Sprint Announces the Palm Centro

Sprint announced the newest product offering from Palm, the Centro. This is Palm's first device geared for the consumer versus the business user. Following in RIM's footsteps, Palm is looking to regain some of the market share it has lost over the past year by going after the consumer market. The Palm Centro will be available in mid-October at all Sprint Sales channels and Palm retail stores. It will also be available online at www.sprint.com and www.palm.com/centro. After promotions and rebates, the phone will sell for only $99.99.

The Centro is the smaller and thinner than the traditional Treo models. Its measures 2.1"x4.2"x0.7" and weighs only 4.2 ounces. It features a full QWERTY keyboard along with a five-way navigation button. Although smaller than the Treo, it still packs a 312 MHz processor, 128 MB of ROM and 64 MB RAM, EVDO, a 1.3 megapixels camera, Bluetooth, a full color touch screen, and a MicroSD slot for extra memory. The device will also feature Palm OS 5.4.9 and supports Phone as Modem, allowing users to connect to the Internet from their laptop or desktop computer by via the device. The Centro also supports Data Transfer Mode (DTM), notifying users of incoming calls even when they are in an active data session versus just sending the calls to voicemail.

The device will be available in Onyx Black and Ruby Red. It will be exclusive to Sprint for 90 days. You can sign up to receive alerts on the availability of this device at www.sprint.com/centro.

Preview the Palm Centro (w/ video) at PhoneScoop.com.

Sprint and Microsoft Offers Mobile Searches Based on GPS

Sprint and Microsoft are combining to offer a first of its kind service. The first fully integrated GPS location-aware mobile search service is now available from Sprint at no additional cost to Sprint data subscribers.

Using the existing search function on Sprint GPS enabled phones, users can simply type in a keyword like "gas station" and a listing of nearby gas stations will be listed based on GPS coordinates. No address information is needed, not even a zip code. The service takes it a step further by offering driving directions by clicking on a link or calling the business directly from the search screen. Users also have the option to send directions to a friend who may need directions to the same destination, like a restaurant.

Voice search capabilities are also available allowing users to simply say the word "gas station" versus typing it in. This service requires users to download a client to their phones and is only available on certain phones.

MySpace on the T-Mobile Sidekick

T-Mobile announced a new application that will give Sidekick users access to the famous social networking site, MySpace. The application called MySpace Mobile gives Sidekick users a customized interface giving it the look and feel of MySpace.com on a regular computer. Users will be able to edit their profiles, manage pictures, and stay up to date with new comments, friend requests, and blogs. T-Mobile has stated that the MySpace Mobile will be available to all Sidekick 3 and Sidekick ID users by the end of October. Users will be able to download and subscribe to MySpace Mobile by visiting the Download Catalog on the Sidekick.

Apple Cuts Price of iPhone and Announces iPod Touch

For those who have been waiting for the price of the iPhone to drop, wait no longer. Apple just announced they will drop the price of the 8G iPhone by $200, bringing down its sticker price to $399. From the website now only selling the 8G version, it looks like the 4G version has reached End-of-Life.

Apple also announced the availability of the iPod Touch later this month. The iPod Touch will be the first touch screen iPod. It will resemble the iPhone with a 3.5 inch touch screen, but it will be thinner (only 8 mm). It will also have Wi-Fi to enable song downloads directly to the device and web browsing via the Safari browser. It will come in an 8G and 16G version priced at $299 and $399, respectively.

Alltel Now Selling BlackBerry 8830

Alltel is now selling the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition. The phone will be available from Alltel for $249.99 with a two-year contract. It is already available from Sprint and Verizon. Sprint is selling the device for only $199.99 after rebates and service agreements, while Verizon is selling the device for $299.99 after discounts and contract.

Phonepotential.com first reviewed the device back in April. (Read Article)

AAA Provides Mobile Application to Drivers

AAA is entering the Location-Based Services (LBS) arena with a new downloadable application. The appication provides turn-by-turn directions and allows users to automatically send their GPS coordinates to AAA over a wireless handset. The service makes sense to AAA as they stated that half the calls they receive each year are from mobile handsets.

The application is currently only available from Sprint for $10 per month. It is available for AAA members as well as non-members. In addition to the services listed above, users also gain access to AAA hotel ratings and info on AAA "points of interest" around the country.

For instructions on downloading the application, visit AAA Mobile.

Did You Know: Mobile Social Networking

At least 12.3 million people in the United States and Western Europe use mobile social networking, according to the research firm M:Metrics, with Americans being the biggest users.

The firm says 7.5 million Americans, about 3.5% of mobile subscribers, used their cell phones to access a social networking site in June. Italians were second with 1.3 million users or 2.8% of the population. There were 1.1 million users in the U.K., about 2.5%, while Spain had 751,000 or 2.3%; Germany had 1.9%; and France, 1.7%.

MySpace and Facebook were the favorite sites for users in the United States and United Kingdom. MSN topped the sites in the other geographies.

Source: www.wirelessweek.com

Helio Has Thinnest Phone in the US

Helio announced the availability of the "Fin" from Samsung, the thinnest clamshell style phone in the US at just 11mm thin. Don't let it's size fool you, this phone is packed with power. The Fin supports EV-DO high speed mobile broadband. It has a 3 MB camera that allows you to instantly upload pics and clips to YouTube and Flickr. In regards to memory, the phone comes with 100MB and can hold up to 4 GB via its MicrosSD slot. The Fin even has GPS packed into its small frame, providing support for Helio's Buddy Beacon service, Google Maps, and voice-guided navigation provided by Garmin.

The Fin measures 4.06"x2.06"x0.45" and weighs 3.35 ounces. The MSRP for the device is $365, but it is available on Helio's website for as low as $175 with discounts and rebates.

Save Time with Waitless.org

You have to check out this new website from Sprint - www.waitless.org. Sprint's new marketing campaign, "Sprint Ahead", emphasizes "Sprint Speed". www.waitless.org focuses on how speed can save time in your daily lives by using shortcuts known as "Sprintcuts". For example, using a "Sprintcut" to peel an egg can add four days to your life. A Sprintcut on pouring ketchup can save you two days. And by starting your night calling at 7 PM (standard with Sprint service) instead of 9 PM, you can save 4 years of your life!

The website uses short "How To" video clips to demonstrate the Sprintcuts. Examples include how to speed tie your shoes, instantly soothe a crying baby, and chill a warm soda in two minutes. www.waitless.org allows users to submit videos with their time saving ideas and to hear about new Sprintcuts via a text message and/or email. You can view all video submissions at www.youtube.com/sprintcuts. You can also use a calculator provided on the website to estimate where your time goes by showing how much time you spend on your specific daily activities. For example, if you spend one hour a day "Reading Blogs", in your lifetime, you will spend 3 years and 4 months "Reading Blogs".

Motorola RAZR2 Gets Triple Launch in US

The Motorola RAZR2 is coming to a store near you! Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T have announced the upcoming availability of the successor to Motorola's popular RAZR, the RAZR2. Sprint will be the first to make the phone available to the public. You can purchase the handset from Sprint's online store starting August 22nd. It will make it to Sprint retails stores on September 4th. Verizon and AT&T have not given specific dates, but have stated they plan to have the device available in September. Sprint has stated that their version with EVDO support will be available for $250 with service agreement and rebates at launch. Both Verizon and AT&T stated they will launch the device with a $300 price tag.

Motorola was able to make the device even slimmer, while packing in more power and features. Processing speed of the RAZR2 (225Mhz)is 10 times faster than the original RAZR. It has 2 GB of internal It sports a 2" external display, with features allowing you to view text messages and reply with pre-set text messages and listen to music with virtual music keys, all without opening the phone. Other features include stereo Bluetooth and a micro USB slot.

T-Mobile Announces Samsung Blast

T-Mobile added a new slider phone from Samsung to its lineup. The Samsung T729, dubbed the Blast, is a replacement for the Samsung T719. The phone is meant for messaging with its SureType slider keyboard, a QWERTY keyboard where each key represent two letters. Messaging capabilities are enhanced with integrated support for Instant Messaging services from AOL, Yahoo, MSN, and ICQ. The phone also supports email from popular services like AOL, Yahoo Mail, and others. To help generate data traffic, T-Mobile is trying something new by charging for sent and received emails just as they do for text messaging. Other features include a 1.3 megapixels camera, stereo Bluetooth, a microSD slot, and myFaves support.

The phone is 4.2"x20"x0.5" and weighs just 2.8 ounces. It is available for $99 after discounts and rebates.

AT&T Finally Offers OTA Music Downloads

AT&T is now able to offer OTA (Over the Air) music downloads to certain handsets. The service is provided via eMusic
, the world's largest retailer of independent music with over 2.7 million songs in its catalog. When a song is purchased using eMusic
, it is automatically downloaded to a users handset. eMusic
will also make a duplicate copy of the song in .mp3 format available online for download to a PC.

AT&T is charging customers $7.49 a month to be able to download 5 songs per month. Additional song downloads are available in packs of 5 for an additional $7.49. It ends up being $1.50 per song. Currently, the service is only available on four AT&T handsets - Samsung A717, Samsung A727, Samsung Sync, and the Nokia N75.

AT&T is late to the game here. OTA music downloads have been available for a while now from Sprint and Verizon. Both carriers charge only 99 cents per song and the service is available on several of their handsets.

With the limited phones available and high per track costs, it's easier to just go directly to eMusic
, where you can get downloads as low as 22 cents per track. eMusic
is currently running a trial for 25 free downloads. Click below to sign up.

Get a Free Ringtone from Sprint

For all the customers who own a Sprint PowerVision or PowerSource phone, Sprint is giving away a free ringtone. Just go the the Sprint Digital Lounge website. The free offer is available for a limited time only: July 30th to August 6th, so hurry up as Monday is the last day. Just go to the website, choose the ringtone you want, and enter the special promotion code listed on the website.

The offering is not for use with Sprint Nextel handsets, Windows-based, or PDA phones. For users with Sprint Nextel handsets, look for a separate promotion coming out soon. Also, if you do not have a data plan, usage rates may apply for the download.

Back Up Your Contacts With AT&T

AT&T now offers a solution for those who need to back up their contact information. The service consists of a a web accessible interface that allows users to add new contacts and edit existing contacts. The down-loadable application allows users to automatically backup the data on their handsets daily or weekly. AT&T is charging $2 per month for the service, which is comparable to the price of service already offered by other major carriers like Sprint, Alltel, and Verizon. This service will work great for keeping up to date contact information when upgrading phones or in cases where phones are lost.

A Verizon YouTube Exclusive

Access to YouTube from your mobile phone is starting to become a standard feature. There are even plans for YouTube specific phones from LG and Samsung. And since YouTube launched their mobile website, m.youtube.com, you can pretty much get to Youtube from any phone on any carrier.

It's great to be able to view videos from your phone, but in the midst of all the YouTube craze, Verizon has become the first carrier to allow users to upload videos to the website directly from their phones via a text message. Verizon subscribers just need to update their YouTube accounts with their mobile numbers. After that, users can post their video clips by sending a message to YTUBE (98823). There is no charge for the service besides messaging fees.

Did You Know: Mobile Video

Mobile television and video subscription revenues grew 198% year-over-year to $146 million in the first quarter of 2007, according to data from Telephia Inc. Approximately 8.4 million wireless customers now subscribe to some form of mobile video, representing nearly 4% of all U.S. mobile subscribers.

In addition, nearly half of the mobile video subscribers polled said they were willing to view ads on their cellphones in exchange for something of value, according to Telephia. At least 55% said they recalled viewing a mobile ad in the last 30 days, which is nearly three times the recall rate for mobile data consumers in general.

Meanwhile, revenues from mobile television and video services are quickly gaining on mobile music. Mobile music, which includes realtones, ringtones and full-track music, brought in $239 million for the quarter. At least 27 million subscribers downloaded some form of audio on their mobile devices, marking a growth of 8 million since the same quarter a year ago, Telephia reported.

Source: www.rcrnews.com

Locate Family and Friends on Your Sprint Phone

Sprint will partner with loopt to provide a social mapping service that allows you to find friends, connect with friends, and tag places and events. The service is currently available through Boost Mobile, which is a Sprint MVNO. With this announcement, Sprint will be launching the service on its own handsets . The service will initially be available on 42 handsets.

Loopt allows you to see the location of friends and family on your mobile handset or from any web browser. Loopt allows you to set up alerts, so you can be notified when friends are in the same area. You will also be able to communicate with them through the application. For example, after being alerted that a friend is in close proximity to you, you can send them a text saying "I see you are in my area, let's meet for lunch".

As mentioned, the service is currently only available on Boost. It should be available soon from Sprint. You can still sign up early on the loopt website. The cost of the services is $3 per month.

Amp'd MVNO Closes Its Doors

Amp'd Mobile is looking into selling off their assets after a failed attempt at acquiring additional investment funds to help get them out of bankruptcy, which they filed for on June 1st. Amp'd is not the first high profile MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) to shut down shop, as Mobile ESPN called it quits late last year, only to resurface as content on Verizon.

An MVNO operates just like a wireless carrier by selling their own phones and plans, however, they do not operate their own network. They pay the larger carriers like Sprint and Verizon to use their network. Normally MVNO's have a very targeted market. Amp'd Mobile is using Verizon's network and racking up a bill of $370,000 a day. This is on top of the $50 + million they haven't paid.

It's believed that Amp'd will have a cash balance of only $9,000 on July 23rd. They are working with the bankruptcy court to set up an auction for some or all of its assets.

Sprint to Give Away One Million Dollars

In connection with Motorola and NASCAR, Sprint will be giving away $1 million to a lucky race fan. To enter the contest, fans choose the driver they think will win the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Championship. Entries can be made at retail stores, online at www.sprint.com/speed, by texting "million" to 7777 from any Sprint phone or at the NEXTEL Experience booths trackside. Entries will be accepted up to Sept. 3rd.

When the 12 Cup series drivers are chosen on Sept. 8th, 12 sweepstake finalists will be randomly drawn and paied with the drivers they selected. All finalists will win a trip to one of the Chase races. The finalists that choose one of the top-three drivers will be invited to the season finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 18th, where the $1 million will be awarded.

Sprint Launches Katana Deluxe (DLX)

Hot on the heels of the launch of the Katana II earlier this month, Sprint today announced the availability of the Sanyo Katana Deluxe (DLX). The DLX is the high end version of the Katana line. The major difference in the DLX version is the ability to operate on Sprint's High Speed Mobile Broadband network (EV-DO), a 1.3 megapixels camera, and a microSD slot that supports up to 4G cards. The Katana DLX keeps the thin clamshell form factor measuring 3.7"x1.9"x0.6" and weighing 3.5 ounces. The device comes in three new colors - Platinum Ice, Champagne, and Pink Satin.

Other features of the Katana DLX include power save mode, phone as modem, Bluetooth® wireless technology, wireless backup for easily restoring contact information if the phone is ever lost, stolen or damaged and a large QVGA main display. It is also GPS-enabled supporting Sprint Navigation, powered by TeleNav, with turn-by-turn driving directions and more than 10 million business listings. The Katana DLX is priced at $129.99 after service agreements and rebates.

See a previous review of the Katana II and Katana DLX