An Ignoble Experiment

2. AT&T to charge $10/month for LTE-equipped GM vehicles on shared data plans

T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) said its new "Simple Global" international plans have allowed customers to use their phones more while abroad, and offered some metrics around that international usage. The plans, which the carrier introduced at the end of October 2013, cut out international data roaming fees, though customers surf the web at slower speeds.

T-Mobile said that when traveling internationally, its customers have been calling three times more often, texting seven times more often and using 28 times more data than before. The company also said more than 2 million people have roamed, texted or called in a Simple Global country. Further, T-Mobile said that since the launch of Simple Global, 53 percent more of T-Mobile customers roam internationally than before in Simple Global countries.

T-Mobile said the most popular countries for roaming under the Simple Global plans include Mexico, Canada, Italy, Germany, Japan and South Korea. The plans cover 122 countries in the world.

However, T-Mobile was not immediately able to clarify its figures, and provide comparison numbers, in response to questions from FierceWireless.

Under the plans, T-Mobile's no-contract "Simple Choice" individual and business customers get unlimited data and texting in more 120 countries worldwide, and only pay 20 cents per minute for voice calls when roaming in the same countries. However, the data rates are capped at EDGE speeds of around 128 Kbps, though the company will offer various levels of speed boosts to customers who want faster speeds. The company prices those speed bumps at $15 for 100 MB per day; $25 for 200 MB per week or $50 for 500 MB for two weeks.

T-Mobile, which has historically lagged its larger Tier 1 competitors among business users, is hoping its international plans tap into frustrations subscribers have about using their phones internationally.

Last fall T-Mobile rolled out massive advertisements for the campaign in several major U.S. airports, including in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver and Los Angeles. The carrier also focused heavily on business travelers at JFK and LaGuardia airports in New York City.

According to a survey conducted by strategic consultancy Kelton Research, 88 percent of respondents reported being frustrated by the expenses and challenges of staying connected while abroad, T-Mobile said. Among customers of Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ), AT&T Mobility (NYSE: T) and Sprint (NYSE: S), nearly 20 percent leave their devices at home or never turn them on while travelling outside the U.S., the survey found. Another 40 percent turn off data roaming to avoid high costs, and another 20 percent say they would turn off data roaming if they knew how.

This survey was conducted by Kelton between April 25 and April 29, among 1,044 Americans ages 18 and over who have smartphones and have traveled internationally, using an email invitation and an online survey, and the survey had a margin of +/- 3 percentage points.

For more:
- see this release

This week's sponsor is GSMA.

By Phil Goldstein

Comment |

3. Motorola's Moto E, BlackBerry's Z3 take aim at low-cost smartphone market

AT&T Mobility (NYSE: T) will allow customers with an LTE-capable vehicle from General Motors to add the car as another device to their Mobile Share Value shared data plan for $10 per month, the same price as a tablet.

AT&T and GM also unveiled standalone pricing for new LTE-enabled OnStar service from GM, starting at $5 or $10 per month depending on whether the driver is an OnStar subscriber. The long-awaited pricing comes as more new LTE-equipped vehicles roll off production lines, many of them with connectivity enabled via AT&T.

Chris Penrose, AT&T's senior vice president of emerging devices, wrote in a company blog post that the Mobile Share Value pricing "gives AT&T customers the ultimate in flexibility. Additionally, customers may be able to pick standalone options from the auto manufacturer or from AT&T."

GM said the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu will be the first LTE-equipped GM vehicle, followed by more than 30 other Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles by the end of the year. GM said these vehicles will have a built-in Wi-Fi hotspot capable of pairing up to seven devices, as well as improved access to current OnStar safety and security services. The hotspot is on any time the car is on, GM said.

OnStar subscribers will get access to the following plans:

$5 per month: 200 MB of data per month
$15 per month: 1 GB
$30 per month: 3 GB
$50 per month: 5 GB

The pricing for non-OnStar subscribers is the same except the 200 MB plan costs $10 per month and the 1 GB plan costs $20.

GM is also letting customers buy one-time data packages. OnStar subscribers can get 250 MB of data for one day for $5 or 10 GB over the course of 12 months for $150. Non-OnStar subscribers can get 250 MB of data for one day for $5 or 10 GB over the course of 12 months for $200.

Audi AG's in-car LTE service, which is also powered by AT&T's network, starts at $99 for 5 GB over the course of six months. The companies also offer a longer-range plan that they say provides more value, at $499 for 30 GB of data over 30 months. The pricing works out to a little more than $16 per month for each plan, though the 30-month plan obviously comes with more data and a longer timeframe in which drivers can use it. The companies also said that all Audi A3 sedans equipped with the automaker's Audi Connect service will receive a free six-month trial period. Audi switched to AT&T after working with T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) as its U.S. wireless partner.

In January AT&T also announced it scored a new, multi-year exclusive agreement to "enable current and future Tesla vehicles in North America with high speed wireless connectivity."

For more:
- see this AT&T post
- see this GM release

Read more about: AT&T Mobility, OnStar
back to top

By Phil Goldstein

Comment |

4. Microsoft may start letting customers upgrade to Windows Phone 8.1 on June 24

Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) Motorola Mobility and BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) are both banking on the shift to lower-cost smartphones for growth, evidenced by the new phones they just unveiled aimed at the cost-conscious segment of the market.

Click here for a video from Motorola of the Moto E in action.

Motorola is aiming at the entry-level Android market with its newest device, the Moto E, a trimmed down version of the Moto G smartphone it released late last year. The Moto E costs $129 online for an unlocked GSM version without a contract. Motorola said the Moto E will be available in more than 40 countries through more than 80 carrier partners around the world over the next few weeks, though it did not announce any U.S. carrier partners.

With the Moto E, Motorola is clearly aiming to get feature phone customers to trade up to a low-cost smartphone. "The fact is, about 70% of mobile phone users in the world are still using feature phones that can't unlock the full wonder of the mobile Internet, in many cases because they don't think it's worth the $337 for a smartphone (the average selling price globally in 2013)," Motorola wrote in a company blog post introducing the Moto E. "We believe it's time the feature phone era came to an end and that quality smartphones are made accessible and affordable for all."

The Moto E features similar but whittled-down specs compared to the Moto G, which Motorola unveiled in November for $179 off contract. The Moto E runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat, and Motorola has promised at least one major software update. The Moto E also sports a 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Snapdragon 200 processor with 1GB of RAM and 4 GB of internal storage, a 4.3- inch display and a 5-megapixel camera, though no front-facing camera.

"We believe that a quality mobile experience is a right, not a privilege," Charlie Tritschler, senior vice president of product at Motorola, told CNET.

Motorola also announced an LTE version of the Moto G for $219 without a contract. Motorola said it sold 6.5 million devices in the first quarter, thanks in large part to the Moto G.

BlackBerry is also getting into the low-cost smartphone game with the Z3 Jakarta Edition, a phone specifically designed for the Indonesian market. The phone was unveiled at a glitzy event at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta. The device, which sports a 5-inch touchscreen display and runs BlackBerry 10, will go on sale May 15 for around $190 on an unsubsidized basis.

BlackBerry CEO John Chen is aiming to use the Z3 to revive the company's sales and serve as a template for how it can get legacy BlackBerry 7 users to upgrade to BlackBerry 10 in emerging markets like Indonesia.

Chen denied that the phone is a last-ditch effort to remain relevant, and instead said it would part of what would help revive the BlackBerry brand. "BlackBerry has new technology and is financially stable," he said at a news conference after the unveiling, according to the New York Times. "I think that's got to be the first step--to explain that."

"When people have no concerns about BlackBerry the company," he added, "then the product will be cool again."

The Z3 Jakarta Edition will support a Bahasa language typing experience on a touchscreen and users will also be able to enjoy content exclusive to Indonesia on their device, including a special set of BBM Stickers featuring local characters, The Punakawan, by Indonesian illustrator Susilo Saptoady.

BlackBerry once commanded 40 percent of the Indonesian smartphone market, but that has shrunk to 4 percent, according to research firm IDC. Samsung Electronics now dominates the market.

"If this device allows them to grow again, even if it's just small, steady growth, that's a success in itself. That says there is still room for BlackBerry in Indonesia," IDC analyst Ryan Lai told Reuters.

HTC is another company working to get more low-cost but high-spec phones into its lineup. The company has reportedly started selling smartphones priced as low as $145 on an unsubsidized basis this quarter with the help of contract manufacturers in an effort gain share in emerging markets. HTC is hoping its Desire-branded phones can help out in the mid-tier by borrowing much of the design language from its higher-end One.

Research firms have been predicting that inexpensive smartphones will soon dominate the market. ABI Research predicted in April 2013 that smartphones costing $250 or less before carrier subsidies will make up 46 percent of all global smartphone shipments by 2018, up from 28 percent in 2012.

For more:
- see this Motorola blog post
- see this The Verge article
- see this CNET article
- see this Re/Code article
- see this BlackBerry release
- see this NYT article
- see this Reuters article

Related Articles:
ARM expects a $20 smartphone to hit the market in the next few months
Lenovo predicts Motorola turnaround, but cautions it will take time
Lenovo aims to pass Samsung, Apple with Motorola purchase
BlackBerry's Chen: We're not exiting the devices business
BlackBerry sells 2.3M BB 7 devices, and just 1.1M BB10 phones, but CEO remains upbeat

Read more about: Smartpones, Motorola Mobility
back to top

By Phil Goldstein

Comment |

5. T-Mobile raises prices on some LTE tablets after promotion ends

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) quietly announced that it intends to start supporting a Windows Phone 8.1 software update on June 24. However, it's unclear if that means wireless carriers will start pushing the update to customers on that date.

Microsoft hopes that the update, which features its new digital personal assistant Cortana, will help it gain momentum in the market. The software giant essentially released the news via its product support website, and said it will roll out software updates for devices running Windows Phone 8.1 for three years from the "lifecycle start date," which is listed on the page as June 24. Thus, Microsoft intends to support Windows Phone 8.1 devices through July 11, 2017.

Notably, Microsoft did not officially confirm the upgrade date. "Windows Phone 8.1 will start rolling out to existing Windows Phone 8 users over the coming months," a Microsoft representative told PCWorld.

"Microsoft will make updates available for the operating system, including security updates, for a minimum of 36 months after the lifecycle start date. These updates will be incremental, with each update built on the update that preceded it. Customers need to install each update in order to remain supported," Microsoft said.

"The distribution of these incremental updates may be controlled by the mobile operator or the phone manufacturer from which you purchased your phone, and installation will require that your phone have any prior updates. Update availability will also vary by country, region, and hardware capabilities," the company added.

When Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 8.1 at its Build developer conference in early April, the company said it would be rolled out as a software update in the next few months but would be installed in new phones starting at the end of April.

Cortana is something of a combination of Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) Siri and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Now service, but users have much more control over how Cortana functions and what information it uses. The Cortana service is powered by Microsoft's Bing search engine and gets to know users as they Cortana can access a phone's calling, messaging and calendar functions, and can set reminders, make notes, set alarms, see what music is playing nearby, schedule appointments and answer questions about sports scores and restaurants. It can even tell a user how many calories are in certain foods.

Windows Phone 8.1 also includes a new notification center, a more personalized stream of apps and featured apps and a new feature called Wi-Fi Sense that allows a user's Wi-Fi credentials to pass over from their PC or tablet to phone.

So far, Windows Phone 8.1 has received positive reviews. However, it may what Microsoft has done from a hardware partner perspective that will increase adoption of Windows Phone. In addition to taking control of Nokia's (NYSE:NOK) devices business, Microsoft eliminated licensing fees for Windows device makers that are building smartphones and tablets with screens smaller than nine inches.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has defended the move as a way to spur Windows Phone adoption. "We looked at what it made sense for us to do on tablets and phones below nine inches, and we felt that the price there needed to be changed," he said on the company's quarterly earnings conference call last month. "We have monetization vehicles on the back end for those, and that's how we're going to approach each one of these opportunities. Because in a world of ubiquitous computing, we want Windows to be ubiquitous. That doesn't mean one price, one business model for all of that. And it's actually a market expansion opportunity."

In other Windows Phone news, LG Electronics denied that a leaked photo of an LG Windows Phone will be the device that it will introduce as it comes back into the Windows Phone fold. The image of the device was posted by noted mobile leaker evleaks, but LG denied that it was a real phone, according to Engadget. LG is one of many OEMs and ODMS Microsoft has recently struck deals with to widen its circle of hardware partners, especially for emerging markets. The list of Windows Phone supporters now includes Foxconn, Gionee, Lava, Lenovo, Longcheer, JSR, Karbonn, Micromax, Prestigio and ZTE.

For more:
- see this Microsoft site
- see this PCWorld article
- see this PC Magazine article
- see this PhoneScoop article
- see this Engadget article

Related Articles:
Microsoft's CEO defends making Windows Phone free, hints at wearables
Microsoft's Windows Phone 8.1 nets positive reviews
Microsoft's OS chief Myerson hedges on getting Android apps on Windows
Microsoft makes Windows Phone free for OEMs
Microsoft introduces Cortana digital assistant in Windows Phone 8.1

Read more about: Smartpones, LG
back to top

By Phil Goldstein

Comment |

SPOTLIGHT ON... How to get your app noticed via App Store Optimization

T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) increased the prices of some of its LTE tablets a little more than a month after declaring with great fanfare that it would let customers purchase LTE-enabled tablets for the same price as Wi-Fi models.

A T-Mobile spokesman told FierceWireless that the change is "not a reversal," and that "this was always a limited time offer that was available to postpaid customers starting on April 12." The promotion ended May 12. Indeed, T-Mobile stated in a footnote its press release announcing the offer that it would be a limited time offer, though that was not prominently advertised by the carrier at the time.

Last month T-Mobile cut the price of a number of tablets for customers who activated a 1 GB or higher mobile Internet data plan. For example, T-Mobile said customers could buy the LTE-enabled Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad Air for just $499 (the same price as the Wi-Fi-only model and far below the $630 price for the LTE-enabled version Apple charges).

However, as TMoNews noted, T-Mobile is now charging $600 for the full retail cost of the 16 GB LTE-enabled iPad Air. The 16 GB LTE-enabled iPad Mini now $504, not $399 as it had been under the promotion. Yet the LTE-capable Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 is still retailing for the discounted $200, not the previously higher cost of $312.

Although T-Mobile is no longer discounting the cost of some of its tablets, it said it will continue to discount the cost of tablet data service through this year. Under the promotion initially announced last month, T-Mobile is offering $10 off its most popular mobile Internet data plans through the end of 2014. The offering is available for new and existing customers. The carrier's 1 GB tablet plan is $20 per month, but customers already get a $10 discount when they also purchase a postpaid phone plan on the same account. So for voice customers, what that means is they can get up to 1 GB of LTE tablet data free every month through the end of the year. That will be on top of the 200 MB of free data tablet customers automatically get from T-Mobile as long as they keep their tablet active on T-Mobile's network.

Once customers have used all the high-speed data allotted on the data option, their data speed will automatically be slowed down to 2G web speeds for the remainder of their billing cycle.

T-Mobile CMO Mike Sievert confirmed the changes in a post on Twitter, saying that the "free data offer stays. Tablets remain below competition but a little above WiFi-only. Best deal in wireless!"

For more:
- see this TMoNews article
- see this Twitter post

Related Articles:
T-Mobile adds 1.3M postpaid subs in Q1, blowing past rivals
T-Mobile offers LTE-enabled tablets for same cost as Wi-Fi tablets
T-Mobile adds $40 'Simple Starter' plan, promises more moves ahead
Analysts: Carriers will be aided in Q1 thanks to tablet subscribers
Verizon gives 1 GB of free data to 'More Everything' tablet customers

Read more about: tablets, Wi-Fi
back to top

Also Noted

This week's sponsor is PCIA.

Register Today - 2014 Wireless Infrastructure Show

With more than 1 million apps in Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) App Store and Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) Play store, having your app found by consumers is becoming incredibly difficult, especially for smaller developers and companies. While the goal for website creators is to appear in the first page of Google search results, in app stores there's even less real estate for mobile app developers to market themselves. That's why app store optimization (ASO) is beginning to evolve as both an approach to making what developers create more "discoverable" and a set of tools to automate the process. App Annie and MobileDevHQ are two firms focused on providing developers with ASO services. For more on this topic, check out this FierceDeveloper special report.

Quick news from around the Web.

Nokia, Motorola hedge smartphone allegiances http://t.co/YopK2EXAVd via @CNET via @rossrubin (@FierceWireless) May 13, 2014

> LG Electronics said it will begin sales of its wearable devices, the LG Lifeband Touch and Heart Rate Earphones, this month. Release

> TracFone's Straight Talk service, available through Walmart, announced it will now offer 3 GB of high-speed data, up from 2.5 GB previously. Release

> AT&T is reportedly in advanced talks to buy DirecTV in a deal worth $50 billion. Article

> AT&T reported a total of 2 Terabytes of traffic during the Kentucky Derby weekend at Churchill Downs. Article

> Verizon is selling Nokia's Treasure Tag, which alerts users if they stray from their belongings. Article

> Fitch upgraded Nokia's credit rating. Article

> BlackBerry announced that other mobile device management companies can now put BlackBerry 10 devices into their systems, which is further evidence of BlackBerry opening up its ecosystem. Article

Mobile Developer News

> Google's Silver should set the gold standard for Android. Editor's Corner

> There might be an industry perception that mobile gaming is a male-dominated field, but the audience is increasingly female, with 87 percent of women opting for free-to-play (F2P) gaming versus 77 percent of men. Article

Telecom News

> CenturyLink is providing its business customers another layer of protection against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks by adding a mitigation appliance for its DDoS Mitigation Service. Article

> Alcatel-Lucent continues to find success in its traditional copper access business, announcing that it has shipped 5 million vectored VDSL2 lines. Article

Cable News

> Comcast Corp. and Turner Broadcasting System have cut a deal that will give Comcast customers on demand access to full seasons of several Turner TV shows including TNT's The Last Ship, a Michael Bay drama. Article

And finally… The guitarist from Aerosmith, the actor who plays the Hulk and director Oliver Stone are among those who oppose the FCC's new net neutrality proposal. Article

Entner: T-Mobile's ETF buyout successfully shapes the first quarter

Comment |