The new AT&T V9x

Wanted to get that Motorola V9x from AT&T that we wrote about the other day (check it out here)? Motorola is now taking orders for your copy of this sick (yes it looks that good) phone available for $299.99 without a 2 year contract (Yes, that you will need to do that separately from AT&T-- who hasn't launched it yet themselves-- but that isn't so bad; you can get yourself a nice back up phone for free just by re-signing ;) ) Click the More link for all the details and a recap of the features that make this phone so sick.

A recap of what this phone brings:

• Very Small and Thin Flip Design- This phone is thinner than the original RAZR, and should fit easily into any pocket.
• 2 HUGE Screens- This phone has 2 HUGE screens (2 inch on the outside, 2.2 inch in the inside), and there are major updates to the outside screen here. Those updates include watching AT&T Cellular Video, listen to Music, view text and recent calls (really love the ability to view text, wish my old V9 had it), and much more- all from the outside screen.

Cellular Video on AT&T V9x's External Screen

• Gray Color Design- This looks much nicer than what is on the V9, just need to say that.
• AT&T 3G
• AT&T Video Share and Navigator- For your one way Video Calling (does anyone even use this?) and GPS (this I see people using)
• Crystal Talk- For improving quality during phone calls (yes, cell phones are used as phones by some people)
• 2 Megapixel Camera with Video Recording- If this camera is anything like the one one the V9, then expect some decent pix-- viewable but not real digital camera worthy.
• Mp3 and Video Player
• Micro-SD card slot- Expandable to up to 8 GB (instead of 2 GB as was on the V9)

A worthy update to a already AMAZING phone.

Oh, and the AT&T support site already has this in the system, so coupled with the fact that Motorola is already selling it must mean that the phone is close to an actual AT&T release, probably making it much cheaper than the $299.99 listed here because AT&T will subsidize it with a new 2 year contract.

What you think, you gonna get this phone now, wait for it to become cheaper with a 2 year contract when AT&T finally releases it- which really needs to be soon, or go with another AT&T phone altogether for your next phone? Let us know in the comments.

Pix and info from Motorola.com

AT&T is now letting you activate your IPhone or set-up an AT&T account online. This in return will cut down your time at the Apple/AT&T store and can let everything go smoother. Comments and Concerns are welcome.

-Maverick

I’ve been reading this week about different opinions on Web site design. There is a sea of opinions out there, full of currents pulling in different directions. Some recommend simplicity and clarity as priorities, while others say you’ve got to have all the details to offer a complete experience. Some say you should absolutely use forms to gather information, while others say you should get rid of them, or at least minimize them.

The opinions that make the most sense to me are the ones that emphasize perspective. For example, Indi Young explains in her article, “Look at It Another Way,” the importance of seeing from someone else’s perspective. After all, we are not always our target audience, right? (Think of a twenty-two-year-old designing a site for Miracle-Ear, or a male copywriter waxing eloquent on the benefits of Tampax.) Like looking at an optical illusion, we have to adjust the way we view things to glimpse the way someone will approach and use our site. Aaron Rester, in “Mapping Memory,” writes that when we design a Web site, we are not so much architects as mappers, because our audience already has established ways of doing things. We need to perceive our audience’s habits and perspectives in order to design a site that will fit them like a glove. The alternative is a site that may showcase our company and our way of organizing things but leaves the visitor out in the cold, lost and unappreciated.

What do you think about Web design and what’s most important? Of these three sites, which do you think works best?

Dallas -- AT&T Inc. today announced that its iPhone 3G customers can set up accounts online before heading to the nearest store to activate and complete the purchase, reducing in-store wait times as the busy holiday shopping season approaches.New customers can perform a pre-qualifying credit check and determine eligibility to port an existing phone number to AT&T in advance by visiting http://www.att.com/iphone. Existing AT&T customers can also determine eligibility to add a new line for iPhone.

The new AT&T online service joins Apple's existing offering to give customers the fastest way to get up and running with their new iPhone 3G by starting the setup process online and finishing in the store. For more information, please visit http://www.apple.com/iphone/buy.

iPhone 3G combines all the revolutionary features of iPhone plus 3G networking that is twice as fast(1) on the nation's fastest 3G network, built- in GPS for expanded location-based mobile services and iPhone 2.0 software, which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs thousands of third-party applications that are available through the Apple App Store. ... more

In Myapinion, its a neat gadget that has too many glitches. I personally tried it out, and had a plethora of dropped calls. Screen froze up as well.

Bottom-line, new phones PDA's are coming out daily, and with our economy the way it is, you will see a drop in price on some great gadgets. Lastly Mya also thinks AT&T's quality of service is sub par, and customer service needs an overhaul. However, Apple is such an innovative company that does provide tremendous service in all areas.

For more information check out: www.boygeniusreport.com.

Looking forward to hearing your apinion.

Let's start out with the motive here; I've dated 4 girls in the last 4 weeks. While that may seem like shallowness that I'm bragging about, it's really not. You'd understand if you were me, but since you're not, it's totally cool for you to judge me.  Alas, four great girls in four weeks. None of them have worked out but I'm thinking this most recent one I'm involved with might. (I hope she doesn't read this blog article, haha... would that be awkward?)

Anyways, I also have an iPhone, the means for my demise. It's a really great tool that some people will scorn because it's popular, but hey. It's amazingly useful, I actually DO use it for all of its features, regardless of what people may think. And it's sexy. Girls love it, I promise you. It looks great, works great, has more utility and more awesome points than a regular phone. So don't knock me on that, cause I will emo rage on you.

And thirdly, I have a connectivity-driven personality, a personality that has given me the opportunity to do the unthinkable. I feel a strange need to be connected to information all the time. I use Twitter for news, from CNN and from people. I use Facebook to see what events are coming up that I want to go to, or to manage my exponentially increasing social life. (Remind me to do my Music History homework!) I use news readers and blog bookmarkers and lots of email.

And I'm apparently capable of sending 5000 text messages in one month.

So this perfect storm of means, motive, and opportunity means I've committed a 120 dollar crime. 120 dollars in overage charges on my already expensive AT&T bill. Now, I'm not a fully independent student; I don't have much time for a work schedule between my practice and class schedule as a Music Performance major. I'm hoping to fit some shifts somewhere in next semester with better schedule planning. But this lack of income means I depend on student loans for my bills. And my student loans are managed by my fiscally brilliant mother to whom I give all the glory. She's a genius with money. She went from being a single mom with no kids and not enough money to put food on the table to living in a $150,000 house and driving a brand new truck and is fiscally well off.

That said, my mother would have ripped a whole in the space-time continuum to reach her fist through a hole in the temporal cloth and punched me in the face if she found out I had a 200 dollar AT&T bill. She already throws enough money at me to begin with... I feel awful about it, I really do.

BUT! My amazing powers of customer service manipulation strike again. I call AT&T and I'm on hold for 20 minutes. As soon as they pick up, I let them know just how long i was waiting and why I feel that was excessive. Politely, not rudely. They kindly apologize and I tell them I have a huge problem with my phone bill. There's absolutely no way I sent 167 text messages a day over the course of the last month. (However, as I've already threshed out, I'm very capable and did... Oy.) 20 minutes, some good talk, and light-hearted banter later, I'm back down to the standard 80 dollar bill.

I nearly shat myself, folks.

(a) It is always a hassle to visit at&t website & check my account information. it is a huge problem for me as I used to forget my password (even now i do not remember my password)

(b) I lost my cell phone & gone with the wind was my valuable contact information.

(c) Remembering the bill date is not my cup of tea. I set up reminders in I-cal, on my mobile, i also have a post-it on my desktop.

So, I wanted a genie to help me organize my life. But as I am not Alladin I had to think of something else. So here it is... A widget for my desktop. I am sure all of you will realize how handy this could be.

Concept:

A desktop widget by at&t (can be developed by any network provider) that enables you to sync your cellphone account from the at&t website to this widget. This widget effortlessly keeps you updated about your minute / data usage. My widget will come equipped with "Live Chat", "Phone book" & "Payment Reminder".

(a) Live Chat: at&t make their customer service right at your desktop!

(b) Phone book: Allows you to sync your contact list directly into this widget!

(c) Payment reminder: Option to set payment reminders

Benefits to the customers:

(a) Live Chat: Hassle free clarification of my doubts.

(b) Phone book: Safeguards valuable information from loss or damage.

(c) Payment reminder: keeps your mind (& may be credit history) fit & fine.

My widget:

[caption id="attachment_304" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="sign in to your account"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_305" align="aligncenter" width="202" caption="check your minutes / data usage"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_306" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="click on the at&t logo & explore the widget!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_307" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="click on 'customer service' for a for a "Live Chat" with at&t representatives. "][/caption] [caption id="attachment_308" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="click on 'my phone book' to explore your contact list from your cell phone. (connect your phone to sync)."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_311" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="designed & conceptualized by Anish Shah (thats me)"][/caption]

I believe this widget is a novel idea & creates a win-win situation for both subscribers & the company (in this case at&t).  For people who share my problems will love this widget, people who don't will still appreciate this. There are thousands widgets developed everyday, but widgets that really adds value & help me make my life more organized stay on my desktop.

This widget can be used by any network provider & expect to gain positive reviews on their commitment towards making lives of their subscribers simple. This small widget also increase the brand exposure as the widget remains on their subscriber's desktop. To satisfy a marketer to invest in this widget, let me share that this widget can also be used as a potential platform to source out 'promotional messages' directly on the widget (but, pleaseee without intruding our privacy. Otherwise you will destroy the whole purpose of this widget).

Disclaimer: Over the years my innovative nature has come up with hundreds of ideas, but this is the first time I have actually spend some time & executed this. It would be great if you can leave your valuable comment on this post.

]]> http://mightyredpen.wordpress.com/?p=1338 Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:27:58 +0000 mighty red pen http://mightyredpen.de.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/its-in-the-fine-print/ Hat tip to Gopher, who wrote to share this little tidbit from AT&T:

She pointed out the apparent disconnect between what they say:

And what they mean:

She writes, "Not even 'some restrictions.' It's significant restrictions. And yet: Sky's the limit. Like parents who tell their kid, you can be anything you want to be when you grow up, as long as what you want to be is a doctor."

I'm thinking with freedom like that, who needs restrictions?

Earlier this year a roomie and I got prepaid cell phones from AT&T. The phones were low end, but decent, and with the amount of minutes we put on we basically got the phones for free. But the service isn't as good as advertised, and their customer service just ticked me so badly off over a charge I got hit with that I'm looking to switch prepaid cellphone providers.

First of all there's the coverage. We've all seen the ads that say "more bars in more areas." Of course that's unless you happen to be on the subway in Boston. It's bad enough that going underground is all but guaranteed to drop your call, just going under a bridge has been known to prompt the ever popular "did I lose you?" (Yes, I did.) To add insult to injury, I often have to spend some time in a building made of cinder block and iron (I know, ugh!) located near a major recreation area and a hospital, and if I get two bars in a back area I'm lucky.

Using a prepaid phone can be an exercise in money management. Not only do you pay for calls to people not on the same network (to be expected), including toll-free numbers, you pay a buck a day just for using your phone to check you balance or talking with someone on the same network. Text messaging? Not recommended, because it's like $.15 a message. Want to use the mobile web? There's a charge per megabyte for that (I've paid at least half a dollar just to get to my home page), and getting custom ringtones or wallpapers hit you twice, the charge from the service and the cost to download it. Needless to say I quickly called AT&T and disabled all marketing text messages once I got my phone, because they can also cost you.

Except yesterday I created a new custom wallpaper to celebrate the Dodgers winning the NL West, and I waited an extra week to be able to afford all of the cost for it. Today I got a marketing text message from MediaNet, the (evidently) partner company that handles the AT&T MEdia Mall website that sells wallpapers, ringtones, and other goodies for AT&T's mobile phones. Before I even saw the message I got a charge of $.15, and when I turned around and sent the second STOP IT! message to try to stop marketing text messages I got hit with yet another $.15 charge. Needless to say I wasn't a happy customer.

I grabbed the phone and called 611, the customer service number, hoping that I'd simply get the $.30 reimbursed. What I didn't know is that I was destined to talk to a CSR (customer service rep) whose attitude was more along the lines of "sucks to be you." He looked at my file (after getting my cell phone number from me, which you'd think would have popped up on his screen since I was calling from the cell phone) and informed me that MediaNet is in fact not part of AT&T (huh?) and when I created that new wallpaper yesterday must have reset the flags and put me in line for getting marketing text messages again. It turns out that I could have avoided the charge by deleting the message rather than opening it, according to the person I spoke with, but that's water under the proverbial bridge at this point.

By the time I got off the phone with him I had blocked all text messages (so much for getting Dodger game updates while I'm in transit and can't watch the game) as well as messages from their MediaMall, but that also included marketing text messages so I can live with that. Unfortunately this knucklehead (whose name I unfortunately didn't make a note of) was so rude that just dealing with him to try to resolve the fact that I thought I had already told AT&T that I was opting out of all marketing text messages left me so ticked off that the last thing I told him was that I would let my friends know that if you want a prepaid cellphone only go with AT&T if you absolutely don't want to deal with text messages. Otherwise go with another provider.

At that point I hung up on the asshole and started writing this post to provide a warning of AT&T's nickle and dimeing prepaid users to death and their inability to honor a customer's stated preference not to get marketing text messages. To say I was pissed is an understatement. As I was typing I got a call from a number I didn't recognize, and having gotten calls before from people looking for the person who had the number before me I simply ignored the call and kept on typing. But the phone rang again and it looked to be from the same number so I picked it up ready to answer with, "Who the hell are you and why the hell are you wasting my fraking prepaid minutes?!?" (I did say I was beyond pissed.) But it was Robert Eldred, a manager with AT&T's prepaid service who heard my conversation with the asshat. It turns out that it the guy was so rude to me that the manager was pissed off, and Robert was told that I didn't hang up on the asshat, he hung up on me. (Ok, we hung up on each other. Either way a bad move on the guy's part.) There's just one thing. AT&T prepaid CSR's do not do that under any circumstances. It sound like the guy I talked to got an earful at the very least, and Robert was calling to try to do the one thing I tried to do when I worked Customer Service for Braun: Try to make things up with a very pissed off customer and see if he could get my forgiveness. The fact that he called a second time immediately after I ignored the call was a good thing in my book. You see, when I was working in retail I had a manager who made sure I knew one thing if I knew nothing else: "The customer is always right." Even when he's wrong, the customer's right. Many firms forget about that, but pissed off customers can too often tell others. Some of us have blogs that get some decent traffic, even if blogging about a really crappy customer service experience is off topic. They figure if one customer goes elsewhere so what? They've got other customers and their customers don't care that the product quality has gotten worse or their customer service has started sucking. Besides, they can always get new customers. (A certain coffee shop in the Forrest Hills T station comes to my mind.)

But Robert doesn't subscribe to the 21st century commercial mindset of "frak people who don't want to shop with us" and one of the first things out of his mouth was that he wanted to make things right. Beyond calling the asshat on the carpet, he wanted to roll back the charges I got for he text messages, the dollar for using the phone today, and any charges incurred in talking with him. In short, I wasn't going to have to pay for the idiot that I spoke to. He also offered me something else (which I'd rather not specify) at a cost I might not want to pass up.

I'll be honest, I didn't need a bribe. The fact that this manager put so much effort into apologizing for the horrendous customer experience I had meant a lot to me, and if he had only said "I chewed him out and I'm rolling back the charges from your having to deal with this" I would have been okay. When I worked for Braun I had some leeway with bribing customers with problems but I tried to keep the freebies to a minimum, letting my managers sweeten the pot if they felt it necessary. (That way you don't have to worry about so many callers being pissed just to get a freebie.) What I was offered was extra, and while I didn't turn it down I wasn't going to ask for something free as an apology. (Finding out today was the asshat's day would have been priceless, too.)

I'll say this about Robert Eldred, Prepaid manager for AT&T, he truly went above and beyond what I would have expected from any company in 2008. He stated that he heard my call, told me how out of line the asshat was, and how I was treated was in complete violation of AT&T's call center policies. Forgetting for a moment that he offered me a sweetener to make up for what happened with the guy, I could tell he wasn't just playing the role of the guy one level up on the totem pole who wanted to try to get me to not be a pissed off customer any longer. He was genuinely offended that his employee talked to me like that and if he did nothing else this afternoon he wanted to make sure I understood that AT&T doesn't endorse how the guy treated me and wanted to make sure I was good with AT&T. Even if I hadn't been bribed, the fact that I could tell that Bob was ticked at how I was treated and he needed, not just wanted, to apologize went a long way in my book. He also called back to let me know that what he offered me was now in place, fulfilling his end of a very one-sided bargain.

We're good, Bob Eldred and AT&T. Now if only more companies knew the importance of not just making customers happy, but also the importance of not pissing off customers like this in the first place. Things like what Bob did are what keeps customers happy, and when we're happy we like spending money with companies like that. Too bad he couldn't do anything about my losing calls while on the Orange Line, but I know there are limits to what he is able to fix.

Bobby started training with us a week ago and decided this is where he needed to be to take the next step in his burgeoning MMA career. Bobby comes to us with a great background in amateur wrestling where he was a mulitple NAIA National Wrestling Champion. Of course, most people know of him because of his time spent with the pro wrestling organization WWE and ECW.

Bobby is serious about the sport of MMA and will dedicate himself to being the best he possibly can.
We look forward to working with Bobby to bring out his full potential. 

Welcome to the team!!
American Top Team

Using the Internet's History to Develop Clean Energy's Future
Innovators who aim to create a world of cheap, clean energy should heed some basic lessons

By Robert M. Metcalfe

Suddenly the world is racing to find ways to create cheap, clean energy. A study of the Internet’s long development since 1946, arguably when modern computing began, offers valuable lessons that can help keep energy innovations on course for a comparable 62 years:

Hardening of the Categories. In the early days of the Internet there were computers, monopolized by IBM, and there was communications, monopolized by AT&T. The U.S. Department of Justice regulated IBM, and the Federal Communications Commission regulated AT&T. Officials in Washington, D.C., actually had years of hearings to decide which agency was in charge of which: computers versus communications. That turned out to be a silly hardening of the categories; the Internet soon became a merger of computing and communications, not one or the other.

AND OF COURSE MY PHONE NOW!!!!!

You can read the full story here.

Founded by AT&T, Viacom, NBC Universal, Cisco, Microsoft, and the Songwriter's Guild of America, Arts+Labs represents a coalition of technology and entertainment companies that regard the Internet as a wellspring of digital products, services, and entertainment where the public can make safe consumer choices. Furthermore, Arts+Labs hopes to "raise awareness of the growing problem of new pollution, which includes viruses, malware, hack attacks, spam, illegal file trafficking and other activity that threatens to degrade consumers' Internet experience." Mark McCurry, co-chair of Arts+Labs and former White House press secretary to President Bill Clinton, hopes that by providing artists and innovators a safe haven in which to share their creative talents through online distribution channels, not only will the consuming public benefit, but the legal rights of those innovators will also be wholly respected. When introducing Arts+Labs to the public in late September of this year, co-chair Rick Carnes, resident of the Songwriters' Guild of America, stated: "The Internet provides access to the largest possible audience, which is a real opportunity for songwriters. Arts+Labs supports an Internet environment that recognizes the vital role creators play, while offering consumers a digital concert hall of safe, legal and affordable music."

Prominent New York attorney Chuck Sims, of the law firm Proskauer Rose, serves on the advisory board of Arts+Labs. Sims' expertise in such practice areas as Copyright, Defamation, First Amendment, Intellectual Property and Entertainment, Media and Information & Technology, serves to inform the consuming public how, where and when they can safely and legally access and enjoy inexpensive, innovative entertainment available on the Internet.

One strong motivating force behind Arts+Labs is the desire to curb the ever-increasing illegal piracy of digital music currently available online. Although the Internet serves creators in allowing them to share their work widely, that same technology allows others to copy music, video, and games and share or sell them without the creators' permission. If creators do not have faith that the Internet will retain the integrity of their intellectual property rights, the greater public suffers through a reduced understanding and appreciation of the arts.

Arts+Labs' plan to address the widespread problem of online piracy is somewhat unclear; however, the organization hopes that by educating consumers on where and how to download legally, it will help prevent the current trend of using illegal services, such as peer-to-peer networks. The founders of Arts+Labs hope that simple educational efforts designed to increase consumer awareness will have a large impact on the frequency of illegal downloads.

Because Arts+Labs is fairly new, it is not yet clear whether the organization will succeed, but it is clearly making concerted promotional efforts. Beginning in late September, the organization embarked upon a three-city tour in an effort to promote Arts+Labs and educate the greater arts community regarding its legal benefits.

Already, Arts+Labs has been criticized as an attempt to prohibit open access to the Internet. Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn characterized the effort as the "latest in a string of big-money front groups" and criticized the organization for being "nothing more than the most concentrated attack on the free and open Internet we have seen to date. Combining the power and influence of AT&T and the entertainment industry means only that both are going to wage an all-out war for the right to filter every bit of data anyone sends across the Internet." Sohn is only one of several commentators in the industry who have criticized Arts+Labs as being all talk and no game. Particularly, critics have focused on the organization's lack of detailed legal analysis regarding how they plan to accomplish their number one goal--prevention of online piracy.

Although the mission behind Arts+Labs is laudable in theory, this reader has yet to stumble upon any solid plan of action as to how the organization hopes to combat online piracy legally, other than by increasing educational awareness among consumers. Education is certainly valuable, but with the availability and accessibility of peer-to-peer networks currently on the Internet, it might not do the trick. Many are anxiously waiting to see if any litigation develops with the introduction of this new "heavyweight" advocacy group. Thus, the real question seems to be whether or not consumers will take advantage of the tools Arts+Labs provides for the safe and legal downloading of Internet technology and entertainment. Only time will tell, so keep watching.

To read more on Arts+Labs, visit this site.

--Jaclyn Thomson

Image Source

The survey of 769 high school students found that 8 percent already own the device, with another 22 percent expecting to purchase the phone within the next six months.

Such data has to be music to AT&T's ears, considering the carrier is the exclusive partner for Apple here in the US. Piper Jaffray did not ask which carriers the teens were using, so it's a little difficult to judge how this would affect AT&T's subscriber numbers, although I'd guess they would get a modest bump in the least.

But like everything else we've talked about lately, teen's wants and desires may not necessarily match up with what their parents can afford. With the economy the way it is, its also quite possible many of those who want the device may not have the means to obtain it, at least in the short term.

In addition to the data on iPhones, Piper Jaffray also found that 84 percent of teens owned an iPod, up 2 percent from last year. And of the four in ten who download music leagally, 93 percent were using iTunes, up significantly from the last survey.

This contemporary update to traditional flip-phone constructs operates at blazing 3G speeds and features AT&T's breakthrough Video Share calling. Video Share calling is possible on AT&T's 3G network, which is the nation's fastest and is available in 320 major metropolitan areas across the United States and will be in nearly 350 by the end of 2008. Outside the U.S., AT&T customers can use the Pantech C610 on the largest international wireless footprint of any U.S. carrier. Customers can access e-mail and other data applications and browse the Web in more than 150 countries, and they can make or receive phone calls in more than 200 countries.

Using cool as the focal point, the C610 incorporates a variety of multimedia features including:

* AGPS

* Bluetooth

* MicroSD

* Downloadable ringtones and music with Napster and eMusic

* 1.3 MP camera with flash

* AT&T Video Share calling and exchange capabilities

* MobiRadio, AT&T’s streaming music service, Music capabilities compatible with MP3 AAC, WMA, and MPEG4

To compliment its sophisticated exterior, Pantech’s C610 incorporates a host of rich, multimedia features and applications that include AGPS technology, giving users precise location information on demand and play-by-play navigation with AT&T Navigator, a 1.3 MP camera with built-in flash that allows customers the ability to record, send and receive video messages, and music-playing functionality across all types of digital formats. Music lovers will also appreciate the handset’s ability to support microSD cards, capable of storing and transporting up to 2,000 songs.

Dynamic AT&T Mobile Music and CV services let customers manage a variety of multimedia libraries, download and play stereo-quality music, watch popular TV show clips and view exclusive content from HBO, MTV, and ESPN, among others. Users can experience AT&T’s streaming music service MobiRadio, identify songs with MusicID and shop for ringtones and music with Napster and eMusic.

“Pantech remains determined to developing unique approaches to everyday products,” said Patrick Beattie, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Pantech Wireless, Inc. “The C610 combines a sleek, fashionable design with desirable features like AGPS and an assortment of multi-media capabilities to bring users a product that is attractive and functional in equal parts.”

The Pantech C610 is available today at www.wireless.att.com.

...more

I also break the news that Verizon Wireless has jumped on the latest wireless trend: It is setting up an online bazaar where customers will be able to download a range of games, tools, and other applications for use on the Storm. On Oct. 9, the company will release a toolkit designed to help software developers build applications for the application store, dubbed the App Zone.

Hi everyone, I just wanted to say thank you for all your support!  It's been wonderful having you all around to  read my wonderful typos and grammatically incorrect sentences!

I have visitors from as far north as Alaska (Governor Sarah Palin, is that you?), to Hawaii, Australia, the Philippines, and all over the UK!  We have reached a great world wide audience!

So enlight of your dedication to my site, some changes will ensue in the next coming week or so.  So please pardon my dust as I give my site a little revamp and give it a more homey feel!  Thanks from all of us here at tokoMobile!  Without you we'd broadcast the news to no one!

The latest thirty-second spot has Kurtis challenging Olympic swimmer and mutltiple gold medal winner Michael Phelps to a race, not in the pool but on the Internet. Kurtis uses the 3G Connect Card poolside to access information with ease while Phelps, without the aid of 3G, snails along. As the commercial closes Kurtis has Phelps' swim cap on and most recent eight gold medals around his neck. Phelps gives him a puzzled look. Fade to black.

That's all it takes, and the message hits home with credibility, relevance, and timeliness considering it's just a month after closing ceremonies in Beijing and Phelp's Olympic afterglow is still warm.

As spokesperson value goes, Kurtis and Phelps provide genuine credibility. Kurtis is an accomplished newsman stretching back to his formative years in the late 60's. His documentary work in recent years is cementing his legend - the formal narration voice, that serious look in his eye, in-depth journalism without the aid of many fabricated extras, and even his lighthearted demeanor in the AT&T spots all serve him well.

For his part, Phelps is a real American sports hero, even if his sport is boring. It's worth appreciating all the dedication and effort that helped him accomplish his records (and his famous eat-sleep-swim regimen is impressive too). While he doesn't have the allure that an NBA star may bring to a commercial, he's also not an overpaid baby with tattoos all over his body who whines on and off the court. Similarly, if I have to choose between Phelps or a millionaire second-string NFL quarterback for my commercial, I'm taking Phelps.

The use of truly respected spokespeople - perhaps with lesser amounts of fame and fortune -to deliver corporate messages to the masses makes a lot of sense to me. It conveys more sincerity and has a better likelihood of attaching the spokesperson's inherent qualities to a product, and getting that product the consumer mindshare it needs to compete.

From the note:

However, we are increasingly concerned by the possibility of AT&T missing its annual projection of 1M subs, and believe that unit expectations will need to be reduced further in light of the macroeconomic environment. We believe it is more likely that AT&T will reach 30K subs per week by year-end, rather than 40K.

So far AT&T has signed up 549,000 U-verse subscribers, and we'll get the latest update on Oct. 22 when it reports its earnings. I wouldn't be surprised if subscriptions did slow, given how quickly DSL subscriptions and even land lines have fallen. It's a lot harder to convince a customer to switch over to a service when you no longer have a toehold in their home.

Remember that time when you wanted to run to the AT&T store to pick out a phone to upgrade to?  The more you thought about it the more you felt lazy and just didn't want to change out of your PJ's to go?  Well worry no more, you can now go to the AT&T store online!  You can browse through their phone selection with your PJ's on.  Feel free to give it a visit here, go on try it.

In 2006, Palm CEO, Ed Colligan, had this to say about persistent rumors that Apple would be entering the smart-phone market.

"We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone,'' he said. "PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in.''

Seeking Alpha reports findings that Apple has already reached its goal of 10 million iPhone sales. It's been 15 months since the iPhone was introduced with critical acclaim, robust sales, and line camping. Along the way, it's been named Time magazine's invention of the year. Upon its introduction, the iPhone was the top-selling phone in the U.S. and topped all other smart-phones. Initial iPhone buyers were ten times more likely than other new phone buyers to have switched from a Treo and three times more likely to have switched from a Sidekick. Adding to this success, the NPD Group reports that 30 percent of U.S. consumers who purchased Apple's new iPhone 3G, from June through August 2008, switched carriers to AT&T in order to use the iPhone.

»iPhone Imitators

Apple, I give you an A+. Because like so many Apple products, the success of the iPhone is a credit to Apple's design process, solid brand and business strategy, and continuing determination to think differently.

Engadget has posted this picture up of a new silkscreen Pink Blackberry Pearl!  Now that's a pretty pink pearl (try saying that 3 times fast!)  This is for all those lady readers out there!  If you have AT&T, look forward to this pretty little thang.

Source