AT&T Mobility announced earlier this month that it has expanded its W-CDMA/HSDPA service to McAllen, Texas (population: just over 125,000). That’s great news for McAllen, but a stark reminder that the nation’s No. 1 carrier has yet to launch its much-hyped “3G” network in the Denver metro area (population: around 2.3 million). The wait continues.
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With all of the hype surrounding Steve Jobs’ iPhone tour of Europe, Motorola probably is a bit jealous it has yet to garner such glowing headlines for its recently launched Razr2, but the American-handset manufacturer has not been getting help from its domestic partners. It appears nearly all of the tier-one carriers are continuing to offer the original Razr for free-and in some instances giving multiple Razr’s away for those consumer signing up for family plans. It probably doesn’t help Moto’s case that the Razr2 appears similar to the original Razr save for the monster screen on the outside. We’re sure Moto does not want to kill off its Razr cash cow just yet, but while the Razr remains on the scene it looks like the multitude of variations will have a hard time prospering in the shadow.
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While no official word was given, reports last week indicated that Apple had managed to wrangle 40% of data revenues from iPhone users in its agreement with U.K.-based O2. It continues to amaze us how Apple is turning the wireless industry on its head with one device. First it managed to show that consumers were willing to buy a high-end, unsubsidized phone, while at the same time seeming to dictate terms of its agreement with AT&T Mobility, including getting a piece of the data revenue pie. All arrangements that well-established handset manufacturers have not been able to score since the industry formed. Amazing.
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So Nokia is working on a new “standard” for removable memory targeting mobile devices? This is exactly what the mobile industry needs, another form factor to contemplate when designing handsets and another design to confuse consumers. As a quick heads up, we here at RCR Wireless News are also working on a removable memory standard. We plan to focus on the “removable” part since we excel at that after show daily deadlines.