Category: Mobile Tech

CTIA Wireless International 2011 just wrapped up and loads of hot mobile products were announced at the show. From scorching phones to hot tablets, the show was a nice sneak peak at what’s next in the mobile world. Here are my three favorite products from CTIA 2011.

Google Nexus S 4G (Sprint): Although the Nexus S is a few months old, I was excited by what this updated product represents. The Nexus S 4G is pretty much a Nexus S with an additional radio for Sprint’s WiMax network. I love that a vanilla Android flagship product will be available on another carrier (the original Nexus S works with T-Mobile’s frequencies). I also loved that this product was announced along with a company-wide integration of Google Voice. I’m a huge fan of Google Voice and hope that Google can strike similar deals with other carriers. I also find it hilarious that people are already speculating that Google plans to buy Sprint (I sincerely doubt it).

HTC Evo View 4G (Sprint): This Sprint tablet is based off of the HTC Flyer, which I fell in love with (at least in terms of looks) in February. Sadly, the shiny aluminum sexiness was traded for a darker look. Still, it’s a good looking tablet and packs some nice HTC Sense features. It will be interesting to see if Sprint can do well with a seven-inch tablet with ample multimedia features. I’m curious to see if the 1.5GHz processor can cut the mustard. Early benchmarks (albeit on pre-release  software) were not impressive. I’m also interested to see how long it will take for a Honeycomb upgrade. Perhaps the Evo View 4G’s beauty is only skin deep? Still, she’d make a nice trophy wife.

T-Mobile G2X: Going into the show, I did not care about this product at all. It’s based off of the LG Optimus 2X, which features excellent hardware that’s crippled by a crap Android skin. When I learned that T-Mobile’s version will feature vanilla Android, I suddenly got interested. When I learned that this phone will be compatible with T-Mobile’s updated “HSPA+ 42” speeds, I got super interested. (HSPA+ 42 offers speeds that are inline with and sometimes surpass Verizon’s mercurial LTE network.) I’m not a fan of the plastic construction and a few friends at the show said that it felt cheap, but man this phone’s internal components are hot. Aside from the plastic, it’s pretty much everything I want in a phone — big screen, dual-core processor, T-Mobile WiFi calling, and zippy broadband speeds.

Those were the three CTIA 2011 products that got my motor running. Any of ’em interest you? How about other products that were announced at the show?

I was shocked to learn that Motorola Mobility is most likely working on its own mobile operating system. I want to call someone at Motorola to say, “Uh, didn’t you guys fail at this already?” and, “Haven’t you been watching Nokia’s downfall?” While it seems prudent to diversify offerings, I also think it’s a monumental waste of money for Motorola to develop a new mobile operating system at this time. Here’s the scoop from InformationWeek:

Motorola Mobility has hired a number of experienced mobile and Web engineers from Apple and Adobe and is developing a Web-based mobile operating system as a possible alternative to Google’s Android software, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Over the past nine months, Motorola has been hiring engineering talent that would well-suited to create a new mobile operating system. Its team appears to include a significant number of ex-Apple and Adobe personnel, including Gilles Drieu, VP of software engineering at Motorola Mobility, Benoit Marchant, director of engineering at Motorola Mobility, and Sean Kranzberg, also a director of engineering at Motorola Mobility.

The consumer smartphone market is currently dominated by Apple iOS and Google Android. RIM’s BlackBerry OS is still immensely popular on the corporate side, but its market share will probably continue to decline. Microsoft is aggressively trying to establish Windows Phone 7. It’s a fresh and interesting OS that’s backed by a ton of MS money, but it seems unlikely to nab a significant piece of the market. The same goes for the innovative webOS, which is now owned by HP — great product that will probably never achieve notable market share. As you can see, the mobile market is full of quality operating systems. (It also has Samsung Bada. *zing*)

Assuming InformationWeek’s sources are correct, I can’t believe that Motorola wants to get in this race. Do you think it’s wise for Motorola to build its own OS? Or is the company out of its frickin’ mind?

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Last night I was having a Twitter conversation with my friend Garnett from GameFly. He’s a sharp guy, a T-Mobile customer, and curious to see how AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile pans out. He believes the children are our future that the acquisition has killed T-Mobile’s phone sales and that the company is essentially dead now. I completely disagree with the former. I think it’s a fantastic time to buy a new T-Mobile phone and sign a new two-year contract. Here’s why:

– Service will not change for years. AT&T has confirmed that it will use T-Mobile’s AWS spectrum for LTE. Some people think this means that when the acquisition gets approved next year, their T-Mobile phones will no longer have a 3G signal. That’s completely moronic. Do people really think that there’s a magical button that will allow AT&T to suddenly turn off AWS transmission? Do people really think that the FCC would allow this? Again, it will be years before T-Mobile’s service changes in a significant way.

– AWS disappearing quickly would actually be a great reason to buy a new T-Mobile phone at a subsidized price. AT&T has phone replacement costs built into the LTE roll out. This means that people will get a free phone or a large subsidy on a new phone whenever AWS is used for LTE. Let’s pretend that the acquisition gets approved in a year and, by some miracle involving Zeus, AT&T is ready to use all of T-Mobile’s AWS in an LTE network two months after the deal is closed. This would mean that T-Mobile customers that purchased a subsidized phone in 2011 would be able to take advantage of another subsidize price in 2012. That’s a great deal! Customers usually have to wait two years before they can buy another phone at a subsidized price.

– A lot of T-Mobile customers love the company’s low rates and fair terms. Wouldn’t it be smart to lock in those rates for another two years? The two outcome possibilities are 1) enjoying low rates for the duration of the contract or 2) AT&T changing the terms and giving customers an instant out. In Charlie Sheen terms, this is bi-winning! The customer either gets what they already like or gets a free pass to switch to another carrier.

As for me, my contract is up in August and I absolutely plan on signing an extension for the reasons listed above. I’d love two more years of low rates coupled with a phone like the HTC Pyramid (probably) or the T-Mobile G2X (probably not). People that are reluctant to buy a new T-Mobile phone or sign another contract are being shortsighted and reactionary. Think it through people! This is a wonderful time to buy a T-Mobile phone.

It will be interesting to see if the United States Department of Justice and the FCC approve AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile. As RPadholic smartguy mentioned, the government allowed the merger of NBC and Comcast, so huge deals aren’t out of the question. This situation is a bit different in that the mobile communications market is smaller and less competitive than television.

Would the government really allow for one GSM monopoly (AT&T) and one CDMA monopoly (Verizon) to dominate the market? Would it really stifle mobile innovation by allowing a less competitive landscape that gives consumers less choice and will lead to higher prices? It seems crazy, but the government has traditionally shown a poor understanding of technology, so perhaps it won’t see the issues here.

Kindly take today’s poll and share your thoughts on whether this massive deal gets approved.

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