T-Mobile myTouch 3G handset becomes official
We’re finally allowed to tell you that T-Mobile’s second Android-powered handset will indeed be the T-Mobile myTouch 3G. An HTC-manufactured device, already available in other countries with other carriers, finally will make its way to T-Mobile USA in early August. It is available for pre-order on July 8th for a retail price of $199 with two year agreement. The rumored color options were correct with white, black, and “distinctive merlot” colorizations. Here’s a list of full specifications, and further information is available after the break!
- Quad-band EDGE, UMTS/HSDPA (1700MHz/2100MHz)
- Wi-Fi
- GPS
- 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera with YouTube and Picasa uploading support
- MicroSD slot with included 4GB microSD card
- 3.2″ HVGA capacitive touch screen
- Microsoft Exchange support
T-Mobile is really pushing customization options on the myTouch 3G with exclusive applications like the ones below:
“Whether a marathon runner in training who downloads the Cardio Trainer application or a
music buff who lives by his or her Imeem application, myTouch customers can find and
download unique applications from Android Market to expand and personalize their phone
to fit their precise interests and lifestyle. myTouch customers can also enjoy Sherpa™, an
application that features GENIE (Geodelic ENgine for Interest Evaluation), a learning
engine that automatically customizes itself to the user’s preferences. Created by Geodelic,
Sherpa learns a person’s likes and dislikes through behavior and user feedback,
prioritizing recommended retailers, restaurants and attractions. Seamlessly blending
behavior recognition, a recommendation engine and location relevant information, this combination of learning is exclusive to Sherpa and unlike any experience currently on the market.”
Will it still have UMA?
MY T-MOBILE HORROR STORY
I am involved in a customer service nightmare with T-Mobile. I’ve tried dealing with them to no avail. First I spoke with “Ralph” from the “office of the president.” I’ve also written to their media relations department, Robert Dotson, Brian Kirkpatrick, Susan Nokes and Hamid Akhavan, all of whom have ignored me. All I want is something fair and simple, yet the are they have dug their heels in and are being completely unreasonable—and have been quite deceptive to boot!
My 19 year old daughter has not has good luck with her T-Mobile phones. She had a Razr which gave her problems on many occasions. She eventually switched to a Wing—the source of her current, ongoing problem.
My daughter has gone through several Wings. In the beginning, they were replaced with refurbished units. She dropped one and paid the insurance claim out of her own pocket. Her current Wing (a new unit), which she received a few months back, started to give an error message saying it was out of memory, repeatedly froze, etc. It finally stopped working altogether. Research on Google shows that this is common problem with this phone. The tech at a T-Mobile store said that there was nothing they could do and suggested she go to Wal-Mart and get a pre-paid phone until she got a new Wing!
I tried reaching Ralph from the “Office of the President” (877) 290-6323 x-341-8022, several times. After leaving many messages, Ralph finally called me back. He said, “If the account number isn’t left, I won’t return the call.” To me, that is NOT customer service. All he would have to do is to look up my daughter’s records OR call me back! Finally, Ralph got back to me, then my daughter. Initially, Ralph told my daughter that he would exchange her Wing for any other T-Mobile phone. She was pleased to hear this. My daughter went to a T-Mobile store again and tried out different phones. Because of her needs and the shape of her fingers, etc., she settled on the G1.
When my daughter called Ralph back and told him the phone she wanted, he told her that she could have any phone EXCEPT THAT ONE! I’m sure you can imagine her disappointment—and outrage. He offered to give her a Sidekick 2008 (quite old) or a Dash (even older—and one she doesn’t like). These are not even close to being in the class as a G1 or a Wing. He said that she could get the G1, but she’d have to pay for it—and offered her a “discounted” price of $179.99. I then spoke with him and expressed my disappointment and how it was insulting that even though she had a flawed, lemon of a phone, she’d have to pay even MORE money for a different one—one that was also close to a year old technology-wise. I asked for his supervisor to call me.
Jennifer Martinez (877) 290-6323 x-8011 called me the next day. She basically reiterated the same offer, making it sound like we were getting some amazing deal, saying that “retail” price on the phone was $399.99. This was absolute deception, of course, as hardly anyone ever pays the “suggested retail price,” and, the T-Mobile website offers the very same price of $179.99 to ANY new customer!
I declined Ms. Martinez’s offer and told her that I would be contacting other people. She said that “I could feel free to do so, but they would tell me the same thing.” Now, I understand empowering employees, but when they come off as sounding like even the owner or CEO can’t or won’t do anything they won’t do, it just sounds ridiculous.
Apparently, my letters trickled back to Ralph, who called me and clearly indicated that he was authorized to speak on behalf of all of the executives that I had written to.
Among the many absurd things that he said, he told me that he could not (or…WOULD not) contact my daughter when I called him the first time, since I didn’t’ leave her cell number, since there were others with her name in their system. I told him flat out that as far as I knew, there are NO other people with my daughter’s name in the world! I again wrote to T-Mobile asking for some type of proof of this. The fact is, Ralph refused to be proactive and just make a simple phone call to me. He tried to cover his tracks with this ridiculous statement. Ralph also told me that the $179.99 was a huge discount—the only thing that that my daughter qualified for. It seems that T-Mobile is more is more interested in getting new customers than keeping the ones that they have.
This situation has been going on for over a month. My family has had an account with T-Mobile for many years. We’ve paid T-Mobile thousands of dollars through the years. My daughter’s Razr and now her Wing have given her problems. I’ve tried to resolve this fairly, yet they refuse to budge over $200—and an old phone—one that’s already being updated!
I appreciate the chance to share this information with your readers and let them know that the vows of great customer service by Susan Nokes and her team are nothing but lip service.
T-Mobile may not have the best coverage nation wide, but they got the BEST cuztomer service!!!!!
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!_t, don’t get T-Mobile if you live in a data roaming area, such as AT&T. Or they’ll drop you.
I would personal have the G1, cuz it has a keyboard.
@marcmywrdz
seriously? shut up and take the 179 price. most customers at your stage in contract have paid the 399. i’ve seen that in person. put it in an installment plan, pay a small amount up front, and quit wasting people’s time. people’s sense of entitlement is sickening. you know who else pays thousands of dollars yearly to t-mobile? all 33 million other customers that they have.
@marcmywrdz- go complain somewhere else. your rant has nothing to do with the blog. just because you can’t twitter that ramble doesn’t mean you should put it here. i’m sure there is a tmobilesuckscom website you can do this at.
I would definitely 2nd the T-Mobile customer service to ATTs’. They are pretty good and very helpful. couple of times I went over my mins and they gave me 200 / 100 free mins to cover my overage so that I do not have to pay extra. I mean, who does that. I do agree that they good phones which have 3G coverage, but its getting there. The HTC Snap, TP2, now this Magic… all of them the 3G… Awesome. I can understand that their 3G Coverage is not all that great… but I heard, where you can get the coverage, the speeds are phenominal. If this phone does not have a 3.5 mm Jack, its HTCs fault and not T-Mobiles. HTC is known for not having the 3.5mm jack and that SUX. I am debating between this and the TP2… I own a Touch HD now, so I would love to go for this Andriod a try. I really did not like the way the G1 looked and felt. I love the Google apps integration and thats making me lean towards this phone.
Regarding the ppl cribbing that this phone does not have a 5 MP camera…. Go buy a CAMERA. This is a Phone.
UMA support?
@marcmywrdz. First of all . Sorry to hear that your daughter had so much problem with her phones. But let me point out few things here that makes sound like a “special person” with vindictive personality.
You said :I’ve also written to their media relations department, Robert Dotson, Brian Kirkpatrick, Susan Nokes and Hamid Akhavan, all of whom have ignored me.
Why wouldn’t they. they are running a a company which has 143 million customers worldwide. Do you really think they have time to answer to every single customer grievances.Your sense of entitlement is just out of this world.
And then you said :Ralph finally called me back. He said, “If the account number isn’t left, I won’t return the call.” To me, that is NOT customer service.
Come on now. Your account # tells them whether you are a customer or not.It is same deal as putting your account number when you call cable company or Banks. This practice is wide spread. you will have to change the definition of “Customer Service” if you can not agree with that.
And as for your psycho babble regarding the G1 being offered for $179. thats the price everyone paid. What makes you and your daughter so special that you should get the latest phone for a reduced price than everyone else.Their offer to give you a DASH or SIDEKICK 2008 instead of WING ( Which is a pretty old phone )is a decent offer which you with your limitless wisdom failed to realize.
Take it easy and be courageous enough to leave your real name while trying to tarnish reputation of a company.
And lastly Get a life. You sound like a whiner who just has to get whatever he needs regardless of the reality.
@marcmywrdz
Then Leave T-Mobile and go to AT&T. Have fun with their customer service. Leave your rants for some place else.
I really want to get a android OS phone but I don’t like the G1’s keyboard and with the Mytouch 3G screen at 3.2″ its too small for a touchscreen QWERTY. I wish HTC would’ve kept the some sort of keyboard on this device. I got my eyes on that HTC Touch Pro 2 when it arrives on T-mobile but I’m not too sure about Windows Mobile. I hear too many “sluggish” stories about the OS. Decisions, decisions … lol
@marcmywards
Hey seriously, $179 aint really that bad. Jakeyboy is correct, at the stage your at, it seems, other cuztomers would have to pay $399.99 for it. I mean, I would be more than glad to pay that $179.99.
How are the processor and program memory compared to the G1? Both better, I hope?
Really? No 5MP? My G1 took pictures that actually were pretty good but the weight of the phone and sorry battery life I hated. Loved the Android and the keyboard though.
The lack of a 3.5 jack is hard to understand.
Does this phone come with UMA??
@marcmywrdz
I call shenanigans on your fake story.
#1… the Razr is a piece of crap to begin with and EVERYONE’S Razr broke.
#2… your daughter keeps breaking her phones, sounds like both you and her have ZERO clue on how to even clear cache, and now you want a free phone out of it.
#3… you hold the Service provider responsible for Hardware? So when you’ve gotten nasty viruses on your PC from all inane surfing your daughter does, do you demand Brighthouse or whoever your ISP is to replace your PC?
#4…. wake the hell up already and realize your 19 year old daughter is irresponsible with phones!! Sheesh… 3 ‘broken’ phones in a row and somehow T-mobile broke them.
#5…. The wing is an ancient piece of hardware… if you knew your a$$ from a hole in the ground, you woulda taken that Dash or Sidekick
#6…. hey… Wing = No data plan necessary. G1 = mandatory data plan. So yes, let’s all rally for T-mo to give you a G1 so you can come back a month later and ignorantly complain about how they overcharged you after all the fake fuss you made to try to scam a G1 in the 1st place.
If you’re story is true, you’re an idiot and a liar and a thief trying to scam more free crap. It’s idiocy like yours that causes the rest of us to pay higher prices.
If you’re story is not true, then tell me which At&t store you work at.
I almost wish all carriers would abandon contracts and start charging full cost for all phones. Then these whiney-ass customers with unreal senses of entitlement would see how good they have it. They think these phones really cost around $179 (or less) and the $399 is some outrageous marked up price. Everybody can pay $300 to $500 for their high-end phones and $100-$200 for their “free” phones and have the option to leave and not be “trapped” by a contract that you chose to sign. I suppose that then they would still complain that a new customer can get the same price. Its funny, I saw a customer who was eligible for full upgrade make that same complaint. He happened to be a doctor. He basically said that seemed very ungrateful of an offer since he had been a customer for so long. I thought, how arrogant. He would probably laugh at one of his patients who came in demanding lower rates because they have been patients for years. Really, what other industry has customers so arrogant and out of touch with reality?
Ya well here in phoenix it’s just the opposite. Quite your bitching, ATT is expensive as shit anyway . Here’s to free tethering on your tmobile G1. Can’t get that on the iPhone.
Your comment implies that the storm is a good phone, which it is most certainly not. Opera mini didn’t work on my friend’s, and the built in browser was unusable. Don’t even get me started on the virtual keyboard. Mistake after mistake uggh.
I have a G1, why would I pay $500 for the same phone in essence. I too would like to know what that “Bright Lights” is all about. Although if T-mobile says this is their flagship device, where does that leave the Touch pro 2, which is coming out on 7/22, so wouldn’t more people be inclined to get that phone since it has better features, and an actual keyboard? I just don’t get it
Getting this phone from Rogers in a week. Looking forward to see what this platform has to offer
WTF why not just get the G1, atleast that one has the QWERTY keyboard and all the same features, I waited all this time for no positive change in product. The G1 would be cheaper. The only difference is the color, and no QWERTY keyboard which makes is slimer but i would rather have the QWERTY keyboard, if i wanted something with out the keyboard i would of just got the iPhone 3Gs. which i might depending on the price!
The myTouch feels much slimmer and lighter than the G1. If only it has the SenseUI.
Forget the camera, what about UMA, it has Wi-Fi, why not add UMA to make VoIP calls, even if there is no coverage but Wi-Fi…??? It is the only technology that T-Mobile has a huge advantage over any other carrier…
Why in the world would they include so many (or any!) physical keys??? Doesn’t that defeat the point of a touchscreen?