Samsung Double Take
(Credit: Samsung)Alltel today announced its own version of the Samsung Intensity. Called the Double Take, it offers the same slider design with a full QWERTY keyboard and 2.1-inch display. It's also available in either red or gray.
Alltel's version's features are identical as well. On it, you'll find a music player; a 1.3-megapixel camera; voice commands and dialing; Bluetooth; a speakerphone; a personal organizer; a memory card slot; a standard Web browser; messaging; and POP3 e-mail support. The Double Take is $39 with a $50 mail-in rebate and a one-year service contract.
Keep in mind that the Double Take is available only to customers in the markets that Verizon Wireless divested as part of the merger. Those areas will continue to operate as Alltel markets until the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission approve sale agreements with AT&T and Atlantic Tele-Network.
LG AX310.
(Credit: LG)The LG AX310 is a new basic phone for Alltel. It has a simple clamshell shape and features voice calls, speakerphone, Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and text and multimedia messaging.
Available in either black or red, the LG AX310 is available for $29.99 after a $30 mail-in rebate with a one-year service agreement. This one-year contract option is only available to customers within the 91 cellular market areas that Verizon Wireless is required to divest.
Samsung Freeform
(Credit: Alltel)Alltel has just launched the Samsung Freeform, a slate-style messaging phone that boasts a slim .5-inch design. It looks to have quite a nice 2.2-inch color display and features threaded text entry, a music player, stereo Bluetooth, MMS, GPS, a microSD card slot that supports up to 16GB of storage, a speakerphone, and more. The Freeform is available in teal and burgundy. It is available now for $199.99 without a contract, and for $69.99 with a one-year contract and a $50 mail-in rebate.
HTC Snap
(Credit: Alltel)Joining T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless, Alltel announced on Tuesday that it is now offering the HTC Snap for $79.99 with a one-year contract and after a $70 mail-in rebate.
The Windows Mobile 6.1 device is geared for messaging fanatics with its full QWERTY keyboard and we're happy to see that HTC's Inner Circle feature is included in this model, which lets you prioritize e-mails with a press of a button. In addition, the Snap offers world-roaming capabilities, EV-DO Rev. A support, Bluetooth, and a 2-megapixel camera.
While Verizon offers the HTC Ozone, the Snap is available to those in the 91 markets that Verizon Wireless is required to divest as part of its acquisition of Alltel.
Another day, another cell phone study from J.D. Power and Associates. This time, it's not customer service--T-Mobile, Alltel, and Verizon Wireless tied for that honor earlier this month--but a survey of the all-important call quality.
Just like last year, Verizon was the overall winner this time around. The carrier ranked highest in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Southwest regions. According to the study, Verizon had particular success with limiting dropped calls, failed initial connections, and late or failed text and voice messages.
In the Western region, Verizon tied with Alltel and T-Mobile (in its press release, Verizon identified T-Mobile only as "one other carrier"--meow). T-Mobile performed well in reducing the number of problems with echoes and distortion, and Alltel performed well in limiting the number of late or failed messages.
U.S. Cellular rated highest in the North Central region. It had fewer customer-reported problems with initial connections, static, or interference, and late or failed voice message notifications.
AT&T rated near the bottom in all regions but the Mid-Atlantic and North Central. Sprint rated in the middle or at the bottom in all regions. See J.D. Power's chart for the full rankings.
So what do you think? Does Verizon deserve its award?
On Call runs every two weeks, alternating between answering reader questions and discussing hot topics in the cell phone world.
Q: I was an Alltel customer, but I'm now with Verizon Wireless following the merger. I want to add a fourth line to my family plan, but Verizon informed me that my Alltel phones were not compatible and that I'd need to replace them. Replacing all four phones would cost me about $600. What can I do?
- Sarah
A: Since Alltel and Verizon both use CDMA technology, I was surprised to hear that your Alltel phones aren't compatible with Verizon's network. I checked with Verizon and got a quick response. While most Alltel customers won't have to buy new phones, there are exceptions (there always are). ... Read More
(Credit:
Samsung)
Samsung on Thursday launched a simple clamshell camera phone with Alltel Wireless, called the Samsung Glint.
The Glint has just a basic VGA camera with night shot mode, stereo Bluetooth, messaging, a Web browser, and not much else. No mention of pricing or availability just yet, but we'll let you know once we get it.
Every year or so J.D. Power and Associates gives out customer care awards to wireless carriers based on telephone calls, in-store visits, and online experiences. In the past, T-Mobile has reigned supreme in this department (except for August 2008, when Verizon snagged the title).
This year, however, the customer care award ended in a three-way tie, with Alltel (recently acquired by Verizon Wireless), T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless all grabbing the top spot, each with a score of 747. The highlights are as follows: Alltel did well with store visits and automated response systems; T-Mobile was great at transferring customers from an automated response to a live representative (even though it does charge $18 upgrade fees); and Verizon was particularly good at identifying problems quickly and handing them off to a representative.
What do you, dear readers, think of this? Do you agree that these carriers offer excellent customer service? Let us know in the comments.
(Credit:
Alltel)
Last week, Alltel announced that it has added the LG Tritan to its lineup. A sideways slider phone with a full QWERTY keyboard, the Tritan is a messaging phone with a 3-inch touch screen display.
Features include a 3-megapixel camera with flash and autofocus, a camcorder, stereo Bluetooth, GPS, a microSD card slot, EV-DO Rev. A, GPS, a HTML browser, and more. Alltel is charging $99.99 for the phone after a $100 mail-in rebate and a one-year service agreement.
It also seems the LG Tritan might make its way to U.S. Cellular, as these leaked photos on Boy Genius Report indicate.
(Via PhoneScoop)
Alltel Wireless has announced that starting June 5, it will bring back one-year service contracts for all of Alltel's new and renewing customers.
Though one-year contracts aren't new, most of the cell phone industry uses two-year service agreements for new contracts. Even if your carrier does offer one-year contracts, your new phone will likely cost less with a two-year agreement. Not so with Alltel. In fact, it says it will be the only carrier to offer the same handset pricing as you would get with a two-year contract, but with one-year agreements instead.
However, this one-year contract option is only available to customers in the 91 cellular market areas that Verizon is required to divest--some of which are being acquired by AT&T pending approval. So you might want to check with Alltel to see if you're in one of those areas.
