November 9th, 2009

Smartphone Buyer's Guide: What are the choices on my carrier?

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 5:06 am

Categories: AT&T, Android, Apple, BlackBerry, Google, HTC, Linux, Microsoft, Palm, RIM, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, WebOS, Windows Mobile, iPhone

Tags: Touch Screen, Apple iPhone, High Tech Computer Corp., Google Android, Device, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Smart Phone, T-Mobile, RIM BlackBerry, Smartphone

I recently posted the 2009 Holiday Guide for smartphones and in that guide posted about just one smartphone from each carrier. I also posted my Holiday Guide for feature phones and included the two I thought are best on each carrier. There are more smartphone selections than just one and now that most all of the announcements for the holidays have been made I thought you might like to know what the choices from each carrier are, along with the subsidized and non-subsidized prices so you can make an informed choice. Most people find a carrier that works for them with the best coverage in their local area so they look first to their carrier for a smartphone rather than looking for the a smartphone and then switching carriers. You will find the smartphone choices from the four largest nationwide carriers, but keep in mind there are also some rather large localized carriers in the Northeast and Southern regions with excellent smartphone choices.

The prices you will see in this article are from the carrier. If you are new to a carrier or adding another line you will find excellent prices on Amazon.com and other online vendors.

Verizon Wireless

Verizon has had a rather weak lineup of smartphones for most of 2009 with their primary focus on high end BlackBerry models. They recently added some very good Windows Mobile and Google Android devices to their offerings so Verizon Wireless customers have some of the best choices this holiday season. You will find smartphones with keyboards and those focused on touch only so something should appeal to you that allows you to stay with Verizon Wireless, or even join them to obtain one of their new Google Android devices.

Verizon does have the most expensive data and voice plans, but they also have the most coverage of any wireless carrier. The HTC Touch Pro2 has been sold out for much of the last month so may be difficult to find. The HTC DROID ERIS and Motorola DROID are the hottest devices at the moment and you will see commercials for both on television and in print advertising. If you travel internationally, make sure to look for a phone that is GSM-capable too.

RIM BlackBerry

• BlackBerry Curve 8330 - Front facing QWERTY, 2.0 megapixel camera: $429.99 (no contract) and $49.99 (2-year contract)
• BlackBerry Tour - Front facing QWERTY, 3.2 megapixel camera, GSM world phone: $489.99 (no contract) and $149.99 (2-year contract)
• BlackBerry Storm2 - Large touchscreen, WiFi, 3.2 megapixel camera, GSM world phone: $539.99 (no contract) and $179.99 (2-year contract)

Windows Mobile

• Samsung Omnia - Large touchscreen, Samsung TouchWIZ interface, 5 megapixel camera: $459.99 (no contract) and FREE (2-year contract)
• HTC Ozone - Front facing QWERTY, non-touchscreen, 2 megapixel camera, GSM world phone: $349.99 (no contract) and $49.99 (2-year contract)
• Samsung Saga - Front facing QWERTY, touchscreen, 2 megapixel camera, GSM world phone: $449.99 (no contract) and $99.99 (2-year contract)
• HTC Touch Pro2 - Large touchscreen, slider QWERTY, 3.2 megapixel camera, GSM world phone: $489.99 (no contract) and $199.99 (2-year contract)
• HTC Imagio - Windows Mobile 6.5, large touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, GSM world phone: $579.99 (no contract) and $199.99 (2-year contract)

Google Android

• HTC DROID ERIS - Touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, HTC Sense UI and widgets:: $469.99 (no contract) and $99.99 (2-year contract)
• Motorola DROID - Android 2.0, 5 megapixel camera, large touchscreen, slider QWERTY: $559.99 (no contract) and $199.99 (2-year contract)

Apple iPhone
Verizon has no iPhone devices.

Symbian
Verizon has no Symbian smartphone offerings.

Palm WebOS
Verizon has no Palm WebOS devices.

A couple of things to keep in mind as you look at these Verizon smartphones is to check for WiFi and GSM support if you are a business traveler who needs these wireless technologies to do your job.

Let’s see what AT&T has available »

November 4th, 2009

Motorola and Palm; will 2009 be designated as a comeback year?

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 4:37 am

Categories: Android, Google, Linux, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon

Tags: Device, Palm Inc., Motorola Inc., WebOS, Motorola DROID, Palm Pre, Smart Phones, Advertising & Promotion, Cellular Phones, Telecom & Utilities

Many of us believed that Palm was on the ropes and getting ready to go down for the count at the end of 2008, but they came out swinging at CES with the announcement of the Pre and WebOS. Motorola was a leader in the mobile phone business for years, but has not done well in the smartphone space and in early 2009 we heard they would be looking to Android in the future. The Motorola DROID is the talk of the town at the moment and the Motorola CLIQ just started selling at T-Mobile this week. Will 2009 go down as the year that Palm and Motorola showed us all they were back and ready to compete?

Palm

I began my mobile device career with a Palm Pilot 1000 (actually US Robotics then) in early 1997 and they have always had a special place in my heart. Even my online name, palmsolo, reflects my usage of their devices from way back in the day. I still use my Palm Treo Pro and think it is one of the best Windows Mobile devices I have ever used. I was blown away like everyone else with the Palm Pre and WebOS announcements in January and cheered that Palm was back in the game.

However, the Pre and WebOS hasn’t really taken off yet and as I posted recently I really wonder if Palm can make it through 2010. I want to see WebOS devices on other carriers and much more development and available applications in the Palm App Catalog, but am not that hopeful.

Motorola

One of the first mobile phones I used while in the USCG was the Motorola StarTAC. That was one rock solid phone that performed quite well and survived drops and falls. A bit later we saw the highly successful RAZR phone, followed by the huge failure in the Motorola MPx smartphone that was never released. That device could have been hot, but was hampered by an extremely small amount of RAM that killed it before launch. We then saw the launch of the Motorola Q that showed how thin a QWERTY smartphone could be, but the battery life and stability killed enthusiasm for that device. There were some solid Motorola Q models that followed, but I think the issues with the first one kept people from buying these. Motorola then decided to stop releasing Windows Mobile phones.

Motorola kicked off their Android devices with the Motorola CLIQ that has some innovative social networking integration in MotoBLUR. The hot news though surrounds the Motorola DROID on Verizon Wireless that seems to be grabbing lots of attention. Motorola plans to launch many more Android devices in 2010 and will be rolling out devices across carriers so they have the ability to affect more consumers.

2009 closing thoughts

Unless Palm makes moves to roll out on other carriers with their WebOS devices I don’t see them making a full comeback. The upcoming Pixi looks like a decent device, but it will be selling at the Palm Centro price of $99 and we saw that this is not the way to profitability and success even with millions of units sold.

Motorola is ending 2009 on a high note and has lots of momentum going into 2010. I do think 2009 will mark the year of Motorola’s comeback and look forward to seeing more of their offerings in 2010.

What do you think, will 2009 be the year of the comeback for both of these companies?

November 1st, 2009

Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Smartphones

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 9:18 pm

Categories: AT&T, Android, Apple, BlackBerry, HTC, Holiday Gift Guide, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, Windows Mobile, iPhone

Tags: Apple iPhone, High Tech Computer Corp., Phone, Device, Smart Phone, T-Mobile, Sprint Communications, Smartphone, CLIQ, iPhone 3GS

The lineup of cell phones has expanded a bit, but a significant number of what we see in that category are updates to existing models. The real innovation in the mobile phone world is in the area of smartphones where we see the Apple iPhone, Palm WebOS, Google Android, RIM BlackBerry, and Microsoft Windows Mobile devices taking us to places we have never been before. This holiday season there is a huge selection for you to choose from on every carrier and several exciting devices will be launching throughout November. There are so many to choose from that we can’t cover them all here so I will present you with one smartphone from each carrier and one SIM-unlocked one.

Even though I am only presenting one phone from each carrier, I highly encourage you to visit your local carrier’s retail store to check out all the offerings available since they are quite compelling. The great thing for buyers this holiday season is that such intense competition lends itself to good prices and changing carrier plans and services.

T-Mobile

Motorola CLIQ

T-Mobile is my personal wireless carrier and I was going to talk about my current favorite device, the T-Mobile Touch Pro2, but I think another new device is more exciting and interesting for the holidays. Motorola’s new CLIQ Google Android device with MOTOBLUR integration that tightly integrates social networking feeds and data in the device. The CLIQ has a beautiful capacitive touch screen, 5 megapixel camera, support for T-Mobile’s 3G data network, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, and full QWERTY keyboard.

The device is highly optimized for social networking with Facebook, MySpace and Twitter apps built right into the Android OS. Android is an exciting new platform with thousands of applications and capability to meet all your needs.

Price: $199.99 with 2-year contract and rebate

[Check out the ZDNet Reviews page]

Check out my AT&T recommendation »

November 1st, 2009

Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Cell Phones

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 9:16 pm

Categories: AT&T, Holiday Gift Guide, LG, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon

Tags: Phone, Device, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Bluetooth, Cell Phone, Camera, Wireless, Samsung Memoir, QWERTY, Pantech Reveal

Even though 2009 was a difficult one for many in regards to finances, the mobile phone market continued to grow and manufacturers continued to roll out some excellent phones for the consumer. In this issue of the 2009 Holiday Gift Guide we will take a look at two selected mobile phones from each of the four major US wireless carriers. I know the lines between feature phones and smartphones are no longer clear cut, but we will have another Guide edition for smartphones that will include those devices running Windows Mobile, Google Android, RIM BlackBerry, Apple iPhone, Symbian, and Palm WebOS.

QWERTY keyboards are quite popular today due to the heavy text messaging practices that many people take part in while standard phone keypad models don’t seem to be as common. That said, there are also some very powerful and functional devices without keyboards that appeal to consumer for other strengths. The phones we will cover in this Guide range from $49.99 to $199.99 in price.

T-Mobile

Samsung Memoir

This first selection from T-Mobile brings a feature not seen in many phones and that is an 8 megapixel digital camera. I find the saying that the best camera to have is the one that is always with you and with the Samsung Memoir in hand you really don’t have to compromise when it comes to taking photos. The Memoir also has a Xenon flash so you can take decent photos in low and no light conditions too. In addition to the 8 megapixel camera you will find a large 2.64 x 1.61 inch 240×400 pixel resolution touch screen display with haptic feedback. Samsung throws on their cool TouchWIZ user interface and the decent NetFront web browser to round out the device.

You will find it supports T-Mobile’s 3G data network, has integrated Bluetooth, and integrated GPS receiver for navigation. The Samsung Memoir is quite a powerful mobile phone for those looking to take lots of photos on the go.

Price: $199.99 with 2-year contract and rebate/discount or $499.99 with no contract (T-Mobile’s new Even More Plus plan)

[Read my review and check out the ZDNet Reviews page]

Go to the next page »

October 28th, 2009

Can Palm and WebOS make it through 2010?

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:45 am

Categories: Palm, Sprint, WebOS

Tags: Device, Palm Inc., Smart Phone, WebOS, Pixi, Palm Pre, Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Matthew Miller

Palm used to be one of the leaders in smartphones with the Palm Treo line and was the go to device for those who didn’t want a BlackBerry. We heard that they were announcing something at CES 2009 and just about every analyst was predicting Palm needed to show something compelling since they appeared to be floundering in the smartphone market with low margin Palm Centro devices being their best seller. While at CES in January Palm stole the show with their Palm Pre and WebOS announcements that had Palm fans breathing a sigh of relief that their favorite smartphone company was back in the game. We then did not see the Palm Pre become available until June and applications just recently started making their way in larger numbers to the Palm App Catalog. As we get to the close of 2009, we again start to wonder if Palm can make it through another year in the smartphone market with shares down 20% in October and just two WebOS devices being available on a single US carrier with limited release on overseas carriers. Palm started off 2009 with a bang, but is limping to the finish line at the end of the year and it leaves me wondering if they can make it all the way through 2010.

The Palm Pre is a decent device that I did enjoy using for the most part. However, the quality was sub-par compared to the devices available from other manufacturers. The Pixi is coming soon to join the Pre on Sprint, but we don’t see people flocking to Sprint just to get the Pre like we do with AT&T and the iPhone. The most exciting smartphone platform at the moment is Google Android and they now have or soon will have devices on T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon. In my opinion, the HTC Hero on Sprint is a more compelling device than the Palm Pre on the same carrier due to its rock solid hardware, availability of thousands of applications, and user experiences that match and even exceed what we see on the Palm Pre.

There have been no announcements of any WebOS devices coming out on other carriers, with rumors that Verizon may get the Palm Pre in 2010. Unless a new Palm Pre model is brought to Verizon it will be a year old device that may be a tough sell with some very compelling and powerful Google Android devices available soon on Verizon. I personally do not have a lot of confidence in Palm getting past 2010 without rolling out updated WebOS devices on other carriers. Do you think Palm can continue and succeed with the WebOS?

October 26th, 2009

Sprint and Palm announce 15 Nov date and $99.99 price for Pixi

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:37 am

Categories: Palm, Sprint, WebOS

Tags: Palm Inc., Sprint Communications, Palm Pixi, Palm Pre, Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Matthew Miller

The Palm Pixi was first announced back on September 9th with no pricing and availability stated as “in time for the holidays”. Today, Sprint and Palm announced that the Palm Pixi will be coming to Sprint on 15 November for $99.99 with a two-year contract, $50 instant rebate, and $100 mail-in rebate. The Palm Pixi is the second Palm WebOS-based phone, following the Palm Pre.

The major difference between the Palm Pix and Palm Pre is the form factor. The Palm Pixi is a forward facing QWERTY more in line with the traditional Palm Treo lineup and looks most like the Palm Treo Pro. The Pre has a forward facing QWERTY too, but it is hidden by the slide up display. Like the Palm Pre, the Touchstone charging solution (induction) is an add-on accessory priced at $79.99.

The Pixi also has a couple other specs different than the Palm Pre, including a 2 megapixel camera instead of a 3.2 megapixel model, lack of WiFi, use of Qualcomm MSM7627 processor instead of 600MHz Cortex A8, and slightly smaller 2.63 inch display at 320×400 pixel resolution compared to 3.1 inch 320×480 pixel resolution display.

October 20th, 2009

Hands-on with the Sprint Samsung Intrepid Windows Phone

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 5:04 am

Categories: Microsoft, Review, Samsung, Sprint, Windows Mobile

Tags: SIM Card, Phone, Device, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sprint Communications, Windows Mobile 6.5, Samsung Intrepid, SIM Card Inclusion, Keyboards

A few new devices launched with the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system roll out on October 6th. One QWERTY messaging-focused device that launched on Sprint is the Samsung Intrepid. The Intrepid is the successor to the Samsung Ace and is a touchscreen device in a forward facing QWERTY form factor, similar to a BlackBerry device. Most all of the specs of the Samsung Intrepid are quite good, but the low resolution 320×240 QVGA kills the whole experience for me since every device I now have has much higher resolution and I can never go back to something with this low of resolution. The Samsung Intrepid is priced on Sprint at $150 so it is quite reasonable for a fully functional Windows Phone. Check out my image gallery for a few photos of the device.

	Image Gallery:A walk around the Samsung Intrepid Windows Phone.

Inside the fairly standard Sprint box you will find the Samsung Intrepid with stylus and battery, A/C phone charger, SIM card, 3.5mm headset jack, USB sync cable, and several helpful guides. The SIM card inclusion indicates the Samsung Intrepid is truly a world phone that supports US CDMA networks and worldwide GSM networks, which may be important for the business traveler.

As I pulled the Intrepid out of the box and held it, I found it to have an attractive design and solid feel in my hand. It is very similar to a BlackBerry with the front facing QWERTY and width the supports a full keyboard. There was nothing stunning that made the device stand out from the crowd, but that isn’t always needed for an enterprise user looking for a solid phone to get the job done.

Specifications

: The Samsung Intrepid (SPH-i350) has the following specifications:

• Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system
• Qualcomm MSM 7600 528MHz processor
• 512MB ROM/256MB RAM
• 2.5 inch 320×240 QVGA touchscreen display
• Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and Dual-band CDMA (800/1900 MHz)
• Integrated GPS receiver
• Integrated Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support
• Integrated 802.11 b/g radio
• 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus
• 1480 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
• microSD card slot with support for SDHC capacities
• Dimensions: 4.88 x 2.44 x 0.53 inches, 3.2 ounces

Walk around the hardware

The Samsung Intrepid is black and silver with a few brushed silver highlights on the front. The black plastic has a matte finish, but is not the soft touch material found on many other current generation smartphones. On the front of the device you will see the 2.5 inch QVGA display and honestly Read the rest of this entry »

October 16th, 2009

Is the Google Android platform the upcoming smartphone of choice?

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:58 am

Categories: AT&T, Android, Google, HTC, Linux, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon

Tags: Google Inc., High Tech Computer Corp., Google Android, Device, Smart Phone, T-Mobile, Sprint Communications, myTouch 3G Fender Edition, myTouch 3G, Mobile Operating Systems

My T-Mobile SIM is setup for my T-Mobile G1 Google Android device that I have owned since day 1 (see my full review) and continue to enjoy with the updates and growing Android Market application selection. T-Mobile was the first US wireless carrier to support Android and then rolled out the T-Mobile myTouch 3G to add a second Android and become the carrier of choice for Android fans. T-Mobile will be launching a third Android device, the Motorola CLIQ, very soon, but they are no longer the exclusive Android carrier. Sprint has the awesome HTC Hero with the Samsung Moment coming soon and Verizon will have a couple of devices in 2010. AT&T has nothing announced yet, but there are rumors of a Dell handset. When you decide you want an iPhone, you only have one choice in carrier and form factor, but when you now consider an Android device you can stay with your carrier and/or have a choice in form factor. Let’s take a closer look at what Android devices are or will be coming to each carrier in the US, followed by my thoughts on what I have found to be the best so far.

T-Mobile

I’ll start with T-Mobile since they were the first to support the Google Android platform. You currently have two choices at T-Mobile with a fourth coming soon. Here are the known choices on T-Mobile:

• T-Mobile G1
• T-Mobile myTouch 3G
• Motorola CLIQ
• Samsung Behold II
• T-Mobile myTouch 3G Fender Edition

The T-Mobile G1 is the first Android device and can still be found at T-Mobile. It is a bit clunky, but it has a fantastic keyboard and is the primary Android device I still use today. The myTouch 3G drops the keyboard, gets a nice facelift, doubles the onboard memory, and gives you lots of customization options. I really liked the myTouch 3G and would buy one in a second if it had the HTC Sense UI (discussed below in the Hero portion) integration on board. The Motorola CLIQ (see Andrew’s thoughts) is coming soon and will be the second Android device on T-Mobile with a hardware QWERTY keyboard. This device is being marketed as a social networking powerhouse and is a good device to consider. I was caught a bit off guard with Read the rest of this entry »

October 16th, 2009

MobileTechRoundup show #186, Nokia N900, dual boot laptops, Moto CLIQ

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:41 am

Categories: Android, Google, Linux, Microsoft, Mobile services, Nokia, Podcast, Sprint, T-Mobile

Tags: Dual Boot, MobileTechRoundup, Nokia Corp., Laptop Computer, James, Matthew Miller

Listen here (MP3, 32 MB, 34:45 minutes)

Subscribe to the show with this link (RSS)

James, Kevin, and I kicked off MobileTechRoundup show #186 with my thoughts on the Nokia N900 Internet Tablet and my pleasure about finally receiving my blue Zune Originals media player. Kevin brought up the dual boot Acer Aspire D250 and we learned that it actually boots into Android first where you can then switch to Windows. James has been playing with the Dell Latitude ON device and we chatted a bit about that new laptop. The Motorola CLIQ reviews went live this week too.

October 8th, 2009

UPDATE: Hands-on with Evernote for the Google Android platform

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 2:38 am

Categories: Android, Google, HTC, Linux, Mobile services, Mobile software, Sprint, T-Mobile

Tags: Google Inc., Google Android, Mobile, Note, Mobile Operating Systems, Advertising & Promotion, Smart Phones, Web Site Development, Marketing, Consumer Electronics

Capturing thoughts and notes is something that many of us do with our smartphones and my favorite cross platform application to perform this is Evernote. I have been asking them for an Android client since I purchased my T-Mobile G1 last year. I read a Tweet about a beta appearing on the Android Market so I have been testing it out and using it on the Sprint HTC Hero the past few days. It is a great first start with support for a few ways to capture notes and I am sure it will get better over time, just like the other mobile clients. I am a bit surprised not to see any mention of this beta release on the Evernote blog yet.

After signing into your Evernote account you are presented the familiar green background display with four large icons that allow you to initiate creation of a photo (snapshot) note, text note, or audio note along with the ability to upload a file. There is a small search box along the bottom and if you use the search then you will be taken to the Evernote mobile website with your search results because offline/cached notes is not supported.

Snapshot/photo note

Tapping the Snapshot icon takes you directly into the camera application. After taking a photo then you will see the standard note entry page with a place for a note title, note content (you can add text to the photo note), which notebook Read the rest of this entry »