Noah sent over his first live shots of the LG Dare while high up in the mountains of Glacier National Park in Montana. He provided us with a quick (and we mean quick) mobile video review of the LG Dare.
iPhone 3G will be available for $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model. These prices require two-year contracts and are available to the following customers:
Existing AT&T customers who are not currently eligible for an upgrade discount can purchase iPhone 3G for $399 for the 8GB model or $499 for the 16GB model. Both options require a new two-year service agreement. In the future, AT&T will offer a no-contract-required option for $599 (8GB) or $699 (16GB).
Current customers can also wait until they become eligible for the upgrade discount. Current AT&T customers who are upgrading to iPhone 3G will pay an $18 upgrade fee and new AT&T customers will pay the standard $36 activation fee.
Voice, Data and Text Messaging Plans
iPhone 3G goes on sale at AT&T retail stores at 8 a.m. local time on Friday, July 11.
What’s Good: Supports every feature Sprint offers; EV-DO Rev. A data speeds; Good touchscreen response; Bright, clear display; Excellent GPS/navigation and voice command features; Good visual voicemail feature; 3.5mm headphone jack and stereo Bluetooth; Second battery included in packaging; Excellent value at $129 retail price
What’s Not Good: “Full HTML” Web browser is disappointing; No IM support; No calendar synching; No support for user-created ringtones or background images on menu screens; No phone as modem support on mandatory Simply Everything plan
Bottom Line: Sprint’s new flagship media phone is a very good device, even if I wish they’d skipped the whole “Instinct vs iPhone” marketing campaign. The Web browser needs work and mobile IM addicts will be left in the cold by Instinct, but otherwise Instinct offers solid support across a huge variety of features and excellent implementation of GPS-based navigation and voice activated commands in particular. Though plans start at a hefty $70/mo, if you use the unlimited data, navigation, and Sprint TV it’s actually a good value. And you can’t beat the $129 price tag.
Specs:
Make/Model: Samsung Instinct (M800)
Network: CDMA 850 / 1900
Data: 1x EV-DO Rev. A (3G)
Carrier: Sprint
Size: 116 x 55 x 12.4 mm
Weight: 128 g
Form Factor: Candybar with Full Touchscreen
Display: 3.2″ Color LCD, 240 x 432 resolution, 262,000 Colors
Memory: 32 MB built-in, microSD card slot, 2GB memory card included
Notable Features: GPS with navigation; Support for Sprint Music Store, Sprint TV, Streaming music services; Voice control system; First Sprint EV-DO Rev. A device for consumers
Sprint hasn’t released it yet, but an official Sprint update of the HTC Touch firmware has been leaked to the Web. The update brings the glory that is Windows Mobile 6.1 to all you Touch users. You can go get it over at the XDA Developers Forum.
I no longer have a Sprint Touch and so can’t personally vouch for this file, but from the comments on the XDA Developers forum and over at Engadget Mobile, it looks like this is the real deal and “is a breeze to install.” Proceed at your own risk, kids.
The regional carrier that could, Alltel, announced a partnership with hotspot provider Boingo to add some WiFi to their customers’ 3G data diet. $69.98 each month will now get you unlimited handset data via EV-DO along with unlimited access to Boingo Hotspots around the globe.
Alltel’s calling the plan the Internet Anywhere Bundle, and it rings up at $10/mo. more than their 3G only Internet plan. I guess it’s a decent buy if you use 3G on your handset a lot, but also rely on the faster speeds of WiFi for moving larger chunks of data around with your laptop.
We’ll have to see how this all shakes after that Verizon purchase of Alltel goes through.