06/03, 9:40am
Nokia E73 Mode brings Wi-Fi calling
Nokia kept itself in the news this morning by launching the E73 Mode (link up soon). The phone is the first genuinely new Eseries device made just for a US carrier and gives T-Mobile customers Wi-Fi calling; Hotspot Calling customers can get better reception and free minutes when at home or on T-Mobile's public access points. Preloaded apps are just as important with both the usual Ovi Maps and Ovi Store services as well as access to Bloomberg, Lotus Traveler, Salesforce and other tools for editing and viewing work files.
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12/11, 5:45pm
T-Mobile sees @Home router as unprofitable
T-Mobile is considering the possibility of dropping part of its special HotSpot@Home calling service, a source said today. The carrier is supposedly disappointed with its fixed service, which uses two SIM cards to create a local network for phones, and may drop the feature "soon." T-Mobile's reversal is said by the BGR contact to be the result of T-Mobile's new chief operational officer determining that the plan isn't profitable.
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07/27, 7:50am
BlackBerry Curve 8520
RIM today formally launched the long-in-development BlackBerry Curve 8520, its first more consciously low-end QWERTY smartphone. The device trims costs compared to the 8900 by using a lower-resolution 320x240 screen and a 2-megapixel camera but also marks a number of firsts in control for BlackBerries: it abandons the trackball for an optical trackpad which is ostensibly both smoother to use but also more durable. It also has dedicated media keys at the top to pause or skip tracks without having to look at the screen.
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07/10, 10:00am
Sprint Verizon Demand WiFi
Both Sprint and Verizon have said late Thursday that they're working to add Wi-Fi to their smartphones to address a significant gap in their networks. Talking to FierceWireless, Sprint business product marketing head Jeff Clemow says his carrier decided months ago to require that all its smartphones use Wi-Fi and will soon put the requirement into effect. As a consequence, a 2010 version of the BlackBerry Tour will add Wi-Fi to the existing EVDO Rev A-based 3G it depends on so far; it only ships without due to a need to get the Tour to stores.
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03/30, 3:05pm
Huawei Android on T-Mo Q3
Huawei's first Android phone (pictured is now set to become one of T-Mobile's first non-HTC Android devices, if a leak proves true. A claimed "trusted" source for TmoNews asserts that the touchscreen device is being tested for a summer launch and that it should be a high-end phone with a 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and a 3.5mm headphone jack for music. However, it isn't yet known to include UMA support for VoIP over T-Mobile's HotSpot Calling service.
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02/13, 10:55am
ABI on iPhone Wi-Fi
A new study from ABI Research today notes that iPhone users are much more likely to actually use their Wi-Fi than on rival devices. About 75 percent of all those who have one of Apple's phones are using their Wi-Fi "regularly," while only about 10 percent of those with HTC phones are using theirs. This comes despite 80 percent of HTC's devices having 802.11b or g built-in.
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01/28, 10:00am
T-Mo Shadow 7510 and Curve
T-Mobile on Wednesday said it has begun shipping the 2009 edition Shadow smartphone as well as the Nokia 7510 Supernova. The former is T-Mobile's new flagship Windows Mobile device and should now cost $200 with a two-year contract for its 2-megapixel camera, microSDHC storage, and Wi-Fi with support for HotSpot Calling over VoIP. It comes in two different color options can be had contract-free for $350.
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01/08, 8:10am
T-Mobile at CES 2009
T-Mobile this morning volunteered to use CES as the venue to introduce a trio of new phones for its network. The company's long in progress Shadow update completely reworks the design but continues to embrace the same basic philosophy of a jogwheel for control and a slide-out, SureType keyboard. The new model, however, builds in Wi-Fi with HotSpot Calling and carries a faster 260MHz processor to help drive its Windows Mobile 6.1 platform.
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