Mobile Phone News
iPad 3 May Be Scarce/Called iPad HD
It looks like our hopes of Apple learning from past mistakes will be shattered. Reports are coming in that the iPad 3 will see severe supply shortages that may persist in to Q2 of this year. At the same time we’re hearing that the next Apple tablet may even not be called the iPad 3 at all, but rather the iPad HD.
Motorola DEFY MINI Shown Off
The Motorola DEFY line of smartphones has been one of Moto’s more popular enterprises in recent years. DEFY handsets are functional, relatively cheap and extremely resilient. Many consumers have been attracted to the idea of a phone that is water, impact, dust and temperature resistant, as it seems that all too many smartphones end up in the repair shop these days from just minor bumps and bruises.
Motorola Droid RAZR Preview
You’ve probably heard by now that Motorola is resurrecting its once mighty RAZR product line. Of course Moto has taken a slightly more modern design approach, ditching the iconic RAZR flip-phone form factor for a slate-style smartphone template. What we were surprised to hear is that Motorola has managed to keep the profile of its newest RAZR device down to a stunning 7.1mm, a full 1.4mm thinner than the Samsung Galaxy S II.
Optus Join Qantas Frequent Flyer
Optus have officially launched their Qantas Frequent Flyer integration offering two points per dollar on Optus personal services. The most refreshing part of this announcement was the lack of any asterix or superscript text to disclaim that two points was possible, 'depending on your circumstances' or 'excluding pre-paid and business'
Goodbye 3 Mobile Australia
Interesting news today as we say goodbye to the 3 Mobile brand on WhistleOut as VHA is retiring the new activities for 3 Mobile and not accepting any new customers beyond today. 3 have been a great performer on WhistleOut and we've put thousands of customers on to 3 Mobile since 2008 due to their very competitive pricing.
BlackBerry Bold 9900 Preview
The BlackBerry Bold 9900 has been one of the most anticipated releases in recent memory for RIM, the manufacturer of the popular BlackBerry line. The reason behind this is that the Bold 9900 has taken a slightly different approach to hardware design, without straying so far from RIM’s traditional form factor as the new BlackBerry Torch line has.
LG Optimus Sol Preview
LG has announced one of their next smartphones – the LG Optimus Sol. Hardware-wise the Optimus Sol is far from unimpressive. A single-core 1GHz CPU won’t turn too many heads, but it’s still a fast and solid processor for a smartphone. 512MB of RAM should be enough to handle most multitasking and a 5MP camera is pretty standard for today’s smartphone market.
Telstra LTE 4G Network On its Way
Telstra has announced the Enterprise and Business launch of its new Telstra 4G LTE Network. Come the 29th of August two thousand pioneer USB modems will be made available to Telstra Business customers. This new product is to be named the Telstra USB 4G and will run on both 4G LTE and 4G HSPA, utilising both the 1800MHz and 850MHz spectrum bands. This means that anywhere where customers do not have 4G support Telstra’s 3G HSPA network should still be available.
Mobile plan minutes: Visualised
Australian Telcos have been in the news of late, along with ACMA (The Australian Communications and Media Authority). The Sydney Morning Herald reported some of our investigations here at WhistleOut into simplifying mobile plan information and extracting the available minutes on plans - to display alongside the "value" they promote. Effectively the same idea as unit pricing in supermarkets. This echoed some of ACMA's recommendations in their inquiry into the telco sector: Reconnecting the Customer. Gizmodo also picked up on our infographic and it kicked off quite a bit of discussion on their site.
Samsung Galaxy Z Preview
Goodness knows the original Galaxy S had more versions of it than you could shake a stick at and, true to form, it looks like Samsung is taking the same path with the Galaxy S II. Introducing the Samsung Galaxy Z (I9103); the first semi-clone of the Galaxy S II. The Galaxy Z is a phone that sports a modern look and feel, but with a down-grading in both hardware and price when compared to Samsung’s new flagship phone of similar external design.
