Mobility Watch

Intel isn’t just showing off its new Atom hotness at IDF Beijing, they also pulled out a previously unseen MID from previous non-player BYD. Codenamed Mars, the MID runs an Atom processor in a clamshell form factor, with a full Windows XP install and QWERTY keyboard. On the back of the lid there’s a regular phone keypad and secondary screen.

Video of the Intel MID presentation held at IDF Beijing this week has been released, complete with prototypes of some of the devices to be powered by the latest - and future - Atom processors. Intel’s press release [PDF link] from the event covers the new devices, which include a Menlow-based clamshell smartphone.

From the Press Release: Support for Windows* 7 and Moblin v2.0 on Intel Atom Processor based MIDs and Netbooks — Intel Atom processor-based MIDs and Netbooks will support Windows* 7 Starter and Basic editions in the second half of this year in addition to support for Windows* XP Home and Windows* Vista Basic. For Linux, Chandrasekher mentioned that both MIDs and netbooks will be moving to Moblin v2.0 from Moblin v1 today.
 Intel Showcases Next-Generation “Moorestown” Platform — Chandrasekher discussed the progress of Intel’s next-generation MID platform, codenamed “Moorestown,” scheduled to launch by 2010. He indicated that the platform is hitting all the milestones and demonstrated greater than 10x platform idle power reduction.
o Moorestown consists of a System on Chip (codenamed “Lincroft”) that integrates a 45nm Intel® Atom™ processor core, graphics, video and memory controller. The MID platform also includes an input/output (I/O) hub, codenamed “Langwell,” that includes a range of I/O blocks and supports various wireless solutions.
o The Moorestown platform will be accompanied by a newer Moblin software version, Moblin v2.0, that is based on the Linux operating system. This software is designed specifically to deliver a great PC-like Internet experience while also supporting cellular voice capabilities.

From engadget: The past few days have seen the alleged leaks of a couple batches of Windows Mobile 7 screenshots, suggesting Microsoft’s already hard at work on the successor to 6.5 — something we’ve heard in the past, and given the state of 6.x, a rumor that isn’t difficult to believe. To say the leaks look sketchy, though, would be an understatement; most prominently, none of them match, with different styling elements applied to every capture. Best case, we figure these are mockups — not functional shots from an actual device or an emulator, but early, off-the-cuff stabs at a design language from a usability expert’s late-night Illustrator session somewhere deep within Redmond. We like some of what we’re seeing — there are definitely at least a few elements here that look thoroughly modern — but if there’s any basis in reality to these, we’re worried about the ill-conceived idea of putting battery strength and volume (or signal strength, depending on the shot) at the bottom of the display. Needless to say, there are very good reasons that kind of information gets consolidated to the top, not the least of which is that your thumbs aren’t transparent. At least ours aren’t, and if yours are, you should probably get that looked at.

Microsoft never cared about transitions before, but it looks like Windows Mobile 7 will be different.

There’s also a part talking about allowing the user to “doodle” on the screen (their word, not mine), letting users draw doodles on the device lock screen, as well as shake the screen to affect the wallpaper (like making water run, or blurring an image). The iPhone’s lock screen is an iconic part of the device, and Microsoft wants to have a cool lock screen without copying Apple, so the plan is to give you fun things to do on the lock screen.

WaySight is relatively small (under three pounds), and can be used to sight the robot either by selecting GPS waypoints via laser range finder in real time, or — if the GPS is unavailable — by sighting the robot and then the waypoint in relation to it. If the operator doesn’t find any of that appealing, the unit can be used to steer the robot using the unit’s built in accelerometer. The unit has a range of up to 400 meters. The AutoNav-Mini, which is installed on the robot, features a GPS unit, low level obstacle avoidance and detection sensors, laser range finder, radar, and more.

The WaySight is a handheld monocular device with built-in sensors and wireless communications that is used for localizing and commanding a target waypoint to an Unmanned System. The operator sights a target, such as a suspected IED, by placing the WaySight crosshairs on a nearby navigation target. Once sighted, the operator depresses a button on the WaySight and the target waypoints are wirelessly transmitted to a JAUS (Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems) mission planner such as the TORC AutonoNav. Also watch this episode: AutonoNav-Mini. For more information, go to: TORC Technologies.

Andrew Culhane from TORC technologies demonstrates their AutonoNav-Mini, a pared down version of their AutonoNav autonomous navigation system for unmanned vehicles. Key features of the AutonoNav include optimized route planning, motion planning parameters entered via web-based interface, interfaces with common sensors such as LiDAR and GPS systems, and fully JAUS (Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems) interoperability with other JAUS compliant products.

Cell Carriers are roundly unenthusiastic about Dell Smartphones.

From Gizmodo: According to analyst Shaw Wu, Dell submitted two prototype smartphones for feedback from the carriers, and both were roundly rejected. Why? Well, turns out “Dell-like” is a legitimate adjective, and not necessarily a nice one.

The phones, apparently identical besides OS (one runs Windows Mobile, one Android) were accused of lacking differentiation from competing offerings from HTC, LG, Samsung, Nokia, and others. It takes a lot to get a carrier excited about a phone; Palm had to pretty much make their entire existing line obsolete to get some buzz, and the market is flooded with ho-hum WinMo devices. Dell remains undeterred, however, and is still plugging away, trying to break into the lucrative market. Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Brothers, asserts that Dell is going back to the drawing board to come up with something a little sharper.

From Macworld:

Dell last year tapped former Motorola executive Ron Garriques to be the new president of Dell’s global consumer division, which could suggest that Dell is working on some form of a smartphone, Mawston said. Last year, Dell CEO Michael Dell said Garriques was chosen for the job partly because he had led Motorola’s PCS (personal communications services) division for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as Motorola’s US$28 billion handset division.

The smartphone will be an effective replacement for Dell’s previous Axim personal digital assistants that it killed last year, citing a declining market for pen-based PDAs. Dell’s Axim product portfolio was weak with not many devices on offer, Mawston said. The company needs a replacement for Axim, and the new smartphone could fill that void.

A new smartphone will also create a new revenue stream for Dell, and the company’s move away from a direct sales model could help in sales, Mawston said.

Dude, would YOU get a Dell?

After the RAmos T8 and T9 comes the T10 dubbed iKiss. The T10 iKiss is another HD PMP supporting 1080i mode. It looks like this PMP will do everything you need a video player to do with playback for MPGDAT, TS, VOB, AVI, RMVB, MKV, ASF, FLV, MPEG2, RealMedia Xvid, Divx, H264. RAmos is developing encoding software that will play all of these formats automatically. It will be equipped with a USB 2.0.

The T10 uses the Texas Instruments Davinchi processor, a first for any Chinese MP4 player. The T10 will be able to play very high resolution videos, including MKV and H.264 format videos. Sadly the above image shows that although the chip maybe powerful, the GUI maybe lacking, lets hope this changes before its released.

The RAmos T10 is expected to be released in China in April 2009 for around $117 for the 8GB version, no word on pricing or when (and if) we’ll see it in the US.

themp3players have this to say:

China-based tech portal recently received an engineering sample of RAmos MUMU T10 to be reviewed. The new T10 is powered by Texas Instruments DaVinci ARM processor. It features a 4.3″ 800 x 480 LCD display. Unlike previous T8 and T9, this is not a multi touch screen.

With the powerful TI DaVinci, T10 is capable to playback various video format, including MKV, WMV @ 720p, XVID, DIVX, VC-1, AVC, Mpeg2, Mpeg4, VOB, Mov and also RMVB. Besides, it also supports H.264 encoded movie, just like Apple iPod and Sony PSP do.

It is expected to add in remote control and TV-out when it is official. The price tag for 8GB version is speculated to be RMB799 or approx. US$117.

Slowly but surely, Cowon has been issuing firmware updates to make its sleek S9 PMP the music player it ought to be. According to a recent leak of the v2.10 beta, it’s about to become even more formidable a rival. Reportedly, the forthcoming update — which can be downloaded now for those kosher with all things beta — adds in support for widgets, WMV7/8, pitch correction, full screen mode in TV-out and color tags for subtitles.

What’s New in Firmware 2.10 (for iAUDIO X5)

New Features

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More language support Menu / Tag
Resume feature for movie file

What’s New in Firmware 2.10 beta 7 (for iAUDIO X5)

Bug Fixes

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‘No License to Play’ warning may appear during music playing, has been fixed.
Problem with USB 1.1 protocol has been fixed.

Note

If you are have trouble with pc recognition from the USB host port, please try playing a file before plugging the usb cable into the X5’s USB host port.

[Warning]

This firmware is in its beta stage and provided as is, therefore, please note that we don’t provide technical support by phone for this beta firmware.

Video
(Touchscreen) Display 16million colors, 3.3″ 16:9 Wide AMOLED, 480×272
Feature Capacitive touchscreen interface

Audio Channel Stereo
Frequency range 20Hz ~ 20KHz
Max output Stereo, Left 29mW + Right 29mW (16 Ohm earphones)
S/N ratio 95dB

Power Battery Built-in rechargeable lithium polymer battery
Battery charging USB : About 5 Hours ( under condition of 5V/500mA or higher)
USB Power Adapter 1 : About 3 Hours ( under condition of 5V/1.0 A or higher)

Capacity Flash memory 4GB/8GB/16GB, FAT32 file system 2

USB interface USB device USB 2.0 High Speed

Bluetooth Version Bluetooth ver. 2.0 + EDR
Profile A2DP, AVRCP Profile

FM radio Frequency range 87.5~108 MHz (KR,US,EU), 76~108 MHz (JP)

AV OUT Video Composite
Audio Stereo
TV system NTSC / PAL

Button 6 Buttons POWER&HOLD Switch, FF, REW, VOL+, VOL-, PLAY

General Size 2.2(W) x 4.17(H) x 0.5(T) inch
Weight 2.7oz (battery included)
Operating temperature 0℃ ~ 40℃
G-Sensor Auto pivot support

System
requirements CPU Pentium III 500Mhz or higher
OS Windows Vista/ XP / 2000 / ME
MAC OS 10.X/ Linux v2.4 or higher (support only for data transfer)
USB port USB 2.0 High Speed recommended.

From Engadget:

2008 marked the end for many a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), most going under in a flood of bankruptcies or getting consumed but their parent networks. It sure seems like no company in its right mind would want to wade back into that graveyard, but Zer01 is thinking differently, pledging to launch a new network within a network next month at CTIA 2009. Its services will be provided by AT&T, but it’ll undercut the competition with a combination of a $69.95 monthly unlimited voice and data plan and a complete lack of contracts, as well as unlimited international calling (to 40 countries) for just an extra $10.

Slashgear has this additional info:

2008 marked the end for many a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), most going under in a flood of bankruptcies or getting consumed but their parent networks. It sure seems like no company in its right mind would want to wade back into that graveyard, but Zer01 is thinking differently, pledging to launch a new network within a network next month at CTIA 2009. Its services will be provided by AT&T, but it’ll undercut the competition with a combination of a $69.95 monthly unlimited voice and data plan and a complete lack of contracts, as well as unlimited international calling (to 40 countries) for just an extra $10.

Sounds very intriguing. If it’s going to be on ATT’s network, will ATT tack on fees or let Zer01 keep the no-contract service. Lots of details to be ironed out for sure. Is this a service you would be interested in?

From Engadget:

Clearwire has committed to a list of new mobile WiMAX launches for this year and next — and needless to say, there are some major markets in the mix. In its earnings call this week, Clearwire revealed 2009 will see Atlanta, Las Vegas, Chicago, Charlotte, Dallas / Fort Worth, Honolulu, Philadelphia, and Seattle all take the plunge, while ‘10 will add New York, Washington DC, Boston, and San Fran (among other to-be-named metros). We’re not sure whether they’re talking about the same U300 USB modem that launched before, but the company has also mentioned that it’ll be launching a dual-mode data card this summer, and ahead of that, we’ll be getting that portable WiMAX WiFi hotspot by the end of this month. The goal is to cover about 120 million pops in 80 markets by the end of next year, which certainly seems strong enough to give the oncoming LTE rush a run for its money.

General news about the expansion:

Clearwire previously has said it is receiving a $3.2 billion investment from Comcast (CMCSA), Intel Capital, Time Warner Cable (TWC), Google (GOOG), and Bright House Networks, as well as an additional investment from Trilogy Equity Partners in the coming months. In a statement, Clearwire CEO Benjamin G. Wolff, said:

As we roll out our network across the country, people will no longer have to make the choice between speed and mobility. We are bringing a new mobile Internet experience to customers at speeds previously relegated to fixed locations. With significant spectrum holdings yielding unmatched network capacity, a next-generation all-IP network, and an open Internet business model, Clearwire will deliver a simple value proposition aimed to improve productivity and make the Internet experience more enjoyable, wherever our customers happen to be.

Despite the current economic uncertainty for consumers and businesses, the company said an investment in a wireless infrastructure now will help spark innovative uses of the speeds and technology for the future. Clearwire Chairman Craig O. McCaw called it “an opportunity to do something right the first time, with simplicity and incredible efficiencies… This is far and away the most exciting opportunity in wireless I have seen since the beginning of cellular in 1983.”

The Touch Book is an ARM-powered netbook that weighs less than two pounds and claims battery life of 10 to 15 hours, but the real magic happens with the removable screen — it slides right out of its keyboard dock and acts as a fully functional touchscreen tablet.

When docked, the screen can lay out flat, and the keyboard can even be folded all the way under into an “inverted V” shape. There are other oddities like internal USB plugs to cut down on dongle mess, and the whole screen is magnetic for mounting on a fridge. The machine is running a Linux OS with a touchable 3D UI. The only press shots right now are these sketchy-looking renders, but Always Innovating is currently previewing the Touch Book at DEMO 09 in California, and plans to ship in Spring of this year with a starting pricetag of $299.

Spearheaded by Gregoire Gentil, the man behind the Zonbu Desktop and Laptop, the Touch Book is his latest project, and a promising one at that. Gentil says the Touch Book’s hardware and software are fully open source and ready for modifications. While the device will come preloaded with a custom Touch Book OS, Gentil says this machine is capable of running mobile operating systems such as Android or Windows CE.

The Touch Book is the first netbook powered by a 600 MHz TI OMAP3 processor (built around ARM technology), 256 MB RAM, 3-axis accelerometer, an 8-gigabyte microSD card for storage and two batteries providing up to 15 hours of usage between charges. The 8.9-inch screen can display resolutions up to 1024×768 and uses a resistive touch panel.There’s also the usual offerings of 802.11b/g/n wi-fi and Bluetooth.

As a standalone tablet, the Touch Book is roughly 9.5″x7″x1″ and weighs about a pound. When docked to the keyboard, it is about 1.4-inches thick and weighs 2 pounds. All of the Touch Book’s guts, except for one of the batteries, are housed in the tablet portion of the device, so that it’s fully functional while detatched from the keyboard.

Hearst has announced a new e-reader that is supposedly to ‘revolutionize’ print.

Hearst Corporation — which publishes iconic magazines including Cosmopolitan and Esquire along with the San Francisco Chronicle — will be launching its own wireless e-reader. While many may be quick to label this forthcoming device as a Kindle competitor, the concept behind this is far more elaborate than simply knocking Amazon from its perch. In an effort to “preserve the business model that has sustained newspapers and magazines” while moving forward with technology, Hearst is planning to ship a larger-than-usual reader (around the size of a standard sheet of paper), giving publishers (and advertisers, by extension) about the same amount of space as they’re used to when pushing out e-articles. Reports suggest that the device — which will do the monochrome thing until a color version debuts later — could land as early as this year, with Hearst & Friends planning to sell them to publishers and “take a cut of the revenue derived from selling magazines and newspapers on these devices.” No exaggeration here — this may be the biggest news we’ve heard for print media in years, not to mention the promise of an all-new e-reader for gadget nerds to swoon over.

Meanwhile, Amazon is coming out with a larger touch kindle 3 later this year. Kindle with a full 8.5″x11″ display. And according to DigiTimes, that Kindle still exists.

Sneakily tacked on a post about Amazon’s e-ink display manufacturer Prime View International, the publication states:

Amazon plans to launch a new generation of Kindle by the end of this year, which will be larger in size and equipped with touch functions, the sources said.

The fine folks over at Haier shows off mysterious “NetBooks,” Android phones

Haier’s offerings are always an adventure, and this year at MWC they didn’t disappoint. They were showing off an interesting assortment of MIDs, confusingly dubbed “NetBooks,” including a mini-laptop of sorts (left) that falls somewhere in the middle. Unfortunately, we’re totally short on specs, release dates or other sorts of relevant informations, so what you see is pretty much what you get. On a similar note, Haier had two Android-based devices at the show, dubbed the G1 and the G2, along with a BlackBerry 8900 look-alike.

There is almost no information about these Haier projects, other than what was unveiled at MWC.

Liliputing has this to say:

Chinese electronics maker Haier had an unnamed, unexplained netbook on display at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain last week. Engadget reports that there were no specs, release date information, or other details available. Just a netbook sitting in a display surrounded by mobile internet devices and cellphones.

The notebook appears to have a decent sized keyboard with large shift keys on the left and right sides. But there’s certainly a bit of room in the case on either side of the keyboard, whichmakes me wonder why the keyboard isn’t a little larger. And judging by the inclusion of a Windows key instead of a Home button, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that this puppy will ship with Windows XP.

Haier does have some unique products out on the market, like this Haier P7 Pen phone.

Asus T91 Netbook with touchscreen GUI Enters market.

Asus has been leading the charge in delivering portable netbook computers to the market. Now the company is continuing to stay ahead of the pack with a touch screen netbook that converts to a tablet PC in the T91.

The T91 comes with a swiveling 8.9″ touch screen monitor. It runs an Intel Atom Z520 processor with 1 GB of RAM built in. Asus built both solid state and hard drives into the T91 for a combined capacity of 52 GB.

Asus also included a few first-ever features in the T91. The netbook will be the first to offer both GPS and a TV tuner card built in.

The T91 will ship running Windows XP home and is expected to support Windows 7 once it’s released. Asus has stated that a Linux version is possible, but has not said definitively whether it will offer a Linux version.

Laptop Mag has this review:

Eee PC T91

The 8.9 inch T91 is one of the most compact Eee PCs we have seen to date and at an inch thick and 2 pounds it is smaller and lighter than the Eee PC 901. The model on display had a black glossy lid with the usual Eee branding on the center.

Under the hood is a pretty compact keyboard, but with different feeling keys than we have seen on any of the Eee PCs. In fact the keyboard is more akin to that on the ASUS N10. The trackpad was fairly wide for an 8.9 inch netbook from ASUS.

Of course, the real appeal here is the convertible touchscreen. The 180 degree rotatable hinge swivels the screen around; it did feel a bit wobbly but given the amount of people that had their paws on the prototype we will let this slide for now and hope the final product feels durable.

What is not present on the T91 is an accelerometer that would automatically rotate the screen when in tablet mode. Unlike the Convertible Classmate PC it will not rotate when put in a vertical position. To boot, there is no external button to rotate the screen orientation. We assume ASUS will have a software stack on the tablets that will allow for rotating.

The actual responsiveness of the 1024 x 600 resolution display to finger input was solid. We didn’t have to press too hard to open Windows Media Player from the desktop or move through the Start menu. We hope to get some more time during the show with a unit with closer to touch implementation. Apparently a stylus will be included but we didn’t get to test that.

Engadget brings us the latest slide cell, courtesy of ATT, a true successor to Pantech’s quirky Duo on AT&T. The Matrix PRO features HSDPA (up from UMTS), integrated GPS with AT&T Navigator, Bluetooth, a 2 megapixel cam, Video Share support, and Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard

This is pretty cool, sliding out two different ways, with two apparantly different keyboards on the same unit.

From PhoneScoop, the Stats:

Specs Compare side-by-side vs…
Modes GSM 850 / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900
WCDMA 850 / WCDMA 1900 / WCDMA 2100
Weight 5.34 oz (151 g)
Dimensions 4.2″ x 2″ x 0.9″ (107 x 51 x 22.9 mm)
Form Factor Slide
slides open two ways, for both number pad and QWERTY text keyboard
Internal Antenna
Battery Talk: 6 hours max. (360 minutes)
Standby: 288 hours max. (12 days)
1320 mAh LiIon
Display Type: LCD (Color TFT/TFD)
Resolution: 240 x 320 pixels (QVGA)
2.4″ diagonal
Colors: 262,144 (18-bit)
Platform / OS Windows Mobile Standard (Smartphone)
version 6.1
Processor 528 MHz ARM 11
Memory 54 MB (internal memory available to user for storage)
Phone Book Capacity shared memory
FCC ID JYCC820 » (Approved May 28, 2008)

Features Ungroup Features + Show Missing Features
GPS / Location Type: A-GPS
supports LBS / AT&T Navigator
Accessibility
Digital TTY/TDD Yes
Multiple Languages Languages Supported: English, Spanish
Alerts
Polyphonic Ringtones Yes
Ringer Profiles Yes
Vibrate Yes
Connectivity
Bluetooth Supported Profiles: HSP, HFP 1.5, DUN, FTP, OPP, PBA, A2DP, AVRC, BPP, BIP, PAN, HID, Sync
version 2.0+EDR
PC Sync Yes
USB Version: 2.0 High Speed

Contacts
Multiple Numbers per Name Yes
Picture ID Yes
Ringer ID Yes
Voice Dialing Type: Speaker-independent (automatic)
Customization
Custom Graphics Yes
Custom Ringtones Yes
Real-Music Ringers up to 300 KB
Data & Network
Data-Capable Yes
Flight Mode Yes
Packet Data Technology: HSDPA 3.6
WAP / Web Browser Browser Software: Internet Explorer Mobile
Input
Predictive Text Entry Technology: XT9
Side Keys Yes
Text Keyboard Layout: QWERTY
Memory
Memory Card Slot Card Type: microSD (TransFlash)
up to 32 GB
Messaging
Email Client Protocols Supported: Exchange with Direct Push, POP, IMAP, SMTP
supports attachments, including MS Office
MMS Yes
Text Messaging 2-Way: Yes
threaded
Music
Music Player Supported Formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC, 3GP, MP4, WMA, RealAudio
Photo & Video
Camera Resolution: 2+ megapixel
Streaming Video Protocol: H.263, H.264, MPEG4
Video Capture 15 fps, QCIF resolution (176 x 144 pixels)
Video Sharing Yes
Productivity
Alarm Yes
Calculator Yes
Calendar Yes
To-Do List Yes
Voice Memo Yes
Software
Games Yes
Java (J2ME) Version: MIDP 2.0
Voice
Speaker Phone Type: Full-duplex

Set to debut at Mobile World Conference, the Huawei i-Mo combines a 3G HSPA modem with a wi-fi router that gives your laptop mobile broadband access without having the dongle or extra wires attached.

Slashgear says i-Mo is roughly the size of a small keychain fob, and also has a microSD slot for data storage. If you would rather have a direct connection between your device and the internet, you can also connect via mini USB cable (7.2mbps down/5.6mbps up). The 802.11b/g wi-fi can also be used to give internet access to other gadgets at the same time.

This wifi modem looks remarkably like Helio’s Ocean 2 and approximately the same size. I wonder if you could get online on the Ocean with the iMo?

From Huawei’s Press Release:

Huawei’s latest innovation in broadband terminals, i-Mo provides a new level of convenience to its users. With i-Mo, you no longer need to carry a bulky Internet cable. The size of a small key chain, it fits in your pocket or wallet. You simply turn on the Wi-Fi switch and enjoy immediate access to a high speed HSPA network. i-Mo can automatically create group Internet access and individual Wi-Fi hot points for network digital equipment such as laptops, mobile phones, cameras, games consoles, and MP4 devices

But that’s not all. i-Mo supports plug-and-play and data transmission speeds up to 7.2 Mbps (downlink) and 5.76 Mbps (uplink). Music and videos can be uploaded or downloaded in seconds. With its built-in Micro SD card slot, i-Mo can also serve as a USB disk. All these features have been integrated into the smallest wireless modem in the world.

How? Easy: T-Mobile’s G1 is being repurposed as the HTC Dream down under — one of the phone’s rumored names prior to its original release, you might recall — featuring 2100MHz HSDPA, WiFi, and everything else you’ve come to know and love / hate about the world’s first retail Android device. It’ll launch February 16 on plans starting at $59 Australian (about $38) per month, so it’ll be pretty accessible.

CNET Australia has this to say about the rumored release:

There will be four Optus plans. The cheapest option will be the “yes” $59 internet cap with $350 included calls and texts as well as 500MB data. There is an additional handset charge of $51 per month for a 12-month contract and $15 per month for a 24-month contract.

The next step up is the “yes” $79 internet cap with $550 included calls and unlimited texts as well as 700MB data. The handset fees for 12- and 24-month contracts are $49 and $13 per month respectively.

The $99 “timeless” plan only includes unlimited calls and texts. Users need to pay $14.95 per month for a mobile internet pack of 1.5GB. Handset fees for 12- and 24-month contracts come out at $45 and $9 per month respectively.

The most premium plan for the Android phone is the $129 “timeless” internet plan with unlimited calls and texts and 3GB mobile data included. The additional cost for the handset for 12- and 24-month contracts are $39 and $3 per month respectively.

Customers won’t be able to buy the phone from Optus and migrate it to other networks, unless they are willing to enter a contract to do so. “We won’t be selling the phone outright being first in the market,” Optus acting MD consumer Michael Smith told gathered journalists. The phone will, however, not be locked to Optus once obtained on the contract.

If any of my Australian readers knows any details, please feel free to share in the comments.