• pixi,  pre,  verizon,  web os

    Palm Pre Plus, Pixi Plus Go On Sale Today

    January 25, 2010 /

    The new Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus, introduced during this month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vega goes on sale today for the Verizon Wireless cellular network.

    Verizon Wireless, the company with the largest and most reliable wireless voice and 3G data network, announced today that Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus will be on store shelves and ready for purchase. The Palm Pre Plus will cost $149.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate, and the Palm Pixi Plus will cost $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate, each with a new two-year customer agreement. Buy a Palm Pre Plus or a Palm Pixi Plus and get a Palm Pixi Plus free after a mail-in rebate through Feb. 14.

    Both Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus come travel-ready with a built-in 3G Mobile Hotspot – a Wi-Fi hotspot that can be shared among five Wi-Fi-capable devices. The 3G Mobile Hotspot is the perfect family vacation companion, and at $40 for 5 GB and 5 cents per megabyte overage, it provides an allowance big enough for sharing with the entire family for downloading games, Internet access and more.

    Paired with Verizon Wireless’ new Nationwide Talk or Nationwide Talk & Text plans and a $29.99 monthly data plan, Palm Pre Plus is the perfect tool for the busy family manager, while Palm Pixi Plus is the perfect complement to a youngster as part of a Family SharePlan. Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access and Nationwide Talk & Text Plans begin at $59.99 monthly access. Nationwide Unlimited Talk Plans and Nationwide Unlimited Talk & Text Plans are available at $69.99 and $89.99 monthly access, respectively. Nationwide Unlimited Talk Family SharePlans start at $119.99 monthly access for the first two lines, while the Nationwide Unlimited Talk & Text Family SharePlans are $149.99 monthly access for the first two lines of service.

    In addition, Palm Pixi Plus customers have more options for personalizing their phones with the new color Pixi Touchstone Back Covers. The covers will be available in pink, blue, green, orange and black for only $29.99 each at www.verizonwireless.com and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores.

    Read More
  • apple,  iphone,  verizon

    Rumor: iPhone 4G on Verizon in Late Q2

    January 21, 2010 /

    Today on the AllThingsD.com website, Apple hysteria continues with YAAiR (Yet Another Apple iPhone Rumor). Today’s rumor is that Apple will bring a CDMA iPhone to Verizon Wireless for late Q2 or early Q3.

    “iPhone OS 4.0. And the iPhone 4G–on Verizon.

    That’s the word from Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek, who believes there’s “a good chance” we’ll hear about all three come next Wednesday.

    The phone will be carried on Verizon and hence will operate on the CDMA network,” he asserts, adding, “however, it will also support European GSM and HSPA standards. An updated 4GS version that will support LTE is anticipated to arrive in June 2011.”

    You’re guess is as good as mine as to whether or not Apple will announce that the iPhone is coming to Big Red this summer or not, however, I suspect that Apple wants to:

    1. Make more money selling the iPhone to more customers here in the US. Ending AT&T’s exclusivity is a clear cut way to make that happen and Apple has already allowed exclusive carrier contracts come to an end in other countries.

    2. AT&T is getting battered in the reputation department for having a really crappy network, regardless of whether or not iPhone users are to blame. In the minds of wireless customers, Verizon has a reputation of running a good wireless network.

    [Via AllThingsD.com…]

    Read More
  • verizon

    FCC Still Looking for Answers from Verizon Wireless

    January 10, 2010 /

    In the on-going back and forth over changes in the fees that Verizon Wireless charges their customers for ending their contracts before the 2-year maturation point, the FCC feels that the wireless carrier still has some explaining do to.

    During the CES show, that wraps up today in Las Vegas, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says that he is still looking for more details.

    Sinead Carew, a reporter for Reutuers, writes:

    “I thought that response raised more questions than it answered. The bureau is looking into that,” he said but declined to say what the FCC‘s next move would be in that case. Verizon Wireless had cited increasing costs for the fee hike.

    “There’s a very real level of consumer confusion around these areas,” Genachowski said.

    [Via Yahoo News…]

    Read More
  • ces,  pixi,  pre,  sprint,  verizon,  web os

    Palm CES Coverage

    January 8, 2010 /

    The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show is under way in Las Vegas this week and Palm has used the event to make a big splash with the media and their customers. Here’s a run down of what Palm has been up to!

    Palm 2010 CES Presentation Video and Highlights

    PreCentral has posted Palm chairman and chief executive officer Jon Rubinstein’s CES presentation for your viewing pleasure if you are like me and somehow managed to not make it out to Las Vegas this year. The highlights of the presentation include:

    • Palm makes the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus official, Verizon only, and with tethering
    • Pre coming to SFR in France
    • webOS 1.4 coming in February with built-in Flash 10.1, Video recording
    • Palm reveals open web distribution of webOS apps

    To check the video, head over to the PreCentral website.

    New Phones, Wireless Carriers Announced

    Many people will be happy to hear that Palm and Verizon Wireless will finally be bringing Palm webOS phones to market. Starting on January 25, Big Red customers will have their choice of the newly reformulated Palm Pre and Pixi smartphones known as the Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixi Plus. Why “Plus?” The Plus refers to the refinements over the older versions of the Pre and Pixi smartphones already available on the Sprint network.

    The Palm Pre Plus will sport 16GB of RAM and a more streamlined form factor. As far as I can tell at this point, that simply means that the center has been removed from the front fo the Palm Pre Plus. Rather than use the Center button to zoom in/out from card view, you can simply flick up from the gesture area to zoom out of a card and then tap on the card you want to zoom back into full screen. The removal of the Center button is just one less thing that can break on the Pre form factor body and I welcome the change. And unlike the Sprint edition, the Verizon Wireless Palm Pre Plus ditches the glossy back plate battery door for the slick matte finished Touchstone charging battery door. Even if you don’t plan on getting the super cool Touchstone charging dock, in my opinion, the matte finish of the Touchstone battery door is much easier to hold than the slippery gloss finish door.

    The new Palm Pixi Plus uses the same body form factor as the older Sprint edition, however, the Verizon Pixi Plus will include an 802.11b/g Wi-Fi radio. (Shame on you Sprint for not allowing Wi-Fi in your Pixi!)

    Verizon customers will also have access to a new App Catalog application called Mobile Hotspot that will allow the Pre Plus or Pixi Plus to act as a cellular Wi-Fi router allowing other near by Wi-Fi enabled device, like a netbook, to gain access to the Internet over the Pre or Pixi’s EVDO cellular connection. Up until now, this was a trick reserved for devices like the Verizon Mi-Fi card. Kudos for Verizon for allowing their customers to share their data connections this way.

    Palm will also continue to grow their presence overseas in the second quarter of the year when they bring Palm webOS phones to France on the SFR wireless network.

    The last remaining question for US customers is when will Palm webOS devices be launched on AT&T? For right now, there is no official word from Palm on when webOS phones will appear on AT&T, however, Engadget has posted an article stating that AT&T’s President and CEO, Ralph de la Vega, has gone on the record claiming that by the middle of the year, they will be carrying two unnamed Palm webOS devices. You’ll have to stay tuned for the next few months until more details emerge on the AT&T front.

    For more details on Palm’s newest smartphones, visit the Palm blog.

    Here Come the 3D Games!

    Today Palm also unveiled 7 3D games specifically written to take advantage of the special graphics processor, called a GPU, inside the Palm Pre and Pre Plus smartphones. Combining the GPU, the new software development kit, released in beta form, and the software under pinning that are in the recently released Palm webOS 3.5.1 update, Pre customers can now play games on their smartphones that look just and play just as good as the games on Apple’s iPhone.

    Starting today, and via the Palm App Catalog, you can purchase and download the following 3D games:

    • “Need for Speed Undercover” (EA Mobile)
    • “The Sims 3” (EA Mobile)
    • “MONOPOLY” (EA Mobile)
    • “Asphalt 5: Elite Racing” (Gameloft)
    • “Let’s Golf!” (Gameloft)
    • “Glyder 2” (Glu Mobile)
    • “X-Plane” (Laminar Research)

    I’m excited about Palm’s enabling of the GPU found in the Palm Pre and Pre Plus as it means that Pre customers no longer have to feel like second class citizens in the world of mobile gaming. While I looking forward to playing some of these games (I already purchased a copy of Monopoly this evening), I am still looking forward to playing games like Bejeweled and all of the great card and board games from Astraware, the games division of Handmark.

    To learn more about today’s announcement of the new 3D games for the Palm Pre and Pre Plus smartphones, visit the Palm website.

    Ready! Set! Develop!

    Lastly, Palm announced that the Palm Developer Center is now out of beta status and open to any application developer who wishes to write applications for the Palm webOS platform. Palm also announced that developers will have a choice of selling their applications through the Palm App Catalog or promote their applications by themselves, yet, they can still leverage the Palm over the air (OTA) distribution and installation service.

    This is great news for the legions of web developers out there who know how to write HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code because, as I’m told, those three languages make up the bulk of the application development foundation for webOS applications.

    For developers who are looking to write games and other applications that take advantage of the 3D rendering hardware and software found in webOS devices, like the Pre and Pre Plus, Palm is making the Palm webOS Plug-In Development Kit (PDK) available for use with the standard webOS Software Development Kit (SDK). According to Palm’s press release, “[w]ith the PDK, developers can seamlessly integrate C and C++ code into their webOS apps, enabling new functionality such as 3D games.”

    Developers who wish to further explore the possibilities of the Palm webOS platform should visit the Palm Developer Center website.

    Read More
  • android,  google,  t-mobile,  verizon,  vodafone

    Google’s Nexus One Goes Live

    January 6, 2010 /

    Google’s Nexus One smartphone has gone live and the details of the new phone have been posted on the Google website. Some of the key features include:

    • 3.7-inch 800×400 pixel WVGA touchscreen
    • 5MP digital camera with auto-focus and LED flash
    • UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA/GSM/EDGE cellular radio
    • 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
    • 1400mAh removable battery
    • Android 2.1 Eclair mobile operating system
    • 512MB of RAM and Flash memory
    • 4GB microSD card included, support for upto 32GB microSD cards
    • Assisted GPS receiver and digital compass

    Pricing and Availability

    The new Google Nexus One is available now as an unlocked phone directly from Google for $529.00. You can also purchase the phone from T-Mobile for as low as $179.00 when you subscribe to a qualifying voice and data plan. Google is also reporting that the Nexus One will be coming to Verizon Wireless and Vodafone during the spring of 2010. No specific dates or pricing has been announced for Verizon or Vodafone at this time.

    For more pricing and availability, visit the Google online store.

    Read More
  • android,  google,  motorola,  verizon

    Motorola Enhances Keyboard on New Droid Phone

    January 4, 2010 /

    One of the things that I was complaining about in my recent Motorola Droid review was the way that the keyboard was setup on the Droid. Yes, the Droid has a full Qwerty keyboard, which is still better than an on-screen keyboard in my opinion, but the keyboard was essentially flat and it was hard to feel where one key was from the next.

    In a photo that surfaced on Boy Genius Report over the weekend, it looks like Motorola is aiming to please by changing out and enhancing the keyboard in their next Google Android device, called the Motorola Droid Devour, which is headed to Verizon Wireless at some point this year.

    [Via BoyGeniusReport.com…]

    Read More
  • apple,  ces,  google,  htc,  motorola,  verizon

    CES 2010

    January 2, 2010 /

    The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is set to kick off on January 7 in Las Vegas. Since the focus of the show is consumers, CES starts on a Thursday and ends on a Sunday.

    According to the CES website, there are over 600 technology companies from the West Coast in attendance and event organizers are expecting 110,000 attendees for the trade room floor and workshop sessions. Tickets to the event are $200.

    For more information about this year’s CES event, please visit the CES website.

    Rumors Aplenty

    As usual for this time of year, there is a flurry of rumors about upcoming devices from a number of technology vendors. This year’s rumors include: HTC’s new touchscreen tablet device, Motorola’s expected announcement of two new smartphones, Google’s Nexus One smartphone press event on Jan. 5, with the device available from Google and T-Mobile.

    Palm will also be at CES this year, however, it is expected that the focus will be on software development, and not on new device launches. However, there are those pesky Verizon Wireless Pre Plus and Pixi Plus rumors to deal with.

    Apple won’t be at this year’s CES or MacWorld Expo events. Instead, it is widely rumored that Apple will hold their own press event on or around January 26th. Speculation is running wild in the face of mounting evidence that they will finally announce the table computer that has rumored to be under development for many years now.

    [Via Boy Genius Report, Barron’s Tech Trader Daily, Gizmodo, PreCentral]

    Read More
  • blackberry,  blackberry os,  rim,  verizon

    BlackBerry Storm 2 Hands On Review

    December 28, 2009 /

    I have just wrapped up my test drive of the Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Storm 2 9550 smartphone. I’ve been testing out a selection of some of the more popular CDMA phones to help find the phone that will replace the corporate fleet of Palm Treo 755p’s that are in service at the company I work for.

    The Hardware

    The BlackBerry Storm 2, is Research In Motion’s second smartphone without a physical keyboard. The first was the original Storm. The BlackBerry Storm 2 measures up as being 4.43 x 2.45 x .55-inches and weighs in at 5.5 ounces. In practical terms, it is about the same size as an Apple iPhone. The Storm 2 has all of the standard hardware buttons that you would expect to find on any other BlackBerry smartphone. Unlike the buttons on the Tour, Bold, or Curve, the buttons on the face of the Storm 2 are concealed beneath a smooth sheet of plastic. The green, BlackBerry, escape, and red buttons are part of the bottom of the touch screen and the power and silence buttons are part of the top molding. Another nice touch is that there is a small, clear strip of plastic that protects the Storm 2’s 3.2MP digital camera lens and flash. The Storm 2’s battery door takes up the entire back of the device and snaps into place. Unlike the battery door on the Motorola Droid I recently reviewed, I don’t see the Storm 2’s door accidently being popped off during normal use.

    One thing that I don’t like about the Storm 2 is that the bottom extends beyond the top of the device. This gives the Storm 2 a cool, rounded edge look, but I found it hard to reach up with my left index finger to turn the screen on when I was holding the device in my left hand. The uneven edges where less of a problem when I was holding the Storm 2 in landscape mode.

    The Touch Screen

    The big difference between the BlackBerry Storm 2 and the BlackBerry Tour is that the Storm 2 is a touch screen device. There is no physical keyboard on the Storm 2 and this may turn off some people who have used BlackBerry phones in the past and prefer the hardware keyboard. Part of the reason why I wanted to test the Tour and the Storm 2 was to compare the user experience between the two devices and to see if I could use a Storm 2 for the long haul.

    The unique difference with the Storm 2 and other slate smartphones that don’t have hardware keyboards is that the Storm 2’s screen is “clickable.” Take for example the HTC Magic or the Apple iPhone 3G. Both of these devices have touch screens that dominate the face of the phone. When you tap an object on the screen, the screen remains stationary with virtually no tactile feedback. With the BlackBerry Storm 2, when you press down on the screen to tap an object, the entire screen presses down and clicks similar to the tactile feedback you get when you are clicking an icon or hyperlink on your computer with a mouse. You can hear and feel the click. It is a nice gimmick, but does it really help when you are trying to use an on screen keyboard?

    After having played with the Storm 2, the Tour, and the Motorola Droid recently, I have found that the spacing of the keys on the keyboard are more important to me than whether or not the keyboard is virtual or not. I have found that keyboards on the Palm Treo Pro and Pre are very easy to use. Similarly, the keyboard on the BlackBerry Tour was a little too close – however, the shape of the keys did help improve my accuracy. For the Storm 2, Research in Motion decided to pack in four flavors of the virtual keyboard. They are: Qwerty portrait, Qwerty landscape, two-key portrait, and three-key portrait. I found the two and three-key portrait keyboards completely unacceptable. While I completely refuse trying to peck out a SMS or email message by pressing the same key two or three times to type a letter, the younger crowd who might buy the Storm 2 as their first smartphone may find these keyboard modes familiar, more comfortable even, if they are moving up from a flip phone. With the other two Qwerty keyboard modes available for use, I see professionals selecting the formats that more closely resemble the keyboards on their desks that the ones that resemble those found on flip phones.

    After using the Storm 2’s Qwerty keyboards, I can say that I prefer the landscape keyboard the most. It offers the largest key cap clickable area of all the keyboards and the clickable screen did a good job tricking me into thinking that I was pressing a key on a physical keyboard. That isn’t to say that I didn’t make any typing mistakes, but I think that the Storm 2 offers the best on screen keyboard of all the smartphones I’ve tested so far. My one basic gripe about the landscape Qwerty keyboard is that when it is displayed, it takes up a significant portion of the screen; which can severely limit the space on the screen to see what you are doing.

    The Software

    The BlackBerry Storm 2 runs BlackBerry OS v5.0.0.320 (Platform 4.2.0.124), yet I didn’t find any noticeable difference from the BlackBerry Tour running BlackBerry OS v4.7.1.61 (Platform 4.1.0.81). One welcomed difference is that the Storm 2’s application launcher screen shows you the name of the application just below the icon. To see the name of an application on the Tour, you had to use the scroll ball to highlight the icon for the name to appear at the bottom of the launcher screen. For the most part, I didn’t see any major differences in the software bundled between the two BlackBerry’s I tested for this evaluation.

    Conclusion

    I have always stated that the decision to purchase a smartphone is very much a personal one. What works for me may not work for you. The BlackBerry Storm 2 is a capable BlackBerry smartphone that has many of the features made popular by Apple’s iPhone and you won’t have to jump ship from Verizon to AT&T to get a cool looking touch screen phone. As a BlackBerry, the lack of a physical keyboard may be a deal breaker for some corporate types, while others may welcome the increased screen realestate that comes from not having the keyboard. From a software standpoint, I found little difference between the Storm 2 and other recent model BlackBerry smartphones.

    The BlackBerry Storm 2 is available now from Verizon Wireless for $279.99 when you purchase a qualifying two year service agreement. If you order the Storm 2 from the Verizon online store, Verizon will knock an additional $100 off the price tag. For more information about the BlackBerry Storm 2 9550 smartphones, please visit the BlackBerry website.

    Read More
  • verizon

    The FCC Isn’t Happy With Verizon Wireless

    December 27, 2009 /

    In what was sure to take some of the “Merry” out of “Merry Christmas”, DSLReports.com is reporting that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has responded to Verizon’s explination of their early termination fees (ETF) for smartphones and charges of $1.99 for “phantom” web browser access without a data plan.

    Karl Bode wrote the following for DSLReports.com:

    “The problem is, the strange fee [$1.99 for simply launching the browser on a smartphone] has been documented for months by several customers, a number of newspapers, and even a Verizon whistle blower, who claimed Verizon knew about the junk fee but has done little to stop it because it generates millions in additional annual revenue. So Verizon’s letter to the FCC denying all of this is raising a lot of eyebrows, as is Verizon’s claim that a new $350 ETF for smartphones was to aid the poor (no, we’re not kidding). In a response (PDF) posted this afternoon to the FCC website, [FCC Commissioner Mignon] Clyburn says Verizon’s answers were “unsatisfying” and “in some cases, troubling”.

    The FCC document reads, in part:

    “I am also alarmed by the fact that many consumers have been charged phantom fees for inadvertently pressing a key on their phones thereby launching Verizon Wireless’s mobile Internet service. The company asserted in its response to the Bureau that it “does not charge users when the browser is launched” but recent press reports and consumer complaints strongly suggest otherwise. These issues cannot be ignored.”

    I’m glad to see that the FCC appears to be looking out for consumers. It is no secret that when you are dealing with the likes of the phone company or cable operators, or insurance companies for that matter, the consumer is on short end of the stick. Hopefully, the FCC will help balance the scales for consumers when dealing with not just Verizon Wireless, but also the other U.S. wireless carriers too.

    You can read the full article on DSLReports.com.

    “Can you hear me now?”

    [Via BoyGeniusReport.com…]

    Read More
  • blackberry,  rim,  sprint,  tour,  verizon

    BGR: BlackBerry Tour 2 Hands On

    December 24, 2009 /

    The folks over at BGR have gotten there hands on another BlackBerry. This time we get to eyeball the upcoming BlackBerry Tour 2 9650, which is a CDMA phone from RIM that will likely replace the BlackBerry Tour on Verizon Wireless and Sprint.

    The big changes for the Tour 2 seem to be a track pad and a speed bump. I really like the look of the Tour 2, however, I like the keyboard layout of the BlackBerry Curve 8530 better. Still, the Tour 2 is a nice upgrade for CrackBerry owners who haven’t upgraded to the Tour platform yet.

    Get all the details over at the BGR website.

    [Via BoyGeniusReport.com…]

    Read More