36 replies to this topic

[PaulOBrien]

Well well, i'm rather glad I liveblogged the T-Mobile Press Conference here at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today, it was chock full of great info!

You can get the full deets by reviewing the liveblog transcript here, but here's my favourite bits...

• 10 million Web'n'Walk users, annual subscriber growth over 70%
  
• Partnership with Yahoo! for federated search (oneSearch)
  
  
• MDA range expanding massively for 2008, Ameo 16GB, MDA Compact IV (see below), MDA Vario IV and more!
  
• 80% of devices are WnW ready, HSDPA coming to mass market
  
• Partnering with laptop makers to embed T-Mo HSDPA. HP, Acer, Fujitsu Siemens, Sony, Toshiba + more)
  
  
• Flat rate european data roaming on ANY network in all 27 EU countries. 2 euros per mb, 15 euros day pass and a 'no surprises' daily spending cap. Coming later this year
  
  
• US 3G rollout of 10,000 base stations already and 15,000 by mid year will mean at switch on T-Mo will have the best US 3G network

The press conference literature adds that FOUR NEW MDAs will be released in 2008.

During the press conference, the MDA Compact IV was VERY briefly shown in the presenters hand. Too briefly to grab a camera shot sadly, BUT it was VERY small, VERY shiny and it was revealed that the device will feature GPS in line with it's predecessors, a VGA screen and a 'revolutionary 3D interface'. Sounds like HTC is finally getting into the compact VGA game?

Finally, during the Q&A session I put a question forward, asking for more info about the new MDAs, and also asking whether the Shadow range would be coming to the UK. I was told I could see the new MDAs at the devices stand afterwards (not true), and that the Shadow range is not coming to Europe.

Any questions on the above, feel free to ask

P

[welshmikie]

Paul (MVP), on Feb 12 2008, 12:48, said:

Well well, i'm rather glad I liveblogged the T-Mobile Press Conference here at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today, it was chock full of great info!

You can get the full deets by reviewing the liveblog transcript here, but here's my favourite bits...

• 10 million Web'n'Walk users, annual subscriber growth over 70%
  
• Partnership with Yahoo! for federated search (oneSearch)
  
  
• MDA range expanding massively for 2008, Ameo 16GB, MDA Compact IV (see below), MDA Vario IV and more!
  
• 80% of devices are WnW ready, HSDPA coming to mass market
  
• Partnering with laptop makers to embed T-Mo HSDPA. HP, Acer, Fujitsu Siemens, Sony, Toshiba + more)
  
  
• Flat rate european data roaming on ANY network in all 27 EU countries. 2 euros per mb, 15 euros day pass and a 'no surprises' daily spending cap. Coming later this year
  
  
• US 3G rollout of 10,000 base stations already and 15,000 by mid year will mean at switch on T-Mo will have the best US 3G network

The press conference literature adds that FOUR NEW MDAs will be released in 2008.

During the press conference, the MDA Compact IV was VERY briefly shown in the presenters hand. Too briefly to grab a camera shot sadly, BUT it was VERY small, VERY shiny and it was revealed that the device will feature GPS in line with it's predecessors, a VGA screen and a 'revolutionary 3D interface'. Sounds like HTC is finally getting into the compact VGA game?

Finally, during the Q&A session I put a question forward, asking for more info about the new MDAs, and also asking whether the Shadow range would be coming to the UK. I was told I could see the new MDAs at the devices stand afterwards (not true), and that the Shadow range is not coming to Europe.

Any questions on the above, feel free to ask

P

hi paul that blog ws informative as i work in tmobile in the uk. could you post the picture of the compact 4? or do you know if its gonna be the htc cruise me and my colleagues are itching to know thanks

[PaulOBrien]

There is no picture of the Compact IV, and no, it's not the touch cruise.

P

[demusss]

Paul (MVP), on Feb 12 2008, 13:08, said:

There is no picture of the Compact IV, and no, it's not the touch cruise.

P

Any dates on when T-Mobile UK will be having the Vario IV available?

Thanks
Anthony

[Neil5459]

Paul (MVP), on Feb 12 2008, 13:08, said:

There is no picture of the Compact IV, and no, it's not the touch cruise.

P

So, do you think the HTC small screen VGA rumours are actually correct this time?  The initial specs for the Polaris said VGA for ages until the prototypes showed emphatically that it wasn't

[tsutton]

Looking forward to the new phones and the great roaming plans!

[PaulOBrien]

Well, the big cheese on the stage with the device in his hand specifically picked out VGA as a feature, so sounds promising!

P

[everton2004]

Yes I'm interested to know what dates are involved as I'm at the end of my contract and don't want to tie myself down for 18 months if there's a tasty new device on the way!  

As for the VGA Compact IV - could it be that it's not a HTC device this time?  E-Ten Glofiish anyone?

[PaulOBrien]

I did get to play with the new Ameo 16GB, it's keyboard is marginally better than the old one if at all sadly

P

[Syphon Filter]

W?hich device will be the Vario IV be??

[micaels]

Paul:
Do you think the new keyboard will work on the old athena?

[creamhackered]

Shame they didn't have the new compact and Vario 4 devices there

[Confucious]

Quote

Flat rate european data roaming on ANY network in all 27 EU countries. 2 euros per mb, 15 euros day pass and a 'no surprises' daily spending cap. Coming later this year

Any idea how much the daily cap will be? When's it coming? Looks like my only excuse for needing WiFi has just gone out the window

[deadphill]

While a flat rate no surprises cap is a good idea I would need to do an awful lot of browsing to make €15 worth of internet access abroad worth my while. My need for data when roaming when I am on leisure time is for stuff like google maps and webpages of recommendations etc, nothing more.

Its bound to make my useage over 1mb for €2 but not say more than 10mb.

The idea of these rates however is welcomed, I believe that if they could introduce web n walk across the whole of europe whereby the first 100mb of data abroad is included before you have to pay more is a better idea. Make the idea of web and walk truely global!

[PaulOBrien]

micaels, on Feb 12 2008, 14:50, said:

Paul:
Do you think the new keyboard will work on the old athena?

I see no reason why not...

P

[PaulOBrien]

Confucious, on Feb 12 2008, 15:09, said:

Any idea how much the daily cap will be? When's it coming? Looks like my only excuse for needing WiFi has just gone out the window

Ideally 15 euros IMHO!

P

[PaulOBrien]

deadphill, on Feb 12 2008, 15:19, said:

While a flat rate no surprises cap is a good idea I would need to do an awful lot of browsing to make €15 worth of internet access abroad worth my while. My need for data when roaming when I am on leisure time is for stuff like google maps and webpages of recommendations etc, nothing more.

Its bound to make my useage over 1mb for €2 but not say more than 10mb.

The idea of these rates however is welcomed, I believe that if they could introduce web n walk across the whole of europe whereby the first 100mb of data abroad is included before you have to pay more is a better idea. Make the idea of web and walk truely global!

15 euros a DAY remember

I think the 1 meg 2 euros with a ceiling will work well, of course in an ideal world, our WnW would just be inclusive abroad free

P

[PaulOBrien]

Which I think will happen one day btw...

P

[tsutton]

15 euros is like £11

Still, I think it's better than £3 per MB or whatever for Europe data charge.

Edited by tsutton, 12 February 2008 - 02:36 PM.

[Confucious]

I tend to only go to Europe for a couple of days at a time - and normally end up getting WiFi in the hotel, hopefully I'll be able to claim this back on expenses. Unfortunately my next trip is to the Us so won't be able to use this