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Motorola i425 walkie talkie phone for Boost Mobile
Where Motorola pulled this one from we'll never know, but Irvine based Boost Mobile is soon to start distributing the i425, which is apparently the world's thinnest walkie talkie phone. Besides being one of the best looking Motorola phones in a while, the i425 features GPS, instant messaging, and is crafted out of 100% recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate material (whatever that is.) Before you go off and start extolling the virtues of the "new Moto," realize that one essential feature is missing from the phone. So, we ask you Motorola / Boost Mobile, why no Bluetooth?[Thanks, James]
Discount retailers want to sell more handsets
With 65% of U.S. mobile handset buyers going to carrier outlets and counters to buy all those handsets, that leaves the other 35% of US wireless customers looking at other sources for all those cellphones by our math; physical and online retailers pick up that slack. Which, exactly? Wireless Week reports that powerhouse retailers like Best Buy, Radio Shack, Target and Wal-Mart are (unsurprisingly) doing their part. Hey, are those calling plan commission bells we hear? Anyway, Wal-Mart has gained ground from the days of selling low-end phones and plans, offering a decent assortment from more than a few carriers these days; Best Buy is doing well also, while Radio Shack -- once chummy with several carriers -- is apparently being beaten badly by the bigger consumer electronics and discount chains, and the news that its outlets won't be getting the iPhone in store can't be easing the heartburn. Of course, we figure this kind of fierce competition can only be good news for consumers, so bring it on; if the big boxes want to beat carriers' corporate stores dollar-for-dollar on handsets, you're not going to hear a peep of complaint out of us.
Boost to offer unlimited plan?
Word on the street has it that Boost is poised to test-market an unlimited plan, though it's unknown at this point whether said plan would be voice only or would throw in all-you-can-eat data as well (a smart move, we reckon). If true, this lines up nicely with a previous rumor that Boost would start offering postpaid plans in the same vein as stablemate Nextel, but here's where it gets really juicy: the phone allegedly to be offered with the unlimited plan isn't an iDEN piece. We don't mean iDEN / CDMA hybrid, either -- it's a straight-up CDMA phone, the yawn-riffic Motorola C290. If that doesn't turn you off, and you live in Dallas, San Antonio, or Houston, look for the plan to hit shortly for $45 a month; meanwhile, folks in the Bay area can expect to shell out $50, and Southern California bears the brunt of it at $55.
Sony Ericsson rolls pink camo Z530i
Huh? There's a phone in this picture? We kid, we kid -- pink camouflage is about as effective as a styrofoam paperweight, but then again, we don't think that's really the idea here (of course, with the forgettable VGA cam, this is a phone we wouldn't mind seeing disappear). Sony Ericsson has hooked up with Boost Mobile's Australian division to offer the Z530i in the user's choice of pink or black camo with matching Skullcandy headphones for that music collection you've got stored on the handset's Memory Stick Micro M2 slot. Look for it Down Under on Boost for $179 -- but seeing how it's a GSM piece, there's no chance of seeing this one migrate to Boost customers here in the States.[Via textually.org]
Boost offers Motorola i885
Following hot on the heels of its corporate parent, Sprint Nextel, Boost Mobile has added its own variant of Nextel's Motorola i880 as the i885. It looks like the phone hasn't changed much from when we first scooped it way back in July, with the range-topping device bringing a 2 megapixel cam, microSD slot, and dedicated music controls to the table. Minor differences from its more uptight i880 sibling include a migration of the external controls from the phone's front to the side and a trick, lit Boost Mobile logo on the lower left of the flip. The i885 is shipping now for a stiff $350 -- but that's the price one must pay for prepaid iDEN supremacy these days.[Thanks, Memo]
Stalking simplified: Loopt's Mobile Friend Finder for Boost
It seems there will likely come a day when everyone knows the latitude and longitude of everyone else in real time, we were just secretly hoping that we wouldn't see that day in our lifetime. Alas, Loopt's gone ahead and found a customer -- Boost Mobile -- for its friend-tracking system, which maps the location of buddies on a Google Local-like display. Happily, users must opt in before they can be tracked; once they do, the system will show current location, a settable status, and messages sent from other, uh, trackees. Of course, unless all your friends are on Boost, the system is of limited value, but we're pleased to know someone's out there keeping the Big Brother dream alive.[Via Phone Scoop]Update: Loopt would like us to let you know that their service is entirely opt-in, and that only approved users can track your whereabouts.
Motorola i835 gets fancy, purple for Boost
Where we come from, you can add colors, pinstripes, and all manner of designs to a boring phone -- at the end of the day, it's still the same boring phone. On the other hand, if we were to allow our eyes to gloss over the spec sheet, the dismal internal and external displays, and the fact that this still isn't an iDEN / CDMA hybrid, we can understand how we might manage to get excited about Boost dressing up its workhorse model. Besides the obvious alterations to its appearance, the i835g variant features a redesigned speakerphone mesh (of all things) and matching wallpapers and screensavers. It's available immediately for the same price as the basic i835 on which it's based.[Via SlashGear]
'07 plans for Boost: don't worry, Sprint still loves you
After Sprint's threat to dial back Boost in favor of its more lucrative Nextel brand, the question begs asking: what's next for equipment? Anything? Yeah, we've got the i885 to look forward to (hopefully), but beyond that, we hadn't heard much to keep Boost customers excited through the end of the year and into 2007. Fear not, folks. Hot off the tip line, we have a scoop that should restore some of the hope dashed by now-departed COO Len Lauer in his vitriolic comments regarding the young, prepaid iDEN division. First off, we've heard that Boost will be adding postpaid options next year, which will interestingly threaten to put it in almost direct competition with sibling Nextel. Second, hybrid iDEN / CDMA devices will launch on Boost in Q1 of 2007, and at least some of them will offer EV-DO. Lastly -- drum roll, please -- our tipster has seen prototype devices with a distinct "Sidekick appeal," full QWERTY and all. If this is Sprint's way of killing a brand, then we've gotta say, there are worse fates.[Thanks, anonymous tipster]
Sprint to give Boost less boost
Where we come from, common sense dictates that you push the products that are doing well for you and dial back the ones that aren't. Perhaps that's what separates us from the fancy-pants businessfolk within Sprint's corporate offices who've decided to "slow Boost down quite a bit." Boost's been doing extraordinarily well for Sprint, accounting now for some 8% of Sprint Nextel's customer base -- largely because it's an inexpensive way to get in on Nextel's iDEN PTT goodness -- and therein lies the problem, it seems. With the radio interference iDEN's had with public safety frequencies, Sprint's been forced to dial back its total iDEN capacity in some markets, and at the end of the day they'd rather give that limited capacity to their more lucrative Nextel customers than the prepaid Boost crowd. How Sprint ultimately intends to "slow Boost down" remains to be seen, but if you've been jonesin' for an i885, we might suggest you keep your eyes peeled and get it while the gettin's good.[Via Phone Scoop]Update: Never mind giving Boost less boost; Sprint's giving execs the boot. COO Len Lauer, to be specific -- the very man responsible for the comments suggesting Sprint was ready to kick dust in Boost's eye. Whether those comments had anything to do with Lauer's departure is unclear, as is the current status of said plans, but we'll obviously have our ear to the ground on this story as it develops.
Motorola patent would allow seniors to rock regular cellphones
We've seen a slew of cellphones designed for use by senior citizens, but they always tend to be big, bulky, and/or rather unstylish -- what if Grandpa is a little hard of hearing, but still wants to impress the hunnies on the shuffleboard court with his handset? Well Motorola may have a solution for the fashion-conscious senior by way of a patent application it just filed, which envisions an audio processor for regular cellphones that boosts the volume if being used by a member of the AARP crowd. Even better, the phone would be able to automatically detect when it was being used by an elderly individual, thanks to speech recognition software that analyzes the tone and pace of the speaker's voice. We used to laugh at the Boost Mobile commercials featuring those hip senior posses, but if this Moto patent is any indication, a world of RAZR- and SLVR-sporting old folks may be right around the corner.[Via Mobiledia]
