Free Smartphone Classes Offered This Month

A recent national survey has found that more than half of all adult Americans now own a smartphone. The survey finding was part of a report issued earlier this month by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project.

Survey results also showed that 91% of all American adults now own some kind of cell phone, with 56% of all American adults using a smartphone.

Yet not everyone who buys a smart phone knows how to use it to its fullest potential.

Verizon Wireless is offering multiple free workshops this month at its west and east Hawaii locations. The Kona store is located at 75-5595 Palani Rd. in Kailua-Kona, and the Hilo store is located at 315 East Makaala St.

Workshop attendees will learn how to use special features on their phone, customize the device and take advantage of synching capabilities.

Smartphone users will also learn how to put finishing touches on documents while on-the-go, how to save photos and notes to the cloud, and more.

Classes are available for the Android and Apple iPhone.

The Android workshop will walk smartphone users through hardware functions, setting up email, adding social network accounts and customizing a device.

Android phone classes will be held at the Kona Verizon wireless store on Saturday, June 22 and June 29, from 8 to 9 a.m.; and at the Hilo store on Thursday, June 20, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

The Apple iPhone workshops will teach phone owners how to navigate and customize their device, as well as how to use features such as Maps, Siri, FaceTime, the app store and more.

An iPhone getting-started workshop will be held at the Hilo Verizon wireless store on Wednesday, June 26, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

A workshop specifically on the iPhone 5 will be held at the Kona Verizon wireless store on Sunday, June 23, and again on Sunday, June 30, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.

Participants must register for a workshop at  https://vzwworkshops.verizonwireless.com/vzwworkshops/. Workshops can be found by searching by location and topic.

For more information, call the Kona Verizon Wireless store at 326-9540 or the Hilo store at 935-6931.