Look familiar? You’ve actually seen it twice before, once as a QWERTY slider and once as an unidentified LTE smartphone. Well, it just so happens that a new batch of eighteen pictures have surfaced, and the two phones are actually one — this is the Samsung Forte for MetroPCS, which is presently running a recent build of Android 2.2.1. While we still don’t know if it’s got the 1GHz processor and 5 megapixel camera that lovingly accompanied the original rumor, it appears to have Samsung’s custom TouchWiz UI on board, lending extra credence to the possibility that the handset might receive Galaxy S branding when it materializes in stores. We’ve got just one last note here, and that’s this whole reveal feels rather… planted to us. Watch the video after the break to see what we mean, and find plenty more pictures at the link below.
We all know AT&T just loves its tiered pricing models, so it’s no surprise to hear that the carrier intends to turn its forthcoming LTE service into a tier-vana of great new sophistication. BGR has come across an internal document detailing how AT&T plans to segment its 4G pricing on the basis of both speed and data allowance, meaning that your price will reflect both the amount of data you consume and the rate at which you gobble it down. To add further complexity flexibility, Top Ups will be available that’ll allow users to amp up their connection speed for a limited time or increase their allowance on a per-month basis. We’re hearing trials of this new offering will commence in May, which fits in neatly with the currently planned LTE rollout in the second half of this year. So it’s not all set in stone yet, but irrespective of the number of data options AT&T throws our way, the paramount question will always be the same: how much?
T-Mobile USA has confirmed that it will need a spectrum partner by 2014 or 2015 in order to build sufficient LTE capability, though the carrier refuses to reveal which companies it might look to work with. Meanwhile, the carrier believes 10-percent of those leaving its network are shifting to AT&T for the iPhone; in response, it plans to offer sub-$100 Android smartphones with $10 data plans.
“Deutsche Telekom is exploring various options to acquire additional spectrum and reduce the gap regarding economies of scale compared with its larger competitors, including partnering with other companies” T-Mobile statement
The exact timeline for T-Mobile’s LTE roll-out has not been made public. The carrier has said it will stick with HSPA+ until LTE “devices are readily available and once device quality is on par” with the HSPA+ handsets coming to market presently, “although that will probably not be for a few years.” 42Mbps HSPA+ is expected to debut later this year.
Verizon launched an LTE network in late 2010, and AT&T plans to do the same in 2011; both could be potential partners for T-Mobile, though AT&T’s GSM background might make legacy compatibility more straightforward than Verizon’s existing CDMA network. T-Mobile expects the LTE roll-out to cost between $1bn and $2bn.
Germany’s Deutsche Telekom — better known in the States as T-Mobile USA’s disciplinarian parent — was out in New York today chatting up its American division’s prospects for the future, and execs from both sides of the pond had quite a bit to say. The biggest outstanding concerns for the carrier revolve around revenue and customer churn — which, let’s be honest, are the core benchmarks that any carrier in the world is looking to improve — and the division’s CEO Philipp Humm just announced a series of initiatives to help get those numbers in line. On the churn side, they’re “going big with Android” to combat the iPhone, continuing to roll out WiFi calling to alleviate network coverage issues, and tightening up “risk management” issues that have let some bill deadbeats slip through the cracks. Funny to think that non-payment is a big enough issue to be a revenue risk for these guys, but it’s true.
He didn’t exactly go on at length about them, but Google CEO Eric Schmidt has laid out three clear priorities for the company in a brief guest article for the Harvard Business Review — and, not surprisingly, they’re “all about mobile.” Those include focusing on “developing the underlying fast networks,” or what Schmidt notes is “generally called LTE,” pushing the development of NFC-based “mobile money” and, last but not least, increasing the availability of inexpensive smartphones in the poorest parts of the world. On that latter point, Schmidt seems to be especially optimistic, saying that he envisions “literally a billion people getting inexpensive, browser-based touchscreen phones over the next few years.” Hit up the source link below to read Schmidt’s take on the “big mobile revolution” for yourself.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has taken to the Harvard Business Review to talk about the search giant’s strategic initiatives in 2011, all of which are centered on mobile. Schmidt highlights three areas of focus – LTE, mobile money and inexpensive smartphones – which will require attention if Google’s plans to deliver personalized information about where you are and what you could do there right now are to come to fruition.
“To realize that vision, Google needs to do some serious spadework on three fronts,” he suggests, kicking off with LTE speeds for mobile devices. “8-to-10- megabit networks, roughly 10 times what we have today … will usher in new and creative applications, mostly entertainment and social, for these phone platforms.”
As for mobile money, we’ve already seen Google pushing for its adoption with NFC support in Android 2.3 Gingerbread and in the Nexus S; Schmidt wraps that in some talk of developing nations, similar to what we’ve heard Nokia discuss. “Phones, as we know, are used as banks in many poorer parts of the world” the Google CEO explains, “and modern technology means that their use as financial tools can go much further than that.”
Those new developing markets are potential customers for bargain Android devices, Schmidt seems to think. “We envision literally a billion people getting inexpensive, browser-based touchscreen phones over the next few years” he suggests, “can you imagine how this will change their awareness of local and global information and their notion of education? And that will be just the start.”
A leaked document from an internal Best Buy training manual may put the national retailer in some hot water, if it turns out to be true in any capacity. According to GearLive, who managed to get a snapshot of the internal document, it looks like Best Buy will be not only shying away from the Verizon iPhone 4, but going as far as to not recommend it to would-be customers.
We already know that widespread retail availability of the iPhone 4 for Verizon’s network is going to non-existent at launch. Both Apple and Verizon confirmed that it could take a few weeks before other retailers get their hands on the device, and it looks like Best Buy is taking it personal. The image, which you can see above, is supposedly taken from an internal training document for Best Buy employees. It’s the manual they are supposed to use to help with their daily interactions with customers. The document seemingly goes on a tangent about how the iPhone 4 isn’t a 4G-capable device, and is “stuck” on Verizon’s 3G speeds:
“Verizon’s entire presence at CES last week was focused on one thing and one thing alone: 4G. Its LTE network is now live in 38 markets and a flurry of 4G phones will launch in the coming months. But the iPhone… the smartphone millions of Verizon Wireless subscribers have been dying for… is a 3G device.
We knew Verizon’s iPhone 4 would be a CDMA phone for a number of reasons, but 3G is so 2010. Sprint launched its first 4G phone with minimal WiMAX coverage and it ended up being the fastest-selling phone in the carrier’s history. Now, we won’t see a 4G iPhone from Verizon until 2012. That means while millions of Android phones are surfing Verizon’s 4G airwaves later this year, iPhones will still be puttering along at EVDO speeds.”
The interesting part? Best Buy took that above passage from a recent article that was posted on Boy Genius Report. There’s even an extra line in the internal document that says, “Post updated to remove a reference to FaceTime over 3G, which will not be available on Verizon iPhone 4.” While BGR says this isn’t the first time Best Buy has used wording from them, it seems like an odd thing for Best Buy to do.
Some are speculating that Best Buy is taking this route due to the fact that they won’t be selling the Verizon iPhone 4 at launch, and therefore are actually “upset” about it. The result? A training manual that seems to be telling employees to skirt customers away from the Verizon version, and apparently get them into anything else.
That Samsung intends to bring a Galaxy S successor to MWC 2011 was already a known known, but now the company’s turning up the hype machine with an update to its Samsung Unpacked website. There, for the pleasure of your eyes and the tickling of your imagination, Sammy has positioned its familiar super-selling Android smartphone alongside a not-too-cryptic message promising that “evolution is fate.” We’re smelling a cute play on words here, similar to what LG did with its Revolution handset, potentially implying that the next Galaxy flagship will have LTE (Long Term Evolution) connectivity built in. That, along with the promised dual-core chip within, should easily outshine the Infuse 4G (which has HSPA+ and a single-core Hummingbird inside) recently announced for AT&T in the States. We’ll get the next dose of our teasing on February 1st, the site promises, before the full unveil in Barcelona on February 13th. Our hearts are all aflutter already.
At CES, Verizon had mentioned that “some… but not all” of its first LTE handsets would support the simultaneous use of voice and data. That’s not news for 3G customers on T-Mobile and AT&T, nor WiMAX customers on Sprint — but for Verizon subscribers, this is a very novel concept, indeed. Well, we can chalk up the mighty ThunderBolt from HTC as one of the models that’ll support it, if leaked training materials for the phone over on Android Central are to be believed. On a related note, the very existence of these materials gives us hope that we’ll be seeing it on store shelves before too long; don’t get us wrong, the two USB modems Big Red’s launched for LTE service so far are all well and good, but we could really use some handsets on these airwaves.
HP has an announcement to make regarding webOS on February 9th. The tagline “Something big, Something small, Something beyond” had many people trying to guess what the company had to show off, with plenty of fingers being pointed at a tablet device. HP and Palm haven’t been coy with their tablet talk, though, and have confirmed that a tablet device is on its way featuring Palm’s webOS mobile Operating System (OS). As many high-profile devices generally do, it seems that at least one of the tablet devices has found its way into the Internet, in internal render form, well before the official unveiling of the device.
A source has sent Engadget the first renders of the tablet device that HP and Palm have been working on. According to the source, HP is working on a pair of tablet devices. Topaz, which we’ve heard about in the past, is the 9-inch variation, while the Opal is the 7-inch, smaller version. The render doesn’t do much to show us what will actually be coming to market later this year, and into 2012, but there are a few interesting things to take away from it.
There’s a microUSB port on the bottom, and the design of the tablet seems to feature a three-speaker layout. There doesn’t seem to be any hardware buttons on the device, which goes right in-line with what we’ve heard in the past. While it’s a tablet device, we imagine that HP and Palm have made it so that the device can be rotated. With that in mind, while we can see that there’s a gesture area right above the microUSB port, Engadget believes it will probably rotate with the display. At the top of the device, there seems to be a front-facing camera.
Details about the devices, both the Topaz and Opal, are still non-existent at this point. Word about a release date, let alone the specifications and pricing of the tablet devices, are still up in the air at this point. Though, we don’t imagine that HP and Palm will not showcase at least one, if not both, of these tablets at their press event right around the corner. A captured screenshot does suggest that an LTE-based version of the Opal will be launching on Verizon’s network in September, 2011. While an LTE-based AT&T model won’t be popping up in stores until July, 2012.
