songs into play lists, search for existing music by genre, song, artist or album, play songs one at a time or play all songs, or play songs on shuffle mode.

To download music, shop VCAST Music powered by Rhapsody or upload music from a personal computer through a music sync function. To store all this music, a microSD card, sold separately, would be an almost necessary investment. Ringtones are also available for download in the Media Center.

The Alias 2 does not come with any games, but they are available through a subscription or unlimited download service. An instant connection to the games menu is available when the phone is opened vertically, but the key disappears if the user selects another function first.

The phone also has CityID, which allows users to enter a phone number and find the number's city and state of origin, email, instant messaging, video streaming and video downloads, a mobile web browser, and access to pictures for downloading.

Download speeds are quick thanks to the phone's 3G access, but video streams can be slightly pixilated and every once in awhile experience pauses for buffering.

The Alias 2 has great music options but comes with little entertainment out of the box. With clear sound from the phone's speakers and a plug for headphones, the phone can double as a personal music player. But as for doubling as an entertainment center, that will take some downloading and, consequently, some money.

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