Loaded chock full of features, the T-Mobile myTouch 4G will be launched November 3rd

As we reported yesterday, and confirmed today by a press-release, T-Mobile will launch its new flagship model on November 3rd. The T-Mobile myTouch 4G is the official name given to the handset, which is chock full of features. By putting ‘4G’ on the name of the phone, the nation’s fourth largest carrier made a subtle notice to the other mobile operators that its HSPA+ pipelines run at 4G speeds and should be called a 4G network under the loose definition of such in the U.S. The T-Mobile myTouch 4G will be priced at the gold standard of $199.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate and a 2 year contract.

Just in case someone didn’t get the message about how fast the carrier’s HSPA+ network runs, Andrew Sherrard, VP of product management over at T-Mobile, said, “Taking advantage of the 4G speeds on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network, the new myTouch delivers a faster and more compelling experience than most competing smartphones on the market.” The broadband pipelines currently bring access to 4G speeds in 65 major metropolitan areas, and by the end of the year should reach 100 major metropolitan areas and 200 million people.
source: T-Mobile

US Cellular customers are now going to be able to get their tasting of the Samsung Galaxy S in the form of the Samsung Mesmerize which is now available for purchase. Set to the customary 2-year contract price of $199 after an $80 mail-in-rebate, customers can get situated with the international hit by purchasing online through US Cellular’s web site or at any of their retail locations.

Sporting the usual gorgeous 4” Super AMOLED display and lightning quick 1GHz Hummingbird processor, there is no denying that the handset is quickly elevated to the top of the barrel on US Cellular’s lineup. For Samsung, it is yet another successful partnership with the regional carrier as it’ll propel some additional sales to the overall tally that the Galaxy S has achieved so far.

Needless to say that this is one of the best Android offerings around, but naturally, customers will undoubtedly gravitate to it grasp since it employs some eye catching high-end specs under the hood.
via Mobileburn

The smartphone industry’s rapid adoption seems to be going on and on and, at least for the time being, the end of this growth is not on the horizon. This is not much of a news itself, but taking a closer look at the picture reveals some impressive stats that give a hint where the industry as a whole is going. According to ABI Research, the raw figures are as follows – of all mobile devices shipped in Q2 of 2010, 19% are smartphones and that in turn means this is a 12% growth compared to Q1 of the same year and 50% increase between Q2 2009 and Q2 2010. Michael Morgan, a senior analyst for mobile devices at ABI Research, states that this is only the beginning: “I am predicting an all-time record high for the third quarter numbers.” Impressive stuff indeed.

But that’s not all. With the mini-revolution that’s slowly unfolding right before our eyes in the hardware sector and with all the software improvements going on, things are bound to go up and up. That’s without mentioning some major factors – like Microsoft spending a billion to stage their comeback Windows Phone 7 platform or the persistently-rumoured Verizon-branded Apple iPhone that’s expected some time early 2011.

Why is that so important?
It’s of paramount importance, because there is no place for everyone and the battle of the mobile operating systems will be a matter of life and death for most of the companies in the smartphone business. Most of the observers tend to agree that “it needs to boil down to three or perhaps four key operating systems.”

Where the things stand at present with the mobile operating systems?
In the USA, the leading smartphone platforms at the moment are Research in Motion’s BlackBerry OS with 37.6%, followed by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android with 24.2% and 19.6% respectively. The momentum is with Android, while Apple continues to make quite a few dollars with their devices and these two operating systems are seen by Mr. Morgan as major players: “Right now there are two key platforms: iOS and Android.”

However, it would be naive to underestimate the other potential players. The fact is that Microsoft poured a billion into their newly-released Windows Phone 7 and recently HP acquired Palm with the Palm Pre 2 and webOS 2.0 soon to hit the market. Only time can reveal how Windows Phone 7 and webOS 2.0 will fare, but one thing is certain – they will be in the OS race.

Apple was firing on all cylinders in Q2 of 2010 with 8.4 million shipments, of which 3 million were iPhone 4 units released only a few weeks prior to the end of the quarter. Even more unbelievable is that they managed to record a growth of 68% in Q3 compared to Q2.
Another manufacturer who is doing quite well is HTC. So well, actually, that the Taiwanese-based vendor is now among the top 10 biggest cell phone makers. This is a fairytale story of a far-off land manufacturer creating devices for other companies that nowadays impresses the world with its stellar-looking devices.

The obvious conclusion is that we’re in the middle of a revolution with smartphone shipments increasing on a daily basis. That growth is sure to expand and with all the advancements going on in the hardware and the software departments, things look certain to get only better and better both for regular customers and from a technological point of view.

What are your thoughts on the smartphone industry’s path? How far it will go in the next few years and what technologies you would like to see most in the new smartphones? We here at PhoneArena would love to hear what you think on these fundamental for any smartphone-lover questions.
source: Mobilemarketer via Mediapost

Sprint posted its Q3 2010 results saying that it had its best quarter since 2006 in terms of net subscriber additions. The carrier had 644,000 subscribers added to its customer base. This has been the fourth quarter in a row, where Sprint attracts more customers than those who leave.

Sprint is largely attributing these numbers to the added business coming from people hopping on the smartphone bandwagon, because of exclusive handsets like the HTC EVO 4G, and the Samsung Epic 4G. Pretty explicable, considering the legendary status the HTC EVO 4G has received with Android fans, and the fact that the Epic 4G is the only Galaxy S version with both a physical keyboard, and a camera flash.

The fourth quarter will be challenging as the other carriers have caught up in Android offerings, and are also having the Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet for their own networks. We hope Sprint has some aces up its sleeve as well, since the carrier still suffered a net loss of $911 million, mainly due to reduced values for tax-related assets that the company can move forward to offset future earnings.

The carrier had 48.8 million customers in total at the end of September, almost twice less than what Verizon and AT&T are having, at 93.2, and 92.8 million subscribers, respectively. While the two large carriers are tied neck and neck for the first place, Sprint has been gradually improving its customer service, phone portfolio and unique features such as Sprint ID, and this will surely pay off in the longer run.
source: Sprint

T-Mobile unveiled the pricing and launch details of the venerable Samsung Galaxy Tab for its network. The Android tablet will cost $399.99 on a two-year contract, as we reported, and will hit the stores on November 10th.

That’s in line with what Sprint is charging for the tablet, and far cry from some unsubsidized prices in Europe, but it might still seem a bit steep to many. Well, that’s the price to pay for being an early adopter of one of the best and brightest tablets out there.

The Froyo-running 7-incher is coming with Samsung Media Hub for movies and TV series downloads, Amazon Kindle app for e-books, Slacker Radio, and the Qik video chat application preinstalled.

source: T-Mobile

Following the announcement of the Garmin-ASUS break-up, one may think that this is it between these two companies and they are going their separate ways. As more and more information emerges, it seems this is not the case at all. Although this is the end of the Garmin-ASUS brand the two manufacturers will retain some sort of special relations for the future, which practically means that Garmin will provide their services exclusively for ASUS in the Android world. Nevertheless, the rumour is that Garmin’s navigational tools will be available as free downloads in Apple’s and RIM’s application stores, which, if it materializes, will be quite an interesting news. It’s important to note, however, that this is an unofficial information which we probably should take with a pinch of salt.

The bigger picture for ASUS for the coming year is that they are targeting January 2011 release for their new line of smartphones. Their new devices are expected to support not only navigation and LBS functions, but also 3D and online gaming plus deeper integration with their e-book readers and tablet PC’s. Furthermore, the company adds that although its focus is on Android, this didn’t explicitly rule out using Windows Phone 7 if things are looking up for Microsoft’s new OS.

What do you guys think on this subject? Would you be glad to have some Garmin services on your iOS or BlackBerry device? Do you think ASUS will deliver in 2011?
source: DIGITIMES

T-Mobile has thrown our way quite the photo album of accessories for its upcoming pride and joy, the T-Mobile myTouch phone monster. There are a lot of cases, some stylish, some tacky, but overall it is a good bunch – have a look at the gallery below.

On another note, T-Mobile myTouch has been benchmarked already – thanks to its next-gen 1GHz Snapdragon inside, the handset scores 1890 on the Quadrant test, similar to what the HTC Desire HD fares with the same chipset.

T-Mobile has thrown our way quite the photo album of accessories for its upcoming pride and joy, the T-Mobile myTouch phone monster. There are a lot of cases, some stylish, some tacky, but overall it is a good bunch – have a look at the gallery below.

On another note, T-Mobile myTouch has been benchmarked already – thanks to its next-gen 1GHz Snapdragon inside, the handset scores 1890 on the Quadrant test, similar to what the HTC Desire HD fares with the same chipset.

This is already fast out of the box, considering that the 1GHz Hummingbird of the stock Samsung Galaxy S scores much less without its aftermarket lagfix. If you apply the lagfix, though, we’ve seen Samsung Captivate, as well as the T-Mobile G2 shoot past the 2200 mark, but for a stock non-modded device, the T-Mobile myTouch fares very well – a tribute to the fast compiler in Froyo, and the 45nm process in the new Snapdragon.

Of course, synthetic benchmarks are just to prove a point, and how the phone will behave in real life, is another story. There is also a screenshot of the Wi-Fi calling feature floating around, as if to enforce the notion that the T-Mobile myTouch will be one of the more exciting devices to get the upcoming holiday season. Now we just can’t wait for November 3rd to ring in.

source: T-Mobile & AndroidCentral

Instead of a QWERTY keyboard, the Sony Ericsson PlayStation phone has a slide out game controller

There has been talk for some time about a Sony Ericsson PlayStation phone. Now, it appears that it is a reality. The photo below is said to be of a prototype unit, but we would imagine that the landscape sliding PlayStation controller would make the final cut.

The specs are high-end with the use of Qualcomm’s second generation  MSM8655 1GHz Snapdragon chip (similar to the processor in T-Mobile’s G2, but 200MHz faster) and the phone will be equipped with 512MB of RAM and 1GB of ROM on board. A microSD slot will replace the use of a Memory Stick slot and the screen is expected to range from 3.7 to 4.1 inches. The Sony Ericsson PlayStation phone will introduce the Sony Marketplace where users can buy games made for the new OS.

Will game players be able to get their thumbs all over this unit during the holidays? With the software said to be buggy, November almost upon us, and the joint venture usually running late to the carriers-a 2011 launch date would seem more likely.
source: Engadget

Needless to say that the Google Nexus One will live on in memory as one of the most profound Android handsets to hit the market, but when asked about a potential successor, Google’s very own Eric Schmidt noted that there were no plans for a second Google branded device.

However, some rather interesting pieces of news surfaced recently regarding a potential Google Nexus Two handset. This time is comes from British business paper City A.M. which sites that a Gingerbread on board Google Nexus Two will be ready in time for a launch this upcoming holiday season. However, it looks as though it’ll be available in the UK with exclusivity going to popular retailer Carphone Warehouse. It’s not certain from the report whether or not other regions around the world would see this mythical device, but the unnamed source goes on to say that it won’t be manufactured by Samsung.

But when you think about the relationship that Carphone Warehouse has with Best Buy Mobile in the US, it’s striking to say that Google has some prominent partners at hand if they were to indeed launch this device in time for the holidays.
source: City A.M. via Engadget

LetsTalk contest for a T-Mobile myTouch

If you’re super impressed with the wonders of what the Genius Button has to offer for T-Mobile’s line of myTouch smartphones, you may be interested in letting people know about your experience. In fact, if you decide to record a 15 to 30 second clip about the what the Genius Button is all about and why it’s so unique, you’ll have an opportunity of winning one of T-Mobile’s upcoming high-end smartphones.

LetsTalk is running a contest, which runs until December 1st, where the winner of it all will win none other than a new myTouch 4G smartphone. Naturally, you’ll want to make a video that’s interesting and creative in order to capture the attention of people who will be watching them. On top of just winning a brand spanking new T-Mobile myTouch, the lucky person will also be featured in an upcoming product page for the venerable smartphone.

So if you have what it takes to get up close and personal on video, with some creativity behind it, you can sign up and post your video about the Genius Button to get get yourself in the running.
source: LetsTalk via TmoNews