BlackBerry Curve is finally available on Verizon
May 7, 2008
Belive it or not, Verizon has just announced that we’ll be getting the BlackBerry Curve 8330 in May, and they never lie about things like that especially when RIM’s latest is now available with a two-year contract for $219 and a $50 rebate. The specs are exactly the same, you can check the below.
Features Available
* Wireless email
* Organizer
* Browser
* Phone
* Camera
* Media player
* Corporate data access
* SMS
* MMS
Sprint releases “Simply Everything” $99 a month plan
February 28, 2008
We have good news for those who expected to much to see the “Simply Everything” plan available, Sprint has finally decided to offer an unlimited plan for a flat rate : $99 a month. Even if AT&T and Verizon is offering unlimited voice and T-Mobile offers the voice + SMS , Sprint is undercutting the competition by offering a $99 plan that includes voice, data, text, Sprint TV, GPS and more. “Simply Everything” plan is available starting today to both CDMA and iDEN customers.
AT&T to build out its 3G network in 80 new cities
February 6, 2008
AT&T has some big plans for 2008, the are going to build out their own 3G network into 80 more cities. Wow, it boosts the number to 350 “leading” markets in the US, a rollout AT&T has been sluggish to compete with Verizon and Sprint on.
AT&T also plans to finalize its HSUPA network by the middle of the year for faster uploads. They aren’t giving too many specifications on their future network plans, they that existing infrastructure improvements pave the way for HSPA+ and LTE in the future. We’ll have to wait and see what the future has in stores.
Read full entry »Apple is no longer in discussion with China’s largest carrier
January 14, 2008
We already know that Apple is preparing the last details for the launch of the iPhone in Japan, but meanwhile they are trying to find other asian carriers to colaborate with. Well, it seems that they couldn’t agree with China Mobile and all the discussions are over. Back in November, a China Mobile spokesperson said that the “iPhone model was not suitable for China” and now he declared that their “parent has terminated talks with Apple over the iPhone”. Anyway, Steve Jobs doesn’t have to worry about that, because there’s always China Unicom.
Read full entry »iPhone coming to Japan
December 18, 2007
According to the Wall Street Journal Asia, Steve Jobs and the Co are preparing the last details for a new domestic iPhone launch. We weren’t surprised at all, when Jobs was rumored to have recently met the NTT DoCoMo’s president, Masao Nakamur, to discuss the deal with the largest carrier in the world’s second-largest economy. Anyway, Steve is also courting Softbank but as far as we know from unofficial sources, DoCoMo is still the first option for Apple. Well, we never know what the future has in stores…so we’ll update you as soon as we have other informations.
Read.
Read full entry »T-Mobile replies to Vodafone iPhone injuction
November 21, 2007
According to Reuters, T-Mobile stated on Wednesday that will offer the iPhone without a T-Mobile contract for just 999 euros ($1,478) and that will also allow the customers who bought an iPhone since November 19 to unlock the device free of charge.
As we well know, T-Mobile has an exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in Germany, after they have signed an exclusive contract with Apple. This deal was in Apple’s advantage because they don’t have stores in Germany. Until now, customers had to sign up to a 24-month T-Mobile contract costing a minimum of 1,176 euros in order to buy the 399-euro phone.
As we’ve told you yesterday, a German court granted Vodafone a preliminary injunction this week preventing T-Mobile from locking the iPhone’s SIM card to T-Mobile when making a sale. T-Mobile declared that will comply with the injunction until the situation will be clarified by the court.
Vodafone faught to win exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in Europe, but they’ve lost the battles with T-Mobile in Germany, Telefonica’s O2 in Britain and France Telecom’s Orange in France.
Vodafone to get exclusive rights on 3G iPhone next Spring?
November 20, 2007
According to the italian site Morse.it, Vodafone already signed an agreement with Apple for the exclusive distribution rights to 3G iPhone. The UMTS iPhone 3G will be released starting next spring, and it will be available in the countries where Vodafone operates.
As far as we’ve found out, the 3G iPhone will be announced after Christmas or early next year (maybe at the Macworld Expo) so as not to negatively impact Christmas sales of Apple’s current iPhone generation.
Morse.it claims to have received this information from highly reliable sources, that Vodafone has signed an exclusive deal with Apple. Well,this is contradicted by the news about Vodafone Germany suing T-Mobile over iPhone exclusivity.
We still don’t understand, wouldn?t this violate distribution agreements that Apple already signed with O2 and T-Mobile ?
Read full entry »Yahoo to expand mobile carrier deals across Asia
November 13, 2007
The Silicon Valley-based Internet company has struck new deals to offer mobile phone Web services through nine network operators across Asia. They’ve also declared on Tuesday that the company introduced a mobile service called Yahoo Go in Taiwan. These deals build on six earlier Asian carrier partnerships announced in June.
“Those 16 deals will give us roughly 40 percent coverage of all subscribers in those countries,” Yahoo’s top mobile executive, Marco Boerries, said in a phone interview.
While Google unveiled their plans by offering software to create a new class of Internet-ready phones, Yahoo is racing to attract a lot of Internet services delivered via mobile phones subscribers. Telecom carriers and ISPs (internet service providers) are looking to capture a chunk of a market that research firm Gartner Inc sees generating advertising sales of $12.8 billion by 2011.
“We have a clear goal to lead the market. The goal is to exceed 50 percent.” Boerries declared that are more deals to come.
Seems that Yahoo partnership deals will be unveiled on Tuesday at an industry trade fair located in Macau. This deals include three Indian carriers: Aircel Ltd, BPL Mobile and BSNL; two Malaysian carriers: DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd and PT Excelcomindo Pratama Tbk two Indonesian carriers: Hutch 3 and PT Indosat Tbk, along with PCCW Mobile HK Ltd of Hong Kong and Starhub Ltd of Singapore.
I’m sure that the key moment in this asian expansion was the release of Yahoo OneSearch Internet service for mobile phones. Until now , The Silicon-Valley brand has struck deal with 20 mobile operators worldwide and the best example is the contract with Telefonica SA of Spain, that covers up to 100 million phone subscribers in several European and Latin American markets.
Yahoo won’t stop here, that’s sure. They developement will continue and their profits will defenetly grow. What do you think about this expansion ? Feel free to comment.
Read full entry »iPhone to hit Germany next week
November 1, 2007
Good news for german people : the iPhone is coming to Germany on November 9th, T-Mobile with as the provider. In Germany, T-mobile has 30.7 million customers making it by far the largest provider.
The price for the 8GB iPhone will be ?399 ($575) + a with a ?25 ($36) activation fee, and these prices are in effect with a two-year contract. The phones will be using the EDGE network for data and Wi-Fi will speed things up. Calling plans will start at ?49 ($71) per month, and except for that higher pricing, are similar to those in the U.S.
“I am proud that Apple and T-Mobile have become partners,” T-Mobile International CEO Hamid Akhavan said in a statement. “The best mobile device currently on the market will soon be operating on the best network in the country.”
Contrary to hopes of a 3G iPhone in Europe, just like here in U.S., the phones will start out using the EDGE network for data, and Wi-Fi will speed things up if there are any hotspots in the vicinity. Calling plans will start at ?49 ($71) per month, and except for that higher pricing, are similar to those in the U.S.
The question is : will Germany embrate it or reject it ?
Read full entry »Sprint Nextel to unlock its phones
October 27, 2007
Sprint announced that if the settlement is reached, the carrier will provide customers all necessary codes to unlock their handsets for use on other carrier networks. But wait , that’s not all , Sprint also declared that beside of unlocking the phones they will also begin training its customer service reps on how to connect non-Sprint phones to its network.
Sprint made this offer as part of the proposed settlement of a California class-action lawsuit, filed last year, accusing the company of anticompetitive practices.
The plaintiffs claimed the software “lock” forced customers wanting to switch carriers to have to buy a new phone, throwing up a barrier to competition. A similar lawsuit was filed in Palm Beach County, Fla., and is covered by the proposed settlement.
The big problem at Sprint is that a locked phone won’t be able to make calls when a customer leaves a carrier, they are unable to use it on a new carrier unless it is unlocked. So people are forced to buy a new phone and sign up for new service. Is that fair?
Somebody from Sprint said the carrier would provide the unlock codes once a departing customer’s bill is paid. Well, that’s fair.
I am sure that unlocking the phones won’t make Sprint happy at all , but if that’s the right thing to do , and the lawsuit force them ,they should provide the codes asap without argueing.
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