AT&T subscribers have a new curve ball thrown at them; as of September 6th onwards, any new smartphone purchased must be accompanied by a smartphone data plan. The only almost nice part in this new development is the fact that subscribers who bought their smartphones before September 6th don’t need to upgrade their data plans. So sort-of Yay. But if you’ve upgraded your feature phone after September 6th, you can’t hold on to your MediaNet plan. Where did all this great news come from? A leaked internal email AT&T sent out to all its employees. According to AT&T this is being done so that smartphone users can have a predictable bill at the end of the month. Here’s the email;
Beginning September 6, 2009, customers who activate or upgrade to a Smartphone will need to sign up for an appropriate data plan. Existing Smartphone customers active prior to September 6, 2009 will be grandfathered and exempt from the new policy.
Why we are making this change?
We want our customers to have the best possible experience with their Smartphones. A predictable bill is a key factor in customer satisfaction, so effective September 6, 2009 Smartphone customers will need to subscribe to a data plan, as the vast majority of customers already do. Data plans let customers fully utilize their device, without the worry of bill shock.
How we will ensure an extraordinary customer experience?
The sales representative is the customer’s expert resource in helping select the right device for their needs. When a customer does not want a data plan, we will position other devices in our industry leading portfolio for the customer to choose from, as many devices do not require a data plan.
Action Required:
Sales Managers will review the Know the Facts, Job Aid, and FAQs (found under Related Links) with their sales teams and ensure all sales representatives fully understand the new policy and how to position the Smartphone data requirement to customers. A Sales Coaching Session will be available on September 5, 2009 (document to be distributed in advance).
Yes we all know that Dell is planning an Android phone, yes we know it may be coming soon, but what exactly is in that phone? No idea. Till now that is. The folks at BGR have uncovered the detailed specs of the Dell Android smartphone, and here they are;
- Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE class 12
- Size: 68.6cc
- 103g grams weight
- Dimensions: 58 x 122 x 11.7mm
- Display: 3.5″ nHD 640×360 LCD, 18-bit, 262K colors
- OTA capable
- Microsoft Exchange support
- Google, AIM, Yahoo and MSN IM support
- 3 megapixel auto-focus, flash, 8x digital zoom camera with 30fps video shooting mode, built in photo editor
- USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
- A-GPS
- On-screen QWERTY keyboard, handwriting recognition, multi touch UI
- MicroSD slot
Yay! There’s also word that the Motorola Android handset Shules or SHOLES (I’m frankly don’t care anymore) is a 13.7 mm slider and the Motorola Morrison for T-Mobile may come out late September.
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Ah the smartphone from Dell…when ever shall it come? Dell’s mythical Android smartphone has been on and off the hot gossip topic list and we’d dearly love confirmation of some kind. Even now all I have to report is a rumor that Dell’s Android phone may be announced within this month in China. The source also goes on to say that the handset will feature a full touchscreen and not be endowed with a physical keypad. As for Android itself, it’s still the suspected OS for the phone, but no word on whether Dell went HTC-style and spruced it up a bit.
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Basically the Android front has so far been ruled by HTC. And while we’re not saying that the time for HTC’s dethroning has come, there are some other companies trying to make a place for themselves as well. Among these is Vobis Computer with its HIGHSCREEN PP54240. The Android powered handset with the boring name features Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and dual-band 7.2Mbps HSPA connectivity, a 528MHz processor, 256MB ROM / 128MB RAM, 3-inch WQVGA touchscreen display, 3 megapixel auto-focus camera, Wi-Fi, aGPS, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR and a 1080 mAh battery. It’s not blowing any balls out of the park, but at least the specs put it at par with the competition. And $500+something for an unlocked smartphone seems bearable.
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Nokia and Intel have just joined forces to make the next generation of mobile devices for the world. The venture will see both companies bring their strengths to the table such as Intel’s low-power mobile chipset architecture with Nokia’s wireless broadband connectivity technologies. They will also be focusing on and accelerating development in several open source mobile Linux software projects, including Moblin and Maemo. Of course this isn’t the first time that Nokia and Intel have paired up, so they’re just continuing tradition if the outcome is nothing more than fancy PR speak.
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Thanks to some sharp eyed observers and their javascript sleuthing, we can actually have a T-Mobile in-store launch date for the Android-powered myTouch 3G. T-Mobile USA announced the device towards the end of June, with pre-orders being taken from July 8th, with an in-store release in ‘early August’. The Android and Me blog have uncovered that this ‘early August’ is actually August 5th. According to claims made by an author on the blog, he’s stumbled upon a T-Mobile development server containing a widget that counts down to the handset’s US release date, as indicated by the phrase “myTouch 3G in stores”. The source further says that the server is owned by “the same media company who developed the official G1 website”. It all adds up, though no URL for the alleged server is provided so until there is some official word on the matter, this is all just a rumor.
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News on the second Android handset from T-Mo is here and we are indeed looking at the myTouch 3G. The device made by HTC is already out and about in other countries through other carriers and the U.S. will be graced by its presence via T-mobile at the start of August. Pre-ordering is available on July 8th for $199 on a two year agreement. Color options available are White, Black and “distinctive merlot” colorizations. The specs for the myTouch 3G are
- Quad-band EDGE, UMTS/HSDPA (1700MHz/2100MHz)
- Wi-Fi
- GPS
- 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera with YouTube and Picasa uploading support
- MicroSD slot with included 4GB microSD card
- 3.2″ HVGA capacitive touch screen
- Microsoft Exchange support
Customization has been largely emphasized with this handset by T-Mo and a number of applications are available in all their exclusivity. Details for just one of those knickknacks are below;
“Whether a marathon runner in training who downloads the Cardio Trainer application or a music buff who lives by his or her Imeem application, myTouch customers can find and download unique applications from Android Market to expand and personalize their phone to fit their precise interests and lifestyle. myTouch customers can also enjoy Sherpa™, an application that features GENIE (Geodelic ENgine for Interest Evaluation), a learning engine that automatically customizes itself to the user’s preferences. Created by Geodelic, Sherpa learns a person’s likes and dislikes through behavior and user feedback, prioritizing recommended retailers, restaurants and attractions. Seamlessly blending behavior recognition, a recommendation engine and location relevant information, this combination of learning is exclusive to Sherpa and unlike any experience currently on the market.
Mobile gods must be smiling down at Japan for one reason or the other because they have been bestowed with the Toshiba TG01 through NTT DoCoMo. First they get those hot anime cartoons and now this phone? Is life fair anymore? The phone will surface in the U.S. and Europe just as soon as the Loch Ness monster does. The best you can hope for is an unlocked import, and that too if there is at least a sighting of the Loch Ness monster’s tail. Price is still vague, but look at it this way, if you can’t have it why find out how much it costs. And if for one reason or the other, you’ve forgotten why this phone is getting us so emotional, here is a refresher on what it packs:
- 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor,
- 4.1-inch WVGA (800 x 480 pixel) touchscreen with on-screen trackpad,
- HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, G-sensor,
- microSDHC support
- DivX support. Enough said.
Not quite the angelic face of the Aigen GM730, but the newest and latest from LG is bound to give the HTC Snap something to think about. The new set is aimed at business users and although it’s not about to win any pageants, it’s far from an ugly phone and will be sure to cause a definite impact on its target market. The phone features quad-band, GSM/GPRS/EDGE and “global 3G, so regardless of what a loser your carrier is, this phone is likely to become a must have for those corporate execs on the constant go. The set is called the GM 550 and it’s a smartphone in smooth minimal design. It features WinMo 6.1, an E71esque QWERTY, 2.4 inch QVGA display, 3 megapixel camera, 7.2Mbps HSDPA / 2Mbps HSUPA, stereo speakers and a 1300 mAh battery. No price tags have been printed as of yet nor any release dates. The question now is to Snap or not to Snap?
Mug shots again and this time the culprit is the Dell Android Smartphone. Expected to be out later this year, these are multiple, as in more than one, android devices expected from Dell. Although widely rumored, official confirmation can now be made that Dell is looking to launch both 3g and 2G devices in what will be the not too distant future. No specs to quote as of yet or even a name tag but we can say that the UI is bad like Wild West bad. A definite notch below the Samsung UI. Dell, quality not quantity.
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