News

Sony Ericsson Offers Play Now Plus

Sony Ericsson will be launching an unlimited music download service dubbed Play Now Plus.  The service will be available soley through telecom operators.  Customers will be able to access up to 300 songs after their 6- to 18- month contract expires. 

This comes after Nokia announced it will be launching its own music service.

T-Mobile Soft Capping 3G Data at 1GB per Month

The fine print in T-Mobile's new HTC Android G1 data plan shows that it will cap the data transfer to 1GB per month.  If 1GB is exceeded, T-Mobile will drop the acess speed down to 50 Kbps.

T-Mobile Launches HTC G1 Android Site

T-Mobile has launched a website dedicated to providing details of the Android phone from HTC and T-Mobile.  The phone named "G1" is Google's first phone.

Google's Android Phone to Capture 4 Percent of Market

A new study by Stratgey Analytics has predicted the HTC Dream which runs on the Google's Android mobile software will capture 4 percent of the smartphone market in the United States during the fourth quarter of 2008.  The study expects T-Mobile to sell 400,000 Android-based units in the fourth quarter.

Nearly Half of U.S. 'Tweens' Own Cell Phones

About 20 million or half of U.S tweens ages 8-12 are using cell phones, according to a report from Nielsen Mobile.  The main reasons parents wanted their kids, ages 10-11 to have a cell phone was in the event of an emergency.  Additionally 65 percent of tweens with cell phones are on family service plans.

Verizon Wireless Now Offering Month-to-Month Plans

It is official, today Verizon Wireless announced that it is offering no-contract plans.  Customers can activate service that runs month-to-month and doesn't require a one- or two- year agreement but they have to bring their own phone or buy one at full retail price.  The month-to-month plans are beneficial because customers don't have to pay any early termination fees if they choose to end their plan.

What Android Will Bring?

Although Google has shied away from releasing other details, Android partner, San Diego based PacketVideo has revealed few details about the project.  For starters, Android's media software will be very fast and will be able to target fast hardware from day one.  Additionally the phone will have "forward" and "backward" buttons for easy navigation to be the first true multitasking operating system on a phone.  Another cool feature is the Android phone will be able to operate as a remote control.  Google will also have an application store similiar to Apple's iPhone.

NIelsen: Wireless Households on the Rise

According to a new study from Nielsen Mobile, there is more than 20 million U.S. telephone households or roughly 17 percent of the nation's total, who only have mobile phones for home telecommunications.  The research also predicts that one in five U.S. households could be wireless-only by year's end.

Other key findings were:

• U.S. "cord cutters" tend to have lower income levels -- 59 percent have household incomes of $40,000 or less.
• Smaller households, with just one or two residents, are more likely to cut the cord than larger households.
• Moving or changing jobs are the biggest life events associated with cord cutting: 31 percent of cord cutters moved prior to eschewing landlines and 22 percent changed jobs.
• Wireless adopters tend to use their mobile phones more than their landline peers, 45 percent more per phone, but still save an average $33 per month.

The study also found that 10 percent of landline phone customers have experimented with wireless-only in their household, but then returned to landlines.  Nielsen found that needing a landline for other services (satellite TV, pay-per-view, etc.) is the primary reason people mend the cord.

Mobile Search About to Become Real Business: MCN

Mobile Content Networks Inc. (MCN) reports that advertising revenue from mobile Web searching is becoming a serious business and could be worth $2.4 billion US by 2011.  "The mobile search business has started to move from an investment phase to the phase where it is business on its own merits", says Kimmo Paaso, a co-founder of MCN.

'Android' Cellphone to Showcase Google Brand

The first cellphone to be powered by Google Inc.'s "Android" mobile phone software is expected to sell for $199 and will showcase the Google brand.  The phone will be manufactured by Taiwan's HTC Corp. and will require a service contract with T-Mobile USA.

Listing the Google brand is departure from the standard practice of listing only the manufacturer and wireless carrier on handsets.