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Rim's BlackBerry 8820 lands at Orange UK
We've had this handset pegged for AT&T for ages, but the first operator to get it out the door is Orange UK. Orange will take advantage of the WiFi UMA angle by offering business customers access to its Unique service. Like a similar offering from T-Mobile on this side of the ocean, the 8820 can switch seamlessly between GSM and IP voice services using a provider's Internet access point. No word on pricing yet, but we're expecting that coming soon logo on the Orange 8820 page should be disappearing any time soon. Here's hoping that T-Mobile also considers this handset to boost it strong pitiful UMA handset lineup over here.
Hands-on with T-Mobile HotSpot @Home
Roaming from cell towers to WiFi hotspots and back on the same phone sounds pretty cool, right? Engadget Mobile has the lowdown on T-Mobile's HotSpot @Home service -- the Nokia 6086, the Linksys router, the whole shebang -- so head on over to get an up-close peek at the goods!
T-Mobile goes national with HotSpot @Home WiFi calling
Following a limited launch last year in its hometown of Seattle, T-Mobile's finally pulling all the stops and taking its "HotSpot @Home" hybrid GSM / WiFi calling service national. A first among the US' big four carriers, @Home relies on traditional cell airwaves out in the field but switches seamlessly to WiFi when it gets within range of a T-Mobile hotspot or any other wireless router you've configured your phone to latch onto. For the millions of us with less-than-stellar reception in our homes, the service could be a life-saver -- and even better, WiFi minutes aren't deducted from your plan. Launch handsets are the Nokia 6086 and Samsung t409, both of which will go out the door for $49.99 on contract and include a Linksys or D-Link router -- both specially designed for @Home service -- for free after rebate, though any 802.11b access point should work. The service itself will run $9.99 per month on individual and $19.99 on family plans for up to five handsets. Look for the equipment today in T-Mobile stores and on the carrier's website.
T-Mobile@Home to launch on June 27?
It's been a minute or two in the making, but it looks like T-Mobile's UMA rollout -- the first for a national US carrier -- could finally be around the corner. Boy Genius Report has come across some pretty authentic-looking documents detailing the "@Home" service launch, suggesting that it'll roll out next Wednesday, June 27 (probably for the best they don't try it two days later) with the Nokia 6086 and Samsung t409 doing duty as the launch handsets. Here's where it gets good, though: the marketing campaign will apparently involve commercials featuring some bathrobe-clad dude named Jimmy. T-Mobile's really taking Jimmy to heart, asking its in-store reps to dress up in Jimmy's bathrobe's for the few days after @Home's launch, culminating in a July 3 contest where eleven stores across the country offer free @Home phones, routers, and service to the first 100 similarly dressed customers. This should be... interesting.Read - part 1Read - part 2
RIM: we'll have WiFi BlackBerrys this year
Perhaps the biggest gem to come out RIM's Wireless Enterprise Symposium held earlier this month in Orlando, Senior Vice President David Yach let it slip that the company's first WiFi-capable handsets will launch in the second half of 2007. While pointing out that most of its rivals are owning RIM in the WiFi category, he said that the integration isn't great and RIM had been holding off on adding the feature until they could get it to the point that it would "just work." He goes on to say that WiFi will be used as an alternative when cell coverage isn't available -- and that carrier cooperation has been necessary -- suggesting that VoIP will be a focus. Frankly, RIM, as long as you hold out on delivering 3G to your throngs of AT&T and T-Mobile customers, we'll take all the WiFi we can get.
T-Mobile launching nationwide UMA this summer
What happened? Did T-Mobile, like, forget to launch this? Yeah, it happened in Seattle, but we're imagining there are plenty of people across the whole country that are down with rocking calls over WiFi while in the privacy of their own homes -- and they've had this thing in the wings for a long time now. Anyway, according to a Wall Street Journal piece, it seems that early problems have been finally ironed out and folks nationwide will be able to get their UMA on for $20 a month on top of the cost of their regular plan. T-Mobile can hook folks up with a compatible router for free after rebate or they can bring their own to the party. Look for it to launch as early as the middle of June (if the stars happen to align in just the right order).[Via textually.org]
BT Group chatting up FON for partnership
Good news all 'round for BT Fusion, BT Broadband and FON lovers of the UK: BT Group is reportedly in talks with FON for a hefty partnership that extends the services of both companies extensively. In exchange for allowing BT Fusion users to replace those pricey Vodafone minutes on their phones with free FON WiFi UMA lovin', BT will officially give its blessing to users sharing their BT bandwidth over FON -- ISPs usually frown on the practice -- and even go so far as to push a FON firmware upgrade to its own users' broadband routers. Subscribers can opt out, but we're sure plenty of users will bite at the chance, since signing up for FON not only gives you profit sharing from people who pay to use your access point, but also gives you free WiFi access to other FON routers. With the 10,000 FON users already in Britain, the country could become one of the top spots for free-ish WiFi, and might give BT one of the best UMA services around, but neither company is talking about the deal just yet, so we'll wait for everything to be legit before we do our little "free WiFi party" dance.[Via WNN; thanks R Gomez]
Boingo launches worldwide WiFi service -- just for mobile phones
3GSM is cranking along and so are the carrier and manufacturer announcements. Among one of the brightest ones today has been the announcement that Boingo Wireless -- the world's leading wholesale network aggregator (fancy term for WiFi ISP) -- will soon unveil the "Boingo Mobile" service to provide what appears to be the first global WiFi Internet service. Sounds rather solid -- but it gets even better because Boingo Mobile is specifically designed for WiFi phones and devices as opposed to dedicated computers and computing devices (not that there's anything wrong with the 802.11n lappy). So, you have a feast for that newer UMA handset and have looked for a solution that goes beyond that slower-than-I'll-get-out HSDPA access? If you're near on of the thousands of Boingo WiFi hotspots around the world, you can tap into the Boingo Mobile network at the flat rate of USD $7.95 per month by visting mobile.boingo.com/download to get Boingo's free software and to check for mobile handset / device compatibility (hint -- WM5 is all for now). It's great to see a global WiFi operator differentiate -- and treat -- two different uses of WiFi at separate and appropriate price levels, since, ya know, not many are BitTorrenting from their handsets these days.
Boy Genius exclusive with the BlackBerry 8800!
We knew our pal Boy Genius would be able to get his hands on the much anticipated BlackBerry 8800, and sure enough, he did. BG was able to obtain the svelte new RIM device by any means necessary through completely legitimate channels for preview. From the initial pictures, the 8800 is thicker than we anticipated, only beating the current 8700 by a marginal amount. This device is setup for Wi-Fi, so it only makes sense that T-mobile might be getting this version. We should know more when the device launches later on this month on the orange splat. Check out some more pics after the break!
BT's Fusion VoIP service loosed on the WiFi public
Good news punters, BT's Fusion wireless VoIP / cellular offering will be turned loose for home use tomorrow. Even better, the new system will use WiFi rather than Bluetooth like the system we previously saw. The service is designed to work with BT's OpenZone WiFi hotspots and should initially support three UMA handsets: the Nokia 6136, Motorola A910, and Samsung's P200 before the month is out. A total of 20 handsets should be up and running on the service by Q3 2007, according to BT. Initially, Fusion will only be sold to customers of BT's own broadband service with a more open plan, including a pre-pay option coming later in the year.
Motorola's A910 for UMA gets FCC nod
Sure, Motorola, go ahead and take your time pushing your A910 through the FCC, see if we care. Even as we had to sit back and watch BT Fusion announce the WiFi-enabled UMA clamshell nearly a year ago, we've kept patient here in the States, twiddling our thumbs in the hopes that T-Mobile would get its act together for a national launch. Bah, who are we kidding? You can almost cut the bitterness with a knife here at Engadget HQ that we aren't all burning voice minutes through our wireless routers by now. FCC approval of the A910 (finally) means that we might be one small step closer to seeing some commercial services launch here -- though with a 1.3 megapixel cam and that stodgy pre-RAZR styling, we might be better off waiting for Moto's next effort at this point.
T-Mobile HotSpot @Home finally launches... in Seattle
Right well, they did say they had a certain affinity for Seattle then, didn't they? It looks like the first round of T-Mobile's long awaited UMA service is now kicking around Seattle way, with open trial customers able to purchase two WiFi-capable UMA phones, as well as the D-Link router which enables home access. Right out of the gate we already have our qualms with the service -- namely in that they're charging customers an extra $20 per month for UMA access (and only if they have an eligible $40+ per month rate plan), which is kind of a bummer since in most cases UMA is cost-saving to the carrier in that consumers needn't consume as much cellular air time. But that $20 extra also covers T-Mobile HotSpot access too, so if you're not just planning on using HotSpot @Home, um, at home, then you'll be good to go when roaming elsewhere. (It's worth noting, however, that UMA does not require anything special to get going, and will work on any WiFi connection.) The D-Link router is probably a skipper -- it'll set you back $50 (and goes free with mail-in rebate), but isn't necessary to use the service, and will probably leave you in pain as D-Link WiFi gear so often does. Oh, and hows about a word on the two phones you'll be using with @Home: you've got the Nokia 6136, which, of course, features a 1.3 megapixel camera, FM radio, and GSM / GPRS / EDGE; then you've got the far more feeble Samsung t709, with GPRS, 176 x 220 display, and a 1.3 megapixel camera. Both will go for $50 with a two year, $100 with a one year.[Via NYT]
Orange launches "Unique" dual-mode service
UMA appears to be picking up a nice head of steam both domestically and internationally; Orange is the latest to join the fray with their newly-minted service dubbed simply "Unique." As expected, the service uses Orange's wireless broadband router (the Livebox, pictured) to provide the VoIP connection at home, while GSM takes over out on the mean streets Orange's launch locales: the UK, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Poland. Up to six handsets will be supported per Livebox, which can all be routed onto a single bill -- a bill that should hopefully stay reasonably low thanks to unlimited landline and Orange mobile calling via VoIP. Launch handsets will be the Motorola A910, Nokia 6136, and Samsung P200 (a cousin of the Americanized T709), which (pardon our jaded humor) is three more handsets than we have in our hands right now for T-Mobile's stalled UMA launch.[Via Shiny Shiny]
UMA testing getting wrapped up and its all good
For all of you T-Mobile customers who are plagued with inadequate service and are on the fence trying to decide whether or not to cancel, this may be the deciding factor. Word on the street is that the initial rounds of beta testing for T-Mobile's UMA service are a wrap, and the service is running smoothly. One of the beta testers decided to break the chains of his NDA and talk about it (anonymously of course); first off, let's discuss the device used. Our tester's weapon of choice was the Samsung T709. According to this UMA guinea pig, the device isn't very "feature rich." The phone came with most of the standard features one might expect, such as a 1.3 megapixel camera, large color display, stereo headphones, internal antenna, and a decent amount of internal memory, and so on. The phone has a built in MP3 player that sounded great with the stereo speakers or using the included headphones. "The only drawbacks were it was missing Bluetooth, expandable memory, and no USB cable," said he. Now on to the good stuff. This was the first round of testing and it lasted about 6 weeks; it went really well, judging from his and the other beta testers' comments. Apparently using UMA service in one of T-Mo's hotspot routers was flawless and transitioned while on a call with no problems. In the second scenario (UMA over an end-user router), testing was almost useless, as his router was an older model unable to stand up to the challenge. When it works, though, it supposedly works very well. "I think with a newer router that includes Quality of Service (QoS) on it, it will be a killer." Overall, it was reported that voice quality was much better then other VoIP services out there, but unfortunately our tester was unable to provide much detail as far as the launch timelines on UMA. And with a review this good, we're seriously hoping it shouldn't be too far off. [Thanks, Secret Squirrel]
T-Mobile picks up Nokia 6136 for UMA launch
Perhaps sensing our discontent with their decision to launch Samsung's mediocre T709 when their UMA network goes live, T-Mobile has added a second handset in -- you guessed it -- Nokia's 6136. To be fair, it could've been planned as a two-handset launch all along, but allow us to revel for a moment in the thought that maybe, just maybe we had something to do with it, k? So yeah, about that 6136: it's the same one we've already told you about, the one being tested in Nokia's native Finland, 'cept this time it's all wrapped up in purty T-Mobile packaging. Besides adding a microSD slot, we're told battery life is marginally better than the T709's, but the 6136 get a flimsier-feeling shell in trade. A million thanks go out to our tipsters feeding us these details; with a rumored September release date bearing down, we reckon the rest of us shouldn't have much longer to wait.
Marvell intros first combo WiFi / Bluetooth chip for portables
We wouldn't even think of buying a cellphone that didn't incorporate both WiFi and Bluetooth, so you better believe we were excited to learn of semiconductor manufacturer Marvell's new combo 802.11a/b/g - BT chip for portables, which is supposedly the first of its kind. The so-called 88W8688 -- which supports Bluetooth 2.0 and hardware acceleration for UMA, IMS, etc. -- has a footprint of less than 80-square-millimeters, or about half the size of current two-chip combinations. For consumers, this will mean smaller versions of all the gadgets we love, and most importantly for us, those super-functional-but-chunky smartphones that we feel naked without. Although the chip is currently shipping to select Marvell OEM partners, it has yet to announced which specific device categories will see the first implementations; our plea: get these puppies to HTC as quickly as possible!
T-Mobile planning limited UMA rollout for September 12?
GigaOM, citing unnamed sources, is suggesting that T-Mobile's well-documented UMA plans will come to fruition in Seattle and possibly another yet-to-be-named city (Chicago and the Bay Area are mentioned as strong candidates) on September 12 with other markets lighting up shortly thereafter. Given everything we've seen, we don't have a compelling reason to doubt a limited launch on 9/14 is possible -- though if our sources' accounts of battery life, voice quality, and GSM / WiFi handoff buffoonery on the Samsung T709 launch handset are close to accurate, we might have to take a pass on version one.
Nokia launches UMA trial on home turf
While some companies are keeping their UMA trials under wraps -- or at least they're trying to -- Nokia's keeping no secrets in launching a 50-family test in its native Finland. Participants in the town of Oulu will receive Nokia's 6136 UMA clamshell (we're guessing there's no room for whining about form factor or case color here), and thanks to Oulu's "Pan Oulu" project, free WiFi hotspots around town make UMA a particularly compelling sell. The trial is currently scheduled to last at least two months, during which Nokia will be keeping a close eye on handoffs, performance over WiFi, and presumably anything else that's managed to dog UMA thus far. We might be reaching here, but we're kinda hoping at least a couple of those trial families do us all a big favor whine about the 6136's lack of Bluetooth.[Via Gizmag]
Engadget Mobile scoops T-Mobile's UMA beta
Engadget fans make excellent beta testers, and we have a handful of 'em to thank for Engadget Mobile's in-depth coverage of T-Mobile's upcoming UMA service. Yeah, they've got specs. Yeah, they've got pics. What else could ya ask for? Hop on over to Mobile for the full deets.
T-Mobile's UMA goodies exposed
It doesn't take an industry insider to notice that T-Mobile's been putting together plans for a UMA service to bridge their GSM network with public and home hotspots here in the States. We've also guessed that Samsung's T709 would be involved, and though we still don't have anything approaching an official confirmation, these pictures have filled in some blanks for us. Sent in by a handful of intrepid beta testers risking life and limb for the public good, we see here that the T709 looks to be T-Mobile's launch handset as expected, sporting a 1.3-megapixel camera, GSM 850 / 1800 / 1900 with EDGE, roughly 69MB usable flash, and media player. They have at least two routers in the works -- a Linksys and a D-Link -- though the only difference from your average 802.11b/g router appears to be the addition of a button to facilitate painless, secure hookup to your phone without entering a WEP / WPA key. Our respective tipsters report differeing experiences however: one said it works well, improves reception, and has no complaints; another said UMA performance leaves a lot to be desired, and besides draining battery juice at a breakneck pace (8-9 hours standby), voice quality is poor without perfect WiFi reception, and GSM / WiFi handoffs are currently a bit flaky with frequent dropouts. Of course, this is all still in beta and we'll reserve judgement until T-Mobile gives the signal -- which shouldn't be too terribly long, considering the beta materials have retail packaging -- but the T709 sadly lacks Bluetooth and any sort of memory expansion, meaning we're already in a holding pattern for second-generation devices.