T Mobile Cell Phones
The HTC Dream (The Google Phone) photos leaked
Aug 31st
After almost two years of shrouded secrecy that would make even Apple jealous, the first photos of the Android Powered Google Phone have been leaked in the form of The HTC Dream. The recent partnership announcement of T-Mobile, HTC, and Google declared that The HTC Dream will be the first Android enabled phone to come to market. More specifics would be outlined in September with an anticipated October release.
While details are still hard to come by, the pictures tell us what had only been speculation. A full qwerty keyboard that slides out and a touch screen interface that seems identical to the GUI presented at eComm in March by Google Engineering Director, Steve Horowitz (video here). The other known details are that the open source mobile operating system will be on the GSM platform, will feature a touchscreen with haptic feedback, and it will have WiFi support.
Now that the cat is essentially out of the bag, hopefully HTC and T-Mobile will be forthcoming with some detailed specs and high quality photos.
Sprint and all the rumors
May 7th
First Sprint was rumored to be taken over in a not so pleasant way by a bunch of Germans aka T-Mobile and now it appears they are trying to stave off any takeover attempts by finally cementing that WiMax deal with Clearwire with cable operator Bright House Networks injecting $3.2 billion to back the venture. Even though wall street didn’t seem to approve, this will go a long way in building a nationwide Wireless HighSpeed network that wont have a cell phone contract attached. While still a risky venture this should help Sprint get the positive press that it needs so desperately.
BlackBerrry KickStart confirmed
May 2nd
With the proverbial cat out of the bag due to the spy shots making the internet rounds the past couple days, Research in Motion has confirmed the existence of their first foray into the flip (clamshell) style phones in the name of the KickStart. Of course not much information is available except for a few details: GSM/GPRS/EDGE, SureType keyboard, 2 megapixel camera, dual displays with 16-bit color, Wi-Fi, and BlackBerry OS 4.6.
Other features that are still not confirmed is a system like the SE 580i which has a colored light that can be customized to illuminate when the phone is in hibernation. And yet other features make an odd combination like the Edge with WiFi, which is like the old with the new. However this does make sense as this appears to be a T-Mobile product launch and we all know they love that EDGE so much they decided to keep it longer than any wireless provider.
Starbucks HotSpots free for the iPhone
May 2nd
Starbucks have made some dramatic changes in their HotSpot service, first they dumped T-Mobile and along with them the gargantuan charges that ranged from $9.99 a day and higher, then they partnered with AT&T which will bring in all those hipster wannabees that make up a huge number of iPhone owners, lastly they will give those hipsters in training iPhoners free unlimited WiFi so they can write that screenplay about the geek who is thrust into the world of espionage when his supermodel girlfriend is kidnapped by Steve Ballmer.
This also includes Barnes & Nobles but using your iPhone in a book store is the epitome of douchebaggery, which for uninformed is simply a person who cares for no one other than themselves and expresses this attitude at every available opportunity or in other words an Oakland Raider fan.
T-Mobile’s color palette
Apr 2nd
T-Mobile is clearly in need of an intervention. First were the claims of their much delayed but still super awesome 3G network that should be available in late summer (just in time for it to be almost completely obsolete) and now comes the claim that they own the color magenta and don’t want anyone else using it. They didn’t approach the fashion industry with these claims, no it was a blog that uses magenta but with far more restraint and taste than T-Mobile itself has ever shown.
And there lies the dilemma. Root for a large multi-national corporation that is looking to redefine the phrase ‘Power Trip’ or some website that has never overcharged me on my wireless bill? Hhmmm.. that’s a tough one, i’ll go with company that isn’t killing all the bees, not giving me brain tumors, or cutting down forest after forest to print its bills. Ok that was a little harsh, the bee thing is still up for debate.
This could just be a little jealousy from the Germans, perhaps all they want is a website that doesn’t look like it was drawn with a crayon. Maybe there is someone within the company with impeccable taste that can help them, yep you guessed it Sue Nokes V.P. of Wowing the Customer should be the inspiration for T-Mobile’s new site. Think animal prints and bejeweled glasses…so fierce!
Blackberry 8820 available thru T-Mobile
Mar 25th
The Blackberry 8820 launched over the weekend on T-Mobiles GSM network. The compact Blackberry has an improved raised keyboard but still uses the touch sensitive navigation and it is far more cumbersome to use than the trackwheel that seemingly has been retired. This is a UMA device and setting up the router is a snap for even the tech novice. Specs below:
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE network support for international roaming
• Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g) connectivity for expanded coverage and faster Web browsing
• Supports T-Mobile HotSpot @Home, offering unlimited nationwide calling over any accessible Wi-Fi network
• Built-in GPS, BlackBerry Maps and support for TeleNav GPS Navigator
• T-Mobile myFaves® capability, making it easy for customers to stay in touch with those who matter most, with quick, one-click access for instant messaging, e-mailing, calling or texting their Fave 5SM from the Home Screen
• BlackBerry® Internet Service support allowing access to up to 10 supported e-mail accounts, including most popular ISP e-mail accounts such as Yahoo!® Mail and Gmail®
• BlackBerry® Enterprise Server support, which tightly integrates with IBM Lotus® Domino®, Microsoft Exchange®, and Novell® GroupWise® to provide secure push-based wireless access to e-mail and other data, and features IT policy controls for managing usage and deployments
• Easy access to popular instant messaging clients: AOL® Instant Messenger, Yahoo!® Messenger, Windows® Live Messenger, Google® Talk and ICQ®
• Highly tactile full QWERTY keyboard for easy typing
• Intuitive user-interface with an easy-to-use trackball
• High-performance HTML browser for visiting Web sites while on the go
• A large, ultra-bright 320×240 color display provides vibrant imagery and innovative light-sensing technology automatically optimizes brightness for indoor, outdoor and dark environments
• Advanced media player with search capabilities, stereo Bluetooth® support (A2DP/AVRCP), dedicated volume controls and support for numerous audio and video formats including MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+ and eAAC+, as well as support for polyphonic, MP3 and MIDI ring tones
• Roxio® Media Manager for BlackBerry® (included with BlackBerry® Desktop Manager software), which allows customers to manage media files, transfer them from their computer to the handset, create MP3 music files from CDs, add audio tags and album art, create playlists and easily convert files for optimal playback
• Numerous premium phone features with Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), noise-cancellation technology to offset background noise, a low-distortion speakerphone for hands-free conversations, Bluetooth® support for use with headsets, car kits and other Bluetooth peripherals, and intuitive call management features such as smart dialing, conference calling, speed dialing and call forwarding
• Expandable memory storage via microSD/SDHC expansion slot
• Dimensions: 4.49†x 2.60†x 0.55â€
• Weight: 4.7 oz
The price of owning a Blackberry
Feb 21st
In the past few months Research in Motion has seemingly been pushed to the background by all the recent exciting product launches in the wireless industry. They appear to be loosing track to Apple’s iPhone, Nokia’s N series, and even HTC’s touch. Not to mention the new SonyEricsson Xperia X1 that is poised to be the next big thing in the SmartPhone world. It has been a long time since you heard something truly positive and exciting about the Waterloo company, that is of course unless you like network failures and lawsuits.
The main detractor remains that they are cost prohibitive and the Blackberry service has yet to come down in price like stand alone data plans have. One has to wonder if this is because customers have become so reliant on the service that the wireless companies feel they don’t have to make their plans very competitive.
Lets take a look at the prices by the major wireless companies:
AT&T
BlackBerry Personal Add on Unl Msgs $50.00/month
BlackBerry Personal Add on 200 Msgs $35.00/month
BlackBerry Personal Add w/no Msgs $30.00/month
Verizon
Blackberry Solutionâ„¢ Unlimited Data Usage $44.99/month
Email and Web for BlackBerry $29.99/month
T-Mobile
BlackBerry Unlimited w/Enterprise Email $29.98/month
BlackBerry Unlimited E-mail Add-on $9.99/month
BlackBerry Unlimited Add-on $19.99/month
Sprint
Sprint Power VisionSM BlackBerry Pack $30.00/month
Unlimited web browsing/email/text messages
10MB BlackBerry Email and Web $39.99
Unlimited BlackBerry Email and Web $39.99
Worldwide BlackBerry Data Plan $69.99
As you can see Sprint and T-Mobile have a somewhat reasonable price of $30.00/month. AT&T effectively prices themselves out of competition at $50/month and Verizon isn’t much better at $44.99/month. So at the bare minimum you can expect to have a $85 bill but more likely it will be in the $100 range and thats pretty painful. It is long overdue that the prices of the BlackBerry service get lowered, for no other reason than its longevity alone, as its been around as long as text messaging. Of course all this will take is one company like Sprint/Nextel to announce a $9.99 BlackBerry service and soon thereafter the other companies will follow. Les hope this will happen sometime this year and a lot more people can afford to tryout the service for the first time.
Its not all bad for the SmartPhone maker, the soon to be announced BlackBerry 9000 is creating some buzz but with conflicting ‘leaked’ images and mixed messages from the company itself on the new operating system they seem to be undermining themselves. They could learn a thing or two from Nokia and Sony about leaking info, however the info that has come out has gotten some excited. These include:
A super fast Intel 624 Mhz processor, 1 GB internal memory, WiFi, GPS, UMA, high end optics and multi Band HSDPA.
Some of the rumors on the design are that it could have a full screen interface without a tactile keyboard, scroll wheel or joystick. If thats the case it would be a huge departure from anything seen the company before and could signal a huge shift in their approach. Take a look at the two photos reported to be the new 9000 and decide for yourself.
Unlimted plans popping up everywhere
Feb 20th
As I alluded to yesterday, the wireless companies did react to Verizon’s unlimited offerings with plans of their own. AT&T essentially matched the $99 voice plan but only for non smartphone users, which is ridiculous as most power users don’t use flip or candy bar phones. As expected, soon thereafter T-Mobile matched the $99 a month price with unlimited SMS and MMS added as well. T-Mobile has always had the best value plans and have had to because they dont offer much else, so it was a no brainer that they would not only match but outdo their wireless counterparts.
Verizon just saved customers millions of dollars and companies all across the U.S. just saw their bottom line decrease and thats a beautiful thing in these uneasy financial times. I can guarantee that not one of the other wireless companies wanted this to happen as this will cut into profits and possibly affect ARPU (Avg revenue per unit) which is a barometer that wall street pays very close attention to. Verizon must feel that their buzz has been killed due to the announcements today but maybe being out in front on this will have its advantages. CHURN (customer turnover) rates should be very interesting for Q1 2008, as these plans could cause a large number of defectors.
Lets hope these type of changes in the mobile world are only the beginning and we start to see features like the Blackberry service drop to a far more reasonable rate
T-Mobiles plans start on Thursday the 21st of February
AT&T’s bogus version launches on Friday the 22nd of February
Verizon pulled the trigger yesterday and should be applauded for helping all this happen.
SideNote: Where is Sprint in all this? If any wireless company needed a boost they do and this can only be bad news for an already struggling company.
T-Mobile is launching 3G……but this time its for realz
Feb 14th
T-Mobile’s CEO Hamid Akhavan decided to remind the world that they still plan on launching a 3G network in the US, hopefully by late summer. The CEO also claimed that it will be “the best 3G network in the country.”
I guess the 14 month delay in the launch of the service were spent testing and not just playing Scrabulous on Facebook as had been rumored. Of course if and when T-Mobile launches their super duper special 3G network virtually every other major network will be deploying 4G. So to say they are a tad late to the table would indicate they actually know what a table is and clearly that is not the case. T-Mobile also announced the future launch of an Android-based handset by the end of 2008, so expect that around 2010 sometime…maybe.
Other new developments on T-Mobile’s horizon:
A new 8 track mobile music phone
Microsoft purchases Danger
Feb 12th
In a move that shocked virtually everyone, the Redmond based software company purchased the mobile phone company Danger who’s lone product is the SideKick. Some speculate that Microsoft is trying to compete with the likes of Apple and Google by purchasing a ready made market of young mobile phone users.
However, many pieces of this puzzle don’t seem to fit as Microsoft has its own highly successful mobile operating system and with this purchase is essentially just buying a software company that doesn’t manufacture anything. If they are doing this to create the Zune phone, then this also makes no sense as the form factor is decidedly different between the two devices. As the previous founders of Danger ran off to the Google Android project there is speculation that Microsoft purchased the company for no other reason than its cheap price and/or to keep it out of the hands of Google which had been speculated to be vying for the company since last summer.
As of this moment there are about 1.2 million SideKick customers who are mostly on the T-Mobile network. Its revenues just eclipsed the 50 million mark but profitability still eludes the Palo Alto based company. They have had numerous problems with the manufacturing side of the business which has most recently been taken on by Motorola from the previous disastrous relationship with Flextronics.
The device has had a host of problems most notably its reliability as two SideKicks must be manufactured for every customer based upon warranty returns. Microsoft could be seeing them as a diamond in the rough, thinking that if the manufacturing process can be improved and if its next version of the Windows Mobile OS can be adapted to the device it could become a successful foray into the mobile phone landscape, something they have been looking to do for some time.
Update: The sale price is reported to be in the $500 million range and is equal to how much loose change Bill Gates found in his sofa recently. My guess of $12.50 and a coupon for half off an oil change at Jiffy Lube was misguided and grossly inaccurate.
