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Google Android walkie-talkie phone heads to Sprint this summer

March 22nd, 2010, 2:09 pm by
Another image: (larger)

Spotted: Just learned that Sprint’s first Google Android phone will come from Motorola and include push-to-talk capability, a.k.a. a Walkie-Talkie.

The Motorola i1 will also have a 3.1-inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi, 5-megapixel camera and microSD slot. Plus, it’s one of Motorola’s rugged phones so it’s built to Military Spec 810F and can stand some dust, shock and “blowing rain,” says Motorola.

No price was announced, but expect monthly fees to be around $70 if you opt for Sprint’s Everything Data 450 plan (unlimited calls to U.S. wireless users, unlimited Direct Connect, unlimited texting, e-mail and Web and GPS).

Sprint will start selling the i1 this summer. More details at www.sprint.com/motoi1. Here’s Motorola’s press release. Full specs listed in the chart below:

Motorola i1
Talk and Standby Time3 Up to 4 days standby; Up to 210 min talk time
Bands/Modes 800 / 900 (i) 2400 (w)
Weight 131.26 grams, 4.63 oz.
Dimensions 58mm length 118mm depth 12.8 mm
OS Android 1.5
Battery 1400mAh
Connectivity Wi-Fi, Bluetooth2 2.0 micro USB; Over the Air Sync, 2.5mm headset jack
Display 3.1” display 320×480 HVGA  265k TFT
Messaging/ Email MMS, SMS,  corporate, Gmail IMAP, POP3, Attachment and document viewer
Audio Adobe Flash, MP3, WAV, WMA, WMV, MIDI, MP4
Video H.263,  H.264, WMV
Camera 5MP, auto-focus, LED flash, 4X digital zoom
Browser Opera Mini 5 Browser, Android Webkit w/Adobe Flash Lite®
Memory Removable 2GB memory card included, up to 32GB supported
Form Factor Full touch screen
Antenna Internal

More cell phone coverage:

Posted in: Cell phones • Gadgets • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

Review: Don’t go to Disneyland without this iPhone app

March 21st, 2010, 7:28 am by

This story was originally written for our Disney blog, and I’m reposting because I bet some Gadgetress readers are interested in such  mobile apps. Reporter Ian Hamilton reviews a game app for Disneyland and videographer Mark Eades shows how it works.

Whether you frequent Disneyland or just plan the occasional vacation, it’s time to outfit yourself with an iPhone for your next visit.

If you don’t own one, then borrow one for the day or make sure someone in your group has one so you can use the Wishing Stars iPhone app.

Yes, this app is that much fun.

Wishing Stars – Disneyland (link opens in iTunes) is an absolute perfect companion for any Disneyland journey and a must-have app if you’re visiting the park any time soon. I’m not a huge Disney fanatic, like many people I know, but I’d be willing to go to Disneyland if I played this as part of the experience. (Disclosure: my wife works at Disneyland and is a bit of a fanatic.)

In a nutshell, Wishing Stars consists of a series of quests you can embark on to find particular stuff within the Disneyland park.

The quests vary by difficulty and can entertain a kid, an adult or an adult who thinks like a kid. The app uses your physical GPS location to identify whether you’ve found the answer to a clue. In other words, it’s a treasure hunt within Disneyland.

One note, though, you have to have an iPhone 3G or an iPhone 3GS to use this app. The original iPhone doesn’t have the necessary GPS accuracy to pull off what Wishing Stars requires.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

Verizon Wireless’ 50 Mbps mobile network coming this year

March 19th, 2010, 11:24 am by

With next week’s CTIA Wireless show, there will be plenty of news about what our next cell phone will look like and achieve.

Verizon Wireless wanted to get ahead of the crowd and confirmed today that it is on track to build a 4G wireless network this year. Peak speeds are at 40 to 50 megabits per second download and 20 to 25 mbps upload. These must be ideal results from a lab since Verizon adds that in reality, the service will have average data rates of 5 to 12 mbps down, and 2 to 5 mbps up.

The 50 mbps would get consumers to fiber-optic Internet speeds available from Verizon FiOS and some cable companies outside of Orange County. The more realistic 5 to 12 mbps is akin to today’s DSL and cable Internet speeds. The 3G mobile wireless speeds that many cell phone companies tout today are in the barely 1 mbps range.

Verizon’s expected 4G launch? “Later this year,” said the company.

And where? “Up to 30 markets in 2010.”

And how much? Nothing determined yet, but according to BroadbandReports.com, Verizon is asking people for their input.

With that sort of launch, Orange County has got to be among one of the 30 markets since we often get grouped with Los Angeles. Don’t you think?

Fourth-generation wireless is split between two methods. There is Long Term Evolution, or LTE, which is the 4G of choice for Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. The other 4G is WiMax, backed by Sprint, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and many cable companies just now entering the mobile data market. Corrected, 3/20/10: Cox is going with LTE (thanks L).

If Verizon is able to get something started this year, it will be the first in the nation to offer this type of 4G service.

Faster wireless has been expected after Verizon acquired a huge chunk of wireless spectrum two years ago. Remember that? The U.S. government put local TV broadcast signals into a reserve for police, emergency and other public safety communication and auctioned off the excess spectrum to Verizon and AT&T for $16 billion in March 2008. One big result was last year’s digital TV transition, which forced TV channels to broadcast digital signals only.

Verizon added that it expects full nationwide 4G coverage by 2013.

Related:

Posted in: Cell phones • Internet • • • • • | 7 Comments »

T-Mobile ‘hoping’ to offer iPhone this year, says report

March 18th, 2010, 5:20 pm by

Spotted: Add another iPhone rumor to the list. The Financial Times is reporting that T-Mobile may end AT&T’s lock on the Apple iPhone later this year.

René Obermann, chief executive of T-Mobile USA’s German parent Deutsche Telekom, told the publication that the company is focusing on mobile Internet. And then there’s this sentence buried at the bottom:

The iPhone has provided AT&T with strong revenue growth, and T-Mobile USA is hoping to start selling the popular smartphone later this year or next year.

But are the two connected? Did Obermann really say during the FT interview that T-Mobile will offer the iPhone this year? It would seem that way based on how the story was written. But why bury this juicy nugget?

It could be that it’s because in Germany, T-Mobile sells the iPhone. So perhaps the German-based reporter didn’t think a direct quote from Obermann was crucial.

However, this isn’t the first time T-Mobile has appeared as a possible iPhone vendor. In December, Thomas Weisel analyst Doug Reid said he believed T-Mobile would be next and not Verizon Wireless, as others have long theorized.  Why T-Mobile?  ”Apple wants to move away from exclusivity; T-Mobile achieves this for Apple in the U.S.,” Reid wrote.

T-Mobile also uses the same wireless technology as AT&T so an iPhone doesn’t need a complete hardware overhaul to join the T-Mobile network.

I guess we’ll find out this fall whether there’s any truth to the story.

From the web:

Posted in: Apple mania • Cell phones • iPhone • • • | 13 Comments »

Local BBB’s biggest complaint getter: DirecTV

March 15th, 2010, 9:04 am by

When it comes to TV or mobile phone service, consumers aren’t shy about saying what they don’t like. That’s not only true here on this blog, which made me refocus the content to cover TV and mobile heavily last year, but to the local Better Business Bureau.

The Better Business Bureau of the Southland reports that mobile phone service and TV service were the two categories with the most complaints last year (see bottom chart). But by far the top offender? DirecTV, based in El Segundo. The satellite TV service received 15,367 complaints, well above second place Federal Loan Modification Center in Northridge, which had 858 complaints.

The BBB said that DirecTV issues are related to billing disputes, early cancellation fees, inadequate disclosure about the cost of service and the inability to contact the company.

Southland BBB’s 10 companies with most complaints
  1. DirecTV – El Segundo (15,367 complaints)
  2. Federal Loan Modification Center – Northridge (858 complaints)
  3. Auto One Warranty Specialists – Irvine (686 complaints)
  4. Acaiburn.com – Ontario (633 complaints)
  5. IvoryBrites – Burbank (604 complaints)
  6. Dealer Cost Car Audio – Santa Ana (524 complaints)
  7. Acai Nutraburst – Corona (463 complaints)
  8. Specialty Merchandise Corporation – Simi Valley(380)
  9. dazzlesmilepro.com – Ontario (367 complaints)
  10. Cellular Blowout – Agoura Hills (366 complaints)

The organization — the go-to site for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties,– also pointed out that DirecTV has faced government scrutiny for violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Washington state Consumer Protection Act for “false or unfair use of the word “free,” among other issues.

The BBB named DirecTV its top 2009 Pluto Award recipient, which calls out the area Orange County and Los Angeles businesses that use “underhanded business practices and ambiguous advertising to augment their riches and defraud the American public of billions of dollars each year.”

“DirecTV is a well-known satellite service provider, and its number of complaints might not be quite so striking if you took its complaints-to-customers ratio into consideration. Nevertheless, its practices and rating prompt us to urge extreme caution in doing business with DirecTV,” warned the BBB.

DirecTV spokesperson Jade-lin Ekstedt acknowledged the issue and said that the company is working on improving the poor rating. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Cell phones • Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • | 38 Comments »

Crappy Internet? Tell the government

March 12th, 2010, 3:30 pm by

A new mobile app lets consumers test how fast their phone or home’s Internet connection is — or isn’t.

The app’s owner? The U.S. Federal Communications Commission. As part of that National Broadband plan, the FCC wants consumers to be informed about what their broadband availability is and help contribute to the FCC’s Broadband Dead Zone Report.

“Transparency empowers consumers, promotes innovation and investment, and encourages competition,” said Chairman Julius Genachowski. “The FCC’s new digital tools will arm users with real-time information about their broadband connection and the agency with useful data about service across the country. By informing consumers about their broadband service quality, these tools help eliminate confusion and make the market work more effectively.”

The app, called the Consumer Broadband Test, measures speed and latency and reports it back to the FCC. It’s available in the Apple and Android app stores. There’s also a Web version at www.broadband.gov.

No broadband Internet? Consumers can also submit their results to the FCC by e-mail at fccinfo@fcc.gov, telephone, 888-CALL-FCC, or snail mail addressed to:

Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau,
ATTN: Broadband Dead Zone Reporting
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20554

One note: By taking the test, you’re giving the FCC some personal info including your IP address and home address.  Read the privacy statement.

More on the web:

Posted in: Cell phones • Internet • iPhone • • • • • • • • | 12 Comments »

T-Mobile preps for 21 Mbps Internet with new gadget

March 11th, 2010, 5:17 pm by

Faster wireless Internet — up to 21 Mbps — from T-Mobile is around the corner and expected to be available nationwide by the end of the year. It could launch even sooner here in Orange County. We’ll find out in two weeks when T-Mobile offers an update during the upcoming CTIA mobile show.

To get ready for the speed jump, T-Mobile announced today that it now offers an HSPA+ USB Laptop stick, the webConnect Rocket. The company says that it’s also the nation’s first HSPA+ device, but that’s because the only other company going this speedy route is AT&T. Verizon Wireless and Sprint are working on faster 4G wireless technology like LTE (Long Term Evolution) and Wimax.

HSPA, short for High Speed Packet Access, is sometimes called Turbo 3G and offers wireless Internet speeds of up to 7.2 mbps. But add a plus sign and the speed jumps to 21 Mbps. T-Mobile is upgrading its 3G cell towers nationwide to add the faster technology.

I’m sure T-Mobile smartphone users everywhere are ready for the speed jump because the existing 3G Internet is more like 1 Mbps or slower. But if you feel 3G Internet is still slow, here’s some bad news: T-Mobile has already enabled HSPA 7.2 across its entire 3G network nationwide. The company, however, says it is still working to put the “necessary backhaul in place to support these faster speeds.” (AT&T, by the way, has also upgraded all of its network to HSPA and is working on upgrading to 4G technology.)

Nevertheless, many of T-Mobile’s newer smartphone users will reap the benefits of HSPA+ when it does become available because the phones and devices are backward compatible.  Here are T-Mobile’s existing 3G phones and devices that are HSPA capable:

  1. T-Mobile G1
  2. T-Mobile myTouch 3G
  3. T-Mobile myTouch 3G LE
  4. Motorola CLIQ
  5. HTC TouchPro 2
  6. T-Mobile Dash 3G
  7. Samsung Behold II
  8. T-Mobile webConnect USB Laptop Stick
  9. T-Mobile webConnect Jet
  10. HTC HD2

The Rocket goes on sale Sunday, March 14, for $99.99 with a 2-year contract. New Internet plans will be available beginning this weekend. Here are the new “Even More” plans and prices: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Cell phones • Gadgets • • • • | 6 Comments »

AT&T upgrades mobile coverage in San Clemente, Laguna Hills

March 11th, 2010, 1:44 pm by

Two more cell sites just got powered on in Orange County that should help ease the pain of dropped calls and poor coverage for local AT&T customers.

AT&T said Thursday that the two new sites are part of four 3G sites in the Los Angeles area to “improve mobile coverage for area residents and businesses.”

In Orange County, the new sites are near these intersections:

  • San Clemente: Near the intersection of Portico Del Norte and Camino De Los Mares
  • Laguna Hills: Near the intersection of Moulton Parkway and Ridge Route Drive

The other new sites are located in Fontana and Temecula.

The upgrades are part of the company’s plan to add 200 new cell sites in California this year.

Other new cell sites:

►  Older posts on cell sites in Orange County

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • | 17 Comments »

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