Wayne Schulz

Late last week I spotted that prepaid MVNO SIMPLE Mobile (a T-Mobile service carrier ultimately) was offering a $40 unlimited plan. This pricing, while low, is extraordinary for two reasons:

1. It allows you to bring any unlocked GSM phone – including smartphones – to the plan.
2. It offers seemingly unlimited downloads of data at “up to 3G speeds”

According to some early adopters on the Howardforums site – the “up to 3G” might be exactly the catch that you would expect it to be. In other words your download speeds could be from 0 to 3G and still meet the advertised specifications. In other words even if you have a download speed of 0 — or no data — the plan technically meets the advertised speeds.

Howardforum member BCW48 has some speed tests to share on his recent SIMPLE Mobile based phone. And just as you might have expected his testing shows that the “up to 3G speeds” seems to have been put into the advertising for good reason.

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OfficeMax this week (9/4/11 to 9/10/11) has the BlackBerry Curve 8520 on sale for $79. This is $50 off the normal $129. Expect that this model is likely going to be replaced within the next few months as RIM begins to roll out newer versions. Virgin Mobile is a prepaid (no contract) providers of cellular services owned by Sprint and uses their frequencies. What’s attractive about this prepaid carrier is data is included in the lowest monthly price of $35/mo for 300 minutes which includes your unlimited BlackBerry data and unlimited texting.

Use one of the readily available $10 coupons to bring your cost to $69.

Fatwallet

For those living in Sunnyvale California you may want to head to the Palm/HP store and score what Fatwallet members indicate a cut rate no-contract prices on Palm WebOS phones.

Here’s a sample of what’s reportedly on sale:

At the Palm/HP store.
Address: 950 W Maude Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94085

Veer AT&T $55
Palm Pixi (At&T, Sprint, Verizon) $27
Palm Centro $27
Palm Pre Plus (AT&T) $27
Treo $27
Accessories 2 for $5
Touch Pad Chargers $8

All sales are final, no returns or exchanges.

via: Fatwallet

Numerous BlackBerry 9930 users report that the back button on their device suddenly changes from the normal function of moving back one screen to activating the BlackBerry App Switcher. This means that backing out of menus is difficult (the red “end call” still works though not as conveniently). Turns out this appears to be a known RIM OS 7.x bug. Several fixes have been reported and I’ve only found two that work on my device (OS 7.0.0.254).
First many people have said that loading a newer version of the BB OS fixes this issue. This multi-step process takes a little longer (here’s instructions) than the two fixes I’ve seen:

a. Use the ALT key. Pushing the alt key supposedly solves this issue

b. Use the SLEEP button (very top of the BB device) – push this button twice to clear the App Switcher bug.

In my experience both of the above fixes are temporary as the bug will re-appear randomly. Until RIM is able to issue an OS fix for this the workarounds are the easiest way to clear the issue.

I just spotted this dual mode cellular / satellite phone up for sale on Amazon Wireless. With a price (on contract) of $799 the phone is definitely not for everyday use.  Sadly the OS is stuck back on Windows Mobile 6.5 – so it’s not something that you’d probably invest in for everyday around town use.

What’s neat is how much satellite phone size has shrunk. Gone apparently are the days of brick sized phones with 4 inch long thick extending antenna.

Apparently this model offers dual high speed AT&T cellular service as well:

Enabled for use on AT&T’s lightning quick HSPDA 3G network, you’ll be able to easily access the Internet as well as quickly download video, music and more. Additionally, with AT&T’s 3G network, you can make a call while simultaneously receiving picture/text messages and e-mail or viewing Web pages.

The GENUS also connects to TerreStar-1 for satellite communications when not within range of cellular connectivity. It is a geosynchronous satellite covering North America and supports the delivery of advanced all IP-based mobile data and voice services.

The TerreStar GENUS with AT&T’s Satellite Augmented Mobile Service is available for consumers as well as for enterprise, government and small business customers. It’s a great choice for outdoor enthusiasts, recreational boaters, emergency personnel and anyone who needs backup satellite communications capabilities.

Pricing on the service plan seems unusually reasonable too (provided you aren’t using too much data):

AT&T Satellite Augmented Mobile service (“SAM”) provides customers with an integrated cellular and satellite mobile communications solution. Customers with compatible TerreStar GENUS™ devices are able to use their AT&T cellular wireless voice, messaging and data services for primary communications and access a satellite network for voice, messaging and data service when the cellular wireless service is unavailable.

Monthly Recurring Charge:

$24.99 Satellite Network

Pay-Per-Use Charges:

$0.65/min for satellite voice calls
$0.40/message for satellite SMS
$5.00/MB for satellite data usage

TerreStar AT&T Satellite Smartphone