Rumors Hint Sony PSP 2/NGP Will Cost $299 to $349 When Launched
Consulting firm EEDAR has "predicted" that the next generation Sony PSP 2 AKA NGP, will come in two different versions. One will be WiFi only and the other will be WiFI + 3G. Prices have also been provided which hint that the WiFi only model will carry a price tag of $299 while the 3G model will be $349.
Although we suggest WiFi + 3G here, it could be a different model which perhaps has more storage space for example although we are guessing the more expensive will be a 3G model.
Although the $349 price tag was given for the upper end model, they also report that in the US this could creep up to $399.
As well as predicting prices, the company also expects that sales of the PSP 2 will exceed the sales of the former PSP model.
The team also suggest that not all regions will get a 3G model of the PSP 2 and that it could depend on sales of other 3G devices in the area, such as in the US the iPad 3G accounts for just 30%. As far as how all these numbers were put together, they seem to be based around speculation rather than fact, so a lot could change by the end of the year when the PSP 2 is set for launch.
Motorola Dext 2 Deals - Affordable gadget with not so easy to get features
Motorola is one of the early mobile phone manufacturers which has given some of the very technologically enhanced gadgets. The latest in this range is Motorola Dext 2. Its a 5 mega pixel camera handset with resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels and autofocus features it clicks very clear images. The gadget has got internal memory of 1 GB with the support of 256 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM. Its microSD Slot can be expanded up to 32 GB and 2 GB card comes included in to it.
TFT Touchscreen of 3.1 inches has got resolution of 320 x 480 pixels and produces 256K colours. Various ringtone features are an added advantage with which you can add style to your device. Different other features make the cell phone a catch for its users. Bluetooth of the calibre of v2.1 with A2DP helps in transferring data with ease. It supports 3G which belongs to the class of HSDPA and the rate of 7.2 Mbps. Different other features like EDGE, Wi-Fi, USB and Video are icing on the cake.
All the service providers are in the market with motorola dext 2 which include Contract deal, pay as you go and SIM free deals. These deals are being provided by networks like Vodafone, Orange, Virgin, O2, T mobile and Three. Motorola Dext 2 Contract deal is one of the most affordable deals on to which you can rely for a great periods. Under this deal you are supposed to sign a contract with the service provider which has got several clauses attached with it.
You must pay monthly rental in order to get hassle free services. The deal bars you from the use of another networks until you are under contract. You can get contract period renewed after its expiry. There are several free gifts and offers attached with the deal which make your buying more lucrative. Other two deal too are lucrative and affordable. To know more about Motorola Dext 2 and deal related with it, log on to our website.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Panasonic’s New Handheld Gaming System
Now here's a surprise for you... A brand-spanking new handheld gaming system has been unveiled by none other than Panasonic of all people.
Named 'The Jungle', the difference with this new little wonder, is that it's been specifically designed for online gaming and especially MMO's in particular including a new MMO called Battlestar Galactica Online... All in glorious hi-def no less. Little else has been made known about The Jungle Portable as far as particular details are concerned, but what we 'think' we know at the moment is that it's said that the gaming system will run the Linux OS.
According to Engadget, the Jungle will also apparently sport a mini HDMI port, a micro USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack to boot along with what looks like dual touch-sensitive D-pads and shoulder buttons. This all seems to resemble the old Nintendo Game Boy Advance handheld form factor.
Evo owners in New York, San Francisco, and LA are reportedly starting to see some 4G action on their devices. It's just a trickle for now, but hopefully it means Sprint's preparing to turn on the WiMax faucet soon. [Engadget]
Unlimited, all-you-can-eat wireless data was a beautiful thing for Apple devices on AT&T, delivering streams of Pandora, YouTube videos, a million tweets, and hundreds of webpages without worry. And now it's dead.
AT&T is likely just the first, since carriers rarely do anything alone (like when everybody launched unlimited voice calling in lockstep), and Verizon's CTO has rumbled that plans with "as much data as you can consume is the big issue that has to change." And so it is.
If you look at the costs per megabyte, you can see how, despite the fact AT&T is pitching the availability of lower priced plans as a value move, you actually are paying more for less. (Update: Corrected chart, moved a decimal place.)
Under AT&T's old iPhone and smartphone plans, $30/month bought you truly unlimited data. With their new plans for smartphones, arriving June 7 (not coincidentally, the day of Steve Jobs' WWDC keynote) the confusingly named DataPlus offers 200MB of data for $15 a month, while DataPro gives you 2GB for $25. With DataPlus, if you run over 200MB you get another 200MB for $15. But, AT&T tells us that if you're running over the 200MB limit, you can actually switch to the beefier 2GB DataPro completely pain-free (no ETFs or any of that business), and then switch back to the skinnier plan "over time." With DataPro, if you run over 2GB, you get another 1GB of data for $10, ad infinitum. So, if you use 5GB of data, you're looking at a $55 bill for data.
Tethering for the iPhone is here, finally! Hurray! Right? Wrong. First, consider that the old, non-iPhone tethering option offered you 5GB of tethering data for an extra $30 a month. The new plan charges you $20 extra to use the same 2GB pool of data for tethering. You are not buying extra data. You are simply paying extra to use it for tethering.
Let me repeat that: AT&T is charging you an additional twenty dollars a month based purely on how you use your data. This is bullshit, plain and simple.
Why does it matter how you use that 2GB? Why does it cost extra to use it in a slightly different manner, if you're paying for it all the same?
It's asburdity—especially when you consider the basic math. Under the old plan, you paid $60 a month for unlimited data, plus 5GB worth of tethering. Under the new plan, you will pay $45 for 2GB of data, total.
When you break out the dollar-per-byte value, showing just how much data you get per dollar, it becomes clear how outrageous the new pricing schemes are, whatever AT&T murmurs about how much data 98 percent of users actually consume.
The new plans apply to the iPad as well. Meaning the no-contract $30 unlimited data plan, the plan both Apple and AT&T pitched so hard, assuring us that we would never have to worry about data or contracts, is no more. If that $30-whenever-you-want-it unlimited data was a part of your calculus in buying the 3G iPad—it was part of mine—you've effectively been baited-and-switched. They promised one thing, and in just two months, it's gone. I suppose that's the downside of not having a contract with a multi-billion dollar corporation—you're free to ditch them, but they're free to screw you in return.
There is a way out, though it's really more like a way in, since it requires you to dive more securely into the vice grip of AT&T. If you already have an unlimited smartphone data plan and you renew your contract after June 7, as long as you don't change your plan, you can keep on keepin' on with your unlimited plan. In other words, you can get a new smartphone, but keep the same plan—then you're grandfathered in with unlimited data. Same deal with the iPad: If you start an unlimited data plan before June 7, and let it keep automatically renewing, you'll keep unlimited data.
If you add the $20 tethering option after June 7, though, you move to the new plans (which obviously screws iPhone owners interested in tethering). If you don't already have an unlimited smartphone data plan, and buy one after June 7, you'll get one of the new plans. If you come to AT&T after June 7, you'll get one of the new plans. If you start a new iPad 3G data plan after June 7, you'll get one of the new plans. (Here's a bit more on various scenarios and what'll happen with different configurations.)
So, what'll be? Tie yourself up more tightly with AT&T to preserve your data privileges, or join this brave new world, where you pay for every byte you eat? Any hopes you could've possibly had for unlimited 4G, you might as well shred them now. It's true, for most people (98 percent of users, says AT&T), 2GB a month might be fine—I've only used 1GB on my iPad 3G, even after streaming a ton of movies with the intent of killing my battery. And I'm not opposed to metered internet, per se. But I am opposed to higher costs per megabyte, BS charges for tethering, and broken iPad promises. And there's a principle at stake here, dammit. [AT&T]
The iPad 3G may require a micro SIM—a lilliputian SIM card incompatible with anything else you own—but AT&T will be selling each bundled with a full SIM card adapter—meaning you could potentially use your data plan elsewhere. UPDATE:
UPDATE: Actually, a better look from BGR shows us that this seems to be a punch out scenario in which you can't reuse the larger SIM casing once you choose to break away the Micro SIM. It's probably just going to make stocking at AT&T easier. Luckily, given that SIM and Micro SIM have the same contacts, adapters (even homemade ones) are likely to be available soon. [BGR and Engadget]
I tapped dial. There's ringing, and the call goes through. It's the first call I've made from my house in two years. All it took was AT&T's 3G MicroCell to give me 5 solid bars where there were none.
Price
$150, no monthly fee, with no strings attached—but it counts against your monthly cell minutes. It's $20 a month for unlimited MicroCell calling. If you get an unlimited plan, the MicroCell drops to $50 after rebate. (If you have AT&T broadband, it knocks another $50 off.) Update: If you complain loudly enough to the right rep, you might be able to snag one for free.
It's a Lifechanger
A box about as big an oversized cable modem, the MicroCell is a mini cellphone tower that plugs into and passes calls through your existing broadband connection, giving you about a 40-foot radius of solid cell reception. Dead zones crackle to life; calls can be made without dropping.
The setup process is mostly plug and play—if you've got a router, it jacks into that, or if you plug your computer directly into a modem, it has a port for passthrough. You just activate the MicroCell through AT&T's website and then wait for about an hour as it springs to life (which is agonizing if you're revving to make the first call from your house in over two years. The MicroCell's only inconvenient installation requirement is a view of the sky for GPS reception—a necessity for 911 location services (and presumably the way AT&T prevents you from using it overseas).
It only works with AT&T numbers, and you can only have 10 numbers registered at once tapping into the MicroCell. Since you have to assign the numbers through AT&T's site every time you want to add one, friends who're just stopping by (or your neighbors) won't be able to take advantage of your newly awesome reception, unless you add them to the list. And, even if you're friendly enough to add your buddies to the list, if they (or you, for that matter) have original iPhones, they won't be able to hop on—the MicroCell supports 3G phones only. The plus side is that it's the only femtocell that supports data, so you can actually use it to check email on your phone.
AT&T's stated range of 40 feet held up flawlessly in our tests, passing through a wall and delivering strong reception 30 feet outside of the apartment (thanks to its combo of 850MHz and 1900MHz bands). Where it got sticky was at the edge of the reception zone—our test phones continued to show full bars until the connection abruptly died completely, and the phones began hunting for new signals.
It's nothing short of revelatory, to suddenly have full reception where there was none, to make calls where one couldn't before.
There is a philosophical problem though: Should you buy a device that makes a service you already pay for simply work the way it's supposed to? Every carrier offers some form of in-home extension of their service—Sprint's Airave femotcell, Verizon's Network Extender, and T-Mobile's @Home—and they all charge you for it, even though you're routing calls over your own broadband connection. (And even though using the femtocell eats up your minutes, unless you pay even more for unlimited.) It sucks. Maybe we should take a stand, refuse to pay more just to make cell service usable, and demand that they fix it or give the boxes away.
On other the hand, if you're not interested in making a stand, and just want to use your phone on the toilet after two years of not being able to, maybe $150 is worth it to you.
I CAN MAKE CALLS FROM MY HOUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TWO YEARS
Basically perfect reception within a 40-foot radius
Sure, we kinda think AT&T's cell-reception boosting MicroCell 3G should be like, free, since it's using your pipes to route calls, but I suppose this is about as swell as we could've hoped for—$150 with no monthly fee.
A femtocell, briefly, is sorta like a mini cell tower—it hooks into your broadband connection, and amplifies the cell signal inside your house. The difference between AT&T's MicroCell 3G and Sprint's Airave femtocell, which is $100 plus a mandatory $5/month fee, is that the AT&T MicroCell also transfers data, not just voice. (Though I'm not sure why wouldn't just use Wi-Fi in your own house.) Still, the AT&T femotcell works out cheaper over the course of the year. Up to 10 lines can be setup to use it, and 4 can use it simultaneously.
It counts against your minutes while you're using it, unless you spring for unlimited MicroCell minutes, which is $20 a month for individuals or families. That's a bit crappier than Sprint's pricing, which is $10/month for an individual line, and $20 a month for multiple. But, you get a $100 mail-in/rebate, making the MicroCell $50 in that scenario. And if you buy U-Verse or AT&T DSL at the same time, you can knock another $50 off making it free. They start rolling out next month, but it's going to take until the end of the year before they're available everywhere. I pray dearly SF and NY are on the very tip top of that list.
AT&T* today announced that AT&T 3G MicroCell plans to begin its national roll out beginning in mid April, with new markets activating in cities across the continental U.S. for the next several months. AT&T 3G MicroCell is an innovative solution that allows residential customers to route wireless phone calls and data connections (or sessions) across a home broadband connection. This solution is designed to benefit customers who live in homes that have coverage impediments that consistently interrupt wireless spectrum, such as dense wall and roof construction or unfavorable terrain.
AT&T 3G MicroCell is the only femtocell to support both 3G data and voice services. Developed in conjunction with Cisco and in a public trial in select markets since September, AT&T 3G MicroCell is available for a one-time cost of $149.99.
Consumers with AT&T 3G MicroCell will be able to easily activate the device the same day it is purchased, thanks to easy, self-install instructions. Technical support is available for customers who need it.
Consumers manage AT&T 3G MicroCell though their online MyWireless account at www.att.com/mywireless. Through this online management, only those phones chosen by the customer may use the MicroCell. Customers may define up to 10 lines to have access and up to four may operate on it simultaneously. Minutes used through the MicroCell affect only the account of the phone making the call – there is no requirement to purchase separate service for the 3G MicroCell.
In addition, AT&T will offer a companion rate plan option for MicroCell customers – especially customers on Family Talk plans — who want to supplement their existing voice plans. For $19.99 a month, individual or Family Talk customers can make unlimited calls through a 3G MicroCell, without using minutes in their monthly wireless voice plan.
Consumers who select 3G MicroCell calling plans at purchase are also eligible to receive a $100 mail-in-rebate toward the purchase of AT&T 3G MicroCell – effectively making the device about $50. Customers who also purchase a new line of broadband service with AT&T (DSL or U-verse 1.5MB or higher) are also eligible for $50 via mail-in-rebate– effectively making the device about $100. If a customer is eligible for both rebate options, the customer will be able to get the device for $0, after mail-in rebate.
For more information on AT&T 3G MicroCell, visit www.att.com/3gmicrocell. For the complete array of AT&T offerings, visit www.att.com.
T-Mobile has announced that they're rolling out their super speedy HSPA+ network to over 100 metro areas covering 185 million people in 2010. More than half of that will be complete by the middle of the year. That's aggressive.
HSPA+ is an easier roll out than 4G, because it's overlaid over T-Mobile's existing 3G footprint. It also gets competitive speeds; its 21Mbps is three times what you're used to from current 3G technologies. And in the few regions it's currently available, like Philadelphia, it really does fly. Even better, most current T-Mobile devices are already compatible with HSPA+, meaning that customers won't need to upgrade their smartphone to get an upgraded network experience.
Products that'll get the HSPA+ treatment include a Dell Mini 10 netbook—welcome news, given that it's our favorite of the current crop. It'll only be available in limited markets to start.
There's also the T-Mobile webConnect Rocket USB Laptop Stick, available next week, which is the first HSPA+ stick available from a major carrier.
For phones, there's the Nokia Nuron, and the Cliq XT, and most enticingly the HTC HD2.
There are also plans for personal Hot Spots, although nothing concrete was announced today, and the execs were totally mum on tethering.
T-Mobile to Rollout the Nation's Fastest 3G Wireless Network with HSPA+ to More than 100 Metropolitan Areas in 2010
T-Mobile delivers home broadband-like experiences on-the-go when surfing the Web, accessing multimedia features, sharing content and more
LAS VEGAS and BELLEVUE, Wash. - March 23, 2010 - Today at International CTIA Wireless 2010, T-Mobile USA, Inc., showcased the nation's fastest 3G wireless network on its latest mobile broadband devices. The company unveiled plans to upgrade its national high-speed 3G service to the High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+) technology, which will deliver customers data speeds faster than the current 3G network technology1 . By the end of 2010, T-Mobile expects to have HSPA+ deployed across the breadth of its 3G footprint, covering more than 100 metropolitan areas and 185 million people.
T-Mobile hosted live demonstrations of the home broadband-like HSPA+ data speeds on a variety of products including the new Dell™ Inspiron™ Mini 10 with T-Mobile® webConnect™ - T-Mobile's first netbook - which launches March 24 online and in T-Mobile stores in select markets.2
"Consumers want a mobile broadband experience that's easy and as good as their connection at home on the best wireless devices available," said Neville Ray, senior vice president of engineering and operations for T-Mobile USA. "This year T-Mobile will upgrade its national 3G network to HSPA+ which will support faster speeds and give customers a superior wireless data experience when they access their mobile social network, stream videos or share content. T-Mobile's network is primed to deliver the speeds that today's data users crave."
T-Mobile successfully launched its HSPA+ network service in Philadelphia last fall providing customers access to one of the fastest and most modern wireless networks in the U.S. T-Mobile now has made HSPA+ commercially available in new markets including major areas of New York City, New Jersey, Long Island and suburban Washington, D.C., with deployment in Los Angeles coming very soon.
The company will continue to aggressively expand the availability of HSPA+ in additional 3G markets, putting the necessary backhaul capacity in place to support the very fast speeds. Today, its 3G high-speed data network covers more than 206 million people.
T-Mobile's HSPA+ network is outperforming competing 3G wireless networks with speeds up to three times faster. Blazing fast actual peak download speeds3 were demonstrated today in Las Vegas using both new and current mobile broadband devices, including the T-Mobile webConnect Rocket™ USB Laptop Stick, the first HSPA+ capable device from a national U.S .wireless carrier; the Dell Inspiron Mini 10; the HTC HD2; the Motorola CLIQ XT™ and the T-Mobile myTouch® 3G.
"The webConnect Rocket and Dell Inspiron Mini 10 are the latest mobile broadband products that deliver real customer benefits with faster speeds available today," said Cole Brodman, chief technology and innovation officer for T-Mobile USA. "And the great thing about T-Mobile's 3G network evolution is its backward compatibility - most of our 3G smartphones will deliver a better mobile Web experience. Customers don't have to spend money on a device upgrade, which is a rarity in consumer electronics."
Dell Inspiron Mini 10 with T-Mobile webConnect T-Mobile's newest mobile broadband product, the Dell Inspiron Mini 10, features built-in access to T-Mobile's 3G network, Windows® 7 - Microsoft Corp.'s latest operating system - and the Intel® Atom™ processor N450 for easy Web surfing, instant messaging, e-mail, social networking, photo sharing and superb multimedia playback in one small, ultra-portable device. The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 is small and lightweight, weighing just three pounds, and its integrated six-cell battery easily provides up to eight hours of continuous usage. The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 also comes preloaded with T-Mobile's webConnect Manager software to help customers manage usage and connections, including connecting to T-Mobile's 3G network, Wi-Fi and access to thousands of T-Mobile HotSpot network locations nationwide.
Pricing and Availability The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 will be available tomorrow nationwide online at http://www.t-mobile.com and in T-Mobile retail locations in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and Miami for $199.99 with two-year contract and qualifying webConnect data plan.
For more information about T-Mobile's webConnect family of products, including the webConnect Rocket and Dell Inspiron Mini 10, please visit http://www.t-mobile.com/webconnect.
3G coverage is not available everywhere. For more information about T-Mobile's 3G services, mobile broadband products, device features, or the offers and services mentioned, see http://www.t-mobile.com.
I CAN MAKE CALLS FROM MY HOUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TWO YEARS
Basically perfect reception within a 40-foot radius
Only available in a handful of cities so far
$150 to fix the service you already pay for
