If you walked up to any non-techie, technologically inept individual and tried to explain why an iPhone on AT&T — regardless of cell signal strength, coverage, etc – is still better than an iPhone on Verizon, they’d probably laugh at you and walk away. At least here in the US, AT&T’s image has become synonymous with sub-par quality, coverage, and performance. Verizon on the other hand has benefited from AT&T’s foibles. On the surface, their brand image has actually increased. Many people look to them as the saving grace of the iPhone in the US.
But there’s one big shortfall of Verizon’s CDMA network that current AT&T iPhone users would miss — simultaneous voice and data. AT&T’s UMTS network supports it. Verizon’s CDMA doesn’t — until now.
Being in the tech world, I’ve pretty much come to the point that anytime I hear a company — wireless in particular — utter the words “unlimited, I immediately label said company spokesperson as a liar while simultaneously feeling a sinking feeling in my gut. All too often, commercials are plastered on TV boasting of “unlimited 3G plans for todays tech minded consumers. Unfortunately , the real meaning of “unlimited” in today’s modern society is actually limited/capped/restricted etc. However, there’s always time for a first.
According to Mark Siegel of AT&T, the 3G iPad data plans will truly be “unlimited”. Now, claims and PR boasting are one thing. Actual results are another. I’ll hold off total labeling as liars until we see a few iPad users really test that 5GB soft cap that currently haunts most every other 3G user. Until then…
Hipsters and haters of the darkness unite, RIM has your BlackBerry ready and waiting in the wings. The king pin BlackBerry (9700) will soon be dropping on Rogers in a rather calming hue of white. Much like the older 9000 Bold before it, a complete 180 in the color department may not seem like much if anything. But to some, it’s the last hurdle in actually picking up said phone. I prefer the sleeker more mysterious lines of a phone dressed in all black. Though I can certainly see the draw to white phones too. From the Rogers screenshot above, an actual street date isn’t yet available. So, be sure to check back often for any more information.
With a handful of distinctly different BlackBerries set to drop in the coming weeks, choosing what you want and determining what kind of Berry you are may be harder than once thought. Think a white 9700 would compliment your lifestyle?
Regardless of your opinion on Windows Mobile, you have to admit that the HTC HD2 — all 4.3″ of it’s glass faced frontal beauty — is a drop dead gorgeous phone. Currently however, US citizens are left without any official channels to pick up a subsidized or even a US version of the device. That’s all set to change in the not too distant future.
A video (below) showing a new “2.0.1″ ROM showcases among other things, a very familiar magenta boot image that goes “Stick Together” — a TMO slogan. And this isn’t the Euro-TMO slogan mind you, but the burly chested American verison.
Without any official confirmation from TMO or HTC, this technically is still nothing more than a rumor. But with a boot image showing a US based GSM carrier in full garb as well as countless other murmurings and rumors that have centered around this very same device and carrier pairing make it a rumor that is hard to discredit.
We can pretty much bet on seeing this soon, 1H 2010 for sure.
Here we are thinking that some big money making corporate machine such as AT&T was going to launch the first HSPA+ network in the states. It takes money to put up and support all of the physical and digital mojo behind such a network which is why the obvious default to the countries largest GSM provider was a given — or so we thought. Thanks to BendBroadband, a central Oregon cable company, the US does now in fact have the sweet, speedy waves of HSPA+ blanketing the fortunate few. Those lucky enough to have found themselves in central Oregon and also a customer of BendBroadband will find their mobile browsing speeds somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-8Mbps down.
Wondering if you’re covered?
North to south coverage: From Madras to La Pine.
East to west coverage: From Prineville to Sisters.
What’s nice for central Oregon users eying a possible switch to BendBroadband is that the region in the northwest and even far west as a whole isn’t exactly a wireless hotbed. I mean, coverage on any carrier isn’t as bullet proof as the maps show for central and eastern residents of the US. (Anyone care to chime in?)
One thing is for sure, the added competition that just popped up in Oregon is a god send to the area. If any central Oregon natives were feeling down because of a lack in carrier selections or mobile broadband speeds, they can now feel exponentially better about themselves. They’ve just gone from the back of the pack to the front in no time flat.
Now if only BendBroadband would go national…
**Update: As mentioned below by Frank, the service is for fixed routers or USB modems.
**Update 2: Unlocked devices in the AWS spectrum are game as well!
Imagine the day when you can pick up either an AT&T or T-Mobile 3G device and move freely between the two GSM carriers without a care in the world concerning 3G abilities. Such a module seems like it would have been a no brainer. If they can squeeze four 2G frequencies on a chip, what the hell is taking them so long to get three 3G frequencies on a chip? I don’t know the answer, but I can tell you that Motorola is working on a solution. A new 3G module they’re developing would do what many a gadget lovers have wished about for some time — AT&T and T-Mobile 3G on a single phone. It makes sense for consumers and it makes sense for all mobile device manufacturers. Why waste money, time, and resources building two phones with the only difference mainly being the 3G radio inside? It’s a huge waste.
So far T-Mobile’s odd-man-out 1700MHz frequency has kept it’s 3G phone offerings pretty slim. With a dual mode supporting phone, “exclusive” phones that drop on AT&T could now very easily be used on T-Mo. Oh happy day. Such would make the lives of many cellular users much easier. Never again will they have to decide which carrier to use because of a phone. Now they can choose based on actual things that matter such as coverage and….coverage. Everyone raise their hand who wanted this 2 years ago…..
While my year long honeymoon with AT&T left me looking for annulment, for my fellow gadget lovers still calling Big Blue home I bring you more hopeful information of AT&T’s potential first Android device. The Motorola Motus was last in the headlines about three weeks ago when we first caught wind of some leaked specs. But we’ll come back to specs in a hot minute. As for the whole rumor of AT&T picking up the Motus — well, that is a starting to look a little more likely. AT&T badly needs an Android phone not only for their customers who deserve at least one option, but for themselves as well. For the longer they remain glued to the iPhone image, the more it’s going to hurt when the band-aide is ripped off sometime before the year 3000 when Apple is said to be dropping exclusive AT&T support.
Right, now about those specs. When we last saw the Motus and the spec sheet that followed, we were left slightly underwhelmed. I understand OS optimization making the most of the archaic 528MHz ARM CPU destined for the Motus, but come on, every high-end Android device here on out should have Snapdragon. There’s no excuse not to. But internal specs and internal anger aren’t what we’re here for.
The latest word involving the Motus has several new external hardware features getting detailed:
Backwards flipping keyboard: We’ll start with the weird first — the physical keyboard on the Motus is reversed meaning when it is “closed” in the traditional sense, the keys are on the back of the phone facing outward. I’m not sure how those delicate smartphone keys will stand up to the constant abuse pockets, bags, and other dangers place on them. But the design supposedly is meant to cater the next feature…
Trackball: A trackball mounted behind the keyboard (so when the keyboard is closed, it will be between the back piece of the phone and the front — this thing is weird) will allow scrollable navigation when the keyboard is open thereby maximizing spacing for keys while still providing physical navigation.
Camera: 5mp camera w/ LED flash
MotoBLUR: It will run Motorola’s “MotoBLUR” which is also found on the CLIQ
Keyboard: The keyboard is backlit (a big plus) and said to be “domed”. All I can gather is that they’re more “clicky” or pronounced than the Droid’s.
Size: From the pictures it looks to be that the Motus will be a fuller figured beast falling more into line with the G1 than the Droid.
Processor: As mentioned earlier above, sources say that the 1GHz Snapdragon processor will replace currently slated 528MHz MSM7201A. (I say good riddance)
That’s quite a bit to chew on so I’ll give you a second…
Second’s up. The Motus is shaping up to be a decent phone at least on paper and from what our minds can draw from the few pictures we’ve seen so far. The keyboard which is always a hotly debated topic among smartphone enthusiasts looks to be a tad more responsive than the Droid’s in the sense that the keys have more key travel. I also like how the keyboard stretches the entire length of the device, relocating the trackball (which I also like better than a d-bad or arrow keys) to behind the keyboard giving a much more natural position in the hand and still allowing physical navigation.
As far as being AT&T bound, the jury’s still out. It’s still a 50/50 in my book as it could very easily go either way. For all of the Android hopefuls eying T-Mobile or Verizon, I sure hope AT&T is the carrier picking up the Motus. AT&T simply can’t sit back and watch the rest of the cellular world pass them by and remain ignorant and stubborn in their little iPhone bubble.
For whatever reason, Nokia phones have failed to really catch on here in the states. I know we’ve all seen those junk freebie Nokia’s that just about every carrier has, using them to inflate their bottom line. But the real meat is that of smartphones. Here in the states and even North America as a whole, Nokia smartphones are often left for those with deeper pockets than most thanks to a lack of carrier subsidizing. $5-$600 phones are simply too much for most end users to pay. Even the most diehard tech enthusiasts can’t afford such treats. But for a few of our lucky Canadian friends, getting a subsidized Nokia smartphone — an N97 no less — for half the price is something that will certainly perk a few ears.
According to MobileSyrup, this Thursday, December 10th, the same day that sees Bell Canada launching their first Android device (Samsung Galaxy) will also see them launching the Nokia N97. For now, price is uncertain. But given that it’s a 3-year contract — a full 50% longer than most other civilized nations around the world — I would hope that a fairly generous subsidy is given. Look for the N97 to cost anywhere between $250-$350 when all i’s have been dotted and t’s crossed. Suddenly taking a trip up north doesn’t sound so bad now does it? Now where did I put my snowshoes….
If you’re in the Market for an Android device, you’ve got quite the selection this holiday season. But if you’re a bleeding edge nerd who wants the top of the line, you really only have a couple choices. Sprint’s HTC Hero or Samsung Moment and Verizon’s Droid Eris or DROID Droid are really the top models for the time being. But another option is coming quick in the form of the Samsung Behold II. This new device from Samsung will be the first Android device to feature Samsung’s “TouchWiz” custom interface that among other things, allows nifty page flip actions resembling a spinning cube. The device had been rumored for quite some time at the $199 price point. Unfortunately Cnet has confirmed that it will be in fact a $229 price tag.
Now looking at the Android field right now, we have the DROID Droid, Sprint Hero, and Samsung Moment. In my mind, those are the three top of the line Android phones you can get. Besides the amazing AMOLED display on the Behold II, it’s a rather standard affair complete with outdated Android 1.5. Does it really compete with the other contenders mentioned above? Also a sticking point is the TouchWiz interface. I know this is purely subjective, but the Samsung notification bar mod looks terrible. It looks the same as every other low-end phone Samsung puts out. The flipping cube effect is a novel idea and does have me slightly envious. However according to Cnet’s review, such effects cause Android to run slower than “un-Touched” versions. And, Android can already be laggy at times in it’s native form. Adding more wait to the mix….?
With that in mind, do you really feel the $229 price tag is justified or is T-Mo reaching too high? Personally now that Android 2.0 is out (at least for one exclusive carrier), there’s no reason the latest devices shouldn’t ship with at least Android 1.6. The substandard software and only so-so nature of the UI seem like they’d more appropriately fit in around $159. Heck, Verizon’s DROID Eris is a much better phone and while it even packs 1.5 by default is much nicer and smoother running. Did T-Mobile drop the ball regarding pricing on this one?
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If you walked up to any non-techie, technologically inept individual and tried to explain why an iPhone on AT&T — regardless of cell signal strength, coverage, etc – is still better than an iPhone on Verizon, they’d probably laugh at you and walk away. At least here in the US, AT&T’s image has become synonymous with sub-par quality, coverage, and performance. Verizon on the other hand has benefited from AT&T’s foibles. On the surface, their brand image has actually increased. Many people look to them as the saving grace of the iPhone in the US. 
Imagine the day when you can pick up either an AT&T or T-Mobile 3G device and move freely between the two GSM carriers without a care in the world concerning 3G abilities. Such a module seems like it would have been a no brainer. If they can squeeze four 2G frequencies on a chip, what the hell is taking them so long to get three 3G frequencies on a chip? I don’t know the answer, but I can tell you that Motorola is working on a solution. A new 3G module they’re developing would do what many a gadget lovers have wished about for some time — AT&T and T-Mobile 3G on a single phone. It makes sense for consumers and it makes sense for all mobile device manufacturers. Why waste money, time, and resources building two phones with the only difference mainly being the 3G radio inside? It’s a huge waste. 
