Today, the FCC approved AT&T's purchase of the US wireless carrier Centennial Wireless for $944 million. The acquisition boosts AT&T's presence in the midwest, southwest, and expands its wired network coverage to Puerto Rico. Stockholders receive $8.50/share and Centennial stores will have that AT&T logo by January of 2010.
“The addition of Centennial will enhance AT&T’s assets in wireless — a strategic priority and one of our biggest growth drivers — and service for customers of both companies,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive officer of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “We’re excited to give Centennial wireless subscribers access to the nation’s fastest 3G network plus our premier lineup of smartphones and unmatched portfolio of applications and services.
Word on the street says Big Red is gearing up to increase early termination fees for "advanced" devices to $350 and to think we thought that these fees were headed in the right direction with prorate contracts that lessened the charge once your contract was almost over. The new plan will go into effect on November 15th and decreases by $10 per month over the life of the contract.
I present to you this lovely looking creature, the Mantis Shrimp. It has the ability to see 100,000 colors, which is 10x more than our human eyes can. They’re also the only animals to see circular polarized light!
Wow so this thing can see a whole bunch of different colors, how can this help us? Well, if you’re not familiar with our looming frequency/spectrum crisis, were basically close to maxing out all the available space to transmit data. By expanding the wavelength band to (potentially to as much as this shrimp can) we can increase the bandwidth connection for future devices! Read more at the link.
The HTC Tilt2 is not officially available at AT&T. If you're looking for that device that gives you slightly more from your QWERTY-equipped WinMo 6.5 phone compared to the Pure, look no further! This device offers a full duplex speakerphone, 3.2 megapixel cam, WVGA tilt-up display, and five-row QWERTY keyboard. It runs for $349.99 on contract with AT&T.
Finland says that 1Mb broadband is a right, not a privilege! Their Ministry of Transport and Communications recently made 1-megabit broadband Web access a legal right. With a population of a little over 5 million people, every person in Finland will have the right of access to a 1Mb broadband connection starting July. And the right to a 100Mb broadband connection in the works? Finland has also stated they would make a 100Mb broadband connection a legal right by the end of 2015. France made Internet access a human right earlier this year. Their Constitutional Council ruled that Internet access is a basic human right. Now what about US...
As promised by HTC back in February, the Touch Pro2 and Snap will be the among the first devices to get the full upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.5. Official updates for both the Touch Pro2 and Snap have been released. Availability for your particular version of the device may pose a problem depending on carrier branding, locking, etc., but here are the updates anyways!
Speaking at the CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment in San Diego today, FCC head Julius Genachowski said he wants to close the gap between the demand for spectrum and the supply available. It’s estimated that by the year 2013 data usage will reach 400 petabytes a month! This being brought on by smarter, easier to use devices and ubiquitous high speed data initiatives. Additionally, he went on to say that they’ll be adopting the widely-discussed “shot clocl” policy for placements of new towers which gives locals a limited windows to protest placement of cell sites. This should allow 4G to spread quicker, so well see how that actually plays.
According to an anonymous source, the Microsoft Pink phone project is in trouble. The source told MobileCrunch that a good size of the Danger/Sidekick team that Microsoft purchased for their phone knowledge actually left on their own or was let go. This left the project with “no braintrust that understands how to build a project.”
Additionally, according to the tipster (who appears to be someone who has either worked on the project or has some insider knowledge) The staffers on the team hate the phone (SHOCK). And feel like they’re just being used to goad WM7 team into stepping it up. Other details include that WM7 is 2 years behind, he touchscreen is unusable, and the people working on it are unable to fix the UI that an outside party created.
Who knows if this is true or not but Microsoft better step up their game if... [Read More]
Talk about going green, imagine charging your phone or laptop with this backpack. As of now the kinetic charging backpack is being designed for the military, but the I’m sure we will see some variant for consumers. The pak is suspended on a rail that generates electricity as you walk/run/horse back ride etc. The power is stored on a litium ion battery which can later power standard usb devices. You can lock the rack so the pack stays still if your not trying to charge anything. About 8 watts of power can be generated when walking, and about 44 watts when running.
[via engadget]
The people at Laptop Magazine have rated customer service practices of Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T after a series of tests online and in-store for each carrier in New York. They took into consideration each company's friendliness, knowledge, and timeliness. T-mobile ranked first with the best in-store assistance even during rush hour. Their employees were knowledgeable of their products, answered questions, and setup email on their BlackBerry phone without a problem. Sprint came out in 2nd place and although their employees may have not been the most knowledgeable, their staff was friendly and the store was nicely organized. Verizon provided solid in-store support, but their employees were not as friendly as those in Sprint or T-Mobile. However, their online database ranked as highly as T-mobile's. Last but not least, well in this case they... [Read More]
The Environmental Working Group's launched a website dedicated to rating cellphones on their radiation output alone. Devices with the lowest levels of radiation seem to be the Motorola RAZR V8, Samsung Impression, and several Nokia devices. Samsung and Nokia have consistently higher ranking phones (lower radiation emissions). Phones with the worst results includes T-Mobile's myTouch 3G and the Blackberry Curve 8300 and Bold 9000. There's several Motorola devices on the right side as well.
Cell phones emit radiation to send voice and text messages to the other caller. Health risks aren’t confirmed, but some (not all) studies of frequent cell phone users suggest increased risks for brain and mouth tumors and children’s behavior problems.
EWG lists the following guidelines to reduce your exposures: ... [Read More]
Verizon Wireless is planning to begin their Long-Term Evolution nationwide network next year all at once rather than deploying it in a traditional market-by-market rollout. Verizon wants to be at or near 100 percent overlay with its legacy CDMA footprint by 2013, but a ton of major markets will be covered and commercially well before then -- up to 30 in 2010. According to Tony Melone, the firm's senior vice president and chief technology officer, "We want to give our customers a significant footprint," and won't "tease," them he said, with trial deployments.
Melone discusses what consumers can expect from the new LTE network. To take full advantage of the LTE, a new device will definitely be needed, "but there won't be a need to force migrate." Existing Verizon Wireless users will be able to continue to use... [Read More]
Well, it looks like the reports of i-mate's demise may have been slightly exaggerated. Of course, most of its employees are still laid off, its offices are still closed, and no one's answering the phones, but i-mate CEO Jim Morrison assures us that "everything about i-mate will continue." It turns out the company is just dealing with some "major fraud" that was discovered at the end of August as it was beginning to introduce a new line of devices, which led to some problems with little things like "paying employees." Those employees are also now said to be considering taking things up with the local authorities in Dubai, which Morrison admits would make things "difficult," although he insists that the company still has those new products ready to go, that it's "looking for more funding," and that "there... [Read More]
Here's a brief look at AT&T's upcoming Window's Mobile handsets. The AT&T Tilt 2 will be launching in October, while the Samsung Epix and Samsung Jack will be getting their upgrades to Windows Mobile 6.5 courtesy of upcoming maintenance releases. According to an online roadmap that has leaked out of AT&T showing upcoming Windows phones, the Windows Mobile business-focused handsets the HP Obsidian and LG Monaco should make their appearances before the year is over! The Monaco is scheduled to launch at some point in November, while the Obsidian will have to wait until December. While October is filled with 6.5 handsets such as the Tilt 2 and Pure, November's schedule seems to be promising as well .
Here’s a quick refresher on specifications for the LG Monaco and HP Obsidian:
Today, the FCC approved AT&T's purchase of the US wireless carrier Centennial Wireless for $944 million. The acquisition boosts AT&T's presence in the midwest, southwest, and expands its wired network coverage to Puerto Rico. Stockholders receive $8.50/share and Centennial stores will have that AT&T logo by January of 2010. 
Individual Plan – No 2-year commitment
The HTC Tilt2 is not officially available at AT&T. If you're looking for that device that gives you slightly more from your QWERTY-equipped WinMo 6.5 phone compared to the Pure, look no further! This device offers a full duplex speakerphone, 3.2 megapixel cam, WVGA tilt-up display, and five-row QWERTY keyboard. It runs for $349.99 on contract with AT&T.
Finland says that 1Mb broadband is a right, not a privilege! Their Ministry of Transport and Communications recently made 1-megabit broadband Web access a legal right. With a population of a little over 5 million people, every person in Finland will have the right of access to a 1Mb broadband connection starting July. And the right to a 100Mb broadband connection in the works? Finland has also stated they would make a 100Mb broadband connection a legal right by the end of 2015. France made Internet access a human right earlier this year. Their Constitutional Council ruled that Internet access is a basic human right. Now what about US...
As promised by HTC back in February, the Touch Pro2 and Snap will be the among the first devices to get the full upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.5. Official updates for both the Touch Pro2 and Snap have been released. Availability for your particular version of the device may pose a problem depending on carrier branding, locking, etc., but here are the updates anyways! 
Speaking at the CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment in San Diego today, FCC head Julius Genachowski said he wants to close the gap between the demand for spectrum and the supply available. It’s estimated that by the year 2013 data usage will reach 400 petabytes a month! This being brought on by smarter, easier to use devices and ubiquitous high speed data initiatives. Additionally, he went on to say that they’ll be adopting the widely-discussed “shot clocl” policy for placements of new towers which gives locals a limited windows to protest placement of cell sites. This should allow 4G to spread quicker, so well see how that actually plays.
According to an anonymous source, the Microsoft Pink phone project is in trouble. The source told MobileCrunch that a good size of the Danger/Sidekick team that Microsoft purchased for their phone knowledge actually left on their own or was let go. This left the project with “no braintrust that understands how to build a project.” 
The people at Laptop Magazine have rated customer service practices of Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T after a series of tests online and in-store for each carrier in New York. They took into consideration each company's friendliness, knowledge, and timeliness. T-mobile ranked first with the best in-store assistance even during rush hour. Their employees were knowledgeable of their products, answered questions, and setup email on their BlackBerry phone without a problem. Sprint came out in 2nd place and although their employees may have not been the most knowledgeable, their staff was friendly and the store was nicely organized. Verizon provided solid in-store support, but their employees were not as friendly as those in Sprint or T-Mobile. However, their online database ranked as highly as T-mobile's. Last but not least, well in this case they... 
The Environmental Working Group's launched a website dedicated to rating cellphones on their radiation output alone. Devices with the lowest levels of radiation seem to be the Motorola RAZR V8, Samsung Impression, and several Nokia devices. Samsung and Nokia have consistently higher ranking phones (lower radiation emissions). Phones with the worst results includes T-Mobile's myTouch 3G and the Blackberry Curve 8300 and Bold 9000. There's several Motorola devices on the right side as well. 
Verizon Wireless is planning to begin their Long-Term Evolution nationwide network next year all at once rather than deploying it in a traditional market-by-market rollout. Verizon wants to be at or near 100 percent overlay with its legacy CDMA footprint by 2013, but a ton of major markets will be covered and commercially well before then -- up to 30 in 2010. According to Tony Melone, the firm's senior vice president and chief technology officer, "We want to give our customers a significant footprint," and won't "tease," them he said, with trial deployments.
Well, it looks like the reports of i-mate's demise may have been slightly exaggerated. Of course, most of its employees are still laid off, its offices are still closed, and no one's answering the phones, but i-mate CEO Jim Morrison assures us that "everything about i-mate will continue." It turns out the company is just dealing with some "major fraud" that was discovered at the end of August as it was beginning to introduce a new line of devices, which led to some problems with little things like "paying employees." Those employees are also now said to be considering taking things up with the local authorities in Dubai, which Morrison admits would make things "difficult," although he insists that the company still has those new products ready to go, that it's "looking for more funding," and that "there... 
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