Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile sets new standard in low cost smartphones
January 31, 2011: 1:00 AM ETThe LG Optimus V is now showing up at some Radio Shacks on Virgin's network for only $149.
I called Virgin Mobile's data plan the best Smartphone plan on the planet last year. As far as I can see, no other carriers have yet come close to Virgin's $25/ month after tax, unlimited data, unlimited texts and 300 anytime minutes per month plans. I have a hard time putting together a plan that costs even double that much, especially with unlimited data, which isn't always available.
Virgin Wireless USA is a wholly-owned Sprint(S) subsidiary and Virgin devices ride on Sprint's 3G network. Virgin deals exclusively in prepaid plans, which means that the buyer is responsible for the price of the phone (no subsidies). Luckily, Virgin would sell you a midrange phone called the Samsung's Intercept for $249 (or slightly less).
The price of getting an Android phone just dropped $100 on Virgin's network with the Optimus V, a cheaper Android phone without the Intercept's hardware keyboard but a nicer screen and a thinner profile ...and a better OS. More
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More talk of smartphones diving into featurephone ground
...and Google is well positioned to get this un-tapped market.
The talk this week will be of AT&T (T) iPhone users moving over to Verizon (VZ), but the bigger trend for 2011 will be the migration of featurephone users to inexpensive smartphones with cheap, limited data plans. Along with inexpensive phones, data plans need to drop.
The WSJ caught this trend at CES:
During the holidays, Verizon Wireless offered a cheaper smartphone data MORE
Seth Weintraub - Jan 8, 2011 1:16 PM ET -
Andy Rubin: Android 'Perfect Storm' brewing in emerging markets
The falling prices of handsets and the buildout of advanced mobile networks will help Android grow at unprecedented rates in the developing world, according to Google's head of Android.
Andy Rubin tweeted last week that Google (GOOG) was activating 300,000 Android phones a day. That number reflects incredible growth in a year that started with a tenth as many activations. At 300,000 phones/day, Google is on track to activate over 110 million MORE
Seth Weintraub - Dec 14, 2010 10:25 AM ETPosted in: AAPL, Android, AndyRubin, Apple, Eric E. Schmidt, Financial Times, GOOG, Google, iPhone, Virgin Mobile -
Today in Tech: News around the Web
Every day, the Fortune staff spends hours poring over tech stories, posts, and reviews from all over the Web to keep tabs on the companies that matter. We've assembled the day's most newsworthy bits below.
Comcast lost 275,000 basic cable subscribers during the company's third quarter, attributing the loss to the economy, the housing crunch and competition. Despite that, the company reported third quarter revenues of $5.91 billion, up 7% from a year MORE JP Mangalindan, Writer - Oct 28, 2010 6:00 AM ET -
Virgin Mobile has the best smartphone deal on the planet
How does an Android 2.1 Qwerty slider with unlimited texts and Internet for $25/month after taxes sound to you?
Virgin Mobile offers the best smartphone plan I've ever seen...by a long shot. If you pay the full price ($249) for a cheaper Samsung Intercept phone, you can jump on Virgin Mobile's $25/month everything pre-paid with 300 anytime minutes. The plan comes with Unlimited Messaging, Email & Web.
Yep, that's it. Finding a MORE
Seth Weintraub - Oct 27, 2010 3:29 PM ETPosted in: Samsung Intercept, Virgin Mobile -
Nokia's 'iPhone killer' a 2009 event
By Scott Moritz
With touchscreen phones all the rage, and U.S. telcos following AT&T's (T) lead of cutting the price of Apple's (AAPL) iPhone, it would seem Nokia (NOK) will be left out of the smartphone party this year.
The Finnish phone giant won't have its closely-watched 5800 phone - Nokia's music-loaded take on the iPhone - available here until sometime in the first half of next year, according to people familiar with the phone. MORE
smoritz - Oct 16, 2008 4:28 PM ETPosted in: Android, Apple, AT&T, BlackBerry, Broadcom, Google, Internet, iPhone, Mobile, Motorola, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, Smartphones, Sony Ericsson, T-Mobile, Verizon, Virgin Mobile -
T-Mobile's Google phone may offer free e-mail
By Scott Moritz
Android lands at T-Mobile Tuesday, and as part of the effort to deliver the Google phone to the mobile market, T-Mobile is considering including free e-mail access.
The new Android-powered phone will have Google's (GOOG) Gmail service built in, and T-Mobile executives are considering offering access to Gmail free, without the need for a data plan, says one person close to the discussions.
The HTC-manufactured T-Mobile phone will be the first of the hotly-anticipated Android-operated handsets, and one MORE
smoritz - Sep 22, 2008 3:05 PM ETPosted in: Android, AOL, Apple, AT&T, BlackBerry, e-mail, Google, Hulu, Internet, iPhone, Microsoft, Microsoft-Yahoo, Mobile, Research in Motion, Samsung, Sidekick, Sony Ericsson, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, Virgin Mobile, Vodaphone, Yahoo -
A bare-bones BlackBerry knockoff
By Michal Lev-Ram
As cameras, MP3 players and text messaging become must-haves on cell phones, one startup is bucking the trend by going back to the basics.
Peek, a New York-based company, will soon launch a mobile device that has only one function – e-mail. In other words, the bare-bones gadget doesn't take pictures, come with flashy graphics or even make calls. Given that you'll still have to carry a cell MORE
Michal Lev-Ram, writer - Sep 2, 2008 2:29 PM ET
