Camera Phones Plaza

Finally, a modern Symbian smartphone came to a US carrier. As it was expected, the Nokia N75 is now available with AT&T Cingular with the strange but forgivable fact that the phone has the old Cingular branding over it, making it probably the last phone to be launched with this logo.

Nokia N75 is quad-band GSM with dual-band UMTS data for America. Running on Symbian 9.1, it is a smartphone but we would have preferred it was running on the newer version 9.2, as the N95 which was announced at the same time. Highlights of this power-packed smartphone include a 262k color QVGA (240x320 pixel) display, Bluetooth 2.0, stereo speakers, and dedicated music controls on the outside of the flip. The N75 runs Symbian OS v9.1 and Nokia's own S60 3rd Edition user interface.

The phone will be available at $199 after rebate and with a 2 year contract.

Via mobileguerilla.

According to a market research made recently by IDC, Verizon is again the market leader with a total of 56.8 million subscribers, compared to Cingular's 56.3 million.

"Verizon became the new market leader in terms of total direct retail subscribers/customers, with a total of 56.8 million, against 56.3 million for Cingular," said IDC's Julien Blin in a statement.

The market research firm said there were 236 million U.S. wireless subscribers at the end of 2006. Their data revenue totaled $4.8 billion in the fourth quarter and that figure represented 13.5% of the ARPU, or $6.74 a month. Also, Sprint earns more wireless data revenue per subscriber than any other carrier, with $8.32, regaining its lead over Verizon, which only has $7.91.



Via mobileburn.

Around 155,000 customers former Cingular customers will receive an average payout of US$160, covering the early termination fees plus interest, with a US$12.1 million dollar fine placed on Cingular making up the rest of the pay out. The settlement between Cingular and the California Public Utilities Commission covers subscribers between 2000 and 2002, a period that saw Cingular's customer base grow rapidly causing an adverse effect on the quality of the network.

Officials from Cingular stated that former customers can expect to receive refunds within the next 60 days.
Via Whittier Daily News.

The BlackBerry Pearl and Palm Treo 680 smart device officially are red hot as AT&T today introduced an eye-catching, dark ruby-colored version of the BlackBerry Pearl and a striking crimson iteration of the Treo 680. The red BlackBerry Pearl is the first wireless handset to be branded for the new AT&T.

Like their siblings, the red BlackBerry Pearl and crimson Treo 680 have quad-band capabilities. Both the Palm Treo 680 smart device and BlackBerry Pearl are available for as low as $199.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates.

Via phonearena.

The Apple iPhone will be available for US$499 or US$599 for the 4GB and 8GB models respectively with a two-year service agreement from Cingular/AT&T. Apple states that the iPhone will be available in the US from June this year through its exclusive agreement with Cingular/AT&T, in Europe during Q4 this year, and in Asia from 2008.

Through Apple's collaboration with Cingular Wireless, the company has been able to include some interesting carrier services, such as random access voice mail. Random access voicemail is a first that allows you to see a list of all your voicemail messages, showing the caller and the time and date of the call, so that you can jump right to the voicemail you need rather than have to listen to each and every one in turn.

Via engadget.