Today, NTT DoCoMo announced that its customers can now roam both voice and data services on all of the Hawaiian islands using AT&T's WCDMA network.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Nokia Cuts Phone Prices
According to Reuters, Nokia has slashed the price points of many of its phones by about 10%, placing added pressure on rivals. Nokia holds 40% of the world market for cell phones.
T-Mobile Adds Parental Controls to Family Plans
Today T-Mobile announced that it will be adding more advanced parental controls to its family plans. The new feature, called Family Allowance, will give parents control over what services can be used on their children's phones and to what extent. They can set limits to the number of text messages that can be sent, set limits on downloads, such as ringtones or games, and set limits on the number of minutes used in any given month for phone calls. Once a monthly limit for one of the services is reached, that service is shut off and no longer available to that line. The tool is controlled via the T-Mobile web site, and parents will receive notifications when limits are reached. Family Allowance will be available beginning in August and will cost $2 per month.
T-Mobile Kicks Out a New Sidekick
Today T-Mobile announced the newest version of the Sidekick. The 2008 model has a smaller footprint than previous generations of the Sidekick, but it retains the familiar, swivel-out screen, controls and track ball. The stand-out feature are the Sidekick's interchangeable shells. Customers will be able to use the T-Mobile web site to design their own custom shells ($15) or pick from pre-designed shells to personalize their Sidekick. The Sidekick 2008 has quad-band GSM/EDGE radios, as well as Bluetooth 2.0 with support for stereo Bluetooth playback. It ups the camera to 2 megapixels with video capture, and has a microSD card slot for additional media. It is boxed with a 512MB card. It can access T-Mobile's MyFaves calling plan, as well as multiple email and IM accounts. The screen is a 2.6-inch WQVGA display, and the Sidekick 2008 uses USB for data transfer. It will be available online and in Upnext Wireless stores for $50 with new agreement.
FCC Approves HTC Touch Diamond with U.S. 3G
Documents seen on the FCC site reveal some details about a new version of the HTC Touch Diamond. The Touch Diamond was first announced by HTC in May. The original version did not support U.S. 3G spectrum bands. This new version seen on the FCC site includes WCDMA 850/1900, and also confirms Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and Wi-Fi. HTC has not said when this variant of the Touch Diamond will become available. HTC announced a CDMA variant of the Diamond earlier this month.
Nokia Drops BlackBerry Connect from E Series, E71 Available At U.S. Flagship Stores
Starting with the E66 and E71, Nokia has dropped support for Research In Motion's BlackBerry Connect service. BlackBerry Connect was software that ran on the E Series devices, which are aimed at business users, and allowed Nokia phones to retrieve corporate email. Nokia has its own push mobile email product, which it acquired when it purchased Intellisync several years ago. Nokia views RIM as a competitor, and would rather its customers use Nokia technology for push email. The E71 recently went on sale at the Nokia flagship store in Chicago, and beginning today, it is also available at the flagship store in New York City.
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