If you keep up with cell phone news, you’ve probably read a lot of articles talking about the new Motorola DROID which is set to become available on November 6, 2009.  It’s just days away but people are already talking about how cool it is so I’m pretty intrigued.
This is the first smartphone to be powered by Android 2.0 and is supposed to be stronger and faster than the competition.  The device promises “high-speed Web browsing, voice-activated search, customizable large screen, access to thousands of Android applications and hundreds of widgets.”  
Apparently, the shell is pretty solid while still being …read more

Interesting — the SIMposium 2009 summit has just announced the sales figures for SIM card shipments and sales for 2008. The figures put SIM cards at 2.9 billion units shipped with focus on the emerging markets in Asia. GSM technology is far more common in the Asia-Pacific region.
What’s also interesting is that 3G SIM cards make up 14% of total shipments and the memory size of SIM cards have increased to store more data (i.e. contacts and value added services from telcos) by 11%.

Oh no, not again.
Apple is in for another ride with the whole “3G is very fast” claims on advertising. It’s times like this I wonder if it really is Apple’s fault for claiming such or it’s really the public that needs to be informed that 3G speeds are highly dependent on the network, in this case AT&T – and not much with the phone. Sure you can get “congested” but that’s not the iPhone’s fault. If you really wish to put the blame on Apple, you can go as far as saying that iPhone sales should have brought about …read more

The HSPA network is growing. Consumers are more familiar with HSDPA connectivity which refers more to a download service. HSPA completes the cycle with faster upload services, called aptly as HSUPA. Here is a listing of mobile phones that are compatible with the HSPA network – meaning they do both downloads and uploads.
Included in the list are the Apple iPhone 3G, the HTC TyTn II. Not included are newer phone models such as the Nokia XpressMusic 5800.
The list is still not complete as new phones are being rolled out for this 2009.

Hey folks! We’re doing things a bit differently for a change. Instead of the routine Monday contest, we’re running this in the middle of the week. We’re giving away a really cool new product from a bunch of great people. DRO Concepts is proud to introduce the carbon fiber iPhone case, a casing so strong and so light, it can match all those other cases made for the iPhone, and up the ante!
The case is just beautiful – elegant and protective. You can tell from the image that a lot of work was put into this lovely case, and the …read more

“The new iPhone 3G has a nicer shape, GPS, and of course 3G speeds in the big cities,” says a blissed-out David Pogue. “But it’s the iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store that really change the game.”
David Pogue has finally released the second edition of the iPhone Missing Manuals. The second edition looks into the big changes in iPhone 2.0 software including the applications store and GPS. There are over 100 items explained from an in depth look into the way MobileMe syncs with the iPhone 2.0 software to Exchange server syncing.
The book costs USD $24.99 for print and …read more

The iPhone is unstoppable with 17 million in pre-orders from around the world (of course, we also have the perspective that whatever the iPhone sells in a month, Nokia sells in a week, but still…). Canadian telco Rogers has announced their rates at Canadian $60 to $115 per month. Sweden has pegged their rates at $50.00 and Norway at $80.00. In Asia, the rumored price of the iPhone is a $200.00 initial fee with about $50.00 in monthly.
[c/o Ubergizmo]

I’m excited. Really excited. Not much for the new 3G iPhone features, of the fact that you can now sync it over .Mac (renamed to MobileMe). What I’m excited about is competition. Today, Apple announced the new prices for the iPhone 3G: $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB upgrade. With Windows Mobile devices costing in the close $600.00 and above, what happens when the world’s most talked about phone get a huge price cut by half? What happens when the world’s most talked about phone acquires Microsoft ActiveSync and Exchange and push email? What happens when …read more

UPDATE: The Apple store is back up with the iPhone 3G being sold

Okay. It really isn’t a big secret anymore, and this was something everybody expected. Apple is capitalizing on 3G data delivery for their new services including GPS and MobileMe, the latter being the rebranded name for .Mac, adding functions such as syncing over the air to your iPhone. It’s sort of like how Plaxo works, actually.
Overall, Apple’s move into the realm of 3G is a tad too late, but they’re making up by trying to innovate with the services – as well as price. The most affordable iPhone …read more

It’s been talked about how Rogers is going to be carrying the iPhone in Canada. If I were Rogers – or any telco for that matter competing against everyone else this year, I’d debut the iPhone not as a product in itself – but as an incentive to a new type of service that is friendly to consumers who consume heavy amounts of data.
Launching the iPhone as an “exclusive” item on your rack of mobile phone bundles doesn’t make you remarkable as a telco. Sure, you do get the subscribers signing up for the service, but there’s no revenue …read more