Don't like AT&T? Too bad.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)If you polled a group of iPhone owners on their biggest complaint about the handset, I'd guess that most would name the AT&T service. Yes, spotty coverage and the sometimes abysmal customer service are not to be ignored, but those issues are hardly unique to AT&T. On the other hand, one gripe is very legitimate: the fact that AT&T has a monopoly on Apple's device. It's aggravating and just not fair, they would say, and I have to agree.
A quick look abroad offers a much better model. I recently returned from a fantastic trip to Australia (as if you could have any other) where three carriers offer the iPhone. There you will find it at Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone. I knew this before I arrived in Oz, and it's worth noting that Australia is not the only country to offer the iPhone on multiple carriers, but I had to see just how the services differed.
According to my colleagues at CNET Australia, Telstra offers the best coverage at the highest price. Optus is just the opposite, and Vodafone is in between. The plans did seem to vary, but an unlimited data model was less prevalent. Perhaps that's why I noticed far fewer iPhones in the wild. But even so, the concept of a real customer choice is a great thing.
The reasons for AT&T's dominance here aren't a mystery. Apple doesn't make a CDMA version of the iPhone, and Verizon Wireless passed on the opportunity when Apple was first shopping for carriers. And even though T-Mobile in Europe offers the iPhone, T-Mobile USA isn't quite an option either, mostly because its 3G technology is incompatible. But just the same, it irks me that the home of Apple, and a country with 306 million people (a few more than Australia), restricts iPhone owners to just one provider. Sure, the carrier-driven U.S. cell phone market has always been in a class by itself, but that doesn't make it right.
Ace reporter Caroline McCarthy shows us only her tattoo. We promise.
Caroline McCarthy makes her triumphant return to The 404 and shows us her nerdy tattoo. It's way hot! Buzz Out Loud's Natali Del Conte and Justin Yu get back from their sweet honeymoon. Natali changed her name to Mrs. Natali Yu Conte. You'll see this change on her next appearance on the "CBS Early Show".
On today's show, we talk about Facebook's new redesign and how it will take over the Internet. Mark Zuckerberg apparently is not as awkward in person as he is on camera--though he's gotten nothing on Jimmy Fallon when it comes to nervousness. In addition, we've got some guilty pleasures including the "Mac Bong." Listen to today's show to find out why that has nothing to do with marijuana. And Best Buy tries to sell you busted cameras.
As always thank you for your voice mails and e-mails to the public. We're getting flooded with them, and we love it! 1-866-404-CNET (2638) or the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Major props to brisbanelistener for putting up the Google Knol replacement for our Wikipedia page and for the greatest "Knol is Australian for beer" joke ever. Finally, today is the last day you can call in for our House of the Dead: Overload for the Nintendo Wii giveaway! We're still looking for a show motto, and the consensus is that we're either "The podcast of the future" or "The nerdy dirty." Entries welcomed.
Episode 292
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Pictured, from left, are the NV Motch, NV Sports Pro, and NV Smart Watch.
(Credit: NV Mobile)The LG Watch Phone was the buzz at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month. Now Adelaide-based NV Mobile is taking on Australia with its own range of watch phones.
The OZ outfit, which also manufactures handsets in traditional form factors, has three models listed on its Web site. Designs range from childish (NV Motch) to tacky (NV Smart Watch with dial pad on the wristband), and prices begin at $249 for the former to the priciest of the lot, the Smart Watch for $410. Basic features include touch-screen displays, onboard cameras, music players, 3G, and Bluetooth, and they will work with any network provider Down Under.
Our CNET Australia colleague was at the launch recently and quoted NV Mobile's CEO Anthony Cook as saying, "We're putting things into phones that don't exist yet...things that will amaze you." We can't wait to see.
In the meantime, I think I'll hold out for the LG Watch Phone.
(Via Crave Asia)
Kogan says the Agora phone, which was previously set to launch Down Under on January 29, must be redesigned.
(Credit: Kogan Technologies)Australia's first smartphone to run on Google's Android, the Kogan Agora Pro, has been delayed indefinitely, with its distributor citing its low-resolution display as the reason for not shipping the handset in its current form.
"It now seems certain (that) the current Agora specifications will limit its compatibility or interoperability in the near future," Kogan founder Ruslan Kogan said in a statement.
"Since the design of the Agora, the Android community has been growing quickly," Kogan said. "I now believe that in order to access all (that) the Android platform has to offer, the Agora must be redesigned."
The Kogan Agora and Agora Pro smartphones feature a 2.5-inch QVGA (240x320-pixel) resolution display. The only other commercially available Android phone to date, the HTC Dream, features a 3.2-inch display with a 320x480-pixel resolution.
Google's Android operating system is an open-source platform allowing software developers to freely create new applications and make them available to download from the Android Marketplace. As the Dream is the only Android handset on the market, developers will have been developing for screens with a resolution similar to its display.
Kogan will refund all money raised through the presale of the Agora handsets. A new Android phone from the company is in development.
Joseph Hanlon of ZDNet Australia reported from Sydney.
Water running down the drain backwards isn't necessarily a satanic omen, you could just be in the land of Muscles--the wacky Southern hemisphere where strange animals abound and gospel meets techno. Melbourne artist Muscles delights in fusing neo-soul-inspired techno with an eccentric taste for dance music.
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