VirginMobile USA is about to blow their horn on July 20th, 2011, and announce one of the most anticipated phones of the summer, but also new rate plans to use it on.
The Motorola TRIUMPH features a 4.1-inch touchscreen display, a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 processor, 5-megapixel camera with 720p video capture, VGA front-facing camera, 512MB RAM, 2GB built-in storage, HDMI out, 1400mAh battery, and Android 2.2 (Froyo).
The responsiveness of the Triumph is quite snappy with no lag or delay, plenty of screen real estate for your eyes, and no MotoBlur.
This is arguably the most advanced phone available from any carrier on a PREPAID service basis.
Changes to pricing and data usage costs are a familiar topic in the wireless industry these days, and customers are beginning to understand that the dramatic increase of smartphone usage and mobile internet access, now and in the future, means many carriers are making adjustments to their plans.
According to Nielsen’s May 2011 survey of mobile consumers in the United States, 38 percent now own smartphones. Of those consumers, 38 percent own an Android™-powered device. Further, 55 percent of those who purchased a new handset in the past three months reported buying a smartphone, up from 34 percent just a year ago.
New Beyond Talk plans show that the unlimited option is down by $5, so it really makes a lot of sense to go for the unlimited and not have to count your minute usage.
$35 – 300 anytime minutes / unlimited messaging and data
$45 – 1200 anytime minutes / unlimited messaging and data
$55 – Unlimited anytime minutes / unlimited messaging and data
Virgin Mobile USA, Inc. is a wireless communications services provider based in Warren, New Jersey, United States, founded in 2001 as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). This means, unlike AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, or Sprint, Virgin Mobile USA did not own their own network. They simply used the Sprint network under a private label of Virgin Mobile, USA.
Virgin Mobile USA, Inc. commenced operations under the Virgin Mobile brand in June, 2002. Virgin Mobile USA was acquired by its network services provider, Sprint Nextel Corporation, in 2009 and is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Sprint Nextel Corporation. Virgin Mobile has about 6 million subscribers.
If you are looking for an attractive modern smart phone without getting locked into a contract, this is basically the way to go.
I would love to hear your thoughts and comments, please share this post with your friends.
That explosion you just heard was the sonic boom of two titans in the wireless industry crashing down in flames to their firey demise.
Nokia v Rim (Blackberry) - It isn't a question of who is going to win or lose, the question is who is going to lose fastest, and worst. Shocking isn't it? The perfect storm of bad timing, and poor vision.
Neither Nokia nor Rim are competing against each other, they have much bigger problems to worry about... like Apple iOS and Android.
The feature phone market has imploded, and smart phone markets soar. Nokia is hemorrhaging market share, in both. Once the king of feature phones / phone first devices, Nokia, is in a triple lose situation. No one wants a boring old style flip phone that is mainly just a phone anymore, they want the Apple iPhone type of smartphone.
Nokia does make smartphones, but their phones are based on the very aged and relatively antiquated Symbian operating system. The Symbian platform is the successor to Symbian OS and Nokia Series 60; unlike Symbian OS, which needed an additional user interface system, Symbian includes a user interface component based on S60 5th Edition. The latest version, Symbian^3, was officially released in Q4 2010, first used in the Nokia N8. Symbian OS was originally developed by Symbian Ltd. It is a descendant of Psion's EPOC, and runs exclusively on ARM processors, although an unreleased x86 port existed.
Nokia was in the perfect position, massive market share, there were more Symbian devices in use worldwide than any other operating system.
Symbian and Android are both open source operating systems, but due to a lack of savvy marketing, Symbian could have been what Android is today.
Android is signing handset makers at breakneck speed, while Symbian only has Nokia. You can't modify Symbian installed on your Nokia phone, but Android you can. Android is also sleek, easy to use, has a youthful "cool" brand... Symbian... feh.
For these reasons, Android is beating Symbian.
If all that wasn't enough, the recent deal between Nokia and Microsoft puts all the risk in Nokia's lap. If Nokia succeeds, Microsoft succeeds. If Nokia fails, Microsoft just walks away unscathed. Worse yet, the deal is good news for Android.
As Nokia phases out Symbian and moves to Windows Mobile, it will reduce Nokia's market share significantly, adding to the burn.
As for RIM (Blackberry), they have some real problems, but not as serious as Nokia. The main problems for RIM, is of course Android, but more so, Apple, as well as another surprise, RIM.
Apple is Rim's biggest threat, that's no surprise to anyone, but what may be overlooked, RIM is RIM's own problem. They can't seem to get out of their own way. Another year has passed, the current Blackberry product lineup is getting very stale, and RIM has failed to produce a breakthrough touchscreen device that can compete.
RIM is several quarters late in introducing its new handsets based on its 7.0 operating system. For every day that passes until the new BlackBerry models become available, RIM is losing sales. This is all quite troubling because RIM doesn't seem to be in any hurry to correct things. They don't seem realize the threats are as great as they are.
I would love to hear your thoughts and comments.
When it comes to HDMI cables, retailers and salesmen have had a roarin' good ol time at the expense of the consumer. It's time to put the facts where they are and show them up for what the are, CON MEN.
I call it, the CONnection Scam.
Scenario: Joe Consumer is excited, he got his paycheck and finally has enough to get himself that flatscreen TV he's had his eye on for months now. The salesman starts telling him he needs special HDMI cable to connect his Blu-Ray, PS3, etc (this is true), now here comes the CONnection SCAM.
The salesman tries to sell Joe Consumer a 4 foot long $200 HDMI cable, confident that Joe Consumer has no idea that a $20 HDMI cable will do the exact same thing.
That's right, let me restate a fact in big bold red print to make sure this is clear:
A 4 foot long HDMI v1.4 cable costing $20 will perform the same as a HDMI v1.4 cable costing $200.
Let's see why: An HDMI or DVI video signal is a small signal and it is digital. It is either good or not good. As long as the length is under 8 feet, there is NO signal degredation.
Another CONnection Scam
You will see HDMI packages in the store, screaming "120 Hz," "240Hz" and "480 Hz".
HDMI cables can no more be manufactured for specific refresh-rate HDTVs than a garden hose can be manufactured specifically to water seeded lawns and sod lawns. The same water flows through either one.
The same HDTV signal flows through all HDMI cables, whether labeled "120Hz" or "480Hz" — or not labeled at all.
FACT: A TV's refresh rate has nothing whatsoever to do with the signal flowing to that set. The refresh rate is determined by the set's circuitry once the signal gets there, so how can different HDMI cables be manufactured for different refresh-rate sets?
HDMI Licensing LLC licenses the design, specifications and requires labeling of cables as either "Standard" or "High Speed." Only two types of HDMI cables are included in the HDMI licensing spec: "Standard" (aka category 1) or "High Speed" (aka category 2). Category 2 is required to insure the cable passes 1080P HD signals, (which includes 3-D), and is the highest bandwidth video signal available now and the forseable future. (The most current spec is Category 2, Version 1.4).
HDMI cable makers are intentionally misleading consumers by hyping their cables with the various refresh rates used by set makers to improve picture quality. Despite the fact that some labels indicate signals of 480Hz, the signal fed by an HDMI cable to a set never exceeds 60Hz.
Any "High Speed" HDMI v1.3 cable should handle any display and any video signal you can throw at it. Period. Full Stop. The next version is 1.4 which is intended for "4K" video, which only exists in extreme high end commercial applications.
As an extreme example of the CONnection scam, AudioQuest has a line of "High Speed" HDMI cables; its packaging states that it "delivers 100 percent of the data required for 120Hz, 240Hz, 600Hz displays." It costs up to a whopping $299.99 for its 9-8-foot Carbon model (sold online from Bestbuy.com).
What this means to you is that there really is no such thing as a "better" HDMI cable. Either an HDMI cable works or it does not. If it doesn't work, you will immediately know it. Your screen will freeze, or it will skip frames, or it will show big square blocks instead of a picture. It will be completely obvious that there is a problem. In that case you need to throw the cable away.
How much have YOU thrown out on HDMI cables? I would love to hear your comments! Link this article to your friends and see what they say!
