Mobile & Wireless - eWeek

Mobile & Wireless: Android Smartphones Look to Dominate 2009 Holiday Shopping Season


The second week of October was filled with mobile phone and smartphone news, as manufacturers prepared for the holidays and hoped to make dreams of touchscreens and Google Android dance in our heads. Below is a closer look at these new offerings, namely, the T-Mobile Tap, the Nokia 3711 and the Android-running Samsung Behold II, all from T-Mobile. T-Mobile additionally released a 3G Fender Limited Edition model of its Android-running myTouch, a Frost White version of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 and announced that the already-introduced-but-not-yet-released Motorola Cliq would figure in its holiday lineup. Sprint also contributed to the Android holiday news, announcing it will offer the Samsung Moment on Nov. 1. Its first Android smartphone, the HTC Hero, will go on sale Oct. 11.
 
  • Android Smartphones Look to Dominate 2009 Holiday Shopping Season
    by Michelle Maisto
  • T-Mobile Tap
    No keyboard here, the T-Mobile Tap is a touchscreen phone with a focus on Web browsing and socializing. It support email, SMS, MMS and IM, and comes with GPS, Bluetooth and a 2-megapixel camera. Users can choose between berry and midnight blue finishes.
  • Nokia 3711
    The Nokia 3711, which will arrive late-October-ish on the T-Mobile network in a shade called sable, is an economy-friendly feature phone with 3G Web browsing, built-in GPS, support for email and IM, a 2-megapixel camera with video and Bluetooth.
  • myTouch 3G Fender
    A limited edition of the myTouch, the 3G Fender phone has a guitar-inspired wood-grain finish and comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack and video and audio clips from musicians T-Mobile calls "iconic."
  • Fender
    The myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition will arrive "later this year" for a price that's still to be determined. It offers all the features of the standard myTouch, along with a 16GB microSD card.
  • Motorola Cliq
    The Motorola Cliq, which slides to reveal a full keyboard, will be part of T-Mobiles holiday lineup, arriving in the fourth quarter. It runs the Android OS and features MotoBlur, a social-butterly technology that culls and syncs contact information from various applications.
  • BlackBerry Curve 8520
    On Oct. 7, T-Mobile introduced a wintery version of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 in a shade it calls Frost.
  • Samsung Behold II
    Rounding out T-Mobiles holiday offerings is the Android-running Samsung Behold II, which features a 3.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen, Samsungs TouchWiz interface and a new cube menu that offers quick access to six favorite apps. A 5-megapixel camera and 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity are also on board.
  • Samsung Moment
    On Nov. 1, Sprint will begin selling the Samsung Moment. It will by then be Sprints second Android smartphone and feature a 3.2-inch AMOLED touch-screen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, visual voicemail, e-mail support, easy access to the Android Market and built-in Google services such as Gmail, YouTube and Google Search.
  • Samsung Moment
    The Moment will retail for $179.99 with a two-year contract, after a $100 mail-in rebate and a $50 instant rebate.
xڽZ[s۸~~d_nw7ŗXbwIHB ,JVeSjy|8oi&4oAuB>K9lHbc.!KvfzC7o``ƛVYQ|v$UK*7-;RLDL1OwҨxLO^>.B࿎F:|=F#mX021q #yF.#An{R7Yh[((6j{A،LQLDruzH&$fvȿ+|>o~QLg\M<4#9 "L7'f*Ή{'_tt6g4Wln(3сױ1,?ۈnS3aܰ)M)vtZ4ܪwP臑WhNdm\)I;-<><:1)+Vʢ M&x9tKS:f:bLÃnF1>PC ';!{0#p\V5Ra5G\攪1O|؈{G{(a(;}eq+)P0nC-U̥zU\Ɋn'p` Ձ ^2R`-*T հq셜Þݙo&)?>d R_E!*aR= ׼>Iqv* .[1aCuTD,O4͌3Ky W&?׀c:sBrZ)ĺQĴdv-[9Ϛ 7s.9n ٝօrI/ ah~I%_zlgŎvjf]ffSO0[h>\ !I$STؖN ik'?aWyQq& XR?Ó,)uN~t@|@>c/1)rd|>s\MbSH;{$+}7icqD8 +9 (< ^0ZV {7VeLt"dY> "6#h9p\+ɻtqO@"f.[㑙CB0e_.Ն^ovﶍ#+𫄐Х$^Xr:= vA͘wsN%!JfI+knsqeQapS#Z7>g67c 3O#$vjڧDw% vӂֽWˆלWestOuO~)\9c.4ga-q a cp+)=jѤ:>*7p}SUA^8/VK@V ncFјfTT>g_Y#xO3+(XP.u1sgֽ]0? V|țjUxמo4g{l qEig`oiXI%k#׉x`+,B!S]OLmSgNVӪ2讞]BU:m-.U3g`GG*ar;LmTkqء9j[Xo2cQ JvV_ܔ&˼C]`I`z#p7PD'RMApuPy#y&յy8$Pc.kEb oDz j*cnW~#Z3H䈘 M؞(.D-bt7")th8ɗn &5 ;όF)xp98R.'2]([yw~ޑZuU )RX^c݆̪f;OY*@Λ5`(3<>яv&NXyB)@ SPpxdMADfTaz8ak`9 &*nZS4,PB qٓu"fˆI^KerDdTF-V% yD&'.mϹZ4%f5!jC΅knVuoP7`Tcy^d `. )3_Qg dw %+7L>x G?>HA W{1q;b!+lGrČaUjDOaXnI hNjqE,~BA{S(Ж 3:E !hw==]},w<5Daهy:5wht;iG^xGwpґZ-h%fnHb,