New cellphone has PC’s power
The chasm between smart phones – cellphones chock-full of computing features – and laptops is closing fast. The new T-Mobile MDA, a cellphone powered by Windows Mobile 5.0, has so many features you may just leave that laptop at home.
At 5.6 ounces, the MDA runs on T-Mobile’s GSM network, supports four international cellular frequencies and can connect to newer, GSM-based EDGE networks. It also has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology for tapping into wireless hot spots, including T-Mobile’s international hot spot network. The MDA, which will sell for about $400, has a 1.3-megapixel camera with flash, an MP3 player and a MiniSD card slot. It comes with a 2.8-inch color touch screen, a slide-out keyboard for messaging, a stylus and ear buds.
– John Biggs, The New York Times
HughesNet delivers Web by satellite
Hughes Communications has decided there’s a business in providing Internet access to as many as 15 million households that can’t readily be serviced by cable and telephone companies. Its broadband-by-satellite service has been renamed HughesNet.
“We’re seeing a market that will pay what we need to be paid in order to make an economic case for the business,” Pradman Kaul, the company’s chief executive, told The Washington Post.
HughesNet.com indicates monthly service will cost about $60. Previously Hughes was best known for its DirecTV business, which was bought by News Corp. Hughes has continued to provide broadband satellite networks and services to businesses and now plans a push to service consumers in rural and remote parts of the country and Puerto Rico.
– Frank Barnako, MarketWatch
