Phonedig

Well folks, believe it or not, but the wait for the Garmin nuvifone G60 is almost over.  On October 4th AT&T Wireless well begin selling the handset for $299 after a 2-year contract signing and $100 mail-in-rebate.  Garmin-Asus’ G60 is said to provide the “easiest-to-use location experiences available because it is the only phone to fully integrate the world’s best selling GPS navigator with voice, data and mobile web.”  So it’s probably best to think about the G60 as a GPS with an integrated phone, and not the other way around.

The G60 will include a 3 megapixel camera with geo tagging, be preloaded with a ton of POIs, have access to AT&T’s 20,000 WiFi hotspots and come packed with a dashboard and windshield mount.  When the G60 is removed from the in car mounts it will automatically mark your position just in case you can’t find your way back to your car in the crowded mall parking lot.

So the question on everyone’s mind is can the G60 compete with the iPhone?  Fortunately, and unlike many other smartphone’s out there, it sounds like the G60 will be a fully functional GPS, which is something Apple’s handset is most certainly not, unless of course you purchase some aftermarket accessories, which even then could be a stretch.  300 bones is quite a lot to spend on a phone, but if you consider the cost of a GPS and a phone combined, then you might look at this as a steal.  Just keep in mind that the battery life will most certainly be a concern since GPS tends to be a hog in this department. …Continue reading: Garmin’s nuvifone G60 Launch Date And Price On AT&T Wireless Announced

Take heart all you iPhone users, the day of the MMS on the iPhone is almost upon us, so says AT&T. This Friday, September 25th, you’ll be able to MMS to your heart’s content after you update through the iTunes app.

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AT&T released details on their imminent 3G MicroCell femtocell device. Once hooked into your broadband connection, the MicroCell will allow increased voice and 3G data coverage for up to four simultaneous connections.

The device itself costs $150 and the service is free. Alternatively, you can pay $20/month for unlimited talking while connected to the MicroCell and you’ll get a rebate on the device.

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The word on the street is that AT&T’s femtocell technology may be launching in some markets, including Atlanta, San Antonio, Seattle, and North Carolina, as early as next week. The femtocell device, aka AT&T 3G Microcell, connects to your broadband connection and essentially becomes a honest to goodness mini cell tower. Everyone in range of approx 5,000 square feet should experience improved cell phone reception. Hooray for all you cave-dwellers.

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AT&T announced their new A-List with rollover plan. Similar to T-mobile’s “My Favs” feature, the new plan allows a customer with a Nation plan of $59.99 or higher to call any five domestic numbers of their choosing without limit.

FamilyTalk customers with a $89.99 or higher plan can choose ten numbers and anyone in that plan can call these numbers without limit.

What makes this special, according to AT&T, is that any unused minutes can be rolled over.  A-List launches on 9/20 and it’s unclear if iPhone users will have access.

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Great news for all you texting fanatics: Today AT&T announced MMS capability for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS users. On September 25th, users will receive an update via iTunes that’ll enable this feature. So why did it take so long? According to AT&T, they wanted to deliver the “best possible experience” and prepare for the diluge of MMS traffic (and I believe them).

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AT&T BlackBerry Bold users (yay, me) will be happy to know that RIM’s latest update, scheduled to go live this aftertoon, will add Visual Voicemail to their device. Other improvements include:

• 2G GSM option (improves battery life and possibly reception)
• General system optimizations
• Download icons for MobiTV, Mobile Banking, Tetris, and Scrabble

Once the update is available, users can update using their Wireless Update option, download via the web, or install through the BlackBerry Desktop Manager.

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According to internal AT&T e-mails, on September 6th, AT&T is requiring a data plan for all new smartphone users to ensure customers receive “…the best possible experience with their Smartphones.” And, of course, to prevent worries of “bill shock.” Uh huh, yeah, can we say CHA CHING!

Those of you without a data plan are safe…for now. However, if ever you plan on upgrading to a new smartphone on or after September 6th, you’ll be required to subscribe to a data plan. Of course, the workaround would be to give up an arm and a leg to purchase an unlocked smartphone…

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Today AT&T switched on their 850MHz 3G in Atlanta including downtown and parts of Fulton, DeKalb, North Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, and Fayette Counties.

So what’s the big deal? Isn’t it a step down from 1900MHz? Aren’t higher numbers better? Will it fry my brain? Well, no, no, and possibly. The 850MHz spectrum is actually better at penetrating through buildings so users should see an overall improvement in indoor reception.

If you’re not in Atlanta, fret not, as AT&T will be enabling the extra spectrum in other U.S. cities such as New York and San Francisco by the end of 2009.

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At this point I think it’s safe to say that just about every carrier, except Sprint, will be carrierring their own branded version of the HTC Touch Pro2. And to firm things up, leaked photos of an AT&T Touch Pro2 have emerged complete with AT&T badges.  Except when it comes to market on the biggest carrier it will be called the Tilt 2.   We still don’t have a price or launch date, but considering we’re seeing pics of the phone in the flesh I’d expect it to go retail well in time for the Q4 holiday shopping season.

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