Deutsche Telekom, parent of U.S. mobile operator T-Mobile, is holding talks about gaining access to spectrum controlled by Clearwire and MetroPCS as a way to build out 4G wireless service, according to Bloomberg, which cites “two people familiar with the matter.”
Until this summer, U.S. consumers interested in owning an Android-powered cellphone were limited to T-Mobile’s G1. But the Google operating system is appearing in a slew of new handsets by HTC, Samsung, LG and Motorola.
The specs for Samsung’s newest Android phone, the I5700 Galaxy Lite, leaked in an online video that made its way around the Web Tuesday.
After Google announced it was working on an operating system based on its Chrome Web browser this week, many wondered: Didn’t Google already build an operating system? And isn’t it called Android?
Prepaid wireless carriers have gotten a lot of attention in recent months because of the ailing economy, which has helped them as consumers seek out cheaper cellphone plans.
Groans are issuing from the Googleplex over this year’s holiday bonus. In the past, the search engine paid cash–as much as $20,000 or $30,000 per Googler, we hear. This year? A cellphone.
In wireless, it appears, the old adage applies: The rich get richer. The poor? Not so much. AT&T and Verizon Wireless are reporting impressive numbers while everyone else (Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, Metro PCS and Leap Wireless) is not. The gap between the tiers in the market are “stark,” according to Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett.
I opened the Google window and found myself looking at an advert for a G1 phone. A couple of clicks later I was on the T-Mobile website, checking prices and thinking, “Well, I do need a new phone. …” But randomly buying a phone I haven’t even held seemed like, well, something that I couldn’t imagine myself doing. I wanted to hold it.
There’s been a downturn in demand for BlackBerry handsets worldwide–looks like inventory and software problems are taking their toll. That, and the fact that sales of the Pearl Flip are both “tepid” and “disappointing.” Here’s hoping the Storm brings a little sunshine.
So T-Mobile’s G1 has been unveiled. It looks neat–and it looks like the most serious rival to the iPhone yet, though the BlackBerry Bold could be a contender once AT&T starts selling the darn thing.
T-Mobile raised some eyebrows Tuesday when it disclosed that buyers of its highly touted new Internet phone, the HTC G1 that uses Google’s Android software, would face restrictions if they exceeded 1 gigabyte of cellular data a month.
I spent this morning at the unveiling of Google’s (GOOG) first phone using its “Android” software, hosted on a phone made by HTC called the “G1,” with service from Deutsche Telekom’s (DT) T-Mobile in the U.S. The phone is to be made available in the States on Oct. 22 for a price of $179 with a two-year contract.
The phone is an ugly, faceless black–or white–brick whose display swings open to reveal the typical junky plastic keyboard.
Choosing a smartphone reminds me of the old adage from product-design people: “Good, fast, cheap: Pick two.” Much more so than a personal computer, a smartphone is an exercise in compromise. This will continue to be obvious even after Apple announces “iPhone 2.0″ at this week’s conference for Macintosh and iPhone software developers.
Apple’s new iPhone may well be a revolutionary product in some ways. But after testing one of the devices that went on sale late last month, I’m steering clear, at least for now, of the most shamelessly overhyped consumer product since Windows 95. For all its admirable features–the large screen, gorgeous industrial design and advanced user interface in particular–the iPhone feels like a beta product.
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