Posted by Greg Kumparak

Check one off the list of 16 devices rumored to be coming to T-Mobile by August. Today, T-Mobile announced the availability of Nokia’s new music playin’ candy bar, the XpressMusic 5310.

The specs:

• 2 inch screen, QVGA resolution (240×320)
• 2.0 megapixel camera
• FM Radio
• Comes with 1GB MicroSD, supports up to 4GB
• Real 3.5 mm headphone jack - none of that dongle adapter nonsense
• Stereo Bluetooth connectivity
• Support for AAC, eAAC+, MP3, and WMA
• Tri-band 850/1800/1900 MHz GSM, GPRS, EDGE
• 1.76 x 4.09 x 0.39 inches, 3.0 ounces

The 5310 will come pre-loaded with some exclusive tracks from Panic at the Disco and Phantom Planet, which are sure to end up on bittorrent by the afternoon of launch.

The phone is set to hit the shelves on May 28th for $49.99 with a two year contract, and will be available black/red, black/purple, and black/orange.

Posted by Greg Kumparak

After Garmin Mobile found its way onto one of my phones, my standalone GPS unit quickly found itself gathering dust. I’m not one of those guys who likes to wear a utility belt and a bag of chargers just to carry a bunch of separate devices; just pack’em all into one, and I’m good to go. Unfortunately, the 10 dollar monthly fee associated with the service can really start to wear on your wallet after a while — especially when you consider that no matter how long you subscribe, you’ll never actually own the application.

Garmin announced recently that Blackberry owners can nab a lifetime subscription to Garmin Mobile for a one-time hit of 100 bucks. No more monthly fees, or having to ask yourself “Am I just sort of lost, or am I $10-dollars lost?” every time you wind up off course.

In addition to the voice prompted turn-by-turn directions one might expect of the application, it also reports traffic info, fuel prices, and weather forecasts.

For Blackberry devices without embedded GPS, the 100 dollar price doesn’t cover the required Blackberry-compatible GPS add-on. Those come in at around another 100 bucks, bringing the price within range of stand-alone units.

[Via Engadget Mobile]

Posted by Greg Kumparak

At the Reuters Technology, Media and Telecoms summit today, T-Mobile CEO Hamid Akhavan stated they expected their exclusive iPhone distribution in Germany “to remain as such.”

As the 3G iPhone tip toes closer each day, more European carries are fightin’ to add it to their line-up. Just last week, T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom lost exclusivity in Austria after Orange announced that they would also be selling the iPhone in the region.

“If and when there is a 3G iPhone” added Akhavan, “we expect to have it exclusively in Germany as well.”

[Via Reuters]

Posted by Greg Kumparak

According to TmoNews, T-Mobile is working to crank out an impressive 16 new devices by August 1st. As the information comes from an internal memo, the date is completely tentative - in fact, it’s more than likely to change. While they were able to conjure up a list of 13 possible devices, 3 are still unknown.

The list:

1. Motorola Rokr E8
2. Motorola W450
3. Blackberry Bold
4. Blackberry KickStart
5. Samsung T339
6. Samsung T229
7. Nokia 1208
8. Nokia 6301
9. Nokia 2760
10. Nokia 5310
11. Nokia 5610
12. Shadow II
13. Shadow III

The list raises an eyebrow, to say the least. AT&T reportedly has exclusivity on the Blackberry Bold until September, and the Shadow II barely exists outside of spyshots, much less as a predecessor to a Shadow III. Even with this bit of stretching, 3 go unnamed. We’ve been hearing a good amount about an upcoming Sidekick iD followup lately, the Sidekick Gekko; perhaps that will eat up one of the slots?

Posted by John Kullman

The Rural Cellular Association (RCA) filed a petition today with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to investigate and adopt rules to prohibit exclusivity arrangements between wireless carriers and cell phone manufactures. The RCA is claiming that exclusive agreements between carriers and mobile phone manufactures restrict consumer choice, decreases completion and violates the Communications Act. This is aimed right at the type of agreement between AT&T and Apple for the privilege to buy an iPhone.

The RCA claims that due to exclusivity agreements, many Americans are unable to use some of the most popular cell phones. Those affected usually live in rural areas where service from some wireless carriers is not available.

“It is important that all Americans have equal access to the latest technology, including wireless devices, regardless of where they live or which carrier provides the service,” said David Nace, counsel to RCA. “RCA is standing up for consumer’s rights and putting an end to exclusivity arrangements that create another ‘digital divide’ between urban and rural

America.”

The petition also claims that consumers who are able to buy and use phones like the iPhone are forced to pay a premium price for their handset and are forced to change carriers.

We have seen over the last few months that Apple is willing to wave exclusivity deals in certain countries to open new markets. I’m not sure how much weight, if any, the FCC will give this fact. But I doubt that the RCA’s petition will change much about how the mobile phone business is done in the United States. The recent auction of the 700 megahertz spectrum, and the coming of age for WiMax, promises to open new nationwide networks that may squeeze-out the small rural provider. It is unlikely that the FCC will want to force carriers and manufactures to retool their business plans.

Petition Copy

RCA

Posted by Greg Kumparak

Cell phones have always been one of those things that people remain convinced are just omg-so-much-better in Japan. They never know exactly what is better about them, of course - just that they’re in Japan, and as such do a bunch of ridiculous stuff US cell phones won’t be doing for years. While this held true throughout the 90s (and perhaps even the early 2000s), it’s more of a lingering notion at this point. Sure, Japan still has some neat stuff (especially with their uses of RFID) that hasn’t taken off stateside, but the differences are quickly dwindling.

In fact, the popularity of the iPhone might be turning the tables a bit, with a rumor that Korean and Japanese carriers are looking to adopt the US made handset: According to AppleInsider, Korea Telecom Freetel and Japan’s NTT DoCoMo are working out the details to bring the iPhone to their respective countries.

If any crazy folk out there are still denying the impending release of a 3G iPhone, note that these countries use Wideband CDMA, a 3G technology.

Posted by Greg Kumparak

With Verizon and AT&T restricting their wireless broadband packages to 5GB of bandwidth per month, it seems that Sprint feels they’re being a little too giving with their “Unlimited” plans. Starting in July, Sprint will be adding a matching limit to their Terms of Service.

From a memo leaked on Sprintusers:

“Sprint reserves the right to limit throughput speeds or amount of data transferred and to deny, terminate, modify, or suspend service if usage exceeds 5GB per month in total or 300MB/month while off-network roaming. Check your subscriber agreement rights on Sprint.com”

Not cool, when you consider that Sprint is currently toting packages they claim come with Unlimited data. Lets take a look at the definition of “unlimited”:



unlimited

1. not limited; unrestricted; unconfined
2. boundless; infinite; vast:
3. without any qualification or exception;

You know, by any of those definitions, a 5GB cap sure seems to cancel out the “Unlimited” bit.

Hopefully, Sprint will drop the “Unlimited” term from their vocabulary before the restrictions roll out. Otherwise, they’re just one of many carriers trying to redefine it. It’d be like if someone were to stand on the street with a sign that said “Free Candy”, but the back of the sign said “Oh, and by candy, we mean face punches.”

Posted by John Kullman

Nokia and KONAMI announced today that the two companies have partnered to offer KONAMI mobile games on Nokia’s N-Gage mobile games platform. Metal Gear Solid Mobile will be the first game offered from KONAMI. The mobile version of Metal Gear has received two awards at the 2007 International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA), winning both the Grand Prix and Operator’s Choice awards.

“We’re excited to see KONAMI tap into the performance and community features we’ve built into the N-Gage platform,” said Gregg Sauter, Director, Third Party Games Publishing, Nokia. “METAL GEAR SOLID(R) on N-Gage will raise the bar with respect to graphical detail and

made-for-mobile features. We look forward to the launch of this great franchise on N-Gage.”

KONAMI has a large archive of mobile entertainment, including games, wallpapers and ringtones. This partnership should help the N-Gage brand expand into the mobile gaming market.

N-Gage is a made-for-mobile games service available in compatible Nokia

Nseries and other S60 3rd Edition devices from Nokia.

KONAMI

N-Gage

Posted by Greg Kumparak

With what is quite likely the largest Internet censoring setup in the word, China isn’t exactly known for letting their citizens roam free online. It is by no means uncommon to hear reports of statements critiquing the Chinese government being pulled from forums and blogs. After facing global criticism following the intense online censorship of the Tibetan protests, it seems Chinese authorities may be (temporarily?) loosening their grip.

Following Monday’s 7.9 magnitude earthquake, which is already known to have killed at least 20,000, the information has been flowing in a way previously unseen in the region. For the first time in decades, local governments are being told to welcome and support journalists.

However, much of the information and commentary about the quake is coming not from professional journalists, but the citizens of China themselves. Be it by text, IM, or blog, communication — positive or not — about the quake has been flowing in almost completely uncensored, made possible by the widespread adoption of mobile phones. Sites like Fanfou (a Chinese SMS microblogging site not unlike Twitter), have been flooded with citizens commenting on the tragedy.

We’ll have to wait and see if censorship continues to lighten. With many eyes closely watching China following the Tibetan protests and the monumental controversy surrounding the 2008 Olympic Games being held in Beijing, authorities will likely take any opportunity to shine a positive light on the country and it’s government.

[Via AP]

Posted by Greg Kumparak

Good news for those of you that get angry and smash lose your PDA on a regular basis: AT&T is planning to expand their nsurance options to include PDAs come June 2nd, 2008.

Insurance will cost $4.99 per month, with two different pricing tiers for deductibles:

• Tier I: Most standard phones, $50 dollar deductible.
• Tier II: High end phones and PDAs, $125 dollar deductible.

Contrary to some reports, these options will not cover the iPhone.

Insurance is only available to those initiating a new contract and those who have purchased their phones within the last 30 days.

Photo Credit: justinbaeder