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I have three wireless accounts, and I hate getting the bills when they're normal amounts.  Paying several hundred dollars for wireless service month after month gets old.  That being said, I would have had a heart attack if I received a $22,000 bill. That's more than some mid-range cars!

Ted Estarija added his 13-year-old to his wireless account last month, and expected to see increases as a result of prorations.  During the course of the month, his son downloaded about 1.4 million kilobytes of data.  Without a data plan, the account was billed on a per megabyte basis, bringing the total bill to $21,917.  As expected, he took the phone away from his son, and suspended the account.

After the media began reporting on it, Verizon Wireless agreed to refund the data charges.  A company spokeswoman said that the carrier investigates cases with large bills.  What would you do with a $22,000 bill?

Via: MercuryNews

If you've read Noah's impressions, watched his videos, and the like, you'll realize that the HTC HD2 is quite the popular device.  That being said, it's not invincible, so when it tried to pick a fight with the concrete, the concrete had the upper hand.  Turns out that the device's 4.3-inch touchscreen and small bezel played a role in the screen shattering.  Ouch.

The moral of the story - if you get your hands on an HD2, be very very careful.

Via: IntoMobile

Google’s pet project isn’t even out yet, and there’s scant little known about this device — and still, some blogs just can’t help themselves in drawing comparisons already.

iSmashphone took a look at the FCC filing on Google’s Nexus One, and pitted those specs against those of — you guessed it — the iPhone 3GS.

The Apple device is a UMTS/HSDPA (850 / 1900 / 2100 MHz) phone that supports GSM/EDGE (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz) bands. The Nexus One’s FCC filing indicates that Google’s handset is also a quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE device that supports UMTS/HSUPA (850 / 1700 / 1900), as well as HSPA 900 / 1700 / 2100. (For more on the bands, see “The FCC Filing” below.)

While both the iPhone and the NexusOne support 802.11b/g Wifi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, the latter will be sporting a few more major pluses, including a 5MP camera, 3.7-inch AMOLED screen and a microSD card expansion slot. The iPhone 3GS has a 3MP camera, a 3.5-inch display and no expansion slot at all.

Specs aside, the photos that have been surfacing on this device suggest that the Nexus One may be suited up to do battle with the iPhone in the looks department as well: The leaked images show a device that draws on the best of HTC’s aesthetic, as seen in the svelte, sexy and high-quality form factors of the unlocked Hero and the Droid Eris (not to mention it's a dead ringer for the Passion). (To see pics of NexusOne, click here.)


THE FCC FILING

So, something with the model number PB99100, built by HTC and tagged "NEXUSONE," has been zipping through the FCC, and inspired the iSmashphone post referenced above. Originally, there was a lot of buzz about this being an unlocked 3G phone capable of data rates of 2Mbps up and 7.2Mbps down on both Tmo and AT&T’s networks. But now, this is being called into question:

From Engadget:
Update: … So far the FCC has posted a trio of reports this morning for the Nexus One but the outcome is inconclusive based on our own continued research and from the discussion in our comments. According to the bands listed (I, IV, and VIII) we're definitely looking at a T-Mobile USA device as well as applicability on European networks (among others). The whole AT&T range is in doubt as the test lab incorrectly lists 815-880MHz frequencies as part of band VIII…

Update 2: Only WCDMA Band IV was tested in the Part 22H / 24E / 27 Report, leading us to believe that the Nexus One is going to be HSPA 900 / 1700 / 2100 (a pretty common tri-band 3G setup) plus quadband EDGE. Sorry, AT&T, but that's how the cookie crumbles.

Stay tuned for more Google/Nexus One news as details emerge.

 

Via: iSmashphone, Engadget, FCC1, FCC2, FCC3

This morning, I was reminded of the HTC Droid Eris OTA software update when I turned my device on and found a message waiting for me.  Needless to say, I downloaded right away.  The software version is ROM:1.16.605.1/Radio:2.32.40.11.09, and changes are as follows:

• While on a call and the device is in screensaver mode, pressing the end key now takes the device out of screensaver mode, and a second press will end the call.
• On-call mute and speakerphone icon functionality is enhanced.
• Upgraded functionality after activation eliminates the delay users were experiencing in receiving their first call.
• Device now switches effectively from 1x mode to 3G.
• Device no longer requires users to reselect a default email after power-cycling.
• SMS and MMS messaging delivery is improved.
• Eighty-character MMS/SMS message subject lines are now allowed
• Improved picture messaging functionality allows messages from LG phones to be opened.

For more information, the official PDF can be found here.

Via: BGR

 

Happy Monday and welcome to GooglePhoneManiaWeek.

Want photos? Aaron beat me to 'em, so check out his post.

The latest from sources I trust enough to pass along to you. Again, none of this has been verified by Google, HTC, or T-Mobile, but I'm pretty sure this is all going to go down in a manner fairly similar to the following:

 

• Google will sell the phone - the "Nexus One," as it's being called for now - direct via online orders starting January 5, 2010.
• The device will be sold both by Google and T-Mobile.  T-Mobile will offer the phone at a subsidized price for customers willing to sign a two-year contract.
• The phone will be an unlocked GSM device with 3G banding suitable for T-Mobile USA and Global networks. The phone will be EDGE-only on AT&T in the US.
• The phone will sport an AMOLED touchscreen display measuring approximately 3.7"  Best I can tell, those tweets about the device being "smaller than a Hero," were wrong - or possibly referred to the phone's thickness.  A few sources have told me the phone looks and feels, "Like a Droid without the keyboard."
• The phone will feature a scroll ball and touch sensitive controls beneath the display.
• The phone will ship with Android OS 2.1, which adds the following to OS 2.0.1 (as seen on Moto's Verizon Droid):
  • More desktops, which will be navigable via "WebOS-style cards," or thumbnails, on the home screens
  • Enhanced voice-to-text input across much of the OS (possibly available wherever a virtual keyboard can be used)
  • Google Goggles pre-installed
  • New/refined UI elements featuring 3D graphics
  • Animated wallpapers on the home screens

Obviously there's a ton that we're not sure of, and everything I just wrote could turn out to be wildly inaccurate. Rumors, people, rumors. But, again, I've gathered enough similar information from a few trusted sources - and that info lines up with much of what we're all reading on other sites today - that it's worth printing.

To me, the big question isn't about the specs and such, though.  To me, the big question - or questions - is about the business model: Is this truly going to be a device that attempts to change the way Americans, in particular, consume and pay for mobile voice and data, or is this going to turn out to be basically "just another HTC-made Android phone on T-Mobile," that can also be used on AT&T if you're willing to live with EDGE-only data? 

Nexus One with T-Mo 3G selling for $500 unlocked sounds an awful lot like a Nokia N900, in terms of the business model.  Yawn.  Not yawn at either phone, but yawn at high-priced unlocked smartphones because they haven't done much to shake things up in the US. 

Nexus One (with a better name!) selling for $199 unlocked because Google wants to get all crazy and get this thing into as many people's hands as possible? Unlikely to happen, sure, but it'd make for quite a story to kick off 2010.

Oh, for the record, a T-Mobile spokesperson gave me the expected, "We don't comment on rumor or speculation." 

Courtesy of Engadget, the first clear pictures of the Google Phone/Nexus One are hitting the internet.  As John noted in his post over at DroidDog, Android 2.0.1 (found on the Nexus One) features a new "grid" icon, which brings up images of all home screens (reminiscent of webOS' cards feature).  The device includes Google Maps and Google Goggles, and features four touch sensitive buttons at the bottom (back, menu, home, and search).  Engadget reports that there's a manual in the box that points users to google.com/phone/support, but the link is dead at the moment.

Check below for more pictures, and let me know what you think!  Worthy of excitement, or just another Android device coming to market?





Via: Engadget Mobile

Based on an FCC filing, the Palm Pixi is en-route to Verizon, and better yet, it will be packing Wi-Fi.  With the update to webOS 1.3.2, the Pixi seems to be a nice mid-range handset for the occasional data user (though it still lags in several areas).  I see the device as a stepping stone between typical phones and high-end smartphones, which is exactly what Verizon needs.  Pick up those first-time smartphone buyers, and boost data revenue in the process.

The jury is out regarding a release date, but it's nice to see some hard evidence.  I have to agree with the speculation that the Pre and the Pixi might be released on the same day (think DROID and Droid Eris here).  Anyone want to wager a guess?  Sound off in the comments!

Via: BGR

Samsung's Omnia 2 is Verizon's second Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphone, following HTC's Imagio. Omnia 2 is also the successor to the original Omnia, which at the time was notable for its high-powered processor and 5 megapixel camera with high-res video capture. Omnia 2 more or less maintains the original's status quo when it comes to specs, is actually a bit bulkier than the original, and adds Swype, a new system for touchscreen text input that I'm really not so sure about.

 

 

Omnia 2's AMOLED display - a Samsung trademark of late - is large (3.7"), high-res (800 x 480), stunning, and for a resistive touchscreen it works well with finger or stylus. But the device suffers from an overly cluttered user interface. Like the Android-powered Behold 2, Omnia 2 is stuffed full of TouchWiz and The Cube, two Samsung user interface "enhancements" that, for my money, do more harm than good. The concept behind TouchWiz - a drawer full of widgets that users can access/hide from the Home Screen - makes sense, but its execution is clunky and takes up too much space. That said, Samsung is trying to cultivate a developer following for widget creation, which would add a lot of value to the TouchWiz system.

 

 

The Cube, on the other hand, is pretty indefensible. In theory it's a nifty 3D interface that you can spin to access various multimedia apps. In practice it's clunky, minorly frustrating, and takes extra time to do a job that homescreen shortcut icons can do just fine, thanks.

 

 

Swype is interesting. It's a text-entry system that looks like a QWERTY keyboard but relies on continuous finger swipes, and not taps, for word creation. To enter "phone," for instance, you place your fingertip on the "p" button and then trace through the "h," "o," "n," and "e" keys in succession without lifting your finger from the display. Various gestures allow for capitalization, entry of the same letter twice in a row, and other necessary variations. While the system has worked surprisingly well for me in my few days with it, it honestly feels more like a game than a viable improvement on the standard method of tapping on virtual buttons to enter letters and words.Learning Swype's language of gestures could be worth it over the long-haul, but in the short-term there are enough exceptions to the simple swype-to-type rule - particularly if you use "made up words" like shorthand or nicknames - that simple typing has proven more efficient for me thus far.

At any rate, Omnia 2 is a solid enough WinMo 6.5 device, but to me Imagio is a sleeker, slightly easier to use model lurking right next to it in Verizon's smartphone lineup. Omnia 2 does offer DIVX video playback on that big, bright AMOLED screen.

As part of PhoneDog's multi-part series on the Palm Pixi, Noah looks at Pixi's Web browsing capabilities. Pixi's WebOS browser is one of the best in the mobile business, with Flash support supposedly coming soon.