Toys & Gadgets

Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile

T-Mobile has wrapped up the acquisition of SunCom Wireless. A deal that was first announced back in September 2007 and received FCC approval on February 8th, it will allow 1.1 million customers from North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to consider T-Mobile as a provider. Additionally this puts T-Mobile in 98 of the top 100 national markets.

Read [T-Mobile]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Mobile, Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation

Alltel has announced a new roaming feature that will allow users to take advantage of the Alltel Navigation, TeleNav GPS Navigator and Axcess Family Finder applications while roaming. Sadly the standard roaming rates still apply, but this does mean that users will now have access in more than 45 major metro areas that were previously unavailable.

“Through LBS Nationwide Roaming, our customers are able to use a GPS application when it matters most, especially when they are in unfamiliar territory.” said Kristi Crum, director of multimedia content for Alltel Wireless.

It really could not be said much better than that, GPS is most needed when you are away from your home location. Hopefully the roaming rates will become a thing of the past as we move into the future, that aside this could give the other major carriers another service option to consider offering.

Via [SMS Text News]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile

US Cellular has gotten into the unlimited offering spree that we have seen from the other carriers this past week. Their new unlimited national calling plan is $99 per month and includes unlimited voice calls. In addition to the unlimited voice plan, US Cellular also has an unlimited texting option for $14.95 and unlimited easyedge data for $9.95. The unlimited voice plan is available for new and existing customers but is a limited-time only offer.

Read [US Cellular] Via [IntoMobile]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Mobile

Alltel is celebrating Ryan Newman’s winning of the 50th Anniversary of the Daytona 500. The celebration will be good for both new and existing customers as Alltel is giving away 500 free minutes. New customers can simply sign up for a new account and existing customers can add a new line of service to their current account. In order to get the 500 free minutes will need to sign up for a rate plan of $39.99 or higher or add that second line for $9.99 a month, this offer is available for just a limited time running from February 22 till February 24.

Read [Alltel]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: News, Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Gaming, Mobile

Nokia’s new N-Gage service has been marred by several delays and, in December 2007, the company formally pushed the launch of the service to the first half of 2008. Now with a pre-launch version, N-Gage First Access, being made available to N81 users through the official N-Gage website, the full version can’t be far off. And just before the launch of the service, the ongoing Game Developers Conference proved to be a great platform for the cellphone maker to shed more light on N-Gage’s new avatar as a standard gaming service for Nokia cellphone which will allow users to download and play quality games on their cellphones.

Read [Gamertell]

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile

The mobile plans war is getting more exciting every single day. After Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and AT&T announced their flat-rate calling plans for $99.99 per month, there are speculations that Sprint Nextel will offer its own unlimited plan at 40% lower or $60 per month.

It’s a very surprising move knowing that this struggling mobile operator recently announced its Unlimited Access Pack for $119 per month. Though there is still no official announcement about this move, analysts speculate Sprint will go for a $60 to $80 monthly plan.

Though many customers are delighted about this discounted rates, Wall Street is worried this will spur deeper price cuts and competitive counterattacks, which might prove detrimental to the business in the long run.

Analysts are divided whether AT&T and Verizon Wireless will respond to this speculated flat-rate calling plans. Some see this will hurt their customer growth and revenue while others believe these players will eventually be forced to compete to protect their business.

Read [Reuters]

Full Story » | Written by Leo Blanco for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile

T-Mobile has joined the crowd and announced a new $99 a month unlimited calling and messaging plan. T-Mobile’s unlimited offering includes unlimited calling with domestic roaming and no long distance charges along with SMS, MMS and instant messaging. The new plan will be available beginning Thursday February 21 and will be open for both new and existing customers. Now it just looks like Alltel is left out of the unlimited calling plan announcements, will we see something from them today?

Read [T-Mobile]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

With Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Helio recently advertising unlimited calling plans AT&T must have felt left out. They have since announced their own unlimited calling plan, which will be available February 22 and cost just $99 per month. The plan will be open to both new and existing users but is going to be available for a limited selection of phones. AT&T’s unlimited plan will cover US based calls with no roaming or long distance charges. The plan will be open to standard phones only, PDA’s, smartphones and the iPhone are left out. Overall it seems Helio has the closest offer to unlimited, which includes both calling and data. Of course a calling plan technically is for calling.

Via [CrunchGear]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Mobile

Verizon has made those unlimited calling plan rumors official, except they may not be as nice as we had thought and hoped. The new plans are broken down into a Basic, Select and Premium plan and each offer unlimited calling, but that is where the unlimited features end for most.

The Basic plan will run you $99.99 and offers just unlimited calling, messaging and data will be extra at $1.99 per MB. The next step up is the Select plan which costs $119.99 and adds the unlimited messaging but still has the $1.99 per MB data charges. Finally we have the Premium plan which is $139.99 and includes the V CAST VPak, VZ Navigator and mobile email in addition to the unlimited calling and messaging. Each plan also has options for individual users or to have additional phones using a Family SharePlan.

What this seems like is that the mobile companies are getting better, but its still going to take some time to really give the users what they want. Overall these are not bad calling plans for people who are not as concerned with email, messaging or web browsing.

Read [Verizon Wireless] Via [Engadget Mobile]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

The Gadgetell team was lucky enough to get our hands on an early release of the new AT&T branded Palm Centro and while many of the features of the Centro remain the same as other carriers, the glacier white is stunning. We do have to admit that when the box first opened and those green keys hit our eyes we were a little scared, but they quickly grow on you. With all the recent hype, leaks, early releases this one was hard to keep to ourselves, but now it has been officially announced and we can share the pictures. Keep reading for a full unboxing along with some comparison pictures between the Palm Centro, BlackBerry Pearl and Apple iPhone.

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »