Most Americans likely won't ever get a crack at Samsung's latest low-end portrait QWERTY design, despite the fact that Virgin Mobile Canada's managed to snag it as the Link. Notice we said "most," because Alltel -- what little remains of it outside Verizon's clutches -- has picked it up as the "Freeform." The phone makes do with a 220 x 176 landscape display clocking in at 2.2 inches, a 1.3 megapixel camera (curiously forgotten from both the spec sheet and the press release), stereo Bluetooth support to accompany the microSD slot, GPS, and availability in both teal and burgundy -- both bolder choices than the deep gray offered up north. It runs $69.99 on a one-year contract (remember that those guys recently dropped the two-year deal), which is a little more than $20 less than what Virgin Mobile Canada's charging on prepaid.
Alltel customers -- totally legit ones who've been left out of the Verizon integration -- have a few things going for them, not the least of which is a one-year contract policy that applies across the lineup. That means you can get a Tour for the same two bills you'd pay on Sprint or Verizon but with only half the time commitment, but now, it also means you can get an HTC Snap (generic version pictured above) for just $80. Considering it's the same form factor with international roaming capability that the Tour offers, that might be $120 worth saving if you're not married to BlackBerry OS and you're willing to give WinMo a fair shake. That's not so crazy of an idea, is it?
That shot of an Alltel-branded Tour in the wild turned out to be stone-cold legit seeing how the regional carrier (what's left of it following the Verizon acquisition, anyhow) is now offering the phone for $200 -- the same price you'll find on Sprint or Verizon. That's cool and all, but we know the real reason you're reading this is that they've also launched the Samsung Glint, a low-cost flip with a VGA cam, stereo Bluetooth, and availability in both pink and blue. Both devices are available now, though we've yet to see 'em show up on the carrier's site so you might want to make some phone calls before running down to the store.
We've been asked not to reveal the URLs, but we can assure you we've seen this official support screen pictured above with our own two eyes, which means that the HTC Hero is all but confirmed in a juicy CDMA blend for Sprint. How (or if) that'll affect the availability of the US 3G version unlocked or on any carrier is unclear, but given Hesse's huffy language regarding Pre exclusivity, we wouldn't be surprised if they've got this one locked down for a while as well. We've seen a similar support page for an Alltel-branded Snap, so if you're still tied up in one of the carrier's legacy divested markets and you've been pining after the Snap (and Ozone) on Sprint and Verizon, fear not -- your own version is on the way. We'll admit, if you had asked us a few months back what American carrier would get HTC's highest-end Android phone to date, Sprint wouldn't have been our first guess -- but hey, good for them. If you can't win the coverage battle against the Big Red juggernaut, may as well try to win the exclusive hardware battle, right?
We've got to give the divested markets representing the hollow husk of what was once Alltel a lot of credit -- they seem to be doing everything in their power to continue rocking. For proof of that, look no further than this -- pretty solid evidence that there's an Alltel-branded Tour coming down the pike. Assuming they can keep the price within reason, it'd make for a truly epic purchase on these fancy new one-year contracts they've moved to, would it not?
Ready to take advantage of that new one-year contract offer from Alltel? If you are -- and you're lucky enough to live in one of the markets the carrier still serves in the wake of Verizon's acquisition -- you might want to take a good, hard look at the just-announced LG Tritan, a slide-out QWERTY set with decent specs and a killer price. For $79.99 on contract after rebate, you're getting a 3 megapixel cam, touchscreen, EV-DO Rev. A, GPS, a "full" browser (which we're hoping means HTML), and a tricky right-aligned d-pad that may or may not be awesome in practice. Too bad it's only available in 91 market areas, eh?
Here's a refreshing shocker: the industry-standard two-year contract is effectively going away -- at least temporarily. Starting tomorrow, the 91 markets of Alltel that Verizon is required to divest are now offering one-year contracts for all new and renewing customers, but there's no increase in phone pricing -- you'll pay exactly the same amount at the register as if you were signing a two-year deal. The move almost seems like a little "screw you" to whomever ends up acquiring the markets, since those companies will effectively have to deal with the lost revenue -- but on the record, anyhow, the divested trust's main sales guy says that they're "excited about the possibility of joining AT&T." We're not so sure that AT&T feels the same way, but in the meantime, this is a nice little win for customers.
Not that it wasn't without warning, but we've now got some pretty definitive picture proof that HTC 's Touch Pro2 is set to bask in Verizon's CDMA goodness -- we guess your Sprint friends won't be having all the fun, after all. Also caught on camera here is the HTC Cedar, a CDMA version of the HTC Maple / Snap. It's got a slightly different button layout just under the screen than the Sprint version we recently saw, which itself is different from its initial unveiling. According to 474RPR, who leaked these pics, this one's bound for Alltel's network, which while we don't see any proof from the image, we could totally buy that. Of course, none of these pics give a release date of any sort, so hang tight while we all anxiously wait in unison.
We suppose you could think of AT&T and Verizon as football teams and wireless markets as high-priced players, because a few of 'em just got traded like the athletic pieces of meat that they are. It's no secret that Verizon had to offload some markets to satisfy government requirements following its Alltel buy, and AT&T has now agreed in principle to pick up about 1.5 million subscribers' worth of spectrum and equipment in 79 market areas -- mostly rural -- for some $2.35 billion in cash. In the other direction, Verizon will be cutting AT&T a check for $240 million in exchange for about 120,000 subs in five legacy Centennial markets -- contingent, of course, on the successful completion of AT&T's purchase of Centennial. Interesting moves, but it'll be even more interesting to see which move leads its team to the playoffs... er, you know what we mean.
Read - AT&T agrees to acquire divestiture properties from Verizon Read - Verizon acquires certain Centennial Wireless properties from AT&T
It was just a matter of time before Alltel locations in Verizon markets started winding down and integrating with their new corporate parents, and now, that's finally started to happen. PhoneDog noticed that some markets are already shuttering Alltel stores and moving the carrier's goods to a back wall of the closest Verizon outlet, apparently in an effort to "welcome Alltel customers and get them accustomed to the Verizon culture." Out with the blue, in with the red, as they say -- and if we had to guess, it's just a matter of time before those walls disappear altogether. Sorry, Chad.
In order to get the FCC to agree to Verizon's massive acquisition of Alltel -- the US' 5th-largest carrier -- it had to agree to some pretty serious concessions, including divestitures in a whole slew of markets to ensure that the competitive spirit remained intact. The "transaction" (as Verizon calls it) closed on January 9, and the resulting mega-carrier was given until May 9 -- a week from Saturday -- to finish spinning off the required markets. Well, as we all know, companies this large aren't known for their agility, and sure enough, Verizon is asking for just a little more time to dot its i's and cross its t's. A "Request for Extension of Management Period" has been filed with the FCC on behalf of the companies asking for another 60 days, which means the divested markets would be up and running outside of Verizon's control by July 8 of this year. Verizon blames "the sheer size and complexity of the divestitures coupled with the current economic conditions" for the request, but seriously, can't they just throw this all up on eBay for, say, a 5- or 7-day auction and be done with it? No? [Warning: PDF link]
Here we thought that Verizon was going to ace out the US CDMA market by announcing the 8230 first, but alas, it ends up being Alltel -- the divested chunks of it post-acquisition -- that becomes the first American carrier to trumpet the device. Unlike its GSM sibling over on T-Mobile, the 8230 is a 3G handset equipped with EV-DO, but otherwise, it looks pretty much the same with a QVGA primary display, love-it-or-hate-it SureType keypad, and 2 megapixel cam. It'll hit the "new" Alltel's 2.2 million subscribers in 91 markets come early May for a seemingly reasonable $79.99.
We'd already known it was coming, but Alltel has now dropped full details on the VE465 flip from Motorola. The relatively low end handset features a 1.3 megapixel cam, microSD slot supporting up to 4GB of data, stereo Bluetooth, and -- in support of that media capability -- an interesting "call" / "media" mode-switching capability that changes the keypad lighting depending on what you're trying to do (you can kinda think of it as ModeShift "lite"). This sucker's available right now for $50 on contract after an instant rebate.
If you're on a My Circle 10 or 20 plan through Alltel right now, guess what? You aren't anymore. Don't worry, though -- that's a good thing, because the carrier is upping your allowances by five numbers each at no additional charge. In other words, your My Circle 10 is now a My Circle 15, and your My Circle 20 (you big spender, you) is now a My Circle 25. Go crazy, add in your great aunt. You owe her a call anyway.
We all know by now that the Banter is essentially a Rumor 2 clone for Alltel, which immediately makes it a desirable device to a whole battalion of folks looking for a cheap, relatively stylish way to get their text on. Just how cheap are we talking? Try $19.99 on contract after rebate, which by our rough calculations works out to a full $30 less than what Sprint is asking at the moment. Indirectly, you could call this a slap in the face to Sprint by sworn rival Verizon -- but then again, Alltel's launching this, not Big Red proper. How long until those two lovebirds merge their product lines?
Here's a refreshing shocker: the industry-standard two-year contract is effectively going away -- at least temporarily. Starting tomorrow, the 91 markets of Alltel that Verizon is required to divest are now offering one-year contracts for all new and renewing customers, but there's no increase in phone pricing -- you'll pay exactly the same amount at the register as if you were signing a two-year deal. The move almost seems like a little "screw you" to whomever ends up acquiring the markets, since those companies will effectively have to deal with the lost revenue -- but on the record, anyhow, the divested trust's main sales guy says that they're "excited about the possibility of joining AT&T." We're not so sure that AT&T feels the same way, but in the meantime, this is a nice little win for customers.
If you're on a My Circle 10 or 20 plan through Alltel right now, guess what? You aren't anymore. Don't worry, though -- that's a good thing, because the carrier is upping your allowances by five numbers each at no additional charge. In other words, your My Circle 10 is now a My Circle 15, and your My Circle 20 (you big spender, you) is now a My Circle 25. Go crazy, add in your great aunt. You owe her a call anyway.
