Posted by John Biggs | Discussion:
So we return to the Palm Treo Pro, a $549 unlocked Windows Mobile Treo aimed squarely at the business set. It’s been about a week and I’ve used this guy off and on. It kept a nice charge - two days, for the most part, without much data use - and fit nicely in the pocket. But is it the Treo of which we all incessantly dream? Is it the Treo that will bring us closer to world peace and better burritos on the East Coast? Is this the Treo for you?
Yes, it is the Treo for you if you are a business professional forced to use Windows Mobile and you travel quite a bit and hardware price is no object. This is also the Treo for you if you’re buying a few cellphones for the CEO and the CFO and you want them to be productive without having to change your Windows-based IT and communications infrastructure. If you are neither of those people, think of the Treo Pro as a vision of Palm’s future.
The Treo Pro is one of Palm’s most attractive Treos to date. Gone is the lumpen plastic of the Centro and the low-gloss ho-hummery of the 800w. Whereas the Centro and the 800w took design cues from the lower end of the market, Treo tapped HTC to design this new looker and for good reason. The RIM, in a general, sense, was eating their enterprise lunch and the Centro was doing just fine.
So we have the Treo Pro. As its name implies, this isn’t for amateurs. Because it’s unlocked and unsubsidized you’d better have a damn good reason for going Windows Mobile. This could mean IT departments buying in bulk for their executives or a mobile professional who wants a messaging phone but still likes ActiveSync. Europe loves them some Windows Mobile, so their unlocked model is a good move. The US market, sadly, looks at expensive phones and then looks elsewhere. The Blackberry Curve didn’t get where it is on its good looks.
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The Sony Ericsson Walkman cellphones turn 3-years-old this year, so SE is releasing three more such phones, the W902, W595 and W302. They’re all, let’s face it, essentially the same music phone we’ve seen for God knows how long, but there are a few new features that you might enjoy.
There’s TrackID, which attempts to recognize the name of a song “listening” to it. (Have similar services ever worked for you?) Also, there’s a Shake control mechanism that lets you change the playing song with the flick of your wrist. I don’t know how useful that’d be when your scrunched between 30 people on the subway during your morning commute, but it’s certainly one of those “hey, check out what this can do” features.
If you’re into reading action-verby press releases, be my guest.
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Posted by John Biggs | Discussion:
AT&T retail stores will be open at 8AM local time on July 11th, so be “iReady!” Existing customers who don’t qualify for an upgrade will have to shell out $399 and $499 for the corresponding iP3G model. Customers who don’t want to extend their current contract will pay $599 for the 8GB and $699 for the 16GB model. Current AT&T customers who want to upgrade to the iPhone 3G from whatever else they have will have to pay an $18 activation fee while new AT&T customers will pay $36. Voice and unlimited data plans (e-mail and Web) range from $69.99 to $129.99. $199 my foot. Maybe we should all move to Hong Kong.
Full release on CrunchGear
Posted by John Biggs | Discussion:
Here’s the press release for now. There will be a conference call at 11am EDT that I will broadcast on CrunchGear live. More as we get it.
WARREN, N.J., June 27, 2008 – Virgin Mobile USA, Inc. (NYSE: VM), a leading national provider of wireless communications services, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Helio, a joint venture between SK Telecom and EarthLink, Inc. (Nasdaq: ELNK) providing highly advanced postpaid products and services with unique user applications. Under the terms of the agreement, Virgin Mobile USA will acquire Helio from SK Telecom and EarthLink for limited partnership units equivalent to 13 million shares of Virgin Mobile USA class A common stock, with a value of $39 million based on the closing price of Virgin Mobile USA’s class A shares on June 26, 2008.
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The cellphone companies (other than Apple; it’s perfect in every way imaginable) are still trying their hardest to make a decent MP3-playing cellphone. T-Mobile latest attempt is the Motorola Rokr E8, which will be available on July 7, the same date that Real Madrid want to announce the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The phone, which debuted at January’s CES, appears to be more evolutionary than revolutionary—2GB storage, built-in FM radio, 2-inch QVGA display, etc. Thankfully, the phone has a “normal” 3.5-inch headphone jack; many such music phones had a 2.5-inch jack.
There’s also something called ClearTalk, which supposedly improves call quality. That’s helpful, since, in my experience, T-Mobile sounds a lot worse than Verizon Wireless in New York City. Really, the difference was startling.
Oh, and it’s EDGE not 3G. Ouch.
Posted by John Biggs | Discussion:
Open operating systems, for most folks, means that the operating system is essentially free. The average computer user knows that Linux is free, as in beer, while Windows costs money. The case is the same for mobile OSes although, until very recently, the idea of purposely using an open OS has been a fairly nebulous concept.
To be clear open mobile OSes have been around for years, starting most prominently with the QTopia project that ran on ARM hardware found in many PDAs and phones. The Linux kernel plays well with almost any platform, making it ideal for small installations.
With the announcement of an “open” version of Symbian coming soon, let’s take a look at what open means to the average consumer.
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Posted by John Biggs | Discussion:
Are they selling something? Making a comment on male-female relations? Hiring for an a cappella group? All we do know is that this is a non-US cartoon made for the Samsung F480, a phone we all want but will never, ever own because it’s Asia-only.
Posted by John Biggs | Discussion:
Umm… looks like the car won. Reader Meir ran over his iPhone with a Mercedes — if you’re going to destroy your phone, do it in style, people — and quickly hopped out to retrieve the device, now artfully crazed like a 18th century glazed ceramic chamber pot. His story:
A couple of days ago, due to a series of very unfortunate events my iPhone
found itself being driven over by the back wheel of a big mercedes. The
amazing thing is that my iPhone still works perfectly. The screen has been
shattered to countless pieces, and they keep falling off daily. To tell you
the truth, I have a hard time deciding what to do, keep risking my life with
the iPhone or go back to my older primitive cell phone, not an easy
choice… Almost everyone I showed the iPhone to had the same first
reaction; “It’s amazing this thing still works”
Meir, use the iPhone. Even a shattered, potentially life-threatening Apple cell is better than a brand new, in box Anything Else at the AT&T Store (TM). Friends don’t let friends use sub-standard UIs.
Check out CrunchGear for more iPhone coverage.
