Telstra is increasing data allowances for the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, HTC Desire and Nokia N97 starting midnight tonight until November 1. How much more? Between two and six times more depending on the plan. Mmm… tempting.
Don’t adjust your eyes – you read that headline correctly. Telstra is first off the blocks this year, announcing pricing for the iPhone 4 a whole four days before the phone goes on sale.
Although they’re keeping quiet on pricing information, HTC has just announced that their app-sharing Wildfire Android handset will be launching on Telstra next month.
HSPA, the clock is ticking. Telstra is set to launch Long Term Evolution (LTE) network trials in May as part of an assessment of its potential as a ‘next generation evolution’ of the Next G network. Don’t expect to buy it soon, just enjoy the idea packets of LTE data will be whizzing by within the next two months.
Telstra’s launched a new home internet gateway that delivers high-speed broadband over the Next G wireless network, which means no cables and no fixed lines. But how much are you willing to pay for Australia’s fastest, wireless, broadband connection?
As picked up by David Flynn at APC, Telstra CEO David Thodey has responded to a comment on the Telstra Exchange blog to announce that the company is “working with Apple to enable tethering on the iPhone”, although he can’t reveal any specific dates. It’s kind of mind blowing that it hasn’t happened already, although I’m sure it’s what happens when you get two companies so focussed on doing things their own way that neither is willing to make the sacrifice necessary to bring this service to their customers.
[Telstra Exchange via APC Mag]
The gadget: The i-Mate Ultimate 8502, the company’s new entry-level workhorse touchscreen and keyboard smartphone which is making its local debut on Telstra’s Next G network.The price: $999The verdict: It’s a nice enough phone and the network is speedy, but the BlackBerry gang don’t need to get too worried just yet.
i-mate first showed off its Ultimate 8502 and 9502 models at 3GSM in Barcelona last month, but Telstra is claiming the first actual rollout of the device anywhere in the word. Both the candybar 8502 model ($999) and the slide-out keyboard 9502 (effectively the JASJAM’s successor at $1,099) will go on sale for use on the ludicrously speedy Next G network on March 25. A post-paid model will follow on April 8 ($100 a month over 24 months).
It’s been almost two weeks worth of playing with the Samsung Widescreen phone and its super-duper support for the NextG Mobile Foxtel service. So what’s the story? Is it worth changing services / plans / phones for?
In the most basic sense, this isn’t a true enough mobile edition of Foxtel for my liking. It’s still made up largely of looped content rather than streamed live channels. I’m not as down on the concept as I have been in the past, as it does adjust shows to deliver entertaining 5 minute bursts of content you can dive in and enjoy. Likewise the 15 minutes at a time ‘rule’ seems more like a battery-life failsafe – when you’ve been watching a while you do get bumped, but it pops up a ‘resume viewing?’ query so you can jump back in. Of course, if that happens right in the middle of watching something it’s certainly a nuisance.
