Cell Phones / Accessories

Garmin today announced a new GPS plan for BlackBerry users called “Garmin Mobile for BlackBerry.” The software will allow customers with GPS-enabled BlackBerrys to use Garmin GPS software for a one-time $99.99 payment. If you don’t have a GPS-enabled BlackBerry, you can use an external device, such as the GPS 10x, a portable GPS sensor that will communicate location data to your BlackBerry via Bluetooth.

Garmin Mobile will provide BlackBerry users with voice-guided turn-by-turn directions, weather, traffic information, and gas prices. Users can also use the software to find points of interest during trips, including local restaurants or entertainment destinations such as bowling alleys and more. The software will also reroute you, should you miss an important turn while you’re driving, no thanks to the screaming kids in the back of your 1996 Chevy Astro.

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Earlier this morning, Verizon Wireless announced that it has joined the LiMo Foundation, and that it has taken a seat on the board of directors. LiMo was created in 2007 by Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics, and Vodafone with the goal of creating an open mobile Linux platform for mobile consumer electronics.

In late November, Verizon Wireless announced that its network would be open to qualified handsets and other consumer electronics that met its standards. Then in March of this year, the FCC revealed that Verizon Wireless had won the coveted C-block of the 700MHz spectrum, which by law, is required to remain an open network. Given the tensions between Verizon Wireless and Google, it doesn’t shock us that the carrier has chosen LiMo, first, over Google’s Android platform in its quest for openness. Here are the highlights from today’s press conference.

• LiMo will become the preferred OS for Verizon Wireless’ handsets, starting with lower end feature phones and scaling up to smart phones later.

• The first LiMo-based devices will take “many months” to develop, and they will debut in 2009.

• Verizon Wireless will be dedicating resources to this initiative above and beyond what the carrier already does for OSes like Brew, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry, and during the call it was explained that this would require that Verizon hire more talent that has an expertise in open-source software (which is a good sign).

• Android isn’t off the table by any stretch, but it seems that at least for the immediate future LiMo will be the platform of choice for devices Verizon Wireless itself rolls out, while Android will be more of a back door offering through the carrier’s separate Any Apps, Any Device initiative. Although that could change if there’s enough demand.

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In today’s New York Times, Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint, stated in regard to Sprint’s customer service problems, “The issues haven’t changed.” This statement came on the heels of the news that the carrier lost 1.09 million customers in the first quarter of 2008. Additionally, Bloomberg is reporting the Sprint may sell off some of its assets to make up for its $505 million net loss. However, it’s worth noting that Sprint also invested $236 million in WiMAX in the first quarter.

By comparison, T-Mobile announced last week that, according to a study by J.D. Power and Associates, it ranks highest in wireless retail customer satisfaction in the U.S. With rumors swirling that T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, is interested in buying Sprint, the marriage would most likely improve Sprint’s customer service.

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This morning AT&T confirmed our sneaking suspicions that it would be the first U.S. carrier to sell the BlackBerry Bold, the latest handset from RIM that was announced this morning.

AT&T is touting itself as the first carrier to offer a BlackBerry with international 3G support, likely because the 3G Curves announced on Verizon Wireless and Sprint last week don’t support HSDPA data connections.

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RIM announced the new quad-band BlackBerry Bold bright and early this morning. Two words: it rocks.

Like the two latest 8330 Curves on Verizon Wireless and Sprint, it’s 3G. This time around, however, it’s an HSDPA 3G phone with built-in 802.11a/b/g support. AT&T fans can cheer now.

Suave Looks

The large full QWERTY keypad reminds us a lot of the 8800 series, with its ridged keys spaced closer together than on the Curve. Like its slick user-interface, the whole device has a black, red, and white theme. Pretty James-Bondish if you ask me. Most of the phone is black, including the keypad which has white lettering, and red lighted accents.

A silver border runs around the phone. The rear has an awesome fake leather surface to it (We originally thought it was real), and you can swap it out for different colored leathers. Mike Lazaridis, RIM CEO, told us that the “front is for business, and the back is for the evening.” Kind of like a mullet. We can’t help but agree, the Bold is straight up classy.

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All morning we’ve heard nothing but muffled growling from two fresh boxes that just landed in our office. The new BlackBerry 8330 Curves from Sprint ($179 with two-year contract and rebates) and Verizon Wireless ($169 with two-year contract and rebates) are finally here and they are eager to do battle.

Each 8330 has its own unique features, and both offer EV-DO connectivity and GPS, but only one will emerge as the winner. We’ll be bringing you our full reviews soon, but here are our first hands-on impressions of these eagerly awaited smart phones. Check out how the Curves fare, round by round…

Update: The full review of the Sprint Curve has been posted.

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Like many other Sprint customers, I have been anxiously awaiting the release of the BlackBerry Curve 8330. Today it finally became available. However, I just purchased a new phone with a two-year contract from Sprint last year, long before the original Curve for AT&T was even released. As a result, I was only eligible for $75 off a new device when I signed up for another two-year contract, which makes the Curve an unattractive $524.

If I was a new Sprint customer, I could purchase it with multiple discounts and rebates for $179.99, but by staying loyal to Sprint for the last eight years, I was screwed. Or was I?

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The Samsung Glyde was announced for Verizon Wireless today. The $249 phone, after a $50 rebate, has a 2.8” haptic touchscreen and a full QWERTY keypad that slides out from under it.

We liked the messaging capabilities of the Samsung Glyde, but were frustrated by its confusing and often unresponsive touchscreen and user interface. The LG Voyager costs $50 more and offers a second display, an onscreen QWERTY keypad, and support for V Cast Mobile TV. And the upcoming Samsung Instinct at least tries to be innovative with its easier-to-customize favorites menu and voice-activated local search, although that phone lacks a physical keyboard.

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Mobile WiMAX isn’t dead! Maybe. Sprint and Clearwire have been bailed out by some pretty rich partners. The two companies have agreed to combine their WiMAX wireless broadband businesses to form a new wireless communications company called Clearwire. (Yes, I guess the Xohm brand is dead.) The goal: “to accelerate the deployment of a nationwide mobile WiMAX network in the U.S.”

According to the press release, the new Clearwire is targeting a network deployment that will cover between 120 million and 140 million people in the U.S. by the end of 2010. Intel, along with Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks, have invested a combined $3.2 billion into the new company. I had a chance to sit in on a conference call this morning with both Sprint CEO Dan Hesse and the new Clearwire CEO Benjamin Wolff. Here are some of the highlights.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse claimed that the new Clearwire will still be at least two years ahead of the competition. I wonder if this will hold true given all of the shuffling going on. If this $3.2 billion investment was needed, you would think the deployment wasn’t going so smoothly. How soon can this money make a real difference? And will it make a significant difference before LTE becomes a reality for AT&T and Verizon Wireless? Read the rest of this entry »

We had a few minutes to sit down and play around with the new HTC Diamond and found it to be a pretty decent phone. (Our apologies if we’re picking up the English penchant for understatement.)

Picking it up, it’s quite light and slim, a bit smaller and lighter than the iPhone. While the entire front isn’t a touchscreen, it has a glossy finish that picks up fingerprints quite well. Below the touchscreen are four push buttons that surround a nav-pad that, too, is touch-activated. The screen itself was fairly easy to use, although we noticed a little bit of lag when scrolling through the various menu items at the bottom of the page. HTC reps didn’t have these problems, so we’ll chalk it up to inexperience.

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