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Nokia USA almost had us believing they knew their customers. While Symbian fans over at the US have not been at all pleased with the high and mighty $700 price tag the N97has been carrying all over the globe, it seemed that for the US, the Finnish manufacturer decided to add some incentive. Hence up went an offer to give a free Bluetooth Headset with Nokia N97 pre orders. Entering in the promotional code CARTP409N gave Americans the option to pre-order the flagship slider for $454.35 and get a BH-703 Bluetooth headset as well. But this was short lived, within a few hours, the coupon code eliminated the free headset option and the discount was reduced to a laughable 10%, which brings the price down to $629.10. Lame. If you had been among the few who ordered while the earlier offer was up, you could either get Nokia to honor the obligation, or just cancel. Looks like US enthusiasts aren’t getting lucky on this one.

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A few days ago, the Sony Ericsson W995 won over the FCC and we all knew it would only be a matter of time before the US-bound W995a would soon make an appearance. And of course, true to their traditions, Sony Ericsson has not changed anything about the handset design, just thrown in WCDMA 850/1900 MHz and some 3G under the hood. The rest of the specs should be written on the back of your hand as an 8.1 megapixel camera, 8GB of internal memory, 2.6-inch QVGA scratch-resistant screen, aGPS, Wi-Fi, stereo speakers, Walkman player 4.0 and dedicated media buttons.

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Motorola’s rugged handset, i465, which really seems like it gets a good bunch of the step-child treatment, has gotten the nod from FCC. Apparently ‘good looks’ isn’t part of FCC’s criteria for deciding on a good phone. The i465 is the first full QWERTY iDEN handset by Motorola, and not even fancy press photos could make this guy look good. The battery cover has been designed to substitute as mountain climbing gear, it’s as rugged hiking boots.  Here are the press images, hope you can stomach ‘em.

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According to the Wall Street Journal, Cox is moving into the cellular game. The company as to its credit the failed joint venture with other cable companies such as Comcast, Time Warner, etc, the project, Pivot, has perhaps taught Cox that loner is the way to succeed in business. Of course the U.S. cellular market is an industry dominated by four major companies, with many little critters such as regional carriers and MNVOs who pick up the leftovers. Entering such a market setup all alone isn’t the easiest of tasks, not to mention surviving after entering. According to Wall Street, Cox will operate on the portion of the spectrum it purchased along with other cable providers back in 2006, meaning we’re looking at more than just a series of licensing deals with established carriers.

Cox plans on making an edge for itself by picking one of mobile TV, an app store or service bundles. With the way the market is going mobile TV is an idea that will sink faster than a lump of lead. The app store is much more viable idea while service bundles (price ‘em right) will make Cox the users’ sweethearts. Wall Street thinks we may be looking at discounted wireless service alongside TV, broadband internet and VoIP services. Now let’s see how the third largest cable provider in the United States fares in the cellular industry. Competition is, hands down, always a welcome thing.

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Boost Mobile will be bringing its customers a new international SMS and walkie talkie option which is certainly going to gain its share of attention. The new plan is being called International Connect and for an extra $10 a month, it offers customers unlimited SMS and PTT from the US to Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Chile. Of course it’s not ‘worldwide’ but it’s a great offer for $10 bucks. Soak up the press release.

Boost Mobile Adds Worldwide Texting Option to Monthly Unlimited Plan

International Connect Includes Unlimited Worldwide Texting and Walkie-Talkie From the U.S. to Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Chile for an Additional $10 a Month.

IRVINE, CA–(March 31, 2009) – Furthering its commitment to offer simple and affordable service pricing options to prepaid customers, Boost Mobile today launched International Connect, a $10 per month add-on for Monthly Unlimited customers which includes unlimited international text messaging and Walkie-Talkie in and between the U.S., Canada, Baja California (Mexico) and to select areas of South America from the U.S., Canada and Baja California (Mexico) for one flat charge.

“The International Connect $10 enhancement to the $50 Monthly Unlimited plan is a great value for the growing number of Latinos who want quality wireless service without a contract,” said Mirna Aceituno, manager of Hispanic marketing for Boost Mobile. “Boost Mobile is making it easier to stay connected to family and friends in Latin America for a price that won’t put a strain on your wallet.”

SERVICE

Boost Mobile now offers an array of service plans allowing customers to pay by the month, day or minute. Flexible service options such as the Boost Mobile Monthly Unlimited plan for $50 per month includes anytime calling, text messaging, wireless Web and Boost Walkie-Talkie with a nationwide home calling area with coverage in more than 15,800 cities for a flat rate of $50 per month.

In addition to the Monthly Unlimited plan, Boost service billing options include an anytime rate of 10 cents per minute and the $1/Day Chat Plan that features unlimited text messaging, unlimited nights and weekend calling and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling to approximately 40 million customers on the Boost Mobile, Sprint, and Nextel network. Chat Plan nights are Monday through Friday from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. and weekends are from 9 p.m. on Fridays to 7 a.m. on Mondays. As with all Boost Mobile service plans, there are no credit checks, hidden charges or contracts.*

Boost Pay As You Go service is ideal for a wide range of consumers, including those who prefer to pay in advance and are uncomfortable with monthly service obligations; budget-minded customers who use prepaid service to control spending. Boost Mobile phones and service can be purchased at participating wireless dealers and major retail locations or at.

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Right so all ye Americans who felt Euro-envy on not getting any of the action on HTC Magic aka G2 can now breathe a sigh of relief. Seems like the FCC has been very very busy putting the HTC Magic through its paces, and the G2 now finally has their seal of approval. So wha’ts the G2 that the G1 ain’t got? Only T-Mobile’s special 1700 MHz band of HSPA tacked on top of the 2100 MHz band for Europe and Asia, as well as support for Wi-Fi with UMA for Hotspot@Home. HTC apparently also realized that when it comes to pixel count, more is good. The G2 has ditched the old 3.2 megapixel camera and now supports a 5 megapixel shooter. Well, that’s the last of the dramatic changes, the rest of the G2 will the same as the Magic on Vodafone. Let’s see if we see this bad boy at CITA.

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The LG ARENA KM900 was initially launched in Europe and Asia, the smartphone scooped around 1 million preorders, which is solid reason to believe the people love it (or at least want to get to know it better). The ARENA featured the new S-Class 3D interface, which really is looker anyone would like to try for a while at least. The only disappointment was that the first ARENA lacked the HSPA bands required to cross the Atlantic. Turns out there’s no need to turn horribly green with envy; FCC has just passed an HSPA version of the ARENA, the KM900QA.  You get your mouthful of 850 and 1900MHz HSPA bands in addition to S-Class 3D UI, 480×800 3-inch touchscreen display, 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and aGPS. Get the welcome wagon rolling folks.

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Tired of paying insane international roaming charges? Well a UK-Based company, Geodesa Limited has apparently smartened up to the times and is bringing a product to die for. Geodesa already offers a GeoSIM, which is a dual SIM that saves you from paying those snobby roaming charges, and it just up the ante with its new product offering. Geodesa is bringing out a Dual IMSI SIM card, in addition to being a dual SIM for two geographical locations, a Dual IMSI SIM card will provide two local numbers, for now a US one and a UK one, on a single SIM. This means free incoming calls in both regions and majorly discounted outgoing calls. Geodesa has this to say;

“We are really excited about this ‘market shaking product’ which is generating a great deal of interest from customers and resellers already. In the past, travellers roaming on a US network have had to pay for incoming calls on their mobiles and paid higher charges for making calls. From mid April, all that will change when we roll out GeoSIM Dual IMSI. The USA will effectively become part of Europe in terms of the GeoSIM call rates and free incoming calls. GeoSIM customers will be able to call and receive at the current rates available in Europe or the US no matter which side of the Atlantic they are on.”

While Geodesa covers a good bit of land, it’ll be good to see them cover wider territory than Europe and US in the near future. The Dual IMSI SIM (what a tongue twister) card will be available some time in April, so look forward to it. And we’ll let you know how it fairs with the other frequent fliers out there.  

If there’s one word that can get people to accept your product, its gotta be the word, “Free”. I mean when people pay money they tend to think twice but when it’s free you’re a pack rat. In response to the not so enthusiastic welcome it received, Acer has added the magical word “free” to its newly introduced phones displayed and dissed at the WMC. To refresh your memory, the phones displayed by Acer at the WMC were your average smart phones with windows mobile touch screen a UI band aid…been there done that. Acer picked up the response and in an attempt to turn things around has decided to offer free handsets via AT&T and T-Mobile according to Acer’s smartphone unit president Aymar de Lencquesaing.

This will most definitely work to gain some hype and acceptance and is also a good way to get people to give your stuff a chance. If people are willing to download dozens of Apple apps they will never use just because they are free, then who would actually say no to a free phone. Acer already has influence on the notebooks market and will use it to boost its position on the smartphone market with this tactic. If all goes as Acer plans, then a whole new breed of smartphone owners will be born. Initially, it is expected that Acer’s Windows Mobile 6.1-powered Tempo line will be the only range of handsets that might come in for free any time soon, with choices from its C1, E1, F1 and L1 possibly being introduced further down the line as Windows Mobile 6.5 handsets begin to launch. How many of us will get pulled in by a Tempo with a $0 entry fee?

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic has been making waves across the globe, but as has been the fate of Nokia fans in the United States, they wait and wait. While the world played with Symbian, the States saw it late, then they got a wide assortment of the handsets to chose from….late again. And now the very first touchscreen S60 5th Edition music phone is taking its sweet time. But at least there’s now a date; February 26th, 2009. This is an estimate, meaning the units are supposed to get to US retailers by the 26th, but it may take a day or two over. The MSRP is $399 (yes, it used to be $360 something when the handset was announced.) but since there are rumors that the Nokia N97 has been delayed, Symbian lovers will probably pay the extra cash to get their new shiny Symbian toy.

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