T-mobile

With so much scrutiny being applied to the proposed AT&T purchase of T-Mobile, Microsoft has decided to weigh in on the topic. In a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission, Microsoft has expressed the opinion that the positives of such a merger would outweigh the negatives. The letter reads,

"The FCC must seriously weigh the benefits of this merger and approve it."

Microsoft's support of the purchase is joined by Facebook, Research in Motion, Oracle and Yahoo!. Leading the charge against the merger is Sprint.

The FCC and DOJ promise to give this proposal a high level of scrutiny and the approval process could take up to a year to complete. So, is this such a bad thing? Or is it an unfair monopoly that would end up harming the industry?

Source: WindowsITPro

By now, a lot of T-Mobile US customers have received their alert about the February and March updates for their HD7s. T-Mobile has published a step-by-step guide on the process, which can be found here.

What is obvious is that the HD7, but not the Dell Venue Pro is getting NoDo today. The DVP did receive the February pre-NoDo update but we've heard, but not confirmed, that NoDo will be hitting the Dell phone in mid-April (April 18th?)--has to do with more "fixes" being on board in addition to NoDo. Hopefully we'll hear more about that later.

In addition, what is curious is the changelog for the HD7:

• Adds the ability to copy and paste text.
• Stops unnecessary data connectivity and lowers data usage while using Yahoo! Mail.
• Improved Marketplace search
• While connected to Wi-Fi, customers will now see different background images in the Search screen.

We haven't heard about the Yahoo! Mail bug being fixed in this update before, nor about the the "background images" being different during search when over WiFi--more subtle changes we suppose.

Source: T-Mobile 1, T-Mobile 2

Although Sprint was rumored to be a contender, in swoops AT&T to buy T-Mobile US from Deutsche Telekom for a healthy $39 billion, pending regulatory approval which could take a year. The deal will make AT&T the largest carrier in the US with a huge base of 140 million subscribers (Verizon has 93 million, Sprint just 50).

From the presser:

With this transaction, AT&T commits to a significant expansion of robust 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) deployment to 95 percent of the U.S. population to reach an additional 46.5 million Americans beyond current plans – including rural communities and small towns. This helps achieve the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and President Obama’s goals to connect “every part of America to the digital age.” T-Mobile USA does not have a clear path to delivering LTE.

“This transaction represents a major commitment to strengthen and expand critical infrastructure for our nation’s future,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chairman and CEO. “It will improve network quality, and it will bring advanced LTE capabilities to more than 294 million people. Mobile broadband networks drive economic opportunity everywhere, and they enable the expanding high-tech ecosystem that includes device makers, cloud and content providers, app developers, customers, and more. During the past few years, America’s high-tech industry has delivered innovation at unprecedented speed, and this combination will accelerate its continued growth.”

Pretty huge deal but considering how T-Mobile has been floundering for the last few years, it makes sense someone would buy them. But will Sprint be able to continue competing against AT&T/Verizon or will the invevitable happen and someone swoop them up too?

To our T-Mo users, how does this effect your future plans? We imagine many of you are on T-Mo to get away from AT&T. For us, we're having flashbacks to 1934. Full press release after the break.

While Windows Phone 7 is doing less than expected with LG, T-Mobile feels that the new Windows Phones are doing well. While no specific numbers were mentioned Josh Lipe, product manager for T-Mobile said,

"We’re continuing to look at options with Microsoft how to move the platform forward. The customers are very satisfied with the experience. We’ve done well with the devices that we sold."

And T-Mobile is planning on building upon that satisfaction. There are rumors that T-Mobile will be adding the HTC Mozart to their Windows Phone 7 lineup. T-Mobile is also planning on installing their Family Room application on their Windows Phone 7 devices. Family Room is a social network for family members that includes a message board, shared calendars and photo spaces.

Source: SeattleTimes via: WindowsPhoneThoughts

We covered LG complaining last week about the somewhat dissatisfying performance of the Windows Phone 7 platform, which was expected with iPhone and Android absorbing majority of the news. However, the comment made was still received with mixed feelings.

Contradictory feedback - reported by Yahoo! - from German carrier Deutsche Telekom, largest mobile provider in Europe and mother of T-Mobile:

"We are ahead of budget, Microsoft is very pleased."

Which Ingo Hofacker, Head of Consumer Marketing at the mobile giant, provided. It is a good sign that they are witnessing WP7 devices selling off shelves at speed, and one can only predict this trend to continue as updates come this year.

Thanks Philipp for the tip!

AT&T isn't the only one offering a BOGO sale on Black Friday. T-Mobile has joined the fun by offering a "buy one, get one free" on select smartphones.

The good news for Windows Phone fans is that the HTC HD7 is included on the list.

 The BOGO offer is for new and existing customers (those eligible for upgrade) who sign up for a T-Mobile family plan with a two-year agreement and purchase one of the featured devicesa can get a new featured smartphone free (which includes the HD7). The new in-store BOGO promotion will be available Nov. 26 through Jan.18, to allow those who want to avoid the Black Friday crowds have the opportunity to take advantage of the offer.

Source: T-Mobile

With just hours before the big day, we just received word (unconfirmed, but highly probable) that the Dell Venue Pro will sell for $199.99 on contract. No word on cost without a contract, though we imagine it to be in the $550 range. The source of the price quote is none other than a Microsoft store, who will be selling both AT&T and T-Mobile phones tomorrow morning.

This sounds right as every other phone is selling for $199.99 (Samsung Focus, HTC HD7, HTC Surround) so this fits right in with the current line up, no more, no less.

Now that you know the price of the Venue Pro, which should be showing up online any hour now, is your decision made for you? If so, take our poll!

Thanks, Joel K., for the tip!

Although you can get it through Amazon.com for the same price plus free 2-day shipping, if going with Wirefly is your thing, then here you go.

With a new 2 year contract, the HTC HD7 on T-mobile runs you a very fair $169.99 for the pre-order or if you want contract freedom, you can have it for $529.99.

Update: Price drop! Reader Saad lets us know that Wirefly has dropped the price to $149.99, undercutting Amazon.com by $20 and making us a little envious...

Source: Wirefly

T-Mobile has announced pricing for the HTC HD7 and based on a twitter post, the Windows Phone will be in stores on November 8th. So much for AT&T's exclusivity rumors.

The HD7 will runn $199.99 after contractual discounts. If you would like email notifications on the HD7, you can sign up for those as well over at T-Mobile's HD7 webpage.  Hopefully, the "available November 8th" on the web page and "in stores" on Twitter mean the same thing.

via TMoNews