Thanks to Rearden Commerce and The ACTE Global for setting this up. It’s a rather interesting topic on how people are using their mobile for a variety of business activities while traveling and needing everything in the palm of their hand. All the details are below.
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Well, the Blackberry Storm has been out for almost 7 months and there has been some intense speculation about the next one coming. In the mean time, I got confirmation from a friend and seeing it myself that you absolutely can Subsidy Unlock the Verizon Blackberry Storm. The instructions can be found here.
The more amazing thing in looking more carefully at the specifications, is that the device is truly a global handset:
Radio Technology Supported (Mhz)
CDMA: 800/1900
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900
UMTS: 2100
(no 1700 Mhz T-Mobile USA 3G support)
One small thing to note is that in the United States, this phone will only work on EDGE and not 3G. The only thing missing that I hope will be addressed in the Storm 2 will be WiFi connectivity and possibly the ability for PC Tethering (in order to use the device as a modem). Currently, Verizon Wireless allows broadband tethering for a monthly fee (currently $15.00/month). Aside from the Lifestyle applications that get a lot of the hype from Apple and the iPhone, the Blackberry has a stable software platform and battery life and communication services (email, texting, etc) are rock solid.
This phone is perhaps as close as you can get to true global coverage, aside from a Sat Phone.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Carl Guido Kirchoff, Managing Director of the Americas at United Mobile. For those who are unfamiliar with what they do, here is a brief description. United Mobile is a licensed MVNO providing worldwide mobile communication services with its own network infrastructure and international SIM card. Users can save up to 80% on voice and data roaming when on travel. The service provides free incoming calls on the cell phone in over 80 countries and outgoing calls from $ 0.45/min worldwide. The prepaid SIM card requires no contract nor a minimum fee. It is available for mobile internet with rates as from only $ 1.59/MB.
I would like to thank them for sponsoring the CTIA Party Page list on Mobileslate, they have gotten a lot of impressions from their sponsorship!
So you might be thinking, “Eric! Why are you talking to an MVNO? Isn’t that over and done?” Well, over the years, and frequently traveling internationally for both business and leisure, I like staying in touch with family and friends, but also being budget conscience, given the depressed US dollar. After speaking with Carl, United Mobile is more than just trying to accelerate to one million subscribers as fast as possible, it’s also trying to enable global travelers to save money.
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Time in a Bottle was a hit song by Jim Croce in the 70’s. Maybe his inspiration came from atomic clocks instead of his newborn son? Not likely.
I recently had an interview with Symmetricom and the topic was about time. Mobile carriers heavily advertise minute plans to feed our hunger to talk on the mobile phone. But a dirty little secret that is cause for alarming is their approach for managing time. For the purposes on billing and logging all of those minutes that all of us consume each month, it’s critical that mobile operators get it right. It’s also of great concern to the subscriber as well.
