T-Mobile promises Android handset by Q4 of this year
16 comments
Filed in Android, News, T-Mobile
While chances are good that someone will beat them to the punch, it looks like T-Mobile intends to come out swinging in the Android race. The company has just announced that it plans to ship its first Android-based handsets by the end of 2008. T-Mobile revealed precious few details about the actual device, but did say that the initial launch will be used as a way to gauge consumer product needs, and that they are committed to responding to user feedback. They also emphasized the need for carriers to focus on keeping Android handsets safe and secure. Following the initial launch, the company expects to implement the Linux-based OS across their product line, offering multiple Android handsets, each with a specific target audience.
can some please explain this to me,
why is the android os soo much better then lets RIM and MS?
Thanks
Permalink | Reply
Wow, that is an ugly phone.
Permalink | Reply
It is all speculation at this point. It looks impressive. Let’s hope that it is stable.
Permalink | Reply
no one is saying its better or worse, but isn’t it nice to have another option? That when things start getting better usually right? When competition pushes them to do so?
Permalink | Reply
If att could make the same promise…
Permalink | Reply
see that’s the thing. No one said that it was better or worse. It is just something new. let me rephrase that….it is a new os that is “open”, meaning anyone(developers) can create apps for it. Kind of like, dare i say, the iphone’s OS or even dangers OS. Think of Vista and those widget things. Also, linux is very small; you can get a lot of productive apps without needing a very fast processor. So a phone like the TMobile wing will perform faster and stable with ANDROID than with Windows mobile.
notice: this is what i gather from all the information i’ve been hearing about it. It’s not until a working product is in the hand of a consumer will it be viable as a better or worse product than what’s out there now.
Permalink | Reply
I’m a big fan of linux, don’t get me wrong, and Tmo should be applauded for its efforts. However, shouldn’t they be putting more efforts into implementing their 3G network or something? It seems like they are firmly committed to taking three steps back for every step forward.
Permalink | Reply
Shouldn’t Google be making this annoucement and not TMo?
Permalink | Reply
@mosamjc
see that comment is just ignorant. (keep in mind i am not saying you are ignorant, just the comment)
Tmobile has done all they can for there 3G implementation. The infrastructure is out there and ready. However they can only go as far as they are able too. There are still some reliquishing of the frequencies that T-Mobile will be using, that some other gov’t entities still obtain. I’ll just leave it at that. Besides if your a business, you can’t just keep waiting on one product or service if you can dibble and dabble in other projects. Everyone knows Tmo is the 4 mobile carrier, eventually they may be first or second, but in order to move in that position you gotta try your hand in other things, if the one thing is being dominated by other companies. Trust, Tmo is not lethatrgic, nor do they plan to waste over 4 billion on a buildout that they’re trying everyday to give, you(general), the customer access to. It’s just unfortunate, that other elements have prolonged the event.
Permalink | Reply
wow,, Tmo… hmm i hope it is stable, been looking for a phone that works well with gMail and gCalendar…for business,,,besides the iPhone,, hopefully it works well with Apple Mac laptop…hopefully it comes out in 2008 as said,, but in the states, ,not like in europe or some crazy country!!!
Permalink | Reply
LOL don’t get an apple laptop if yo want compatability or inter operability youll have more sucsess that way yo sil runing osx right? trow n ubuntu if yo want to try your hand at linux>
Permalink | Reply
tmo usa?
Permalink | Reply
Just to add to recon’s comment. TMO everyday is building out the 3G network, however, the gov’t entities that are using the spectrum have taken their time in moving off. There has been speculation that because TMO is a foreign based company(DT), they are not getting the same treatment as some of the other carriers!
Permalink | Reply
I think the phone operating systems will play out similarly to those on computers. The proprietary operating systems will disappear(except for Apple’s because they only do proprietary) and we will have Window Mobile (crappy but used by most people so quicker product releases and more business stuff), Mac OS(tightly controlled but nice to use), and Android(open but clunky and harder for the average Joe to get into). I am not bashing open source things, but they are not controlled by anyone so it is hard for them to achieve a comprehensive usability. Also, Apple actually employs real Usability Engineers instead of trying to force computer scientist to do this job and so has an easier to use OS. I am biased towards Apple created products because I don’t have much desire to have a lot of control over my OS and am happy to use my money to buy what I like- even if they shut off my options what they choose for me is usually what I want anyways.
Permalink | Reply
is dis fone touch screen??
and will it bi betta than my bloyberry?
sumewan pleeas answea mi..cus i wann hace dis fone..if it meets my toushin niids.
Permalink | Reply
First off…speak english and not this stupid ebonics ro whatever you want to try and sound cool speaking.
secondly, the images and all this hype over the androi is like watching a kid try and determine what his christmas present is going to be. The iPhone has some cool things to it, but it is nothing more than a flashy phone. Even when AT&T had 3g they still released it in 2g until recently re-releasing it in 3g. why? so they could get you to buy it again. Not because they were pushing production and had to release it in 2g before they could implement the 3g technology. Heck, even cheap phones have 3g in them, it is not that hard to stick it in a phone nowadays. They also made a fixed battery so that people who didn’t already change their iphone for a newer one would have to after warranty ran out and the battery halflife went bye bye. not to mention the headphone jacks being designed for only apple and so on.
As for T-mobile’s 3g market, it is known that it will be released in 20 of the major markets by the end of 2008 and that everything is ahead of schedule. It should be in more than 20 markets actually, and continued being released in more markets as time goes on.
The benefit to a dlayed 3g market is that TMobiles 3g will be operating around 7Mbps where AT&T and others operate at far less, usually around 1Mbps. Tmobile has the benefit of installing a network that has been cleared of glitches and bugs in the original designing and being faster than any existing network. This means that those “streaming videos” you get from other carriers where they buffer every two seconds like with sprint, will actually be able to be streaming. Also that pricing will be a great deal lower for service plans as they usually are anyways with tmobile.
Second, whoever said Tmobile was number 4 is wrong. Sprint is actually considered number 4 (is not number 5) nowadays among the telecommunications industry. With sprints bad choice to take on nextel, the bad choices it is making with companies like clearwire (with clearwire if you want internet you have to be willing to be disconnected and reconnected every 5 seconds) AT%T is actually number 3 because of their lower amount of customers and poor network. While they say that they have more bars in more places it is really because of one simple fact. Roaming partner coverage. Most people do not know that the only reason AT&T is able to have as much coverage (seemingly) as the big dogs, is because it mooches coverage from other GSM carriers. Even AT&T is ashamed of the network. Why do you think that even though AT&T legally bought cingular a long time ago, it was not until recently they gave them permission to use the AT&T brand name. Thats right…it took cingular a year or more to become at&t, not because of pending merger issues btu because at&t denied them the branding because they did not like the network and didnt want to bring the name down with it. They simply bought the network because it was the only one available that wasnt already involved in some sort of merger or other landline company. They only other existing company that is a major cell phone provider and doesnt have landline roots is tmobile. Although, the new tmobile at home service does give some new aspects to the service. Though, tmobile was already owned by telekom. At& simply bought cingular to make some money and as an easy way to get into the cellular biz. I know, I used to work for AT&T, and I will never get an AT&T phone…if I wanted that kind of service I would buy two cans and string.
As for the android phone….I do nto know much. Not because I am out of the loop, but because I am in the loop. I know more FACT that anyone here, and the majority of information here is nothing more than heresay and rumor. I have seen about 10 different proposed “early release pictures” of the android. People claiming the phone is already out and just going to have different software on it. Pointing to HTC phones in particular. First off, when it comes to HTC phones it is definitely possible because HTC phones are some of the bext phones on the market, even past RIM and Apple. However unlikely since HTC does have an agreement with microsoft for windows mobile platform. While this agreement is not exclusive, I would like to see the software put on an HTC phone, but it is more about the software than the phone right. Without the software in an iphone, the iphone would just be a shiny piece of metal and plastic.
I will tell you a few things…I have held out from buying any other phone. Iphone, HTC, RIM, etc because of what I know about this phone and that while I love HTC and like RIM I would not trade a blackberry curve or 8820 for the android. Though, we will just have to wait and see. Because as much as I know, i still know nothing because even us on the inside know little, but at least we know what is speculation and rumor from those outside the loop and 90% of the stuff on all things outside the loop are wrong. They get maybe 10% right from good guesses and play on rumors.
As for data pricing. Forget this stupid bundled cr*p. T-Mobile will be offering the same data rate plans and messaging plans and voice plans as it does for all phones. The voice plans will be the same, covering bthmyfaves and non-myfaves plans. Since this is nto a sidekick device you can not expect to have the sidekick unlimited 19.99 feature which covers both unlimited messaging and unlimited data. Since this is not RIM device, you will not have the blackberry feature for 19.99 unlimited data with an additional charge for messaging.
Most likely you will have a voice plan, with the tmobile total internet feature for 19.99 along with 4.99 for 400 messages, 9.99 for 1000, or 14.99 for unlimited (or 19.95 for unlimited on a familytime plan).
However data is always optional with tmobile because if you dont have a feature you dont have access and all the feature are unlimited. Unlike AT&Ts stupid money plot where they will charge you $0.01 per kb for using data. Because of the pay per byte feature of at&t they had to force you to get data with the iphone or because of the constant updating the iphone needed, your bill would skyrocket. The iphones used maybe 4-6 MB of data on a monthly basis solely for updates when they first came out. So you absolutley had to have a data plan. Though apple got most of the kick back for it. Why do you think that apple iphone wa only available on AT&T. Because it was the best carrier? bullshyte. Because AT&T was willing to give them more of a kickback than any other carrier. That is another reaon you were forced into buying a data plan, even though technically AT&T had ways to block data, and the iphone had semi-hidden ways to turn data off. They “bundled” the voice and data plan together, btu in truth they were actually two separate things. They were bundled together on paper, btu at&t agents had to add the feature separately, and as far as the system goes you do not really have to have a data plan with the iphone, they just make you think so to get more money for apple andt&t
((BTW, if apple computers are so wonderful, than why do apple customer service and technical care agents use PCs with windows?))
The short of it is this. T-Mobile is coming out with a kick arse phone. A device that to some people is going t be better than any phone ever created, and to some will be just another high priced phone that confuses them, and many will be somewhere in between. TMobile is one of the best carriers there are (at least they dont stack contracts liek verizon or force you into buying uneccessary features like at&t) Tmobile has lower pricing than most (like AT&T’s familyplan unlimited messaging for 30 bucks vs tmobiles 19.95), and has the best service. Ask a tmobile agent about the tmobile values. The quarterly bonus of t mobile agent is dependant on how they live these values. not on their other work performance areas.
I dont know about you, but I am sticking with tmobile and looking into buying this phone when it first comes out.
Permalink | Reply