Android and Me

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• Apple ordered to publish notice that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab doesn’t copy the iPad
• AT&T adding shared data plans next month
• Speculation: T-Mobile to launch QWERTY equipped G3 in early Q3

Apple ordered to publish notice that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab doesn’t copy the iPad Posted: 18 Jul 2012 01:29 PM PDT A few weeks back, a UK judge ruled that the Samsung galaxy Tab was “not as cool” as the iPad and dismissed Apples claims that Samsung had copied the design of its tablet. While Samsung may have been offended by the backhanded victory it was given, we’re fairly certain that their lawyers and executives are popping open the champagne bottles after hearing today’s news. In order to fix the “damaging impression the South Korea-based company was copying Apple’s product” Apple will be required to post a notice in newspapers, magazines and on its UK website which states that the Samsung Galaxy Tab does not copy Apple’s iPad design. The notice will refer to the July 9th court ruling and will be posted on the home page of Apple’s website for six months. While the patent system may be completely screwed up, we’re glad to see judges handing out unusual punishments to those who initiate the lawsuits. There’s no telling how this outcome will affect the sales of the iPad or the Galaxy Tab, but we’re sure Apple will be a little more careful next time they try to sue their competition in the UK.

AT&T adding shared data plans next month Posted: 18 Jul 2012 06:14 AM PDT A few months after Verizon launched its Share Everything plans, AT&T has announced that it too will offer shared data plans starting in August. Like Verizon, AT&T’s plan offers unlimited talk and text, as well as support for up to 10 devices per account. The same basic structure underlies the AT&T and Verizon plans, but Ma Bell’s implementation of the plans is where it distinguishes itself from its largest competitor. If you recall, Verizon charges anywhere from $50 to $100 per month for 1 – 10GB of data, and each type of device you add to the plan (smartphones, tablets, feature phones, and data sticks) add an additional flat fee to the total bill. For a basic 2-smartphone 4GB Verizon plan, the total bill would run $150 ($70 for data plus $40 for each smartphone). AT&T offers a similar but vastly different way of approaching the same model. You begin by selecting how much data you need similar to Verizon, though AT&T offers much more varied data limits, and as the amount of data you select increases, the cost of each smartphone drops. Consider the following table: As you can see from the above table, smartphones can range from $30 to $45 per month, with the amount you pay decreasing the more data you need. AT&T is able to accomplish this by charging significant amounts of dough for relatively small amounts of data (seriously, $200 for 20GB?). In all, the pricing ends up being largely the same for two-smartphone households with AT&T and Verizon. With 4 GBs of data, AT&T’s model yields a smartphone bill of $150, and the 10GB plan costs $180 under both carriers. Feature phones, tablets, and data sticks/jetpacks all cost the same monthly fee as Verizon as well. Of course, the big difference between AT&T and Verizon is that AT&T isn’t forcing people into the new data plans. Existing customers can choose to keep their plans, including those grandfathered into AT&T’s unlimited data plans. New customers will also be able to choose between the Shared Data plans or AT&T’s traditional plans. For more information on AT&T’s plans, we suggest heading over to their site. The plans will go live in late August for all those interested in switching. Would these new plans benefit anyone out there, or would you end up paying more in the end?

Speculation: T-Mobile to launch QWERTY equipped G3 in early Q3 Posted: 18 Jul 2012 05:45 AM PDT It’s not often that I write a speculative article, but recent news about an upcoming HTC device for T-Mobile has managed to catch my attention and ignite a flicker of hope that we may see a QWERTY equipped T-Mobile G3 in the next few months. The news According to TmoNews, the HTC Era 42 will be heading to T-Mobile this fall. The handset name was spotted in an image of a T-Mobile computer system with a date of September 26th. No additional details regarding form factor, price or specifications are currently available. The speculation Based on what I have heard from several HTC and T-Mobile sources, the HTC Era 42 may in fact launch as the T-Mobile G3 – featuring a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, stock Android and specifications which will rival the HTC One series. The evidence As stated above, the T-Mobile G3 is pure speculation at this point, but there are a few pieces of evidence that can be used to stitch a more cohesive picture together. As David from TmoNews pointed out, the original T-Mobile G1 has a connection with the Era moniker. While most of us came to know the phone as the G1 or HTC Dream, it was known as the HTC Era G1 in Poland and several other eastern European countries. Since launch dates are a moving target, it’s impossible to know if the September 26th date associated with the HTC Era 42 is when T-Mobile plans on releasing the phone. One thing we do know is that a late September or early October launch will line up closely with the two year anniversary of the T-Mobile G2′s October 6th launch date. Final thoughts If you think this post is lacking any hard evidence, you are right. Based on hard evidence, all we really know is that T-Mobile may be planning to launch an HTC handset this fall. There are plenty of Android fans out there who would love to get their hands on a QWERTY equipped G series device which runs on stock Android, but it’s up to T-Mobile to decide if a handset that fits that bill is worth an investment. HTC announced that QWERTY devices were not going to be a main focus for the company in the future, but they do realize that “the [QWERTY] market’s there, the sort of the die hard community, they keep wanting it, there’s definitely still a market for it.” What are your thoughts on the current evidence and the possibility of a T-Mobile G3 for this fall? Would you be interested in buying a QWERTY equipped Android device running an unskinned version of Jelly Bean?

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