Low-cost CDMA handsets hit $30
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(InfoWorld) - Handset makers continue to drive down the cost of CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) handsets, making them more affordable to customers in developing markets, such as India and China. Leading the charge to cheaper CDMA 2000-1X handsets is South Korea's Rose Telecom Co.Â "Rose Telecom has been shipping to Reliance [Communications] in India right at $30 with a color screen," said James Person, the chief operating officer of the CDMA Development Group (CDG), an industry group that promotes CDMA technology. That price represents a drop from last year, when the cheapest CDMA handsets went for about $40, he said. In addition to Rose, other handset makers are also offering low-cost CDMA 2000-1X handsets. For example, LG Electronics, Huawei Technologies Co., and ZTE now offer handsets that are priced under $40, Person said, noting these handsets generally offer the most basic features and do not include built-in cameras, music players, or external memory. These handsets are designed for customers in developing markets, including Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe, Person said. Prices for CDMA2000 EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized) handsets, which offer faster data transmission speeds, remain higher than CDMA2000-1X handsets, at around $100 for the cheapest models, Person said. "It's a very different market segment," he said, noting most EV-DO subscribers are in developed countries, such as South Korea and the U.S. Most of the growth potential, in terms of new subscribers, lies in the developing markets, where penetration levels are far lower than developed countries. "There's a lot of room for growth," Person said. CDG is not the only industry group that hopes cheaper handsets can help spur subscriber growth in emerging countries. The GSM Alliance (GSMA), an industry group that backs the rival GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) family of mobile technologies, has launched programs to produce low-cost handsets for both GSM and W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, a 3G technology.
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T-Mobile tests a service that offers subscribers in the Seattle area a chance to call more for less.
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The wireless airwaves may get a bit more crowded next year following the announcement that Intellisync'sÂ  goAnywhere technology, unveiled this week, will give users of low-cost feature phones the same push e-mail capability that is now only available on pricier smart phones.
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Basic cellphones line up for a Simplicity Derby, but are they efficient?
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Cingular Wireless plans to sell a new BlackBerry-like device from Nokia Corp. for as low as $150, perhaps the most aggressive entry yet in an increasingly crowded market of devices with typewriter keypads for wireless e-mail and text messaging.
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Less expensive base stations built using chips designed for mass-market handsets could spur growth and expand 3G coverage.
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$2.7bn here, $4.2bn there - it starts adding up T-Mobile USA, America's smallest cellco, is to splashing $2.7bn on a 3G network build-out. Until last month, the German-owned firm was constrained by a severe shortage of wireless spectrum - meaning crap reception in many areas and more network busy signals than its rivals.â¦
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Apple Inc. and AT&T Inc. said on  Tuesday they will offer three price plans, starting at $59.99  per month, for the widely anticipated iPhone that is set to go  on sale this week.
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In a sign of hot competition among wireless carriers, AT&T and Verizon Wireless each unveiled $99.99-a-month unlimited wireless calling plans today.
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InfoWorld - An Indian mobile phone operator is the first to deploy mobile phones based on a single-chip CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) platform from Qualcomm Inc. The operator, Tata Teleservices Ltd., is offering Motorola Inc.&#39;s Motofone F3c for 1,699 Indian rupees (US$38).
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Verizon Wireless on Thursday launched a broadcast TV service for cell phones in about 20 Midwestern and Western markets, charging $15 to $25 a month for the initial lineup from eight leading networks
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Skype is introducing a $30 annual subscription to make unlimited calls with the Internet-based telephone service to any regular or mobile phone number within the United States and Canada.
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Motorola Inc.  aims to cut the  cost of making its cheapest mobile phones by about $2 to $5 per  handset to improve profits, Chief Executive Ed Zander said on  Thursday.
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Limited-edition luxury phones commemorate famous racetracks for over $30K a pop. From Crave, CNET's new gadgets blog.
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Verizon Wireless on Thursday launched a broadcast TV service for cell phones in about 20 Midwestern and Western markets, charging $15 to $25 a month for the initial lineup from eight leading networks.
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(InfoWorld) - Now that Apple's iPhone is finally on sale, the race is on to see who can unlock it. Locked phones can only be used with cellular service from one carrier, a move designed to guarantee carriers recover the cost of subsidizing a handset through monthly service charges. But the cost of the iPhone, which is priced at either US$499 or $599 depending on the model, is not subsidized by AT&T. Users must pay full price for the handset and sign a two-year contract, which requires them to pay from $59.99 to $99.99 per month for cellular service. Unlocking the iPhone will enable the handset to be used with any cellular provider with a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) or EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) network, not just AT&T's network. That's an attractive proposition for users who already have a cellular contract with another carrier, or users outside the U.S. who can't wait to get their hands on Apple's new handset. Efforts to unlock the iPhone are being tracked on several Web sites, including Hackint0sh and the iPhone Dev Wiki. Initial signs look promising, although the iPhone remained locked at the time of writing. Like other GSM phones, the iPhone uses a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, a removable smart card that contains a user's phone number as well as limited storage space for contacts and messages. SIM cards are designed to be swapped between phones, allowing users to change handsets while using their cellular service. They can also be switched when users travel, allowing them to avoid international roaming charges with the purchase of a prepaid, local SIM card. A removable SIM card is a good sign for hackers, because it indicates the phone is locked using firmware, which can likely be cracked. Of course, unlocking the iPhone requires more than simply changing the SIM card. Swapping the AT&T SIM card used with the iPhone for a SIM card from another carrier results in an error message that reads, "Incorrect SIM. This iPhone must be used with an approved SIM." To unlock the iPhone, hackers must first circumvent the handset's activation process. New iPhone users are required to activate their handset using the latest version of iTunes, released on Friday, before they can use the phone. Without activation, which requires users to sign up for an AT&T service plan, none of the iPhone's functions, including the camera and music player, can be accessed. If hackers can circumvent the activation process, the next challenge will be to unlock the SIM card itself. That could happen as soon as Monday. By Sunday night, U.S. time, hackers had made progress towards circumventing the iPhone activation process, gaining access to key system files and finding two passwords used with the phone, according to the iPhone Dev Wiki. "I think by the end of tomorrow we'll have an activation crack," one user wrote on the site.
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Sales will be $3.35 billion to $3.5 billion, compared with an October forecast of $3.46 billion to $3.75 billion, because of lower revenue from handsets.