T-Mobile announcing USB stick

Now that T-Mobile has a 3G network in place, even though it is still quite limited, they announced the T-Mobile webConnect USB Laptop Stick. The USB Laptop Stick is priced at FREE with a 2-year contract, $49.99 with a 1-year contract, and $149.99 with no contract. Like the other wireless carriers you can consume up to 5GB of data per month for $59.99. T-Mobile also includes their WiFi HotSpot access with your data plan. If you are in an area without 3G, the Laptop Stick works over EDGE.

The webConnect USB Laptop Stick has a microSD card slot that supports up to 8GB cards. The photos show it has a rotating end so it can easily be adjusted to fit in your laptop. The Connection Manager is integrated into the USB Stick and T-Mobile seems to be listening to customers since the software includes a usage meter and a notification system that can be setup to send you a message when you reach 80 percent of your 5GB limit. Now this is customer service and a very welcome feature of this new card. There is no mention of Mac support yet for the card so you may need a Windows PC to use the USB Laptop Stick.

T-Mobile also stated that their 3G network is now available in more than 120 US cities with plans to double the coverage in 2009 and reach more than 200 million people.

T-Mobile USA continues to aggressively expand its 3G wireless broadband services, and the company’s 3G high-speed data network is available in more than 130 U.S. cities as of the end of 2008. In 2009, the company plans to double the population currently covered by its high-speed network to reach more than 200 million people in the U.S., which includes expansion to an additional 100 cities by the end of the year.

Rumor Alert: Sony Ericsson Idou to go on sale in October

We’re sure you hate it every time tech bloggers say “take this with a grain of salt,” but you’re just going to have to take this with a grain of salt. According to the folks over a mobile.se, a German PR rep for Sony Ericsson has gone on the record to state that the Idou — a Symbian-powered device with a 3.5″ touchscreen, monstrous 12 megapixel camera and GPS — is slated to commence retail sales in October with November being the fall-back date. When asked for comments, Gustaf Brusewitz of Sony Ericsson Sweden would only reconfirm the companies previous commitment to ship the Idou “sometime in the second half of the year,” something that we hope means that the Idou will go on sale well before Christmas to help the struggling Japanse/Swedish owned company get back on its feet. Besides, wouldn’t it be nice to have a 12 megapixel camera phone in your pocket on Halloween to document your best friend almost blowing his hand off with an M-80? Yeah, that’d be so sweet.

Nokia E75's begin journey to retail shelves

We can’t say that we’re as excited as we could be, but we’re still pleased nonetheless that the latest entry in Nokia’s business orientated E-Series, the E75, has begun shipping and has arrived safe and sound in some retail locations across the globe. Nokia seems to be quite proud of the E75 as it is the first of their handsets to ship with Nokia Messaging pre-installed, a service which not only includes support for Nokia’s own corporate email client, Mail for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveller but consumer email services like Yahoo! Mail, Gmail and Windows Live Hotmail. We guess it can’t hurt that the E75 has a sliding QWERTY keypad, 2.4″ display, 3.2 megapixel camera, aGPS, WiFi and quad-band EDGE/dual-band HSDPA connectivity and runs on , either.

Verizon, Vodafone, China Mobile Team Up on Widget Platform

Today Verizon Wireless announced that it and mobile network operators China Mobile, Vodafone and Softbank are forming a new joint venture. The Joint Innovation Lab is meant to focus on creating a single platform for developers to use for the creation of mobile widgets. The widgets should work across a wide variety of smartphones and non-smartphones. The tools being offered by JIL include a common mobile widgets specification; SDKs; and an online repository, distribution and payment mechanism that will allow developers to sell their widgets in more than 70 countries.

HTC's Snap to Succeed the Dash

Today HTC announced a true successor to its Dash smartphone in the new HTC Snap. The Snap is a bar-style phone running Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard with a full, physical QWERTY keyboard. HTC has replaced the D-pad on the Dash with a track ball on the Snap. Its stand-out feature is a new email filtering program called Inner Circle. Snap users all several close contacts to their Inner Circle. When they press the dedicated Inner Circle button on the keyboard, it opens a filtered email inbox showing messages received only from those contacts that are part of the inner circle. The Snap has quad-band GSM/EDGE and has two HSDPA variants, including 850/1900MHz. It has a 2 megapixel camera with video capture, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, GPS, and Wi-Fi. The Snap also supports microSDHC cards. HTC didn't announced a price point or exact availability.

HTC means business, unveils HTC Snap and "Inner Circle"

Fresh from CTIA day 1 in Las Vegas, HTC is about to unveil its latest Windows Mobile handset that sets its sites on the likes of BlackBerrys and the Nokia E71. Slim and sleek, the HTC Snap sports a sexy 12mm-thick case and a smooth QWERTY keyboard. At first glance the Snap may seem a bit behind the times as far as specs go — the 2 megapixel camera is pretty underwhelming and Windows Mobile 6.1 standard is soooo 2008, but let’s put things in perspective. Consider the handset’s competition: The BlackBerry Bold has a 2 megapixel camera and the Nokia E71 has a slightly beefier 3.2 megapixel shooter, though we’ve seen sun prints that come out clearer than E71 pictures. Beyond that, neither handset wields what we would call an up-to-date OS. Instead, they rely on tried and true platforms known for stability and functionality over sex appeal and zip — just like Windows Mobile 6.1.

The HTC Snap is a messaging handset for people whose first priority in terms of handsets is communications. In that vein, the Snap will be HTC’s first handset to feature its new “Inner Circle” email prioritization system. It’s pretty clever, actually — Inner Circle allows users to define a group of high priority contacts. When inboxes start to get a bit out of control, a simple tap on the dedicated Inner Circle button will automatically place any emails from high priority contacts at the top of the inbox. Simple yet pretty smart, we’d say. Add to that the fact that email/PIM is without question one of Windows Mobile’s strong points and you’ve got yourself one hell of a work horse. As far as the US is concerned, expect an unlocked version dubbed the HTC S522 (with AT&T-compatible 3G) to drop this Summer. Hit the jump for the full specs, a bunch of additional images and the full release.