LG DoublePlay: Bizarre Freak of an Android Phone Gets Specs

We’ve seen this bizarre dual-screen, split-keyboard Android phone once or twice before, but we just got some more specs. It’s a whole lot of crazy and weird packed into a single phone.

We thought this guy might be called the LG Flip II, but it’s looking like DoublePlay may be the name that sticks. On the outside it’s got 3.5 inch screen (no word on resolution, but I’m going to go ahead and guess it’s low), but slide that screen over and let the freakshow begin. Underneath the main screen lies a second touch-screen, nestled between two halves of a split-keyboard. Why, you ask? Well apparently LG has made it so some apps will allow you to have one element open on the small screen and another element of the same app on the larger screen. Or you could use the screens to use two separate apps simultaneously. We’ve seen this kinda thing before, and it’s always been an awful idea.

A split keyboard is not necessarily a bad idea on a phone, but the keys look very flat, very small (thanks to the 2-inch screen hogging the real estate), very close together, and they’re lined up in vertical rows. It makes my thumbs feel cramped and frustrated just looking at it. It’ll have a 1GHz single-core processor under the hood, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), a 5MP camera on the back, and likely 4G with T-Mobile’s HSPA+ (if that little 4G icon on the phone is correct).

There was no announcement on a launch date or pricing (though our leaked T-Mobile roadmap suggests November 2nd for $149 on contract), but T-Mobile said “the DoublePlay will be star of the show at the National Texting Championship”, which is on October 28th. Color me skeptical on that front, as there’s no way this keyboard is better than, say the myTouch 4G Slide. Further dings against this creature? The specialized software will practically ensure that it will never get updated to Ice Cream Sandwich. Basically, it’s like Jeff Goldblum at the end of The Fly, holding a shotgun to his head and begging Gina Davis to kill him. Too harsh? It’s a glorified feature phone with some bizarre gimmicks and small keys that may appeal to your text-happy, small-thumbed teenager. That’s about as unharsh as I can get on this one.

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Tags: Android, LG, LG DoublePlay, Smartphones, T-Mobile

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T-Mobile Bobsled VoIP hits iPhone, Android and browser

T-Mobile has extended its Bobsled VoIP service, broadening use from Facebook to cover access from the browser, from new Android apps, and with apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. In addition to the new apps, there are also free mobile and landline calls in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico, though the Android/iOS software currently only supports calls direct to Facebook contacts.

If you want free general calls, you’ll need to log in through the browser interface instead. Still, using the mobile apps you can make Bobsled to Bobsled calls, cross-platform between Android and iOS, and leave voicemails that get flagged up on your Facebook contacts’ walls. It’s also possible to record a voice message and leave that pinned to someone’s wall, rather than actually talk to them.

In effect it’s a clever way for T-Mobile to potentially get onto hundreds of thousands of iPhone homescreens, despite being the only major US carrier not offering the new iPhone 4S.

Bobsled for Facebook can be installed from this link: http://apps.facebook.com/bobsledbytmo. Meanwhile, the Bobsled app for iOS can be downloaded here [iTunes link] while the Android app is here.

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Tags: Android, Apps, Bobsled, Facebook, iOS, T-Mobile, VoIP

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Orange and T-Mobile join hands with 3G coverage

Everything Everywhere getting there

Orange and T-Mobile have extended their joint reach by making it possible for their respective customer bases to use 3G signals from both networks.

When the companies joined forces under the Everything Everywhere banner in 2010, they underwent a “big switch-on” and opened up the 2G channels – voice, basically – to patrons right across the board.

From next week, though, the group is extending its effort to 3G for faster data rates.

Users could benefit from faster internet and data speeds in a greater range of areas, EE claimed.

The scheme is set to roll out regionally over the next few months along with further 2G improvements that apparently “allow customers to keep talking in more places”.

Virgin Media, which has had a long-standing signal sharing arrangement with  T-Mobile, has already announced it will make use of Orange’s 3G connections sometime in 2012.

Article: RSS via Reg Hardware

Tags: 2G, 3G, Everything Everywhere, Mobile Networks, Orange, T-Mobile, UK, Virgin Mobile

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Virgin Media to beef up mobile-data backhaul

Three, Orange, T-Mobile ink £100m deal for extra grunt

Three, T-Mobile and Orange customers will find it quicker to use the internet on their phones thanks to a new deal between the operators and Virgin Media Business. But the effects may take a couple of years to kick in.

Virgin Media has sold use of its UK-wide network of cables to the three carriers in an eight-year £100m deal. Virgin will also build 14 regional datacentres to boost bandwidth to Three, T-Mobile and Orange.

The new Ethernet system will also lay groundwork for the faster, more efficient 4G network, which will bring in speeds of 100Mb/s to end users, compared to the 1-3Mb/s available on 3G. But don’t hold your breath for 4G internet, it’s not coming to the UK for several more years.

Virgin Media said in a press release:

“With mobile data traffic set to increase by 33 times over the next decade all mobile operators are under increasing pressure to deal with the surge in mobile data. The mobile backhaul network will unlock capacity for the future.”

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Tags: 3, 3G, 3G Networks, 4G, Broadband, Mobile Broadband, Orange, T-Mobile, Three, Virgin Media

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T-Mobile Rapport is a carrier-branded version of Huawei U8180 for the British market

T-Mobile UK will soon launch another entry-level Android smartphone – T-Mobile Rapport, which is actually their own version of the Huawei U8180. The same device is also offered by Orange UK as Stockholm and Vodafone has its own version (Vodafone Smart) with slightly changed specs (worse camera) – Vodafone Smart.

We don’t know when exactly the new phone will be released, but I see no reason why that wouldn’t happen sooner rather than later. Specs wise, this little fella’ comes with a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen, 3.2-megapixel camera, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, 3.5mm headset jack, microSD memory card slot, while Android 2.2 Froyo is running the show. All said, we’re pretty confident T-Mobile will offer the Rapport free of charge with pretty much any 18 or 24-month contract that includes mobile data. Similarly, this baby should sell for well under 200 EUR with PAYG plans…

Article: RSS via IntoMobile

Tags: Android, Budget Phones, Smartphones, T-Mobile, T-Mobile Rapport

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T-Mobile UK Preps Truly Unlimited Mobile Broadband and Smartphone Deal for July

Mobile operator T-Mobile UK, which in recent times has perhaps become better known for restricting its Mobile Broadband data allowances instead of raising them (here), will from next month launch a new “truly unlimited internet” service with “no fair use limits or run on rates” for Smartphone users.

ISPreview.co.uk understands that the new deal will be available to any customers that purchase a 24 month contract or whom are already paying £25 or more a month for their mobile service. The new deals are due to surface between 1st and 4th July next month.

The move is likely an attempt to take on Three (3) UK, which last year went in the opposite direction to most by launching The One Plan with “all-you-can-eat data“. The deal had previously only come with a 1GB usage allowance.

Until recently the mobile industry had been extremely worried about low revenues and growing data usage, which prompted a crackdown on “unlimited” services. That certainly didn’t last long.

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Tags: 3, Mobile Broadband, T-Mobile, The One Plan, Three, Unlimited Data

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UK operators band together for NFC revenue

Gang of three (not including Three)

Vodafone, Telefonica UK and Everything Everywhere have banded together to create a clearing house for NFC applications, providing a single point of contact for cross network applications.

The unnamed joint venture should launch before the end of the year, providing banks, merchants and advertisers with a single point of call if they want to start offering, accepting or exploiting proximity payment systems – as long as they don’t want to offer the service to Three’s customers.

Once the joint venture is in action it will be able to certify (SIM-based) NFC applications, allowing the same application to be downloaded and used on phones from different mobile operators without requiring the supplier to jump though any more hoops.

A bank deciding to deploy a proximity-payment version of its services will first develop the application, then take it to the joint venture for approval. Once approved the application should be available to customers of any mobile network operator, except Three.

But it’s not just about payments – the operators are very keen to promote the advertising potential of sending out electronic coupons and other applications made possible with NFC. In presenting the joint venture O2 pointed out that its offer-based advertising service, O2 More, now has 2.5 million customers who’ve already opted in to receive special offers and other promotions direct to their phone. Having a standard, and secure, platform should expand that business.

So the joint venture won’t just be a platform; it will also sell advertising based on that platform. That advertising will be based on tokens, electronic ticketing and so forth, but more importantly it will be delivered across network operators to end customers based on their demographic information – subject to suitable measures to protect customer privacy.

The joint venture doesn’t lock out Three, or anyone else. Everything Everywhere, Telefonica UK* and Vodafone will be equal partners in owning the joint venture, but they will also be customers buying into the service, and say that Three is welcome to become a customer too, though Three’s CEO Kevin Russell isn’t very impressed.

“[We] are more than a little concerned that – as a core competitor – we have been excluded from this joint venture”, he said in a statement.

The others argue that Three has never shown any great interest in NFC payments, which is why it wasn’t invited to the table.

All the operators have been struggling to work out how to make money from NFC, given the number of players involved in processing electronic payments which are often expected to provide revenue. The UK plan is that by making it easier for advertisers to buy NFC-based advertising more of them will buy such campaigns, bringing in more money for all the operators involved.

The venture will need regulatory approval, and even the most optimistic estimate says it will be 12 months before we see any real applications deployed, but if there really is a driving desire for advertising (and payments) delivered direct to one’s pocket then this joint venture will help it happen. ®

* O2 is just a brand these days: the company is called Telefonica UK.

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Tags: Everything Everywhere, Financial, Mobile Payments, Near Field Communication, NFC, O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Three, UK, Vodafone

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T-Mobile flips on 42Mbps HSPA+ across 55 markets, launching Rocket 3.0 modem stick tomorrow

Fellow road warriors, we bring you good news: starting today, T-Mobile customers across 55 markets — including Chicago, Detroit, Honolulu, Pittsburgh, Miami, and many more — will have immediate access to a faster HSPA+ “4G” network. This means anyone with compatible devices can achieve theoreticaldownload speeds of up to a whopping 42Mbps, as opposed to just 21Mbps from the good ol’ days. But of course, only time will tell whether this upgrade will deliver its promise — you may recall that even AT&T’s LTE demo last week delivered “realistic” download speeds of up to just 28.9Mbps, when in theory it should be capable of hitting up to 100Mbps.

Anyhow, if you want to soldier on and be a guinea pig an early adopter, then help yourself to ZTE’s Rocket 3.0 USB modem stick starting tomorrow — the entry price is $99.99 after a $50 mail in rebate, but tied to a two-year broadband plan of 2GB or higher; or you can opt for the contract-free price of $199.99.

Article: RSS via Engadget

Tags: 3G, 4G, HSPA+, LTE, T-Mobile, T-Mobile USA

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Wi-Fi Calling Now Free for Android Owners on T-Mobile

WiFi-calling is now free for T-Mobile customers with an Android handset. All you need is the Smart Wi-Fi application and an Even More or Even More Plus calling plan. According to a T-Mobile representative, Magenta customers should be able to call customer service to add this sweet new feature to their accounts starting today.

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Tags: Android, Apps, Even More, Even More Plus, Smartphones, T-Mobile, T-Mobile USA, VoIP, Wi-Fi

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Huawei celebrates UK win with Everything Everywhere

Today: a 2G refurb. Tomorrow: the world

Chinese kit supplier Huawei has scored a win with EE, signing a deal to upgrade the operator’s 2G infrastructure and hoping to be in prime position when it comes to 4G too.

Over the next four years, Huawei will replace the entire 2G network that Everything Everywhere inherited from the merger of T-Mobile and Orange. The shiny new network will, apparently, offer greater sensitivity, and thus improved coverage, allowing EE to remove even more duplicate sites than previously imagined. It also comes with Huawei-shaped slots ready for an upgrade to 4G, although Everything Everywhere has yet to commit to a supplier for its 4G network.

Neither company is saying how much the deal is worth, but replacing somewhere south of 10,000 base stations, and associated infrastructure, will certainly runs into hundreds of millions of pounds. Huawei’s solution is very IP-based, converting traffic to Internet Protocol before back haul, which makes it cheaper to handle. Huawei also tells us that EE will save on the ‘leccy bill thanks to more efficient processing.

Much of that processing will be concerned with voice traffic, as Huawei is replacing only the 2G network (which includes GPRS and EDGE, but nothing faster). EE’s 3G network is owned and operated by the joint venture that was set up by T-Mobile and Three before T-Mobile UK merged with Orange. The 3G network is still pretty new, and the joint venture was always expected to extend into 4G technologies. That could be accomplished by filling the slots Huawei will be leaving in its supplied cabinets, though the joint ownership complicates matters.

But despite being limited to 2G technology, Huawei is promising that better antennas and filters will mean greater coverage from fewer base stations. Not only that, but we’re told it will improve indoor coverage and provide sound quality equivalent to the HD Voice standard that is possible on 3G networks. We’ll have to hear that for ourselves before we are convinced, but base stations technology has moved on considerably since T-Mobile and Orange deployed their existing infrastructure.

That infrastructure will be ripped out from EE’s 2G sites. It was originally supplied to T-Mobile by Nokia Siemens Networks, and to Orange by Ericsson and Nortel. But the significance of this deal is not just that EE is refurbishing a 2G network, it is that Huawei is getting its technology into a UK network, as well as getting itself a seat at the polyopoly table.

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Tags: 2G, 3G, 4G, Everything Everywhere, Huawei, Orange, T-Mobile

Posted in 3G, 4G, Mobile Networks, Orange, T-Mobile | No Comments »