TMO 3G rollout continues…
….what else is there to say? How are the speeds going? Coverage any better? Shout your voices inside.
Archive for: hspda
T-Mobile’s 4G plans getting a littler Clearer…
The back and forth movement of T-Mobile USA’s statements in regards to their 4G plans is enough to give most people whiplash. First they’re holding off, instead employing HSPA+ as a nice speed bump along the way. Next minute they’re (their parent company, Deutsche Telekom more precisely) making deals to light 4G services with Clearwire and Metro PCS. Clearwire whom has been cited saying that they needed more money to continue the rollout of 4G services, would have most of their current monetary problems solved with a $2 billion donation from their new friend, Deutsche Telekom. That is if they can manage to keep negotiations and agreements straight.
Worries of available spectrum can be put to rest however as Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow when interviewed by Giga OM’s Om Malik stated that they (Clearwire) “have plenty of spectrum and are flexible enough for new partners and adaptations”. Does T-Mobile’s recent Philliy dwelling, 21Mbps HSPA+ service enough to satisfy your mobile needs for now or are you ready for 4G? Leave your impressions inside.
Palm Pre coming to O2 Germany October/November? [Update: October 13th-16th]
Palm’s Jesus phone, the Palm Pre may soon be coming to O2 Germany if various sources are to be believed. According to nimsso from PreCentral, after receiving a Palm Pre promotional email he decided to call up O2 and inquire further. After talking to an O2 rep, he was advised to call back in 2 weeks at which point he could follow through with a pre-order (no pun intended). If you take into account two weeks starting today and then add another week or three for pre-order waiting, we’re looking at a mid-late October to early November launch. A perfect turkey day gift. Though a more appropriate holiday for our friends across the pond would be that of Christmas. Heck, do we really need need a reason to buy the latest and greatest gadgets. *clears throat* No. I’d be interested in knowing how Palm hype is doing over there across the deep blue. Any European readers care to give us a little insight into your fantasies?
**Update: Deutsche land O2 users can mark October 13th on their calendars as the day while their friends in the UK and Ireland have the 16th to look forward to. Palm Pre fanatics start countin’ down!
SlashPhone
AT&T just doesn’t get it: Double/Triple charging you for their problems.
After seeing countless posts today about AT&T’s new MicroCells, I can’t help but reply to everyone who thinks these are God’s gift from Big Blue. THEY’RE NOT! To many, AT&T’s announcement and release of MicroCells, or little router like contraptions that increase cellular reception (it’s AT&T…stop kidding yourself…they give you reception) inside your humble abode are a blessing bringing a much needed improvement in reception, or reception to a location that before hand didn’t have any signal. In reality, these are nothing but a shotgun blast to the back of every AT&T subscriber’s back. Here’s why — they’re charging your twice for the same service. How this isn’t illegal I don’t know. It surely isn’t consumer friendly.
First, you pay right around $100/month for an iPhone plan with shoddy service as an added “free” bonus. Next, to make up for the god awful performance and coverage, AT&T trots in on their white horse offering a “solution”. The solution is anything but. Instead it is a wallet raping to the tune of $20 extra per month to take the same network your already pay for and instead offload it on to your ISP thereby taking the load off of AT&T. In actuality, if you use AT&T for home internet service as well, you’re pretty much paying for the same thing 3x over:
- first you pay for the wireless data plan
- next you pay for the $20/month micro cell
- (if you use AT&T for home internet) finally you pay for home internet, which will end up carrying already paid items 1 & 2.
Someone please explain to me how AT&T can get away with this? Their network sucks beyond belief and they are constantly spewing out empty promises of “network upgrades” and expanded coverage yet nothing ever comes about. I’ve said it multiple times before, and I’ll say it again: I can’t wait to drop this POS excuse for a carrier.
What’s worse is that AT&T actually believes they’re doing their customers a favor with their new MicroCells. If they really wanted to impress disgruntled customers they’d start slinging these MicroCells out for free in efforts to salvage the shitty image they already have and prevent it from going even further south. Do yourself a favor and pass these gimmicks. Better yet, take your hard earned dollars elsewhere. There are at least three other carriers with networks much more reliable than AT&T.
Am I the only one that can see the injustice here?
**Update: Engadget and MacRumors are reporting various tidbits about AT&T’s MicroCell offerings. The device itself will apparently cost $150 with a $100 rebate and service if you choose to use your own wireless minutes will be free. If you want to add unlimited calling via MicroCell, the pricing scheme is as follows:
- MicroCell w/o any other AT&T services: $19.99
- MicroCell w/ either AT&T home phone or internet: $9.99
- MicroCell w/ both AT&T home phone and internet: FREE
While it still isn’t ideal, it’s a start and is more in line with Verizon and Sprint’s offerings. Though their units cost a tad cheaper up front.
Also worth noting, the service is currently labeled as a “public trial” in Charlotte, North Carolina.
After reviewing the new info, anything over free for this service when AT&T in essence isn’t doing anything except rerouting traffic still makes this a boon no?
T-Mobile UK raises roaming rates 50%
If you so choose to communicate with the world through a partnership with T-Mobile UK and just so happen to roam more than your average human, you may want to cash out on your 401K or other retirement savings just to make phone calls. Starting October 26th, T-Mobile UK is raising the price on roaming prices upwards of 50% to pretty much every country you can think of. Highway robbery I say. If you were looking to get out of your contract early you’re probably out of luck as T-Mo is giving you ample notice. Still, if you’ve got some digital beef, it never hurts to try I guess. If you’re calling destination isn’t on the list above, jump on in for an extended list with plenty more countries on the roster.
T-Mobile USA BlackBerry Onyx/Bold/9700 gets official picture
Even though we in nerd land all know that a T-Mobile branded BlackBerry 9700/Bold/Onyx exists and is coming to the US, GSM based carrier, unofficial official confirmation is always a nice thing to have before laying your pretty little heads down for a restful slumber. The unofficial confirmation comes by way of Al Sacco of CIO and a not so secret little email from TMO USA PR which stated:
The BlackBerry ‘Onyx’ sports a premium experience and design with a high-gloss black finish and leather grain detail on the back. Boasting features such as high-speed 3G Web browsing, Wi-Fi calling, visual voicemail and support for corporate and personal e-mail options, the ‘Onyx’ will satisfy all your on-the-go needs. Also the phone comes preloaded with mobile applications from BlackBerry App World, including Amazon MP3 store for quick and easy music downloads and TeleNav GPS Navigator for turn-by-turn directions.
As you can see, the 9700 isn’t officially called a Bold. Maybe it won’t ever be and will continue on with the Onyx moniker. Regardless, this just gives even more weight to an eventual 9700 release on America’s lesser GSM giant. Yay?
Source: Berry Review
