Bell busted out their fresh HSPA devices yesterday, and today we have a similar official announcement from telus (NYSE: TU). Earlier this week, we had a chance to sit down and take a look at the new toys; most of the players you’ll already be familiar with, but here’s a rundown of telus‘ take on each one.
First up we have the Hero, HTC’s Android avenger, jam-packed with their custom Sense user interface. I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t packaged in Sprint (NYSE: S)’s slick, smooth, curve casing, but telus apparently wanted to capture the European flavour by offering something unique to North America, although it’s arguably reminiscent of Rogers (NYSE: RCI)’ HTC Dream in terms of aesthetic. Prodding a little bit about other Android hardware in the future, telussaid that they’re really not interested in vanilla builds – they really want to see some unique experiences with each manufacturer, and I couldn’t agree more. If you’re hoping to see the Hero on another carrier up north, good luck; telus said they’ve nabbed the Canadian exclusive on the Hero, and it sounded indefinite. The price point is also killer: $99.99 on contract, $499.99 off contract.
With all the hub-bub these days surrounding the Motorola DROID and HTC DROID Eris, Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has taken the chance to launch a new device quite quietly, amongst all the noise made by the DROID insanity. Which device? Well, I’m talking about the LG Chocolate Touch. Available for $79.99 (after $50 rebate) on a 2-year contract, the Chocolate Touch (love that name) features a 3″ touchscreen, comes pre-installed with VZ Navigator, V CAST Music and Video, oh, and there’s a 3.2MP camera on-board as well. You’ll also get visual voicemail and a convenience key all tricked-out to help you pull up your favorite social networks.
The LG Chocolate Touch also comes complete with Dolby Mobile… A setup that apparently ‘produces an audio quality that rivals MP3 players’. Oh goody. 1GB of internal memory is slated for music, and if that isn’t enough room you can expand up to 16GB with a microSD card (not included).
My initial impressions? Meh. Yeah, DROID does sound a little bit better. I love to eat chocolate, but I’d be hesitant to ever use it as my ‘daily driver’.
Check out the LG Chocolate Touch for yourself at Verizon Wireless.
My bud David over at TMoNews has managed to get his hands (from a trusted ninja) on a video look at the Samsung Behold II’s TouchWiz interface. The custom UI ‘Cube’ is certainly a different take on the traditional Android UI. Check it out.
Last I heard the Samsung Behold II will be announced at T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) on November 12th… with availability coming November 18th. Pricing is said to be around the $249.99 mark on a 2-year contract. Would you spend that much for a spinning cube, WiFi, 16GB of storage, and a 5MP camera with auto-focus and flash? Check out the video above if you haven’t already, and leave your thoughts in the comments.
What do you think? Awesomely awesome? Or colossal FAIL?
Google Maps for BlackBerry has been updated, and as per usual, the folks on the Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Campus have personally let me down by not providing a changelog Let’s face it, I’d like to know what’s new before I actually pop open the app, am I the only one that feels this way? Me thinks not.
In the 3.2 update we noticed ‘layers’ functionality added to the app. A feature which allowed us to view all kinds of information on the map at one time. Turn layers on and off depending on the info you want to display on your map… View Wikipedia entries, transit lines, Google Latitude, and much more. It’s fun to explore this feature.
At any rate, the latest version brings us up to 3.2.1, and there’s no doubt the usual smattering of bug fixes and tweaks inside.
To grab your copy or to upgrade, hit up m.google.com/maps from your device. Enjoy!
So what is this LG ‘IQ’ all about? You got me, this is the first I’ve heard of it. The device has made an appearance in an ad found in a recent Best Buy Mobile catalog. Pictured alongside the Rogers LG Eve and TELUS New Chocolate (the BL40). It looks to be a QWERTY slider with a fair-sized display. I’m assuming all of the standard features are built in, including Bluetooth, 3-4MP camera, WiFi, GPS (perhaps?), and the usual bevy of built-in apps. Should be interesting to hear what comes down the tubes on this one… But at the moment I’m hearing the IQ will arrive on TELUS (NYSE: TU) at the end of this month, or early December… and it will run WinMo 6.5 with a custom LG user interface. Stay tuned for more.
Well whataya know… The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is just getting acquainted with us, and what do we notice? There’s already a leaked OS out for the device. Let the OS leaks for the 9700 begin! The OS is mighty unofficial, and brings things up to 5.0.0.321. As always, be sure to backup your device and take all necessary precautions before you proceed. Or, if you haven’t even picked up your Bold 9700 yet, heck, just download this and update the OS later. Apparently this is the OS shipping on the Rogers (NYSE: RCI) Bold 9700, so if you’ve got your hands on said device, probably best to pass this up.
Norway, home of browser vendor Opera, and delicious lutefisk, has a population of less than 5 million people and is roughly the size of the state of New Mexico. I’m sharing these facts with you to give some context to the next statement: Telenor, the number one operator in Norway, is going to rebuild their network from scratch. With Chinese infrastructure vendor Huawei building the wireless side, and Starnet, who was recently acquired by Cisco, responsible for the back-end, Telenor plans to rebuild their network over the next few years. Each new tower will support 2G, 3G and 4G, and all legacy circuit switched equipment will be thrown out and replaced in order to make their network 100% IP-based.
“This is the biggest upgrade of the mobile network in Norway we have ever carried out. It will create a solid and flexible base for further developing the services offered by the Telenor mobile network and the quality of those services. Our aim is to provide customers with better, more innovative services across the country. This means better in terms of capacity, speed and stability.” — Ragnar Kårhus, Head of Telenor Norway
In the midst of an economy that is no longer falling like a rock, but will likely be flat for years to come, Telenor has some pretty damn big balls. I blame it on the high protein diet of mainly seafood.
We’ve already seen the Huawei U8220 Pulse passing the FCC hurdle with T-Mobile USA-ready frequencies, and now we have the same/similar device taking the same route, this time sporting the ready-for-AT&T (NYSE: T) 3G bands. That’s 850 and 1900 MHz baby, meaning Huawei’s Android-powered smartphone could end up in AT&T’s (and Canada’s Rogers (NYSE: RCI) Wireless for that matter) portfolio just in time for the upcoming Christmas season. This is not to say we have any inside info — quite the contrary — it’s only to emphasize that’s an option, a viable one, if I might add.
Of course, I wouldn’t expect to see AT&T calling the U8220 – Pulse, as it’s T-Mobile (NYSE: DT)’s brand, and that’s not the point here. The point is to have another major U.S. carrier embracing Android!
As soon as we hear something new, we’ll let you know. Stay tuned…
AT&T (NYSE: T)’s Samsung Jack is blessed with the Windows Mobile 6.5 update. The Korean giant announced the upgrade saying existing owners of the full QWERTY keyboard-equipped device will be able to experience the improved UI latest Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s mobile OS brings, better Pocket Internet Explorer, access Windows Marketplace, and also get free access to AT&T hotspots around the country.
And that’s about it. To upgrade your Jack, simply follow instructions on Samsung’s website.
Olympic Games are always a great way to spread your marketing message to a wide audience. Bell and Samsung know that, hence we have Bell’s Omnia II being unveiled as the official mobile phone of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
The announcement came just in time to celebrate the carrier’s newly rolled out HSPA network and should certainly help Bell get some love (and new subscribers) from around the country.
You know all about the Omnia II, so I won’t repeat its specs here. I’ll only add that those who own Samsung’s Windows Mobile smartphone will be able to download Samsung’s Wireless Olympic Works (WOW) application, which is used to keep track of the latest news and happenings during the Olympics. Cool for both Bell and Samsung!
Bell busted out their fresh HSPA devices yesterday, and today we have a similar official announcement from telus (NYSE: TU). Earlier this week, we had a chance to sit down and take a look at the new toys; most of the players you’ll already be familiar with, but here’s a rundown of telus‘ take on each one.
First up we have the Hero, HTC’s Android avenger, jam-packed with their custom Sense user interface. I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t packaged in Sprint (NYSE: S)’s slick, smooth, curve casing, but telus apparently wanted to capture the European flavour by offering something unique to North America, although it’s arguably reminiscent of Rogers (NYSE: RCI)’ HTC Dream in terms of aesthetic. Prodding a little bit about other Android hardware in the future, telussaid that they’re really not interested in vanilla builds – they really want to see some unique experiences with each manufacturer, and I couldn’t agree more. If you’re hoping to see the Hero on another carrier up north, good luck; telus said they’ve nabbed the Canadian exclusive on the Hero, and it sounded indefinite. The price point is also killer: $99.99 on contract, $499.99 off contract.
Let’s face it, I’d like to know what’s new before I actually pop open the app, am I the only one that feels this way? Me thinks not.
Well whataya know… The 
