SpinVox a voice-to-screen messaging service has announced today hat Cincinnati Bell Wireless will be the first provider in North America to offer its service, a partnership between the two companies was originally announced in Febuary but the launch tomorrow will be the first of its kind with a wireless provider.

What does theSpinVox service do? Well it converts your voicemail to text messages, so basically you end up with a transcript of your voicemail. Similar to Vonages Text service.

SpinVox will transform voice messaging for our customers,” said Jack Cassidy, president and chief executive officer, Cincinnati Bell Inc. “Our customers are looking for easier, simpler communications and that’s what we’re delivering with SpinVox. It’s an innovative product capability that allows individuals to stay connected and informed when their daily schedule may be too hectic to stop and listen to a voicemail message.”

The service will cost Cincinnati Bell Customers $4.99 a month.

Nokia today announce two newmid-rane handsets, the Nokia 6500 Classic and the Nokia 6500 slide.

The two phones were designed t fit perfectly into your hands, with large keys and ergonomically correct dimensions and surfaces.

“Nokia is a recognized trailblazer of the 3G revolution and a pioneer in the use of new and innovative materials for mobile phones. With the Nokia 6500 classic and Nokia 6500 slide, Nokia is skillfully combining these areas of expertise to deliver a compelling blend of design and technology at a mid-range price point,” said Peter Ropke, Senior Vice President, Broad Appeal Business Unit, Nokia. “While features like the aluminum “loop” structure of the Nokia 6500 classic or the Carl Zeiss optics found in the Nokia 6500 slide separate these devices from the pack, it is the skillful balance of features and style that will make them irresistible to customers.”

The Nokia 6500 Classic (Fact Sheet) is expected to be available in the 3rd quarter of 2007 and will cost 320 euros before taxes. The 6500 Slide (Fact Sheet) which features a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics should also be available in the 3rd quarter and is expected to cost 370 euros before taxes.

For more pictures of the phone visit our forums.

Nokia today introduced the Nokia 8600 Luna a gorgeous looking phone.

The melding of nearly opaque smoked glass with unique, soft-touch stainless steel makes the Nokia 8600 Luna as enchanting to behold as it is a joy to touch. Adding to its mysterious allure, a gentle keypad illumination pulsates from beneath the glass case while the phone awaits a call. Combined with the warmth of its glass and stainless steel body, this “heartbeat” transforms the Nokia 8600 Luna from an inanimate object into a trusted companion with an organic, virtually alive form. When a call does beckon, the signature slide movement is carefully balanced to smoothly raise the ergonomic keypad from within its glass cocoon.

“An obsession to every detail marked each step in the development process of the Nokia 8600 Luna. We took painstaking effort to ensure that the experience delivered by every surface - from the smoothness of glass against the face to the warmth of stainless steel in the palm to the superior tactile feedback of the keypad - would surpass any and all expectations,” said Heikki Norta, Senior Vice President, Mobile Phones, Nokia. “Even the name holds special significance. Much like the Nokia 8600 Luna that we named in her honor, Luna, the goddess of moonlight, was often represented by the Romans as a mysteriously captivating beauty encircled in a soft, yet radiant light.”

The 8600 Luna is expected to be available soon and will cost about 700 dollars before taxes.

For more info visit: http://www.nokia8600luna.com/ | Fact Sheet

Click discuss on our forums for my pictures.

Palm today announced the Palm® Foleo(TM), its first smartphone companion product. The Foleo mobile companion has a large screen and full-size keyboard with which to view and edit email and office documents residing on a smartphone, in essence turning your smartphone into a full fledged laptop.

“Foleo is the most exciting product I have ever worked on,” said Jeff Hawkins, founder of Palm, Inc. and the visionary behind the Foleo’s concept and definition. “Smartphones will be the most prevalent personal computers on the planet, ultimately able to do everything that desktop computers can do. However, there are times when people need a large screen and full-size keyboard. As smartphones get smaller, this need increases. The Foleo completes the picture, creating a mobile-computing system that sets a new standard in simplicity.”

The Palm Foleo will work with Palms Treo Smartphones running Palm OS and Windows Mobile. Palm also says that device should work with other Windows Mobile devices with little or no modifications.

Primary Capabilities and Attributes of the Foleo Mobile Companion:
One-button access to full-screen email
Instant on, instant off
Rapid access to various applications
10-inch screen and full-size keyboard
Web search and browsing via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi
Editors for Word, Excel and PowerPoint, plus a PDF viewer
Compact, stylish design that fits on an airline tray table
Lightweight at 2.5 pounds
Fast, simple and intuitive navigation
5-hour battery life
Linux OS for easy application development

Cody a member of our forums has brought to our attention that Bell Canada has recently launched Fab Five.

Fab Five from Bell Canada is similar to My5 from Rogers. The service allows for unlimited calling between 5 people of your choice no matter what their service provider is. But unlike My5 which allows unlimited texting between your 5 people, Fab Five will only give Bell Canada customers 100 text to each.

The offer in my opinion is pretty good, the Fab Five plans start at 25 dollars a month.

For more info about the Fab Five plans click here.

Verizon has announced that on May 28th it will begin selling the Blackberry 8830 World Edition Smartphone to its business customers via business sales channels and communications stores.

Verizon Wireless’ new Global BlackBerry service allows customers to place and receive voice calls from more than 150 countries and send and receive e-mails in the United States, Canada and more than 90 countries worldwide. With the Global BlackBerry service, Verizon Wireless customers receive the Global Support Pack, which includes a SIM card, a user reference guide and details on accessing the Global Help Desk for 24/7 customer support.

Video of the phone in action:

Does it bug you when you recieve a call on your cellphone and it says Unknown Caller along with the callers Number? Wouldn’t you like an Enhanced Caller ID feature that shows you the name of the person calling? I know I would.

Well Alltel has announced a new feature that will not display the name of the person calling, instead it will show the location they are calling from. It’s not exactly what we want but it’s a start.

The application used to do this is called City ID and it identifies the location of incoming phone numbers by displaying the city and state assigned to virtually any landline or wireless phone number in North America.

The application, initially available on the LG AX275, will be available on additional Alltel phones in the near future. At launch, Alltel Wireless is offering a free seven-day trial of City ID, and later devices will include a 15-day free trial. After the trial ends, the application will be available for a monthly charge of $1.99. The application is pre-installed on the phone in Alltel’s Axcess Shop, so no download is required.

I personally think this feature should be free.

T-Mobile today announced the imediate availability of the new T-Mobile Wing.

The T-Mobile Wing is designed to help customers master their busy personal and professional lives. Developed by High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC), the world’s leading provider of Microsoft Windows Mobile-based devices, the T-Mobile Wing has a blue soft-touch exterior, touch screen, and full, slide-out QWERTY keyboard—a great fit for customers seeking a powerful all-in-one device with an eye-catching design and enhanced ease of use.

In today’s hectic and fast-paced world, staying connected to those who matter most is not easy,” said Leslie Grandy, vice president, Product Development, T-Mobile USA. “With the T-Mobile Wing, customers have the freedom to choose how to communicate, whether it’s calling their loved ones, e-mailing with friends, or sharing presentations with a client from one of more than 8,000 T-Mobile HotSpot locations.”

The T-Mobile Wing is a Windows Mobile 6 phone.

“The T-Mobile Wing with Windows Mobile 6 helps people stay connected with friends, family and colleagues, whether they’re in the office or on the go,” said John O’Rourke, general manager, Mobile Communications Business, Microsoft Corp. “The T-Mobile Wing’s work and play features help people take their PC experience on the road with them, making sure they’re always in touch.”

Specs:
-- Compact, powerful smartphone with large external touch screen and stylus

-- Slide-out screen exposing full QWERTY keypad

-- Soft-touch exterior with deep blue color

-- Wi-Fi and EDGE-enabled high-speed Internet access

-- Full HTML Web browsing

-- Support for Microsoft Office Mobile enables document viewing and editing

-- Windows Live for Windows Mobile including Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Hotmail, Live Search, and Windows Live Spaces

-- Direct Push e-mail available with Exchange Server 2003 SP2 and later; Windows Live Hotmail also supports push mail

-- T-Mobile’s myFaves

-- Voice dialing, voice commands and voice recorder

-- Bluetooth connectivity

-- 2.0 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom

-- Video capture and playback music and video player

-- Micro SD memory card slot

-- 2.8-inch diagonal, 65,000 color screen with 240x320 pixels

-- 2.3 x 4.3 x 0.7 inches; 6.0 ounces

-- 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz

-- GSM/GPRS/EDGE/Wi-Fi

The T-Mobile Wing will be available exclusively to T-Mobile customers beginning May 22 at T-Mobile retail stores and online at http://www.t-mobile.com visit our forums for a picture.

Clear Channel Radio today announced the launch of a national roll out of customized mobile phone applications that further extends its local station brands and expands the platforms to which it is distributing content. The initiative kicks off in the largest DMA market in the U.S. with free (a) programs for popular New York radio stations WHTZ-FM Z100 (Contemporary Hits Radio), WAXQ-FM Q104.3 (Classic Rock), WKTU-FM 103.5 (Rhythmic Adult Contemporary), WWPR-FM Power 105.1 (Urban) and WLTW-FM 106.7 (Adult Contemporary). Clear Channel Radio expects to launch similar programs on up to 100 more of its radio stations by the end of 2008, beginning with stations in Salt Lake City and St. Louis in the next 60 days.

Users will be able to text the studio, participate in contest, make song request and make dedications Users will also be able to sign up for text alerts on music news and tune in times for studio performances.

“By making these applications available for free via any cellular phone carrier, Clear Channel Radio is monumentally expanding access to its growing mobile content portfolio,” said John Hogan, Chief Executive Officer of Clear Channel Radio. “Each application allows users to have an individualized, on-demand experience, which will strengthen listeners’ connection with their favorite radio stations.”

To get started, users simply text ‘JOIN’ to their station’s short code. (Z100 - 55100, Q104 - 41043, WKTU - 31035, Power 105 - 41051, WLTW - 41067). For additional information, log on to the sites below and enter the keyword MOBILE.

http://www.z100.com
http://www.ktu.com
http://www.q1043.com
http://www.power1051fm.com
http://www.1067newyork.com

Alltel has said it has signed a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners (“GSCP”), in a transaction valued at approximately $27.5 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement TPG and GS Capital Partner have agreed to pay $71.50 per share which represents a 23% premium over Alltel’s closing share price prior to media reports of a potential transaction published on December 29, 2006.

“This transaction delivers substantial and certain value to our shareholders while providing the company with long-term partners who share our commitment to our customers, employees and the communities we serve,” said Mr. Ford. “TPG and GSCP are long-term investors who are willing to make the investments necessary to continue to grow our wireless business in all of our markets. This transaction also ensures our customers can continue to rely on Alltel to deliver high-quality service and leading edge products and services.”

“Alltel is a great company with a terrific management team,” said Jim Coulter, founding partner, TPG. “We look forward to working with them to continue to grow one of the nation’s premier wireless providers.”

“Alltel has a long history of growth through strategic acquisitions, combined with a strong focus on customer service,” said Richard Friedman, head of the Merchant Banking Division at Goldman Sachs. “We are excited about this opportunity to partner with an exceptional management team to continue to support their strategies for growth.”

Alltel is the owner and operator of the nation’s largest wireless network and has over 12 million customers.