The Mobile Fun Blog

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Yesterday, an updated version of Google’s Nexus One Android smartphone was released, compatible with AT&T and Rogers Canada’s 3G networks. Today, Sprint is letting everyone know that it is getting the device too.

This means that all four major wireless carriers have secured a spot for the Nexus One this year. Google sells versions of the device optimized for T-Mobile and AT&T’s wireless networks, and a version for Verizon’s network is still expected some time in the Spring, but the operator has not put out any further notices about its availability.

AetherPal has announced that Scicom has become the first helpdesk to install the AetherPal remote control solution for Smartphone support. Using AetherPal, Scicom will be able to remotely handle and resolve any issues that occur on a Smartphone, independent of its location. Mobile subs should experience faster Trouble Ticket resolution and will not need to try and resolve problems themselves. The helpdesks will apparently be able to handle issues remotely as if they had the Smartphone in their hands.

When it comes to mobile internet search, alliances are short-lived and loyalties are looser than, well, you get the point. AT&T (NYSE: T) recently kicked Google (NSDQ: GOOG) off the Android-powered Motorola BackFlip, in order to get in bed with Yahoo as the default search engine on the smartphone. Now, T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) USA has up and shuffled Google out the door to make space for Yahoo. The two-year agreement between Yahoo and T-Mobile is apparently no more, and the fourth-largest US wireless carrier is looking elsewhere for mobile search. That elsewhere is Google.

After Dr Saad al Barrak resigned from his post, Zain has appointed Mr Nabil Bin Salama as a new CEO of the group, effective Sunday, February 14, 2010.

The Board of Directors stated their confidence in Mr Bin Salama’s professional capabilities to guide the future direction of growth for the company.

For the record, Mr Bin Salama has a Bachelor of Electronic Engineering from the University of Dayton, Ohio, USA. During 2009, he served as Kuwait’s Minister of Communication, Electricity and Water. Earlier than that, he spent many years in the public sector and has even served as General Manager of a mobile operator in 1997.

We’ve been hearing about the next gen Pearl series, aka ‘Pearl2′, aka ‘Striker’, aka ‘Stratus’ for some time now. We’ve seen leaked pics, a video here and here, and now a little more news.

The UMTS Forum announced that subscriptions to 3G/UMTS networks have reached 500 million! The milestone comes after about eight years after the world’s first commercial 3G/WCDMA network was launched by Japanese NTT DOCOMO (NYSE: DCM).

Here are some other interesting figures from the press release:

• According to Wireless Intelligence, there are now over 300 UMTS family networks worldwide.
• Almost 40% of 3G/UMTS subscribers are connecting via HSPA networks.

By Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews

Since early Friday morning, as hundreds of commenters on T-Mobile’s and Google’s support forums are reporting, 3G data connectivity service has been completely unavailable — for some, since approximately 4:30 am Eastern Time this morning, but for a great many more users beginning at 10:00 am. Some users in recent minutes are reporting service restored, although indications from both forums are that service can come back and go away again.

AT&T just posted their Q4 2009 figures and, for someone with such a shady network, they’re doing alright. They’ve added 2.7 million new wireless subscribers between October and December, their second best quarter in terms of adding customers. Churn, defined as a customer leaving a network because it either A) sucks or is B) too expensive, is down to 1.44% per month, which is better than the 1.64% churn the company experienced the same quarter a year ago. It’s AT&T’s sixth straight quarter in a row that they’ve lowered churn, which boggles the mind since the internet is all “AT&T SUCKS DONKEY DICK” and “AT&T KILLS BABIES”. Just goes to show you that a very vocal minority doesn’t represent the true state of the situation.

At the moment you can grab the Nexus One only from Google (NSDQ: GOOG). But as they try to reach larger audience, I’ve no doubts deals would be struck with a number of retailers and operators. Why not with Walmart? If there’s one company that has reach comparable to Google’s, it’s Walmart. And apparently the retail giant’s wireless arm may be adding the Android 2.1-powered smartphone to its offering sooner rather than later.