It was reported yesterday that the pricing the new Motorola CLIQ XT on T-Mobile would be quite cheap, but at todays launch that just hasnt happened.
Available on Even More plans for $129.99 and Even More Plus for $329.99, the CLIQ XT is still attractively priced considering some the rather positive early reviews it received. Of course, there are naturally going to be some stragglers who hold out on the CLIQ XT until Motorola delivers the Android 2.1 update it promised for all MOTOBLUR handsets back in January (the CLIQ XT ships with Android 1.5), but that can’t be too far away now…
It has been reported over at MocoNews that Yahoo! has been dropped by T-Mobile in favour of Google. The default search engine on the Motorola Backflip will be Google.
Yahoo will continue to provide some content services like mail, messenger, and news on certain phones, but the company confirmed to MocoNews that they are no longer providing search results to T-Mobile USA phones.
Google already had a deal in place to provide search results via their default status on all of T-Mobile’s line of Android phones. However, AT&T raised eyebrows this week when it opted to replace the built-in Google search functions in Android in favor of Yahoo! search. The very premise of Android is that it should increase Google’s position among the mobile search market. However, Android’s open-source nature means that companies are not obligated to make Google the default search engine on Android phones.
It’s unclear how profitable mobile search deals can be for search engines, but they are very enticing for carriers. How enticing? Well, Microsoft paid Verizon $500 million for the privilege of making Bing the default search engine on Verizon-branded devices. That’s big money for a small device.
Since October there has been a lot of talk around the new G2 phone which is supposed to be the successor to the G1 phone from Google. The G1 phone was exclusive through T-Mobile but it has been rumoured that the new G2 phone has been secured exclusively by Vodafone. Previously it was thought that the new G2 phone would be release in the first quarter of 2009, however since we are already in April im sure we can expect this before the end of June.
The new device will feature:
- Android OS
- 3G capable ( where available)
- Full touch Screen
- Enterprise Capable
- WiFi capable ( no word about UMA)
- 5 Megapixel camera with aoutofocus and flash
- Address Book
- Calculator
- Calendar
- EDGE and GPRS
- Games
- Instant Messaging
- Megatones, HI-Fi tones and wallpapers
- Memory card Slot ( up to 16GB)
- Mobile Backup
- Music and Video Player
- Phone Book
- Photo Caller ID
- Picture Messaging
- Real web browsing
- Speakerphone
- Speed dial
- Stereo Bluetooth connectivity ( finally)
- Sync with PC ( better than air sync)
- Task list
- USB interface
- Video capture and playback
- Video Messaging
- Voice Dialing
- myFaves capable and T-Zones
In a recent article on the AppleInsider, Apple’s iPhone has outsold the competition in Quarter 4 of 2008. What a way to end the year right? The nearest competitor would be the Android phone which made a splash late 2008 with its amazing interface and design. Many pundits thought that Android would surely topple the mobile phone giant, offering customers a suitable choice in what had been an Apple dominated market.
In the report it was stated that the iPhone outsold Android 6-to-1, which many would consider a slaughter. No doubt Apple had a stellar 4th Quarter, but is Android really the iPhone killer or is this premature celebration?
Reports from Morgan Stanley explain reasons for the massive gap in sales between the two competitors. Noted in the report was Apple’s full use of the quarter with an existing brand that has proven itself in the cell phone market. Morgan Stanley also reports that established 3G network encouraged sales as opposed to T-Mobile’s faster network which only truly hits 25 major coverage areas versus 3G’s over 300 major coverage areas.
Apple also enjoys global mass appeal in over 70 countries while Android was only available in the UK at launch. So with all this said, it’s obvious why the iPhone outsold Android, and to say that it has dominated Android would be misleading.
You can read the full article on Morgan Stanley’s findings here for a further breakdown on the difference between the two companies.
So share your thoughts in the comments below. Do you have an Android mobile? I’d like to hear from both sides about your take on the mobile market.
Just announced today, the new Android phone is set to release on Monday, October 20th. This much anticipated release is expected to change the face of mobile phones, similar to the expectations prior to the release of the first iPhone.
Expected specs for the phone were released back in August and can been seen on the TechCrunch website here. Currently this full featured phone is set to be released on the T-Mobile network, similar to Apple’s partnership with AT&T. This exclusivity is sure to give T-Mobile a significant boost to their market share, and their profits will be sitting pretty too if this phone delivers all that is expected.
iPhone users are might be sitting pretty right now, but soon Android might be the next “in” phone to have. Is Apple worried? Only time will tell once this phone hits the market. Already tech pundits and gadget fans are preparing their long stay on the streets over that weekend. I’m interested to see just how much more powerful this Android phone will be, with the support of Google, there’s no telling!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=814c9417-e93b-4835-8efa-180a9a4b733c)
