Nexus One starting to show up in third party retail channels, commands big money
By Chris Ziegler 
posted May 25th 2010 7:59PM
posted May 25th 2010 7:59PM
i wireless Introduces Android 3G Smartphones
Devices Offer Personalized Look, Feel, and Functionality
Coralville, IA (PRWEB) May 19, 2010 -- i wireless continues to offer the latest smartphones by announcing the arrival of new Android operating system devices. Customers will be able to purchase Android devices, including models that are 3G capable, at over 250 retail locations or at the i wireless website beginning May 18, 2010.
Android devices allow users to personalize their phones look, feel, and functionality with over 40,000 applications (apps) available via download through the Android Market store. Preloaded with Google apps and built to multitask, Android feature-rich devices create a superior mobile experience.
"We are excited to add the most popular Android devices to our complete line-up of smartphones," says Gary Baron, vice president of marketing, i wireless. "Customers will be given the option to choose from Motorola, HTC, and Samsung models that best fits their lifestyle."
i wireless will offer several Android devices including the Motorola Milestone, 3G Nexus One by Google, HTC Hero, and 3G Samsung Behold II, all designed take full advantage of the wide array of available apps.
i wireless customers will have immediate access to 3G coverage and 10x faster data speeds in T-Mobile markets including Des Moines and Ames, Iowa, and over 130 cities in the U.S. serving over 200 million people. i wireless will rollout 3G service in the Quad Cities, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo/Cedar Falls, and Iowa City markets throughout the summer, with completion scheduled for August 2010. In addition to faster speeds, customers will experience the ability to multi-task – text, email, or surf the web while talking on their 3G phone.
Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Urbandale, Iowa, i wireless is a partnership between T-Mobile USA and Iowa Network Services (a consortium of 127 Iowa Independent Telecommunications Companies). i wireless has over 250 full-service company stores and authorized dealers across Iowa, western Illinois, and eastern Nebraska, offering customers the largest regional and nationwide coverage on the most advanced high-speed voice and data network. For more information, visit www.iwireless.com or contact Sarah Harpring at 319-390-7254.
I'm still hoping Google doesn't shut down their online phone website. This was how I was planning to buy their next Google phone (the one with a front camera and a chip that can accelerate flash... maybe throw a qwerty into that mix).
I find it amusing that their tagline is "Why Pay More". I suppose at this stage, anything goes.
PLEASE come to Best Buy! Or any other Brick & Mortar store.
Near me. In Downtown San Francisco.
Yikes.
Still not overly convinced with the Nexus One to be honest. Sorry the Desire seems to be running circles around this one (even though they're like technically the same phone).
@StopJHammerTime The incredible doesn't have much if anything on the n1. Even the camera has proven to be worse than the n1
Yeah, but... LOL... that phone came out like 3 months ago.. no one wants it anymore
@Wesscoast
Don't forget the Incredible. That phone is so two weeks ago!
@Wesscoast There's not a single other Android phone I'd consider so long as Android continues it's current development pace. Carriers and manufacturers can't be trusted to keep the updates coming.
@fortunzfavor Yeah, because waiting until June for Froyo on Droid is such a killer.
Guess what? Win7 is going to be even WORSE. Updates go from Microsoft to Manufacturers back to Microsoft for quality testing and then to Carriers for network testing.
Stick with your one trick iPhone if this exaggerated update problem scares you. Just don't buy a skinned or budget Android phone and you're fine. It's not like your phone stops working because you have to wait a month.
@JONNNathannn If I had a Droid I'd be pretty pissed the most popular Android phone on the market didn't get updated for months.
@sweetelectro
I have a Droid and I am far from mad. This is the first phone that I have owned that upgrades, and it was free!
Plus there is always something called rooting.
Full retail price please.
Still think sprint missed out on a nice second option for a high quality andriod phone.
@InfDaMarvel Agreed, the 4.3 inch screen is nice, not to mention the front facing camera and the back being 8 mp with dual led flash. But the trackball is kind of a big deal for me when selecting text and I'd have preferred that I had a phone that would be at the top of the updating food chain. Guess that's not quite Sprint OR Verizon's game. :/
i Wireless isn't an independent retailer. The i is for Iowa: they're a regional carrier. And from personal experience, not a good one.
@fryhole
Yeah, I was going to point this out as well. I was one of I assume several people to submit this tip to Engadget. I haven't looked into it all that much because I have no plans to be an iWireless customer, but they are a wireless company, not just an authorized reseller for T mobile. They're just affiliated with them.
So, no more unlocked Nexus Ones? Anybody got a date on when will Google stop selling the unlocked N1 online? Have a feeling that we wouldn't see them anymore (only under contract)
Iowan here.
Yes, i wireless is T-Mobile's regional affiliate in Iowa and it's surrounding tri-state areas. Historically they've been pretty bad, but they have made 3 major improvements
1. Their nationwide plans are cheaper than T-Mobile's (which is pretty nice)
2. They have free EDGE roaming with ATT and free EDGE/3G roaming with T-Mobile
3. They will begin turning on HSPA towers in four Eastern Iowa metro areas (Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Quad Cities) which will work with the existing T-Mobile HSPA towers in Ames and Des Moines. They won't give an exact date, but they keep quoting August.
The major screw-ups they have had so far though is that:
1. Right now, there are only two phones they sell that work with Tri-band HSPA, the Nexus One and the BB Bold.
2. They introduced two other android phones, the Milestone and the Hero, but neither support Tri-Band HSPA, so you don't get 3G data on them (wtf)
3. The initial pricing on the Nexus One is ridiculous. $300 in contract and $650 out of contract? There is no incentive at all to order one through them, even given that their plans are slightly cheaper than T-Mobile's.
If you are a tech-oriented Iowan, you are better off buying a used smartphone that works with Tri-Band HSPA if you can swing it, and begin using one of i wireless's rather cheap prepaid plans (everything for $50, tethering included!) once their towers activate in August. Travel out of state and use T-Mobile's HSPA towers whenever you are in a major metro area.
If google wanted to change the way phones are sold then they should have designed a god damn phone that works on all worldwide GSM 3g frequencies.
@DoctarPeppar To be fair there is no phone out right now that does that. Nokia is coming out with the N8 soon though, which would work with all GSM 3G freqs in US/Canada/Europe/Japan
@DoctarPeppar Either version of the N1 supports 2100 UMTS band, which means it will have 3G in most of Asian and Europe
@tatsujin
Yeah but that was kind of my point -- of course no one else has that, but it's Google ffs -- it's not like they don't have the resources...I wonder how many N1s they could have sold if they would have made it worldwide 3g compatible and had better marketing. They should have done both. It's sad to see them give up so early.
Will AT&T ever get a full fledged Android phone(without skinning) just like what Verizon is getting? or does iphone's exclusivity has anything to do with it?
@redeyeskranti Google is still selling the N1 with 850 UMTS band support unlocked, while it lasts.
@redeyeskranti The Nexus One is available for AT&T.
They're also rumored to be getting the Samsung Galaxy S with stock Android.
FAIL!
neither the Milestone nore the Hero support AWS 3G, is i wireless seriously selling phones that wont work with their own 3G network???
Quote from iWireless:
Will any 3G GSM phones get 3G speeds on the i wireless 3G network?
No. Our 3G network will only support AWS/UMTS 1700/2100 banded phones. 3G devices that only have the 2100 band will not work on our 3G network.
Actually, the att 3G nexus one on google.com/phone says it's temporarily unavailable.
@Drama21 They're just temporarily out of stock. Here's the official response: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=55d900d7ad61c090&hl=en
@ddddd
Yes...Engadget is going to fix its bugs for the less than 1% of the traffic it gets from iPhone...just like how they fixed their Flash videos and converted it all in a HTML5-friendly format...
.
WAKE UP!
I’m sorry but GOOGLE can u guys quit f*ckin around and bring the Nexus One to the t-mobile retail stores already thanks smh
What?
Canadian carriers are 6-12 months behind new models in the US. Wind does not offer this phone, neither does Bell or Rogers. The newest android your going to find right now is from Rogers (exclusive for now) the Sony Ericson X10 and it still only runs 1.6.
I've been looking for a decent google phone here for the last year. I'm still haven't found one I would get yet.
Seems this is a win,
This is infinitely better then the $179 deal since really, NO long time T-Mobile customer in their right mind is going to scrap their good plan for that price - especially if they're supporting a family plan or something. Even if the compromise was $300 bucks this would've sold a ton more units if it offered that nice discount while allowing folks to keep their plans.
holy sh*t they have the droid on this site
http://www.iwireless.com/phones_detail.asp?pid=169
@saturnblackhole
its the GSM version of the droid and rocks just as good with an overclock
@saturnblackhole
It is called the Milestone and it is available in a lot of countries outside of the USA. It is mostly the same as the droid, but has a locked bootloader meaning you can't load custom ROMs. It currently has Android 2.1 but it is a little buggy.
There are many versions of the Milestone but you can get one with UMTS 900/2100 and there is less common one sold by Telus in Canada and some carrier in Thailand that support UMTS 850/1900/2100 so it can be used on AT&T 3G.
There is also a version with 850MHz but without 1900MHz, but those are nearly impossible to find outside of the countries they are made for.
@Peter F
iWireless does not state which UMTS frequencies the Milestone they sell supports, but it does not support AWS as they state. There are no Milestones with AWS support as far as I know.
I've had the nexus on Rogers since it came out. Not sure what you're waiting for. And unlocked means you can pick up an att. Sim when you're in the states.
Nexus One supporting the 850 UMTS band is not available anymore. The end is closing in faster than I thought. Dang it. :( Bye-bye Nexus One, so much for the game-changing of selling unlocked phones. In the end, everything in the US is provider locked and under contract. A giant step back for US consumers. Apple failed, and Google failed. *sigh Is the Nokia N8 the last glimmer of hope?
@pika2000 The only one who has failed is your beloved Nokia. They haven't put out a decent phone for years. Reduced to sell cheap devices to emerging markets to keep their market share. Go away fanboi!
@bustafone Hey troll, are you serious? Me, a Nokia fanboy? LOL. Tell that to N900(username).
Let me ask you this question. Can I buy an unlocked Android phone in the US other than the Nexus One? Nope. Now even the unlocked N1 is going away. At least Nokia is selling their phones unlocked. Apple showed some promise by being able to tell AT&T not to touch the iphone's firmware, but succumbed to the old way of locked phones to get subsidy. Google showed some promise with the Nexus 1, but in the end , they bowed to the carriers too to get more sales. Seems like the wireless market in the US will remain in the dark ages (expensive locked phones with fake subsidy).
I have I sense Android phone and its great but since it for 2.1 there is no need for it plus without the extra skin, the battery lasts so much longer
i wireless has 3g now? Was in the quad cities roaming on them and did not see any 3g signal. I know they are a tmo affiliate so i would expect them to use the same aws 3g that t-mobile uses. No way t-mobile would launch 3g separately in iowa and compete with i wireless or just not launch 3g in iowa at all.
@ddddd They should fix the bugs in the non-iphone version first. I'm tired of the commenting system eating my posts (let's see how many tries it takes to post this one), and when I finally get it to post successfully, it takes me to the last page of comments instead of the page I posted to.
T-mobile. You're late to the party... There is better hardware out there with Android platform for CHEAPER.