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Sprint and T-Mobile are in the "big four" club of American carriers, but it seems Verizon and AT&T continue to grow while Sprint and T-Mobile are losing out. T-Mobile just reported that they lost 77,000 net subscribers in the third quarter and Amazon has killed the Kindle that works on the Sprint network.

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Buried in the coverage of Verizon's second Android phone (HTC Droid Eris) today was news about a new, entry-level BlackBerry that's headed to both Sprint and Verizon Wireless. The 8530 is a smaller, less expensive Curve that should appeal to the mass market more than the enterprise user.

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Verizon Wireless stores are planning to open early tomorrow morning -- and in some cases at midnight -- to let eager customers purchase the Motorola Droid. Anyone think the Droid is going to stir up iPhone-like excitement?

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If you thought Verizon Wireless was going rest easy with the Motorola Droid launching Friday, you've got another thing coming. Today, Verizon Wireless announced that the HTC Eris -- a.k.a, Hero -- which hits stores November 6, too, for $99.

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In the phone world, a list of top phones two months ago is really outdated, but it is an interesting snapshot at what is grabbing our mobile communication attention and are satisfying us most. August is particularly interesting as this would be right after the iPhone 3.0 and Palm Pre launched.

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Verizon Wireless has confirmed that it is in fact altering its Early Termination Fee policy. Starting November 15, those purchasing "advanced" devices such as smartphones and laptops, will need to agree to a $350 ETF to get the subsidized price.

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Today T-Mobile CTO Cole Brodman shared a number of data points regarding T-Mobile's Android customers. T-Mobile apparently has high hopes for Android adoption, as it is planning to roll out its very own T-Mobile Channel in the Android Market. It will also make carrier billing a reality later this year.

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Techies are seeking professional certifications in emerging areas like healthcare and green IT, and especially old standbys like IT security, according to a new survey.

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If you thought $175 was a steep early termination fee to pay, get ready for some unwelcome news. In order to ward off scammers, Verizon Wireless is giving serious consideration to doubling its ETF to $350 for "advanced" -- read: expensive -- devices. Whoa.

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One of the most impressive Windows Mobile 6.5 devices announced in recent months, the HTC HD2, sports a massive 4.3-inch touch display and is powered by a speedy 1GHz Snapdragon processor. If you were worried it would only be available in Europe, rest easy. Today, HTC confirmed that this powerful device is headed to a major U.S. carrier.

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T-Mobile has reported a "service disruption" that is affecting most of the country. It seems to be inconsistent. Some people are reporting a total outage while others report that either data or voice works, and a few are reporting no problems at all. As of this writing, the issue still hasn't been totally resolved.

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One of the minor complaints that some have voiced against the Motorola Droid is that it isn't capable of performing multi-touch gestures, such as pinching to zoom. That complaint only applies to the U.S. version of the phone, though, as the Droid will support multi-touch in European markets.

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You know the funny ads that Verizon Wireless has been running at AT&T's expense? The ads show AT&T's 3G coverage and compare it to Verizon Wireless's 3G coverage. The punchline of the commercial is "There's a Map for That", which riffs on Apple's "There's An App for That" ad campaign. Well, AT&T doesn't think the commercials are funny, and sued.

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Today Sony Ericsson introduced its first Android phone, the Xperia X10. Based on the spec sheet, it should be a smash hit. It runs Android 1.6 (Donut) and will have a massive, four-inch WVGA display (480 x 854 pixels). The X10 will be the first in a series of new phones to run Sony Ericsson's home-brewed UX user interface. Let's dive in for a detailed look.

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If you have Windows 7 on your laptop, you can turn it into a WiFi hotspot allowing other devices to hook up to it as if it were a router and browse the internet. This can come in handy in areas where you have to pay per device to get online, such as a for-pay WiFi hotspot.

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The iPhone was officially released in China on the China Unicom network October 30th. They had a big launch party but reception for the device itself was considered tepid compared with other iPhone launches in other countries around the world.

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Today Google finally got around to bestowing the powers of speech unto the Symbian S60 smartphone platform. The newest version of the Google Mobile App for S60 now supports voice-based searching.

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Quashing rumors and leaving little doubt as to Google's intentions, Android architect Andy Rubin recently said in no uncertain terms that Google is not interesting in making any Android smartphones.

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Nokia has decided to shut down its N-Gage gaming service in September 2010. This is a rare public admission of defeat for Nokia, which launched the N-Gage gaming platform to much fanfare several years ago. Ever since Nokia transitioned the service to an online gaming portal, it has failed to find users.

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Covered by the tidal wave of Motorola Droid news this week was the launch of the BlackBerry Storm2 on Verizon's network. In all respects, the device is a major update to the original that is seriously worth considering. Although, there appears to be an issue with the Storm2's Wi-Fi radio.

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The cat-and-mouse game between Apple and Palm continues. Apple offered up iTunes 9.0.2 yesterday. The main reason for the update was to bring new compatibility with Apple TV 3.0 software. Apple was sure to take the time to nix the Palm Pre's ability to sync with iTunes, too.

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Twitter has become a very popular service and to make the most of it, Peek has released a new device called the TwitterPeek that does just one thing - Twitter. Really?

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Here's an interesting move. Today, a Sprint spokesperson said that moving forward it will not allow its smartphone customers to tether their devices to their laptops. You want mobile Internet on your laptop? Buy a Sprint dongle and data plan.

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Opera has released a report on the state of the mobile web and it shows, as expected, growth in the number of people viewing the web on their mobile phones, the number of pages each person views and the amount of data they each consume.

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Sprint reported its third quarter earnings today, and the news wasn't so good. Though Sprint lost customers at a slower pace than the previous two quarters, it still saw overall subscriber numbers drop. So much for that whole "Palm Pre to the Rescue" notion, eh?

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It's no secret that the Motorola Droid's ace-in-the-hole is the Android 2.0 "Eclair" operating system that's on board. The big question on everyone's mind is, will existing Android devices be able to upgrade? The answer is yes. Sort of.

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Verizon Wireless and Motorola announced the Droid smartphone yesterday with much hoopla. Neither company spared the competition, and Verizon took a direct shot at AT&T when it said, "We’re not anticipating the network will take a hit on this."

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I was able to spend some serious time with the Motorola Droid today. The hardware has a few quirks, but it is solidly engineered and built. The materials exude quality, and it feels great to hold in your hand. Oh yeah, and Android on it is pretty cool, too. Its real killer feature is its lead on every other Android handset with the 2.0 -- a.k.a. Eclair -- system software.

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This morning Motorola and Verizon Wireless officially unveiled the Motorola Droid. The Droid features some fantastic specs and looks to be a winner for Verizon Wireless and Motorola both, especially at the price point of $200.

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Open Source software has been around for a long time but really made its name in the public eye with Linux. For some, they think open source is Linux. Despite the name recognition Linux enjoys, it is still a relatively minor part of the overall computer industry, especially on the desktop side. The mobile industry though is shaping up to be quite different, and most of this has come about in just the last few years.

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Today Opera Software released the findings of its monthly "State of the Mobile Web" report. Among the many tidbits of data shared is that Opera Mini saved its 35.6 million users $8 billion in data fees, and processed 2 petabytes of data.

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It looks like the Android Army is going to add another top-tier handset to its ranks, as Sony Ericsson is preparing to announce a new phone Nov. 3. All signs point to it being the latest version of its high-end Xperia line running the Google-backed operating system with a custom user interface.

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Today Google officially made Android 2.0 available to developers and along with it a new SDK, toolbox and APIs for them to use in crafting their apps. Google also spilled some details about the features that are now going to be part of Android. Some of the goodies include support for multiple Gmail and Exchange accounts.

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Network performance at AT&T hasn't been much to brag about in recent years. The number one excuse seems to be the ravenous appetite for bandwidth iPhone owners have. Get a few thousand of them together in one city for a convention and people are suddenly reminiscing of the good old days with GPRS speeds.

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Verizon executives must be sick of answering the iPhone question, but Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg gave it another shot recently. He said, "This is a decision that is exclusively in Apple’s court." Um, what now?

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Fans of Nokia's N900 will have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on the Maemo-powered smartphone because it will be delayed until sometime during November. While no one likes delays, this handset is powerful enough to look like it's worth the wait.

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Attention BlackBerry Storm 9530 owners: If you haven't already, plug your phone into your computer, launch BlackBerry Desktop Manager, and install the new OS 5.0.0.328 system software ASAP.

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Palm's second phone to run webOS will finally become available from Sprint starting on November 15. The Palm Pixi features a touch screen, full QWERTY keyboard, and an attractive $100 price point.

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T-Mobile has officially launched their pricing plans that have been floating around under the names Project Dark or Project Black in the last few weeks. The pricing should be low enough to pull a number of people to their network. The rumor of the iPhone though, was, as I suspected, false.

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This has been a busy week for the mobile industry. Several nuggets came to light that may not have caught your eye, so Over The Air rounded them up for you. In this edition, we talk about a new operating system update for the original BlackBerry Storm and a spate of Droid-related news.

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If you're anxious to get your hands on the new BlackBerry Storm2 -- and I wouldn't blame you if you are -- you won't have to wait much longer. The device will street Wednesday, October 28. Let me say this, any person using the original Storm needs to upgrade to the Storm2.

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Microsoft has made another video that pokes fun at itself, this time about Windows Marketplace for Mobile. It also seems to be taking a few swipes at other app stores, namely the Apple App Store. It isn't mentioned specifically, but once you view the video, you'll see some of the absurd apps Microsoft was pretending to work on. I bet more than one of them is in the iPhone App Store. With over 75,000 apps, there has to be at least one mustache simulator, right?

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Oops. Someone over at Motorola published the full technical specifications of the upcoming Motorola Droid Android handset for Verizon Wireless about one week too early. The device boasts some impressive specs. Care to find out what the Droid is packing?

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If you hadn't noticed, Apple has been having a heck of a week. On top of its record quarterly performance, it introduced a range of new products and its stock hit an all time high. Alas, it wasn't to last. Today, Nokia smacked Apple upside the head with a huge iPhone-related lawsuit.

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If Verizon Wireless' current "Droid Does" ad campaign isn't enough to convince you that the company is excited about its first Android handset, here's a few more clues: It mailed R2D2 "droids" to the media, and has set October 28th for a big Droid event.

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Barnes & Noble just announced their Nook eBook reader, which should be available next month in time for Christmas. Priced at $259 just like the Amazon Kindle it adds a few features. It also could be a sign of things to come in the smartphone world.

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I was able to spend a few moments with the BlackBerry Storm2 today. My initial take-away is that it is better in almost all respects than its predecessor, but weaknesses remain.

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Both AT&T and T-Mobile announced that they'll be offering the BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone from Research In Motion in time for the holidays. The good news for both carriers is that the 9700 will run on their 3G networks.

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Windows Mobile 6.5 isn't even a month old yet and already an update has been spotted. No, not WinMo 7. Just a minor update that mobile platform watchers have started calling 6.5.1. What updates has Microsoft included in this build?

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You've probably seen the reports that say Google is planning to release its own unlocked smartphone with the Android operating system. I don't buy it, and I also think it's foolish for Google to get into the handset business.

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