Cellphones spank Landlines for the first time ever

The Buzz:
Cellphones Conquer Land Lines for First Time in 2007
According to a recent piece in the NYTimes, 2007 will be the first year in which the dollars spent on cellphone subscriptions trump traditional land lines. Among other points, they site that in 2006, households spend an average of $542 on residential lines while only spending $524 on wireless services. Add another year of cellphone growth to those figures, and it's hard to believe that land lines are still king.
What about your household? In mine, we definitely spend more on our cells than our obligatory, barebones land line. Of course, if you factored in all of our wired services (including internet and television), the phones lose by a small margin.



My Roast:
First, the death of the modern pay phone, and now Wireless has more subscribers than the Landline customers. Take that, Landlines! Us cool and hip Wireless freaks are going to take you down and spank you like we did to the payphone. It's on a matter of time before you go down too, and a whole land of cell phones unite and conquer the world! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

In Daniel R. Hesse we trust... at least pissed off Sprint shareholders!

Boy, does this guy have his work cut out for him!

You're looking at the face of the new CEO of Sprint/Nextel. Here's a little list off the top of my head that this guy is going to have to solve:

1. Stop losing customers, and reverse the ghastly churn rate

2. Increase ARPU without the help of Nextel

3. Make some use of Xohm (4G Wimax) without financially crippling yourself

4. Increase profits enough to the point that people actually want to buy your stock again

5. Decrease your expenses and willingly terminate customers that roam so much that they COST THE COMPANY MONEY!

6. Continue the build out of 1900 mhz towers, so that people can actually get signal in BFE

7. Pimp your service of in-home cell antennas for people that actually live in BFE

8. Find more, and cooler, handsets

9. Stop wearing sily looking green and gold ties

WHEW, these changes are going to be a toughie, especially when you've got every shareholder's eye on your butt like stink on poopie (yes, I just said "poopie." Wanna fight about it?)

Heavens to Betsy, another iClone, but this one being Windows Mobile!?!

The LG KS20 makes me like Korea.... a lot.

It's quite shiny, it's got Windows Mobile, and there is a camera on it. Um, I like it so far, but I still have no clue when this thing will come to the US shores, which GSM carrier will take it (most likely AT&T), how fast it is..... nothing! Also, if you look at the measurements, who the hell is going to keep a cell phone in their pocket that is 50 inches wide, and 100 inches tall?!? (That's a joke, you're supposed to laugh. I'm not NAIVE to the point where I don't know that outside of the red, white, and blue.... and possibly Iraquistan, that the world operates off of the metric system. Speaking of Iraquistan (and other George Bush jokes, when the hell is that idiot out of the office, and when can we get a democrat in that oval office? I've got a joke that illustrates my obvious poilitical opinions... "So a black man and a white woman enter the oval office..." Eh. I'm bored. I'll finish that joke later.

Like a Phoenix from the ashes, the blog is back BABY!

After a brief hiatus (of almost 3 months), I have decided to let my blog rise from the ashes and become a living, breathing entity yet once more. I feel like Dr. Frankenstein, breathing life into my otherwise lifeless creature, and allowing it to roam the earth and attack shrubbery whilst "pissed" (as David would call it, I personally would just call it being F*&@%$D up!

So sit back, relax, and....... well, you know what to do!

A rather mean Gizmodo review of the Motorola Q9M

The Buzz:

First Moto Q9m Unbox and Grope (Mini-Review and Gallery)

I just got my hands on the first Moto Q9m, and after a couple of hours, I'm ready to send it right back. Seriously, if you buy this phone, you are dumb.

For starters, Windows Mobile 6 is a piece of crap. Case in point: I plug in my freakin' Hotmail account to set up email, and it tells me it can't do it, and refers me to a web link that I can't open. I am sure there's a product manager who will quickly explain to me what I did wrong, and the 17 steps I should memorize in order to do it correctly. But could this possibly be my fault?

Other examples of this:• When typing, I couldn't find the symbol options until I pressed a few buttons at random, but when I tried the same combo a second time, it didn't work.• I launched Solitaire, yet couldn't figure out how to play with the d-pad or jog dial, and gave up in anger. Again, my fault, right?• Lag lag lag lag lag. (No way that's my fault.)

The next party to blame is Verizon Wireless: While I admire the effort to modernize the antiquated and unhelpful Windows Mobile screen, the thing VZW put in its place is pretty scary. I could let that go—you know, different strokes, different folks—were it not for the fact that you can't customize it at all. You either get the V Cast Music, camera, media player and volume controls, or you get nothing. Why shouldn't you be able to program the screen as a launcher for your most appropriate apps? Yeah, that's probably just some crazy idea. You can switch to the assorted useless Windows Mobile screens, but they are, as I indicated, no improvement.

It does have V Cast Music—$1.99 for over-the-air songs you could get elsewhere cheaper—but no one has figured out how to provide the V Cast video service on a Windows Mobile device yet. If you ever wanted to demonstrate the value of Verizon's streaming video, it would be great to do it on the Q9m's attractive 2.5" screen.

I could lay into the pricing plans for this thing pretty hard, but I won't even bother. If you buy this for $200 (online, limited time), you deserve two years of paying $80 per month for service. In case you are curious, the starter plan includes 450 minutes of talk plus unlimited email and on-phone browsing. If you want to use it as a modem for your computer, you'll pay $15 extra per month.

Regarding the GPS question that some of you had, Verizon says that GPS is enabled for navigational use, but I have to tell you that I see no evidence of it when digging through various Windows menus. This could easily be the fault of the oblique operating system, however. As far as Verizon's own VZNavigator goes, there is no Windows Mobile version at this time. So GPS-wise, you're either SOL, or just totally on your own.

Last and least, Motorola is at fault for this trainwreck. It's not a bad looking phone, but the red-and-black motif and Verizon branding says it all, that Moto is willing to set aside all of its own quality priorities in order to sell a phone through a carrier. Spineless decisions out of Schaumburg, IL made the RAZR both ubiquitous and worthless, and it's apparently still happening.

Not a town in Alaska, and not a silly board game!

The Buzz:
HTC Juno Coming to AT&T?
The HTC Juno, a previously unheard of Windows Mobile smartphone, seems to be headed toward AT&T sometime soon. It's going to be like previous HTC phones we've seen with a dialpad on the front and a slide-out QWERTY on the side. There won't be a touchscreen, but it will have a 2-megapixel camera, microSD, QVGA display and 3G. No launch time or details yet. [Crunchgear]

GREAT GOOGLE-Y MOOGLY! A gPhone?

The Buzz:

Google Phone Confirmed By HTC Insider

source: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/rumor/google-phone-confirmed-by-htc-insider-294277.php

JB over at Crunchgear has the exclusive on the "upcoming" Google Phone, supposedly set to launch in Q1 2008. His source is someone inside HTC, the company that Google's working with to pick one of 20 models to finalize their design.

On the software side, they're going to build a special version of Google Maps (complete with GPS), as well as have Gmail and Calendar compatibility. It's most likely going to have Google Docs compatibility too, but that wasn't specified. What's even cooler is that Google Talk, their free VoIP app, will be part of the suite. The OS could be Windows Mobile 6, or it could be a Linux-based OS, which would be even more interesting. [Crunchgear]

...it gets even more interesting!

Googlephone PR in the hands of CEO's girlfriend

source: http://valleywag.com/tech/marcy-simon/googlephone-pr-in-the-hands-of-ceos-girlfriend-296358.php

Marcy Simon, Valleywag has learned, doesn't just have a coveted desk and a phone line in Google's cramped New York offices. She also has a seemingly hot assignment: PR for the yet-to-be-launched Googlephone. All this, simply for serving as married Google CEO Eric Schmidt's piece on the side? Yes, that's right: Schmidt's girlfriend, despite having no experience in wireless or telecom, is handling the launch of one of Google's most-whispered-about initiatives. Why the Duchess of West Chelsea, as Valleywag has dubbed Simon, is handling this, and not say, David Krane, Google's telecom-savvy director of corporate communications, is telling about both Schmidt's character and the fate of the phone project.

I've written before that Google will not come out with its own phone model, as Apple has done. And indeed, the need for any Googlephone escapes me; Google should be building services that work on any phone, no matter who makes it or what OS it runs. At best, the Googlephone project, I believe, is a big stick Google will use to threaten phonemakers and wireless carriers into carrying its search engine and applications.

Which, of course, makes hiring a fancy New York PR person like Simon thoroughly pointless. If there's no Googlephone for Simon to launch, why waste office space on her? Because it's a plausible job that Schmidt can assign to his girlfriend with a minimum of fuss. Simon, ignorant of the wireless industry, won't know it's a waste of time; Schmidt may actually have duped her into thinking it's a plum job, almost as sparkly a bauble as the canary-yellow diamond ring Schmidt also gave her. Meanwhile, Schmidt can appease his internal critics by pointing out that he's only given Simon a space-filling job that no savvy staff member would ever want.

Sprint Roadmap leaked, and a slew of Palm Treo 500 goodies!

The Buzz:
Unconfirmed: Upcoming Sprint Roadmap Leaked? Palm Centro 10/14?

UPDATED: NOW CALLED THE TREO 500. READ BELOW!

source: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/rumor/unconfirmed-upcoming-sprint-roadmap-leaked-palm-centro-1014-291789.php

A poster on the phonenews forum seems to have come up with the Sprint lineup for the next several months, all the way into early 2008. To start, they have the Motorola V9M on 9/4, the USB EV-DO Novatel U727 modem on 9/30, Palm Gryphon (code name for Palm Centro) and Sanyo S1 2500 on 10/14, LG LX260, HTC Vogue, BlackBerry 8130 Pearl 2 and PX600 on 11/4, Motorola Q9C on 11/23 and Treo 800w and Samsung Blackjack International in Q1 2008.
Even if these dates are solid now (assuming these are actually real), providers are known to switch up dates for various reasons. Use the schedule as a guideline more than a definite calendar. [Phone News via Gadgets on the Go]

Treo 500 Early Impressions (Verict: Solid)

source: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/palm/treo-500-early-impressions-verict-solid-302060.php
Treonauts has some early hands-on impressions and unboxing of the much deliberated Treo 500. Aside from the lack of touchscreen, the review was overwhelmingly positive. Surprisingly, one of the best features is its solid construction.

In fact, they go so far as to say that
"There is also absolutely no 'plasticky' feel about it and in this respect it may be an entry level Treo but it certainly doesn't feel cheap at all - this is a smartphone that I would quite happily and proudly set on a table and show off."Now since this is a Treo site this review should be taken with some caution. But hey maybe we've been too hard on the 500. Just because it's not for us gadget freaks, doesn't mean it wouldn't be a good recommendation for a friend entering the smartphone world, right?[Treonauts]

Check out the magical flipping phone!

The Buzz:

WND Atom Duo Cellphone Has Dual Identities, Like Batman
The iPhone makes pretty decent use of its gravity sensor with Safari, but that's something of a kid's trick compared to the WND DUO Atom, which flips between two SIM cards as you flip it from top to bottom (or is it bottom to top?), making it easy to maintain two separate accounts. Like one for wife, one for your girlfriend—just don't turn it the wrong way. It's also a touchscreener, so the keypad and screen re-orient themselves accordingly. Hit the jump for the nitty-gritty and another glamour shot of this unlocked tri-band GSM trickster.
Tri-Band (GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz)Dimensions 109x48x14.5mmMemory 128x64Mbits PGM Memory + 128MBytes Storage MemoryDisplay 176x220 262K 1.8? OLED (x2) TBDCamera Built-in 3 Megapixels Auto Focus CameraWAP 2.0 AccessMP3 PlayerTV-OutConnectivity USB 2.0, Bluetooth 1.2 (A2DP:stereo profile support)External Memory MicroSD External Memory supportingApplications JAVA MIDP2.0/CLDC1.1No price or street date though, unfortunately, for this Bruce Wayne of mobiles beyond "coming soon," but we'll go out on a limb and guess "not cheap." [WND Atom DUO]

All work and no play makes Casey a busy, non-blogging boy

My friends, I've been so buy lately (okay, the last month) that I've been unable to blog, hence the empty space between August 21st, and today. Yet, have no fear... you will still get your hot steamy cup of blogging joy. I am backlogged (no....really? You're kidding) So please don't shoot me if you see something that it just about a month old. I'll try to spare you if it's really obvious news, like the iPhone price drop.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy my blog gosh darn diddly arn it!

A geek race to end all geek races

The Buzz:

Download Race Between Helio Fin, iPhone, Sidekick, and RAZR2

Our friends at Wired put a stopwatch to a four-way download race between the Helio Fin, iPhone, Sidekick, and RAZR2 with HSDPA. Of course, they wanted to see which one would load Wired.com the fastest in a straightforward race of phones that have different methods of downloading. Before going to the next page to see how they finished, see if you can accurately predict which one of the phones won this impromptu race. [Wired]

1st place: Moto RAZR2, 18 seconds (HSDPA)

2nd place: Helio Fin, 24 seconds (EV-DO, but loaded text-only version of the site)

3rd place: Sidekick II, 44 seconds, (GSM, but cached in Danger servers)

4th place: iPhone, 71 seconds (EDGE)
[Wired]

My Roast:

You may have not heard about the Helio FIN yet, but I will tell you all about it in a few posts. Basically, these results don't suprise me... except that I thought the iPhone and the Sidekick would've been closer than they ended up being. Again, who the hell decided to put EDGE on the iPhone?

Apparently Nokia DID have a good reason to replace 46 million batteries

The Buzz:

Pics: Exploding Cellphone?

One of our loyal Gizmodian visitors sent us three pictures of what he says is an exploded Nokia 2115i cellphone. Reader Jonathan said that last night his phone's battery ran out of power so he plugged it into its charger as he usually does. Check the gallery below to see the result, and on the next page, read Jonathan's account of how it happened.

After 1.5 hours, suddenly, BOOM! It sounds like dynamite, or any explosive stuffs. It looks like there was a fire afterward, too. Good thing the guy's house didn't burn down. Anyone else have any experiences like this with a Nokia cellphone, or any other?

My Roast:

Wow, remember when I was ranting about how Nokia was wasting a ton of money by replacing 46 million batteries? Well, I was way wrong! This is proof that Nokia was right... it even looks like there is a crater in that poor guy's floor from the phone exploding. This just goes to show what happens if you don't design a battery properly.

Facebook brings bluetooth stalking to a totally new level

The Buzz:
Bluetooth/Facebook Nodes Take Even More Human Interaction Out of Meeting People
Some scientists at Bath University in the UK have come up with an interesting albeit only marginally useful new way of making friends via Facebook. Rather than having to go through the process of, you know, meeting people and talking to them, it instead basically gathers the info of people who've been in the same place as you and tells you about it later.

It works by using a "node" that senses Bluetooth devices. If you walk by and your phone gets pinged, it'll record where you were. When you get home, you'll be able to see everyone else that was there when you were. Then you'll have the perfect first line for that girl you noticed across the park. You know, something like "So… you like parks? Me too." Or whatever. What am I, some sort of dating expert?

Anyhow, there are no plans to actually implement this anywhere, but who knows if that'll change in the future. [Boy Genius via DownloadSquad]

My Roast:

Nothing screams "Smooth Operator" more than going to facebook to pick up a girl that was within 30 feet of you at some point during the day. Geeks all around the world rejoice at finding a way to actually potentially have something relevant to talk about when talking to a potential mate. Gone are they days of cheesy geeky pick up lines, like "I'll be your zero, if you'll be my one." (that's programming talk about binary code, ie: 10110101110101010100011010... for those of you who actually have pick up lines, unlike me.)

I can destroy myself one slice at a time if I want to, right?

The Buzz:
Domino's Launches Pizza by TXT in UK
If you needed another hint as to how much more reliant people are on SMS in other countries, Domino's Pizza by TXT feature should do the trick. All you have to do is just set up a "favorite meals" list and text the correct "meal" label to Domino's, and they'll bring one to your flat in no time. We say flat, because this is only available in the UK. [Dominos via Pocket Lint via Tech Digest]

My Roast:
Holy jeebers, what I would do to myself and my girlish figure if this service was offered in the US! This just goes to show that the US will eventually become so connected to their cell phones that the future of all communication will originate from our little electronic friends. Stuff like this will eventually come to the US... you just watch.

AT&T royally screws AT&T employees, while Apple employees laugh at them!

The Buzz:

AT&T Employees Get 10% Discount Off the iPhone

AT&T may be burning money and forests with their 300-page bills, but boy can they be generous when they want to: according to a reader whose wife works at the Death Star, employees are now getting a whole ten (TEN!) per cent discount on their iPhones! (And yes, I just wanted to get Vader with an iPhone. Sue me if you want.)
[Thanks Dag29]

My Roast:

Wow, I bet AT&T employees suddenly wish they were actually Apple employees. Hmmmm.... $60 off, or $600 off?

Sprint kick's T-mo's butt and takes their name in the home service box contest

The Buzz:
Samsung Ubicell Instant Cell to WiFi Box Coming to Sprint
Samsung's Ubicell, first seen at CTIA, is finally finding a home on Sprint. It's a box that you plug into the wall, at which point the box blossoms into a femtocell-powered base station good for 5000 sq feet of fresh reception. Apparently rates would be unlimited, like Tmobile's @ Home WiFi UMA service. Good. But bad for TMobile.

Any Sprint cellphone will work on this hotspot, as it still uses a local CDMA channel to link to phones before sending that signal over the net. The repeater can support 3 phones or 1XRTT data sessions at once, routing calls using femtocell technology to Sprint's infrastructure over the internet. And you can filter phone access to 50 handsets/data cards of your choosing.[Gearlog]

My Roast:

Wow, this really sucks for T-mobile. You ask why? Well, T-mobile's service is limited to wi-fi only handsets, and only does voice. Whereas, the Sprint base unit is actually a small CDMA antenna, so you can use ANY sprint phone on this little box and you're not limited to wi-fi only handsets, like the T-mobile service. Not to mention, this also does data sessions, which means that you have unlimited voice, unlimited data, unlimited everything... and you can use any phone you want. Wow, T-mobile totally got PWNED on this one!

AT&T does away with the 300 page bills (Trees around the world suddenly stop biting nails)

The Buzz:

AT&T's Unofficial Response To 300-Page iPhone Bill
An AT&T call-center employee has taken it upon himself to answer the allegations of the infamous 300-page iPhone bill, apparently in lieu of an official response from the telco. While not "defending" AT&T, he did say this:

As of August 10, "summary billing" has been the default format for paper bills, doing away with specific call and data-usage details. Anyone signing up for service or switching rate plans will get a summary bill, and—in what appears to be a 180-degree shift—will have to pay $1.99 per month to get the 300-page edition.

Since summary billing is still paper that comes in the mail, call-center employees are asked to encourage paperless billing. This is also an option customers can set online, and apparently choose during activation.

Again, this isn't the official word, but it sounds like the furor may be dying down. For me, I hate mail of any kind, so paperless billing is always the way to go, right from the start. Now I have an email inbox full of billing emails I never open, but at least the trees don't mind. [Gadget Lab]

My Roast:

Wow, at least they caught this after only one month, rather than continuing the murder of trees. Let's hope that this person's unofficial response if the official reality.

Review on T-Mobile HotSpot service

The Buzz:

T-Mobile's Hotspot@Home Reviewed (Verdict: Great Call Quality, Glitchy Handoffs)
Wireless Info took the T-Mobile http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/hype-sheet/hype-sheet-welcome-to-jimmys-hotspot-home-277462.php service into their own Batcave (similar to ours when we played with it) and subjected it to all sorts of tests. The result? Equally good sound quality on both the cell network and Wi-Fi, but a slightly glitchy handoff when going from Wi-Fi to cell (cell to Wi-Fi is fine). It's nothing to really worry about as long as you're not going in and out of range all the time, so if you're one of those poor dudes who can't get a signal to save your life, this could be the plan for you. [Wireless Info]

My Roast:

Now T-mobile finally has a way to offer service for people who don't get regular T-mo service at home! You have no idea how many people wanted T-mobile, but didn't even have coverage at their own home. Now not only do they have coverage with wi-fi, but they don't even have to use their own minutes! Well done, T-mobile, well done!

Yay! HTC Touch got picked up by Sprint!

The Buzz:

HTC Touch Upgraded, Coming to Sprint
WThe HTC Touch, with it's gesture based UI tweaks on top of a WM6 OS was a cute concept, but flawed. Sprint's picking it up, giving it CDMA/EVDO superpowers, doubling the processing speed from 200MHz to 400MHz to deal with Bill's Bloat, and eventual revision A. speed, and assisted GPS, once they software update it. The finger gesture menus invoke a set of commands for messaging, and one set for Sprint's multimedia functions, like TV and the music store. Sprint says this is likely coming in November. [GearLog]

My Roast:

This is really great news! The power of Sprint's network will empower the Touch and give it capabilities that wouldn't be found on other carrier's networks. This is going to be one heck of a device when it launches!

Don't wanna get knocked up? Here is the phone for you!

The Buzz:
Samsung Files Patent for Safe (ie Non-Baby) Sex Cell Phone
A cell phone that lets lay-deez know if they're running a higher-than-normal chance of getting pregnant is the latest idea from Samsung. The Korean electronics giant has filed a patent with the US Patent & Trademark Office for a "portable device for user's basal body temperature (BBT) and method for operating the device."

An ultrasonic or laser-based distance sensor, and an infrared ray temperature sensor installed around the speaker of the phone measures the distance of the phone to your ear and the temperature inside your eardrum. Then, software inside the phone processes the measurements and transforms them into BBT records, before recommending that, yes, you can have hot, crazy rumpo with no consequences, or yes, you've got a chance of making Junior if you get busy tonight.

It's not a bad idea, given that a lot of women would rather lose a leg than be separated from their mobile, but how are Samsung going to market this? Presumably not, as we have, as a safe-sex phone, as it's won't protect from STDs.

Here's a bit of the patent application, but be warned that the word menstruation is used repeatedly in it.
[0089] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 7, as shown in FIG. 7, the information control unit 218 may display the user's generated menstruation information, e.g. fertile period information, on the display unit 219 of the portable device, i.e. on a screen of the portable device in a form of a calendar. Also, the information control unit 218 may display a graph 720 in which the user's menstruation information is indicated in each color. In the graph 720, a black interval 711 indicates a menstruation period, a green interval 712 indicates an infertile period, a yellow interval 713 indicates a pregnancy possibility period, and a red interval 714 indicates a fertile period.

Also, when the menstruation starting day is not inputted by the user, the information control unit 218 may provide the user with an alarm to induce the user to check for pregnancy.
What I want to know is, if you use your girlfriend's cell to take a call, do you completely bork the calendar, or does it bust you as being in possession of a penis and shut down? [Unwiredview]

My Roast:

I've seen some bizarre phone patents before, but this just about takes the cake. While this is an interesting concept, I think it just goes too far. I think it'd be even funnier if you could customize your alerts, or if you could broadcast your fertility rating to people on your call list. So while you're taking to your boyfriend on the phone about your recent mani or pedi, all of a sudden he'll hear "User is most likely to get pregnant tonight," and you'll understand why he decided to play video games for the rest of the night, not shave, and fart in your presence a good 47 times. However, what if you accidentally switched "boyfriend" for "boss," and they heard "User is as dry as the Sahara tonight, live in as much sin as Paris Hilton does for tonight," then you'll understand why your boss gave you funny looks all day.

But what I think would be more useful would be a phone that detects in your blood stream if you have an STD, rather than the pregnancy thing. You could have someone put their number in your phone at the club, and if they touch it a huge alarm goes off any yells "PERSON HAS THE GONO-HERPE-SYPHI-CLAP! ABORT! ABORT!" and then the phone shocks the user. Why shock them you ask? Well, that should teach them a thing or two about being promiscous, that's why! Not to mention it would keep their warts far away from you!

Read an article by an RCR editor, talking about our mobile content rating

Firefly growing with their audience?

The Buzz:

New Firefly Kids Cellphone Approved By The FCC
The Firefly flyPhone (OMG, IT RHYMES WITH iPHONE!) is a phone geared towards children with a fuller feature set than the original Firefly Phone. The new model has an actual keypad, a camera, memory expansion via MicroSD, and music/video playback. But this phone doesn't exactly strike us as kid-friendly. Not only will parents have to get their children glasses because they strained their eyes looking at the micro screen, but they'll have to save their young ones from choking on the MicroSD card. Pricing and release info not available. [Phone Scoop]

My Roast:

Whoa, is it me or did Firefly completely lose sight of their original purpose.... TO OFFER A HANDSET TO KIDS THAT DIDN'T ALLOW THE ABILITY TO CALL EVERYONE AND TEXT MSG THEIR FRIENDS? This thing takes SD cards, does Video, and has a full keypad! How is this any different from some Advanced RAZR's? I think the original Firefly had a unique market segment and adressed their needs effectively and appropriately, but now they've lost it and aren't any different from any other phone out there.

Adderton and cronies get rejected at Qualcomm, come crawling to Clearwire

The Buzz:

Amp’d Mobile content team lands at Clearwire
By Matt Kapko
Story posted: August 10, 2007 - 1:45 pm EDT

Clearwire Corp. has reportedly reached a deal to bring Amp’d Mobile Inc’s. 50-plus member content team on board to lead a new content offering under the Clearwire brand. The move would likely give Clearwire a major boost in content offerings, as it has thus far focused on building up its business as a fixed-wireless broadband service provider. Through the partnership Clearwire would now be uniquely positioned as an entertainment-minded company steadfastly focused on its network and service, particularly thanks to its recent partnership with Sprint Nextel Corp. to build out a nationwide mobile WiMAX network. Clearwire declined to comment on the deal and the Amp’d Mobile content team is following those cues. “It’s certainly a big win for Clearwire because I think what Amp’d had there was clearly one of the most compelling data offerings out there,” said Roger Entner, senior vice president of the communications sector at IAG Research. “As good as the team is, it doesn’t have the track record of saving companies, of reversing the doom of the company, but Clearwire’s prospects have substantially improved with the deal they have with Sprint.” The Amp’d Mobile crew had been shopping themselves out as a cohesive unit to a variety of heavyweights in the wireless space. Considering what caused the demise of Amp’d Mobile’s mobile virtual network operator business, it makes sense that the team would look for a partner in a company that already has the back end of operations—billing, customer service, network coverage—up and running. Such a pairing would enable to team to focus on what it calls the “front end” of operations without worrying about other issues dragging it down.“It will clearly help them on the content side, it’s just that content is not one of the top two or three decision factors. It’s price, quality and service,” Entner added. Because Clearwire is rather bullish on the technology side, most obvious in its mobile WiMAX plans, the cross-platform opportunities inherent in the deal would also enable the Amp’d Mobile content team to extend what it started with Amp’d Live to a variety of new venues.As for the Amp’d Mobile team hedging its bets on WiMAX, Entner said, “I think it’s equally as proven or unproven as the Amp’d model. It’s virgin territory, but these guys are risk takers.“You have a really fast pipe. You’re biggest challenge as a WiMAX provider is how are you going to fill up that pipe,” he said. “People don’t typically pay a premium for faster download speeds. You know, what else is there? The biggest broadband hog where you can actually raise prices is television. We all bite the bullet and pay more every year for our cable TV.”

My Roast:

I knew it seemed unlikely that Qualcomm would take Adderton, since they have a ton of battles that they are facing against the ITC banning their 3G chips. So Adderton comes to Clearwire... an interesting move. So it appears that Clearwire will be developing some sort of content portion of their WiMax business, most likely a VOD service or something...

Regardless, I still despise Adderton for what he did to Amp'd. Go play in traffic while drinking anti-freeze, Pedro.

Can you smell the 4G goodness? Jah bless you Sprint!

The Buzz:
Sprint Planning to Pump $5 Billion into WiMax Network Over the Next 3 Years
Sprint is clearly not f'ng around when it comes to WiMax—sorry, Xohm—deployment, planning on spending up to $5 billion over the next three years to build the network's infrastructure. While $5 billion is a huge wad, if their efforts to get Intel and PC makers to embed WiMax support into new notebooks succeed, they'll have a massive built-in audience, making their target of $2-2.5 billion in revenue in 2010 definitely doable.
There'll be a "soft launch" by year's end in Chicago and Baltimore/Washington, D.C., with coverage of 100 million people (Sprint 70, Clearwire 30) by the end of 2008. Even though Sprint's putting a lot of eggs into one basket with a dumb name, it's one that promises a huge payoff if everything goes according to plan—and well, if we bite. [WSJ (login req'd) and Reuters]

My Roast:
Anyone who says that Sprint is done for and nearing doom, is clearly retarted. Not only are they the first to bring a 4G WiMax network to the US, but they were the first to bring 3G to the US in the form of EVDO, and also the first to bring out Rev. A before Sprint. WiMax, if you aren't already familiar, is basically like EVDO/UMTS on speed. It has the capability to sustain many users while maintaining blazing fast speeds, and has excellent signal penetration, meaning that you don't need as many towers to deploy WiMax... not to mention it's cheaper to deploy WiMax than burying wires everywhere. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiMAX, WiMax is the following:

Compared to Wi-Fi:
"Possibly due to the fact both WiMAX and Wi-Fi begin with the same two letters, are based upon IEEE standards beginning with 802. and both have a connection to wireless connectivity and the Internet, comparisons and confusion between the two are frequent. Despite this, both standards are aimed at different applications.

WiMAX is a long range system, covering many kilometers, that uses licensed or unlicensed spectrum to deliver a point-to-point connection to the Internet from an ISP to an end user. Different 802.16 standards provide different types of access, from mobile (analogous to access via a cellphone) to fixed (an alternative to wired access, where the end user's wireless termination point is fixed in location.)

Wi-Fi is a shorter range system, typically hundreds of meters, that uses unlicensed spectrum to provide access to a network, typically covering only the network operator's own property. Typically Wi-Fi is used by an end user to access their own network, which may or may not be connected to the Internet. If WiMAX provides services analogous to a cellphone, Wi-Fi is more analogous to a cordless phone.

WiMAX has QoS (Quality of Service) whilst Wi-Fi is 'best effort', which makes the former a more robust telecom application: QoS allows preferential treatment of certain service flows (such as voice over data) and/or customers.

WiMAX is highly scalable from what are called 'femto' scale remote stations to multi-sector 'maxi' scale base that handle complex tasks of management and mobile handoff functions and include MIMO-AAS smart antenna subsystems.

Due to the ease and low cost with which Wi-Fi can be deployed, it is sometimes used to provide Internet access to third parties within a single room or building available to the provider, sometimes informally, and sometimes as part of a business relationship. For example, many coffee shops, hotels, and transportation hubs contain Wi-Fi access points providing access to the Internet for patrons."

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you'll see that WiMax has capabilities of doing 70 MB/sec over a 30 mile radius, while HSPA networks (UMTS, or W-CDMA... more notably AT&T in some areas) only have an ideal lab speed of 14.4 MB/Sec, not to mention the signal doesn't travel as far as 802.16e does. Basically speaking, Sprint's WiMax network will bring HIGH SPEED internet to rural areas currently underserved, offer higher speed solutions for businesses, and offer faster speeds than Comcast or Qwest, at a much cheaper price (since it's cheaper to deploy WiMax than burying cable everywhere). This truly is the dawn of a new age...

Not to mention, Sprint will have WiMax chips in new laptops and phones, totalling 50 million by the end of 2010, as stated here: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/wi-to-the-max/-290740.php.

These new 4G networks being mentioned by Google and Sprint WILL cause a shift in technology, and offer greater wireless capability and flexibility. It's time to jump on the wave of the future...

Take a look at Gizmodo's RAZR2 Reviews

The Buzz
Four of the Five RAZR2s Reviewed (Verdict: What a Difference a Carrier Makes)
Sascha Segan at PC Mag just worked his way through testing the AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and Alltel RAZR2 models. Though all RAZR2s have similar specs—"luxurious metal-and-glass design," 240-MHz processor, roughly 100 MB of memory, a 2-megapixel camera and "the biggest, most beautiful external screen you've ever seen on a flip phone"—each carrier treated this differently. We gave you a nice run-down of feature differences, but here's how the actual user experience differs from carrier to carrier:

AT&T V9

• Best call quality thanks to CrystalTalk active sound-quality management during calls

• Best web experience because of Opera browser

• Free built-in e-mail

• Worst battery life

• No video sharing

• No Napster/Yahoo! DRM music

• A dedicated button for Cellular Video, a VOD service that "absolutely no one uses"

Sprint V9m

• Obigo HTML web browser works well

• Can view video on external screen

• Start camera from external screen

• No e-mail option

Verizon V9m

• Start camera from external screen

• Very good sound

• Best for basic Windows Media users

• WAP browsing (which sucks)

• E-mail for extra pay

Alltel V9m

• View text messages on external screen

• Best for experts and iTunes lovers

• WAP browsing (which sucks)

• No e-mail option

T-Mobile V8 (which Segan did not review)

• Linux-based OS

• CrystalTalk active sound-quality management during calls

Bottom line: All this variation represents carrier control, not freedom of choice. Says Segan: "We're stuck with the mediocre choices picked by our carrier overlords for us—and if you want something different, no soup for you!" I hate to say I told you so, but I freakin' told you so.[PC Mag summary and individual reviews of each carrier's RAZR2]

Another GPS Service...

The Buzz:
AAA Announces GPS-Enabled Turn by Turn Direction Software For Mobiles
The trusted name in changing a busted tire so you won't have to, AAA is releasing AAA Mobile, a software suite for mobile phones that allows turn-by-turn GPS directions on a pay-for-use basis. The cost will be $9.99 a month, and will work on the phones listed after the jump.

The benefits of using AAA is that you can have access to their Diamond Ratings (hotels, restaurants) and find points of interest in their TourBook guide. There's even options for finding AAA-approved auto repair facilities, which is useful if you're taking a cross country trip in that beater you own.

Sprint only:
Samsung M500, Samsung M510, Sanyo SCP-7050, Sanyo M1, Sanyo SCP-8400, Sanyo MM-9000, Sanyo SCP-3200 and LG 550 (Fusic).
[AAA via Crunchgear]

My Roast:
Does it seem like everyone does directions and GPS nowadays? I mean, Live search does directions, Google search does it, Yahoo does it, and there are others that do this like like Telmap, who charges $12-15 per month. I'm just not quite sure what the unique value add each of these companies claim to have?? I can see the AAA value to current AAA members, but it just seems to me like each of these companies need to do a better job at segmenting their markets, and positioning their product to the right audience.

Something smells like wi-fi....

The Buzz:

Makayama Pocket Wi-Fi Radar Software Now Available for Pocket PC
Now Makayama Pocket Wi-Fi Radar software is available for the Pocket PC platform, showing you exactly where those free Wi-Fi networks are. Formerly available just for Windows XP, this $14.95 software download shows you an animated radar screen that not only indicates exactly where the hotspots are, but it automates your connection to that network with almost no effort at all. In fact, you can walk around with it running, and as soon as it finds a spot it will link up automatically. Cool.
The software works with a long list of Wi-Fi-capable devices, as well as any Pocket PC model with a wireless add-in card, or if you want to use it on Windows XP, that version is free. Looks like it could be useful, not only for legitimate users looking for a Wi-Fi hookup, but for those who drive around suburban neighborhoods looking for a wide-open Wi-Fi network so they might "borrow" a bit of bandwidth—or worse. Keep that in mind if you're one who's currently comfortable with leaving your Wi-Fi router wide open. [Makayama Software]

My Roast:

I really dig this product. It's only a one time fee to use it, it will show you how far away wi-fi networks are, and will connect you to the free ones automatically too! What's not to love?

A new twist on an old idea

The Buzz:
Laser Keyboard Getting USB Update, Still Hard to Use

Remember those old Bluetooth laser keyboards from a few years back that projected a laser image on the desk that you could type on? Celluon's releasing a new version of that old device, but this time it's connected over USB instead of Bluetooth. Still compatible with Windows Mobiles, Palm OS, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows 2000/XP/Vista though. Of course, you're still typing onto a desk without any kind of "give," which means painful fingers just like the old version. [AVING via Gearlog]

My Roast:

So this is old technology combined with a mini-USB twist huh? Still not too impressed.

Nokia to replace 46 million batteries... for no apparent reason

The Buzz:
46 Million Nokia Cellphone Batteries May Overheat, Cook Your Genitals, Buttocks

Nokia has announced today that 46 million of their batteries are at risk of overheating, offering to replace them free of charge. There is a chance that a short circuit could occur during charging, and apparently 100 cases have already been reported. The batteries in question were all made by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006, and are all of model number BL-5C. [Reuters]

My Roast:

After doing some more digging, I found out that the article written by Reuters was slightly off. According to my research, the batteries would tend to get hot and pop off. Wait a minute, you mean to tell me Nokia is willing to replace 46 million batteries for 100 popping batteries? BTW, there are no reported injuries or fires. Wow, this seems to be an expensive OOPSIE... but I think the jumping batteries are more funny and amusing than life threatening. You want to hear the % of naughty batteries that started this whole fiasco? Are you ready? 0.0002% of the batteries were faulty.

Heavens to Betsy, there's a new RAZR coming to town?

The Buzz:
The Full List of RAZR2 Carriers; Almost Everybody Gets in on the Fun
We've got exclusive word that the full list of carriers for the Motorola RAZR2 will be AT&T, Alltel, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. Only Sprint and Verizon have announced it so far, but look for the others to follow suit shortly. Motorola isn't messing around with iPhone-style marriage to one carrier; they want anyone to be able to get on board with their new flagship, just like they did with the original. So if you're waiting to get a fancy new haptic-touchscreen-featuring RAZR2, don't go canceling your contract to get one; you don't need to. Which model [V9 (3G HSDPA), V9m (3G EVDO CDMA) and V8 (GSM)] each carrier will get hasn't been announced yet.

Here's what Sprint said about their RAZR2:
(http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/cellphones/sprint-launches-motorola-razr-2-288282.php)

Sprint Launches RAZR2 press release:

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Aug. 10, 2007 - Bringing the "third screen" of mobile video to two screens instead of just one, Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced plans to launch the latest Motorola handset, RAZR2 V9m with key features that make it stand out from the crowd. Sprint's RAZR2 V9m provides the ability to watch video on the external screen with the flip closed - a first for the U.S. wireless market.

Harnessing the speed of Sprint's Power VisionSM EVDO network, the RAZR2 will deliver exclusive access to multimedia content1 including:

· NFL Mobile, a Sprint-exclusive wireless application that brings fans access to same-day audio and video highlights, a live stream of NFL Network's broadcast, real-time statistics and scores, customizable team and player alerts, injury reports and other information updated every two seconds.

· Sprint Music StoreSM, powered by Groove Mobile, which allows users to browse and wirelessly download full-length songs directly to their phone from a selection of more than 1.6 million songs.

· Sprint TVSM with more than 50 channels of live television and on-demand video and audio including a comprehensive portfolio of ABC news and entertainment video programming from ABC Entertainment, ABC News and Disney Channel such as on-demand, full-length episodes of ABC programs, including the hit shows "Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost" and "Ugly Betty."

· Sprint Power View, the industry's first made-for-mobile sports and entertainment video programming network.

· Sprint Navigation, powered by TeleNav, providing full-feature GPS navigation including voice and on screen turn-by-turn driving directions with real-time traffic alerts and more than 10 million business listings.

(Standard data charges apply to all downloads from Sprint.)
"We are excited to pair our advanced multimedia capabilities and network speeds with this beautifully designed wireless phone," said John Garcia, senior vice president of product management and development for Sprint. "Customers will find Sprint's version of RAZR2 to offer exclusive video content that is both enjoyable and relevant. They will also appreciate that this device is the first clamshell in the industry to provide the option of watching video on both the internal or external display."

The design of RAZR2 has a sleeker, more sophisticated look and feel than its predecessor. At the core of RAZR2 is a stainless steel internal frame to help provide strength and durability. The large exterior lens is made with chemically hardened glass to be more scratch resistant.
Both the internal and external screens on the RAZR2 are significantly larger than the original RAZR- external is 2.0" and internal is 2.2" - with twice the resolution. The external display incorporates Motorola's breakthrough haptics technology, which provides users with vibrating feedback in response to their finger taps. This allows the user to effortlessly control their music, video and camera without opening the flip.

Additional features available on RAZR2 V9m by MOTOROLA include a 2.0 megapixel camera with digital flash and zoom and advanced stereo Bluetooth® wireless technology.2 The device will also offer OnDemandSM with customizable up-to-date sports, weather and news information, Sprint PCS® Picture Mail for sharing and printing digital pictures and Wireless Backup to quickly restore contact information if the device is ever lost or stolen.
The RAZR2 V9m by MOTOROLA will be available at www.sprint.com and by calling 1-800-SPRINT1 on Aug. 22. It will be in all Sprint retail outlets by Sept. 4. The device will cost $249 with a 2 year agreement (without any required rebate).

Customers purchasing RAZR2 V9m by MOTOROLA as a replacement for an existing mobile phone are encouraged to recycle their current phone, battery and accessories through Sprint Project Connect. One hundred percent of the net proceeds from Sprint Project Connect are used to help keep kids safer online through Sprint's 4NetSafetyprogram with partners that include the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the NEA Health Information Network. More information, including a free postage-paid mailing label, can be found at www.sprint.com/projectconnect.

My Roast:
Is it just me, or is the RAZR2 stlye-wise not much different than the original RAZR? I still think it's way cool, but Motorola is going to have to do something better than this to bring up their profits (which has been going down for the last year, from a high of almost $26 a share last September, to a current $16.06 at end of market today...all info thanks to my iPhone ;).

I think Motorola is trying to raise their profits by not making their handsets for just one carrier, like they did originally with AT&T and their first RAZR. Now, virtually the entire US market is able to buy their handsets, which should provide a short boost in their stock value, and provide the shareholders a much needed reprieve from losing any more money.