This past Friday I got my hands on the new Pantec Matrix for at&t, a phone very much similar to the Pantech Duo, with one big exception the Matrix does not run Windows Mobile. Don’t think of this post as a review s it isn’t this is just my first impression and I will get a more detailed review later on. In my opinion Pantech has done a great job with the Matrix, it’s the perfect teen/young adult phone or a great phone for someone who loves to text.

Just like the Duo the Pantech Matrix is a dual slider, you slide it up to expose the number pad, you slide it to the right to expose the qwerty keyboard. The Phone is also very speedy, a lot of phones in particular windows mobile phones take at least a minute to boot up, the Matrix was booted really fast.

The UI is also easy to understand and so far I like it.

Keep an eye out for the full review soon. 

If you contact at&t and inform them you wish to unlock your Samsung Black Jack too, they will happily provide you with the unlock code provided you have been with them for mover 3 months, or if you paid full price for the phone.

However the instructions at&t gives you are incorrect.

at&t will provide you with the following instructions:

1 Power off device and remove the AT&T SIM card.
2 Power on the handset.
3 Enter: # 7 4 6 5 6 2 5 * 6 3 8 *
4 At the Network Lock Screen, enter the Unlock Code and press the left soft key (LSK) Ok.

That above is incorrect, the correct way is:

1 Power off device and remove the AT&T SIM card.
2 Insert non AT&T Sim Card and Power on Device
3 Enter: Unlock code at Network Lock Screen
4 Click the left soft ky (LSK) Ok

From conversations with Samsung I have been told that at&t was informed to changed the instructions when the BlackJack II first came out but at&t has yet to do so. Maybe because they want to lock you into their network forever.

Sprint has made available today an update for the Samsung Ace. The Update will upgrade the Windows Mobile application on the phone to Windows Mobile 6.1 and also add Office Mobile to the device.

To get the upgrade follow this link: http://www.samsungmobileusa.com/i325/upgrade

Aside from Windows Mobile 6.1 the upgrade will give you Sprint Navigation and enhanced GPS support.

On Tuesday I attended the launch event for the Samsung HighNote and Rant, two stylish phones with out the stylish price tag, both phones will retail for under $100 with a 2 year contract in fact the rant will retail for under $50.

Both phones are not made to fit their price, if anything these phones should sell for more than what they are so you are definetly getting a bang for your buck, and while Sprint Customer Service is notorious for being horrible they have improved over the past month or so.

The HighNote is geared towards the music lovers out there, while the Rant is for those of us who love to text like Indi.

Let’s start with the pictures of the HighNote.

Although not picture the HighNote slides up and down, Up to expose it’s keypad and down to expose it’s speaker, which in my opinion delivers some of the best sound quality in a cell phone that I have ever heard.

Now on to the Rant

Next time I must remember to wipe my desk and the phone down.

Both phones should be available from Sprint pretty soon.

Yesterday at&t announced it would have available the new Sony Ericsson W760a Walkman Mobile Phone which will support their 3G network. This marks the first time that a Sony Ericsson Walkman 3G phone is available in the US.

“We’re excited to offer a full portfolio of Walkman™ devices at a variety of price points for a broad range of users and are excited about the continued growth of our relationship with AT&T,” said Najmi Jarwala, president of Sony Ericsson North America. “With the availability of the W760a Walkman™ phone, U.S. consumers now have a full range of Walkman™ devices to choose from that fit their budget, their style and meet their desire for mobile phones that provide a robust entertainment experience.”

The W760a is available now from at&t for $129 with a 2 year contract.

For more info on the W760 click here.

Today Columbus day, Research in Motion the makers of the Blackberry and Tmobile announced that the Blackberry Pearl Flip Phone, the first ever Blackberry Flip phone will be available in the us from T-Mobile. The Blakberry Pearl Flip Phone, has all the features you would find in a traditional Blackberry, but in the popular Flip phone design.

“The flip phone remains the vastly dominant and preferred design for mobile phones in the United States,” said Leslie Grandy, vice president of product development, T-Mobile USA. “Being the first company in the U.S. to offer the unique BlackBerry experience on a flip phone is a huge benefit for T-Mobile customers.”

The Blackberry Pearl Flip Phone will have built in wi-fi capabilities, which will allow users to use the T-Mobile@home service which gives them unlimited Wi-Fi calling..

The phone is available now at T-Mobile.com and T-Mobile Stores.

Key features of the BlackBerry Pearl Flip from T-Mobile include the following**:

First BlackBerry smartphone to offer popular flip design
Wi-Fi-enabled (802.11 b/g) supporting Wi-Fi calling and fast Web browsing
Support for Unlimited HotSpot Calling, offering unlimited nationwide calling over accessible Wi-Fi networks
T-Mobile’s myFavesSM support to stay in touch with those who matter most, with quick, one-click access for instant messaging, e-mailing, texting or calling to your Fave 5SM from the Home Screen
Enhanced SureType® keyboard to support text messaging, picture messaging, instant messaging (six popular clients), personal e-mail (access up to 10 supported e-mail accounts), and corporate e-mail
2.0 megapixel camera with digital zoom, built-in flash and video recording (requires microSD card)
Advanced media player for pictures, music and video with full-screen video playback
Stereo Bluetooth® support (A2DP/AVRCP) and 3.5mm stereo headset jack
Media management software included on the BlackBerry Tools CD, which allows transfer of music files including sync of desktop iTunes music files***
Enhanced HTML browser for high-performance browsing with a more desktop-style depiction
Internal QVGA 2.4-inch diagonal screen, 320 x 240 pixels and supporting 65K colors
128 MB of flash memory, 256 MB microSD card included, and support for up to a 16 GB microSD/SDHC card
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE/Wi-Fi network including support for international roaming
Dimensions: 3.9” x 1.96” x 0.68”
Weight: 3.6 oz

Jawbones new headset is a lot thinner than the previous version, and a lot more comfortable too. I have been using it for nearly 2 and a half weeks and I have been happy with it.

As I said in the unboxing post, I became a fan of Jawbone when the original first came out, because it literally was the best Bluetooth headset on the market. It was also probably the biggest.  But time has changed and the Jawbone has shed some weight.

It’s new thinner self still has that sleek elegant design the original had just a bit more compact, I actually prefer the thinner versions look over the bigger original, however my friend John prefers the bigger one.

Since the new Jawbone is so much smaller than the original and so much lighter in weight it is very comfortable on your ear, and at times it doesn’t even feel like it is there. With the original Jawbone my inner ear would sometimes begin to hurt, but I don’t have that problem with the new Jawbone.

But smaller doesn’t necessarily mean not as good as the original, because if may even be better.

To put the noise cancelation technology which is the same as the original to the test, I hoped onto an elevated Subway train here in NYC and while the train rolled down the tracking making its infamous clickity clack sound, I spoke with my mom and a few of my friends and none of them complained about not being able to hear me.

Nor was I complaining that I could not hear them, they came in loud and clear, I also didn’t feel as if I needed to raise my voice for them to hear me.

So why is it called a Jawbone? It is a rather easy explanation. It’s called Jawbone because the headset has a piece of white plastic that rest on your jawbone. This piece of plastic essentially measures the vibrations and is able to block out sounds that you do not make. This gives the jawbone one of the best noise cancelation systems around.

Overall the New Jawbone is great, and it comes in three colors, Blah Blah Black, Sliver Tongue, and Goldy Lips.

The Black and Silver retail for $129.99, I was told the Gold would sell for $149.99 but it is available on the Jawbone website for $129.99 also, not sure if that is a temporary or permanent price.

The Jawbone is so great we have decided to award it our 5 Star Kick Ass award!

For more information on th Jawbone headset visit: http://www.jawbone.com

With G1 the Google Android phone set to launch later this month, a lot of people are wondering can T-Mobile handle the onslaught of new subscribers, and will new subscribers enjoy the t-mobile service?

While I can’t tell you how well the service is around the US, I do have specific knowledge of the NYC area service as I live in NYC.

I personally have been a T-Mobile customer for nearly 2 years, signed up with them after a bad experience with at&t. But after being a T-Mobile customer for 2 to 3 months something bad happened.

A little less than 12 months ago something I started to notice a decline in the quality of my service. The was weird, you could be standing still with 5 Signal Bars and then all of a sudden you had no service. If you were in Manhattan your service was spotty at best. Your phone would beep with missed call alerts but your phone never rang. Calls would drop, or get crossed. I remember answering my phone once to hear some women yelling at me in Spanish.

I thought it was my phone going bad and even took it to a T-Mobile store to get checked, but then friends and business associates began complaining, so I knew it wasn’t just me. I remember once Microsoft was having a huge event on the west side of Manhattan and no one was getting T-Mobile service, not even the Wagner Edstrom Employees in fact it was so bad that Wagner Edstrom Employees and Edelman Employees were sharing each other’s phones. If you don’t know who these two companies are you probably don’t understand how amazing it was to witness that.

It was so bad that I honestly considered switching, but I was only a few months into my contact and I did not want to pay an ETF especially after paying one to get out of my at&t contract.
So I dealt with it, and maybe 2 to 3 months after the problems were at their worst, I get a little email in my inbox from T-Mobile. The email said they recently added a new tower in my area. Then a week later another, and another and since then the T-Mobiles service improved. It improved so much that I no longer wanted out. I was happy again.

Just recently I would say a little more than a month now; I have even been getting periodic 3G service with killer download speeds.
So I recently spoke with a T-Mobile Spokesperson and I asked what T-Mobile has done in the NYC area specifically to improve service?

I was simply told that they identified trouble spots and added more towers, and that they will continue to do so to make sure the network remains in the state it is in.
While the Spokesperson for T-Mobile did not acknowledge the bad service a year ago, I kind of got the feeling they wanted to prevent that from happening again, especially with the G1 on the horizon.

I then asked, with the 3G network being available in some major cities what phones are currently available to use the 3G network?

T-Mobile said “T-Mobile’s UMTS/HSDPA high-speed data network is currently available across 20 major metropolitan markets: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York (including northern New Jersey and Long Island), Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. T-Mobile plans to expand its service by the end of October to additional markets, including Memphis, Sacramento and Tampa. An additional four markets — Birmingham, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City— are expected to have the network available before the end of the year, increasing the number of markets with T-Mobile’s 3G network to 27 markets. The planned expansion is expected to deliver T-Mobile 3G services to more than two-thirds of T-Mobile’s current data customers, with meaningful expansion to additional customers and markets through.

T-Mobile is currently selling four handsets that make calls on both our current GSM network and our new 3G network. Similar to the experience with Wi-Fi and GSM handsets, these phones automatically connect with the best available network—3G or GSM. Customers using one of today’s 3G-capable handsets will experience a faster response for t-zones and downloading content. As of August 2008, T-Mobile’s 3G-capable handsets in 3G markets include Nokia 6263, Samsung t639, Samsung t819 and Nokia 3555, as well as the first HSDPA device - the Sony Ericsson TM506. We are anticipating the retail availability of the T-Mobile G1, also 3G compatible, later this month.”

I then asked, will customers who buy the G1 outside of the 3G network be notified that they will not experience the full potential of the 3G network?

The T-Mobile Spokesperson replied “Because customers will have the best data experience when using the device over our new 3G network, and because the mobile Web experience is so central to the device capabilities, we’ve chosen to promote and sell the phone at retail only in those markets where 3G is available.  Of course, if customers in other markets would like to purchase and use the phone they can purchase it online at www.t-mobileg1.com.  Customers can use our personal coverage check website to find out about T-Mobile coverage where it matters most to them.”

That really didn’t answer my question but que sera sera.

So G1 Customers, while I personally am not excited about the arrival of the G1, I do think you will enjoy the T-Mobile network at least in the NYC area. But if NYC is to serve as an example the rest of the country is only going to see good things from T-Mobile.

RIM (Research in Motion) the maker of the Blackberry has announced that the Blackberry Storm a touch screen Blackberry wil be available later this fall from Verizon in the US and Vodafone in Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand.

There is no exact date when Verizon r Vodafone will hae the Storm, but it should be soon.

According to research released today by MultiMedia Intellegence Hispanic teens in the US are more likely to use advanced telephony functions than other US teens with the exception of the camera function on the phone. (Which is weird as I am Hispanic and know a lot of Hispanic teens who love taking pictures on their phones)

“Teens overall are a critical wireless market segment, as initial subscriber and handset relationships can establish lifelong purchasing patterns,” according to Frank Dickson, Chief Research Officer for MultiMedia Intelligence. “Within the teen segment, Hispanic teens have unique wireless usage characteristics.”

The study which was conducted on Hispanic teens ages 12 - 17 found that by the age of 15, penetration of wireless services among US Hispanic teens is 64% - by the age of 17, the penetration rate rises to 78%.

For more information on the study click here.