This is exactly what the mobile web browsing industry needs: a little price war. AT&T tends to be expensive (and doesn’t offer unlimited anything mobile internet wise as far as I know), and other carriers with unlimited plans tend to be expensive. Rumors have surfaced that Verizon may be introducing something to change the playing field a bit. 

A new plan that Verizon Wireless is rumored to begin offering by November 16th or so called Unlimited Web Connect, will cost just $10 a month. A similar option with Verizon’s VCast service is already available, but it costs $15 a month. Hey, $5 is $5 in my book, and this plan would blow other similar plans out of the water.

The source of this rumor (who has yet to clearly identify themselves) also adds that it will only be available for mobile web phones (meaning any phone that can connect to the web), but NOT smartphones (yes, I can hear those groans of disappointment from here). So it’s a guess that mid to low-end phones that are web-enabled will be the target audience. And there are a whole lot of those; probably millions. Other carriers would have to answer or possibly risk losing that audience.

We’ll see in a few days if this rumor holds true. It’s 80 for-20 against in my book.

Tagged as: Verizon

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It appears the LG KC550 5 mpx camera phone will soon get a new companion phone in its line, and proves that LG definitely has a new focus; style and slickness at a good price (or in this case, a semi-fair price considering the ”coolness” points). Considering most of LG’s recent line is coming out with gold-plating soon (no, i’m not kidding), this one might be the most restrained of the bunch.

The upcoming LG KC560 looks pretty similar to it’s sibling in terms of style. Only, instead of the fancy 5 MP camera (this one has a 3.2 MP one) focus, the focus here is on style and music, and flashing LED lights. Sounds a bit odd? Read on.

The big gimmick on the KC560 are small colored LEDs around the bottom side of the cover that start blinking when the phone rings and can also flicker in tune with music playing on the phone as well. It’s cool looking and should appeal to various young subsets of the phone audience. In this writer’s (adult) humble opinion, it screams “tacky”, but to each their own.

Specs are fairly typical and solid: USB/Bluetooth, FM Radio, 2.4″ screen (decent size), GSM/EDGE connectivity (no 3G again), and the aforementioned 3.2 MP camera.

Price is expected to be around $300 retail (before deals and contracts knock it down to the $100-150 range or so. It should be out for the holidays in many circles.

Tagged as: Bluetooth, edge, LG

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A very big deal in the world of Wi-Fi (which in turn impacts phones that use it, like the iPhone) went down today: AT&T announced that it will buy Wayport, a managed Wi-Fi services provider for dozens of companies and hotels, for $275 million in cash. Honestly, it could be one of the best deals of the year in the industry.

So what does this mean for AT&T customers? First of all, the addition of a ton of new hotspots across the US, which raise the total number of US based AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots to almost 20,000 (and over 80,000 worldwide). This is not only majorly convenient, but a huge selling point to buy Wi-Fi enabled phones from AT&T.

As mentioned, Wayport’s hotspots are in lots of locations, such as: hotels (Four Seasons, Wyndham, Marriott Vacation Club), McDonald’s, HealthSouth and Sun Healthcare locations, hospitals and more. The price they paid was cheap, when you honestly consider the ramifications of the deal overall.

The deal is expected to be fully implemented by the end of the year or so.

Tagged as: wayport, wifi

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It’s about time a cell phone company got the memo: $300 ultra-fancy phones aren’t really “in” at the moment. Simple, nice looking and inexpensive is where it’s at.

LG has announced a new affordable clamshell phone, the LG KP152. Right now, the handset is only available on the LG Brazil website, but it’s said it will be released in Europe too – in Russia for the beginning, starting this month, then expanding to other territories, including the US soon.

The design is slick and eye-catching, and it’s available in black and red colors, and will retail for around $100 with possible incentives for contracts and the like, per usual. Features include: Tri band GSM/GPRS connectivity, TFT display with 65K colors, FM radio, SMS, MMS, VGA photo camera, 800 mAh Li-Ion battery with a talk time of around 3-4 hours. Decent specs, but not earth-shattering (expected for the price).

The indicates a new strategy with phone releases for LG, which is a welcome trend indeed in these lean economic times.

Tagged as: LG, SMS

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The launch of the G1 in the US was a much-hyped and celebrated occasion. The G1 won’t be the only Android phone within the next few months, but that isn’t stopping HTC from shipping its G1 to a number of Asian providers starting next year, probably in February or March of 2009.

HTC will be providing several variations of the HTC Dream G1 to Android-hungry cell phone carriers in Asia. Details regarding pricing, region features, etc. haven’t been released, but it’s good to see HTC getting more global in their efforts to introduce the world to Android. Most successful things like this require a global approach (see: the iPhone), and it’s good to see HTC and Google recognizing that fact.

This story probably also means that HTC will be providing factory unlocked handsets at that time. In many Asian areas, you can’t sell anything other than unlocked phones, so it’s only a matter of time before phones emerge minus T-Mobile branding, which could change the market and pricing for the phones somewhat, even in the US.

Tagged as: Android, G1, Google, HTC, iphone

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For a company struggling with sales and street “cred” lately, a move like this won’t help much at all.

Motorola announced the Aura a few weeks ago, a $2,000 (yes, you read that correctly) handset with a cool, unique design. In all specs wise, there isn’t really anything too amazing about it except for its rather crazy price tag, but there is now, courtesy of a strange contract purchasers must sign.

According to reports on several sites, they received a rumor about an oddity in the contract you sign when you purchase the phone. The gist of it: the Motorola Aura can’t be sold on eBay, or anywhere else. This is done to “maintain Aura’s glow of exclusivity”. Of course it’s ridiculous; like it isn’t a plan to keep their prices inflated without the market competition that comes with something coming onto EBay. 

To top it off, Motorola gives Aura owners a choice of selling the handset back to the manufacturer from which they bought it from. Yeah, and we know how much they’ll pay; you’ll be lucky to get back half of the purchase price. A real appeal to customers if I ever saw one.

What gives a tech company the right to do things like this? Yes, they designed the phone, but once I pay for it from a legitimate source, it’s mine. Meaning I do with it as I please. If they really do follow through with this, expect it to hurt sales greatly and there may even be a big backlash associated with this.

Tagged as: aura, Motorola

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For the most part, cameras in phones these days are simply throw-ins. Afterthoughts that take really mediocre pics. It is definitely not an afterthought with the Motorola ZINE ZN5, however.

Set to launch through T-Mobile today, this otherwise nondescript candybar-style phone features a 5 megapixel auto-focus Kodak camera with Xenon flash. If it wasn’t for the phone keypad on the other side, it could easily be mistaken for a regular Kodak digital camera (which was the point, no doubt). No optical zoom, but the picture quality here should be much better than the typical blurry, grainy stuff you’re used to with most cameras tacked on to most phones these days (aside from the mega-expensive 8MP camera phones which most people wouldn’t need).

This new attitude toward better camera phones isn’t limited to Motorola. The Sony Ericsson C905 being an example in point: this one has an 8 megapixel camera and is being pushed heavily in ads that feature the camera itself taking the pics used in the ad. Companies are aiming to dispel the misconception that all camera phones are mediocre at best.

The Motorola ZINE ZN5 lowdown on specs: quad-band GSM/EDGE (no 3G, which is a bit of a shame), Wi-Fi, 350MB internal memory, microSD expansion slot, 3.5mm headset jack, FM radio, and Bluetooth. There’s also support for the Kodak EasyShare software, which lets you use Wi-Fi for instant uploading and viewing on the web. In this way, the ZINE ZN5 is no less powerful than a standalone Kodak digital camera, which is a big quality increase.

You may think that the Motorola ZINE ZN5 looks like a budget-minded handset and the price tag confirms this (smart consider the state of the economy in most circles right now). It’ll retail for $99 (with a two-year contract), which is a huge drop over the 8MP camera phones, which are usually at least double or triple that price. It’s available starting today through corporate stores and online.

Tagged as: kodak, Motorola, Sony, tmobile

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Yes folks, Verizon’s absorption of US wireless carrier Alltel has just been given the OK from the Department of Justice, and so Verizon execs can heave a sigh of relief for now. They are on their way to becoming the #1 (in terms of subscribers) wireless carrier in the US, and one of the largest in the world. They’re currently #2, by the way, behind AT&T.

But (and isn’t there always a ‘but’ in there somewhere) before Verizon can grab up Alltel, the DOJ has asked that Verizon divest about 100 markets in 22 states in order to maintain market competition (which no doubt made a few Verizon VIPs foam at the mouth a bit). Given the size of the deal and what’s at stake, Verizon is expected to comply with the DoJ’s merger requirements without resistance.

Now it’s on to FCC approval, which isn’t expected to be a huge hurdle, according to a few reports. The FCC released an announcement, through Chairman Kevin Martin, that the commission would make their feelings known on the Verizon-Alltel deal before the end of the year.

This merger will probably go through (assuming the FCC doesn’t slap it down, which is doubtful) in early 2009, so AT&T needs to start looking over their shoulders, perhaps. We’ll keep you posted as the information comes in, but this one could be huge for the wireless industry.

Tagged as: alltel, Verizon

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The Weather Channel has big plans in the mobile market apparently. For example, outside this writer’s door it’s been raining buckets all night and day, and he’s wondering when its going to stop, if ever. This app would sure come in handy right about now.

The Weather Channel has announced and released a dedicated Android application, one of the first big providers to do so after the G1’s release a week or two ago. Available through the Android Marketplace, the new app gives users the ability to view full weather maps with customization, detailed forecasts (and current conditions), local video of freak stuff going on and weather alerts for the big time storms and heat waves you need to know about. Weather information can be viewed for a specific area or neighborhood to keep your family picnic from being rained out.

The app includes maps that are fully customizable and uses the power of Google Maps. Users can decide to display specific layers just like the weathermen do, such as the fancy “radar”, clouds, rainfall and snowfall and other related stuff.

Sounds cool to us, and it really points up the power of Android as an OS. This one may herald the opening of the floodgates (no pun intended) for even more powerful apps to appear for Android.

Tagged as: Android, Google

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Juicy pics of the Blackberry Javelin 8900 have been leaking for some time now, and now more new pics have been released via various blogs and websites, which usually indicates a company gearing up for a release in the very near future (those sort of things aren’t usually accidents).

The latest gossip had the new device gracing shelves about mid to late November, so we’ll have a turkey wing in one hand and the Blackberry Javelin in the other, more than likely.

Several blogs state that the device as a whole feels sturdier, and the overall early opinions are that the Javelin is simply better in most departments than the first BlackBerry Curve, mainly because it borrows most of its improved attributes from the Bold.

It really needs 3G (strange omission), but for now, this looks like the real deal. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.

Tagged as: Blackberry, curve, javelin

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The mobile space has undergone radical changes since Garmin announced its exciting, ultra-slick nuvifone, which would combine its famous GPS functions together with a phone and other related smartphone features. It’s been more than a year, and its become a faded concept alongside the G1, iPhone and the Blackberry Storm. Sometimes it pays to actually work on projects and release them on time.

But some companies live in their own vacuum: Garmin has now announced and confirmed that the year-plus delayed phone will actually be available in the “first half of 2009″, and from what websites are saying, probably March or April is a fair bet.

Early price estimates had this at $500 USD suggested retail, which more than likely won’t be the price point when it does come out, unless they enjoy having a lot of extra unsold units sitting on store shelves. Based on its projected features, $200 USD would be a fair price point in today’s market.

Tagged as: Blackberry, garmin, iphone, nuvifone

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It’s slick and should attract a lot of eyes when its flashed in public, but does it measure up in terms of actual features? Here’s the quick 411 on the new phone release.

Sprint has announced the very soon to be launched Katana Eclipse X, which will have its One Click app built in. The new One Click software/UI allows users to personalize their homescreens with the most used applications, including favorite search site, email and other fav pieces of fluff. It should appeal to the teens/twenties set quite a lot, especially with its mega-slick design seen in the pic.

Feature set will include all the basic goodies: 3G EV-DO connectivity, a 1.3 (that’s all?) megapixel camera/camcorder, Bluetooth and in-built MP3 player to listen to your tunes as well. Nothing groundbreaking, but solid specs.

It will be sold in two tempting (read: loud and bright) color choices: Nightlife Black and Hypnotic Pink. Like we said, teens and twenties will love it.

Release date and pricing were not announced.

Tagged as: Bluetooth, sanyo, sprint

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Facebook and Google haven’t been getting along lately. The initial animousity arose when the social-networking giant blocked Google’s Friend Connect feature, citing security issues as the reason for the block. Well, hey, protecting users doesn’t constitute a personal attack, right?

Now the battle rages on as Facebook has revealed that they will not be releasing an app for the new open-source Android OS. This is in contrast to Facebook’s action on the iPhone and BlackBerry, who they have already released apps for. If you carry either of those brands you’re probably aware that there are full-featured Facebook applications customized for both of those devices. The iPhone version is stated to be very strong.

Early adopters of the Android G1 will certainly be disappointed with this news, especially if they were avid Facebook users. Don’t count out Facebook from appearing on the OS (it probably will happen – eventually), but be ready to wait awhile. hough the company’s current statement indicate they have no interest in developing for the platform, and that third-party devs may have to take up the cause. Sounds a little personal to me.

An interesting side note? Facebook’s top investor is MS (who also serves ads on the site), and we know that Microsoft just loves Google (sarcasm in full effect). Conspiracy? Probably not, but who really knows…

Tagged as: Android, Facebook, Google, Microsoft

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HTC head honcho Peter Chou has revealed how many G1s the company expects to ship this year – and the figure is nowhere near the 1.5 million that has been rumoured as the number of pre-orders the phone received. In fact, it may be less than HALF that amount.

Reports from the US in the lead up to the device’s launch suggested that T-Mobile had seen as many as 1.5 million pre-orders for the new smartphone, based on Google’s Android OS, but it appears this is not the case. In which case, HTC fibbed a bit. Just a bit.

Chou said, in an interview with Mercury News: “We should be doing good numbers, but I can’t disclose the details. It will be more than what we originally planned. I’m saying we will ship more than 600,000.” That’s less than half the original rumored pre-order.

Apple recently revealed it has sold nearly 7 million iPhones globally in its last financial quarter, so it isn’t shaping up to be much of a “war” so far.

When asked about next year’s figures, Chou was equally cryptic: “We don’t disclose particular product numbers. Even Apple doesn’t provide those kinds of forward-looking numbers. But in general, we think we can do more next year. We are confident about our competitiveness next year.”

Translation: We really have no idea how the phone will do. We’re hoping it doesn’t crash and burn, but even if we think it might, we’re not telling you.

Something to keep an eye on.

Tagged as: Android, G1, Google, HTC

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