Posted 11/20/09 at 06:36:43 PM by Ryan Whitwam

In the wake of a major service outage a few weeks ago, fourth place US carrier T-Mobile may be shopping around for investment money from another US cell provider. Compared to the other US carriers, T-Mobile has a very small 3G footprint. Recognizing a need to expand, rumors indicate that parent company Deutsche Telekom is courting the likes of MetroPCS, Clearwire, and even AT&T.

Any of these investors would receive a small stake in T-Mobile in exchange for investment to expand their network. MetroPCS is of particular interest as the smaller carrier uses the same odd 1700Mhz 3G frequency that T-Mobile does. Collaboration with AT&T would be risky due to possible anti-trust allegations. AT&T is the only other GSM carrier in the US.

Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile UK was recently forced to merge with Orange UK. Could their US arm be headed in the same direction?

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Posted 11/12/09 at 06:37:28 PM by Ryan Whitwam

Verizon sure isn’t letting up with their new anti-AT&T ad campaign. Likewise, AT&T isn’t letting up with their legal threats. AT&T’s latest strategy swung into action on Wednesday night when they asked the federal court in Atlanta to order the ads pulled from the airwaves.

The ads (which we’ve discussed before) compare AT&T 3G coverage with that of Verizon. AT&T claims that the maps used in the ads are misleading because they do not show AT&T’s 2.5G EDGE network, instead displaying empty spaces. In a statement AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said, “If customers think they can't make calls in the vast majority of the country ... that could do us irreparable harm."

The newest ad is holiday themed, borrowing from the story of the “Island of Misfit Toys”. Poor iPhone is a misfit because it is cursed with an inferior network… how sad. Big Red hopes the holiday season will be a good one for their new line of smartphones. Is that wishful thinking?

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Posted 11/03/09 at 07:33:11 PM by Ryan Whitwam

Verizon thought they were so clever. Big Red’s recent “There’s a map for that” adverts seem to have ruffled some feathers over at AT&T. Now AT&T has filed a federal lawsuit against Verizon for false advertising. The issue comes down to the maps shown in the commercial.

The ad compares 3G coverage areas for the two wireless providers side by side. The red Verizon map, of course, looks much more filled in. AT&T’s map looks sparse by comparison. What many less savvy consumers might not follow is that this is only showing AT&T’s 3G, not EDGE. While Verizon’s entire network is 3G, AT&T still has significant areas covered only by slower EDGE service. AT&T claims that the ad leads people to believe that AT&T does not have coverage at all in the un-highlighted areas.

Indeed, the original version of the ad said that AT&T users outside the highlighted area were “out of touch”. Verizon removed that line and noted that non-3G voice and data were available, but AT&T still wasn’t happy. It’s not really an enviable position for AT&T to be in. They have to argue that Verizon should be making it clear that the AT&T network is available in more places – it’s just very, very slow. Everyone settle in, this might be entertaining.

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Posted 10/29/09 at 05:28:15 PM by Bart Salisbury

Forbes sat down recently with Peter Chou, the chief executive and president of HTC, and had a little chinwag. You might be wondering so what--who’s Peter Chou and what is HTC? Good questions, and your lack of familiarity is one of the things on Chou’s mind. HTC is the fourth largest global producer of smart-phones, and seventh larger global producer of cell phones (based on market share). HTC makes the Pure for AT&T, the Dash for T-Mobile, and the Ozone for Verizon. But, until recently, has packaged its phones for cell phone providers, so HTC remains a tad less known than Apple, which ships fewer phones than HTC.

HTC’s strengths are innovation and diversity. HTC was first on the scene with an Android phone, and is produces Windows Mobile powered devices. HTC has struck deals with nearly every major cell phone provider. All that’s missing is visibility, Chou hopes this will be corrected with an up-coming global ad campaign: “You.” HTC wants to move itself into the first tier of cell phone makers: Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, and Apple. It has the products, Chou believes, it lacks the name recognition.

Chou’s outlook on the market is interesting for a CEO. Competition doesn’t frighten him. Instead he views it as a positive: “You cannot expect you are the only player in town…You need other players to come and make the ecosystem stronger.” And Chou is still bullish on Windows Mobile, even though the brand has taken a bit of a dive because “innovation has been a little slow.” (A polite way to say Microsoft messed up on development.)

Chou, however, is careful not to spread HTC too thin. With all the portable electronic opportunities available: netbooks, eReaders, tablet computers, HTC plans to stick with what it knows best. “There is a lot of pressure to do these things, but we are a relatively small company and need to be very picky,” Chou said.

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Posted 10/27/09 at 03:33:16 PM by Bart Salisbury

There’s a lot of wisdom in 60s rock ballads. Take The Lovin’ Spoonful, for example: “Did you ever have to make up your mind? Pick up on one and leave the other behind?” So it goes with cell phone contracts. It’s not just the agony of being locked into a one- or two-year deal, it’s also having giving up on what might have been. T-Mobile hopes to lessen the pain a bit with a contract-free unlimited plan.

In most cases if you are uncommitted cell phone providers won’t do you any favors. Its either pay-as-you-go, or a restricted prepaid monthly allotment of minutes with big penalties for going over. T-Mobile, however, will give you unlimited voice, text messaging, and web surfing for $79.99 a month. This is a 20 percent discount over the standard unlimited monthly fee. But, and there’s always a catch, you have to bring your own phone to the party. T-Mobile will also offer a $50 per month unlimited option for those who only want voice.

Reuters reports that neither Verizon or Vodafone weren’t impressed by T-Mobile’s move, and have no plans to follow suit.

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Posted 10/07/09 at 08:03:13 PM by Ryan Whitwam

In the next few weeks both Verizon and Sprint are launching multiple Android-powered smart phones. In fact, Sprint just announced another Android device, the Samsung Moment, today. This will leave AT&T as the odd man out with no Android phones. However, if some new rumors are to be believed, Dell may be partnering with AT&T to change that as early as 2010.

The Dell Mini 3i was originally created for the Chinese market. It lacks both Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. The version of Android it runs is also more heavily modified than would be acceptable for the US market. The camera on the Chinese version is also fairly lackluster.

This is an exciting time for Google’s Android OS. A recent report indicates that this open-source OS will command more of the market than the iPhone, Blackberry, or WinMo by 2012. AT&T can’t afford to hedge its bets on the iPhone.

There are still unanswered questions as to the features Dell might bring to the Mini 3i in the US. In the end, AT&T might only need a mid-range feature set. If they can maintain their iPhone exclusivity, they might not care if they have a high-end Android handset. Still, if the projections are accurate, AT&T will want experience with Android, no matter the handset quality.

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Posted 09/29/09 at 08:07:07 PM by Ryan Whitwam

AT&T announced today that the long awaited Garmin Nüvifone G60 would be coming to the carrier on October 4th. The touchscreen phone will be equipped with a full-fledged Garmin GPS interface and receiver. The handset will come preloaded with maps and points of interest for North America.

It’s not all good news, though. AT&T is asking $299 after a $100 mail in rebate, and 2 year service agreement. Optional Nüvifone Premium service will show the user traffic updates, white pages, weather, movies, local events, and fuel prices. However, it will run you an extra $5.99 per month after an initial 30 day trial.

The G60 is basically a high end Garmin GPS, with phone functionality thrown in. It is said to have a full HTML browser with data access through both HSDPA and WiFi. A 3.5 inch touchscreen and 3 megapixel autofocus camera round out the specs. Just for fun, all pics taken with the camera will automatically be geotagged. Given the price, are you considering dropping some cash on one?

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Posted 09/28/09 at 08:31:17 PM by Ryan Whitwam

If you’re the paranoid type, these new charts from The Environmental Working Group may be just what you’ve been looking for. They rate cell phones based on how much radiation they put out when placed to the ear. Cell phones emit radio-frequency radiation whenever you are using voice or data. This radiation is non-ionizing, but some groups claim there is a connection between cell phone use and cancer.

Among all phones the Samsumg Impression from AT&T had the lowest radiation output. It was closely followed by the Moto RAZR V8 for CellularOne. The Motorola MOTO VU204 and T-Mobile myTouch 3G both had the highest radiation levels. In the smartphone field, the Nokia 9300i had the lowest levels, and the Kyocera Jax S1300 was tied with the myTouch 3G for the highest.

If you don’t go in for the cell phone/cancer theory, the list may still be of some use. Just switch the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ labels, and consider the charts a measure of relative signal strength. Even if you are somehow giving yourself cancer, you’ll have really great signal while doing it. So,does cell phone radiation concern you?

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