As those of you in Japan may or may not know, Docomo is planning on allowing foreign phones on their network in the coming months. The only stipulation is that the phone must be certified for use in Japan, and that it must be able to show that certification on the phone.
Since the Streak DOES have certification in Japan (under Softbank's network), it should be okay to use it on Docomo's network. But I suspect they're going to be technical about it and require it show its certification. So what I would like to ask of any Softbank Streak users, is to take a very high quality picture of the certification tag that is likely on the back of the Streak somewhere. It should look something like the attached image.
My plan is to make a simple app that displays it to hopefully convince the Docomo reps that it legitimately has certification.
Currently the Streak in Japan is going for over twice as much as the US counterpart, both subsidized and unsubsidized. Lets show them that they can't just block out global competition!
Related
Hot off the press: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-12-2008/0004923677&EDATE=
dont get too excited yet!
remember the launch date for uk? 9/30/2008? haha
by the time this X1 is out in USA, it already 2009!
Unlocked = crippled!
Sure....an $800 unlocked phone for the US that will only fully work with a single carrier...riiiiight.
Could Sony Ericsson have possible botched the Xperia any more than they have??
Any bets on the date that SE announces they're withdrawing the Xperia from the US market?
Be seeing you,
The Duck
You ever wonder why people complain that Europe and Japan get all of the "cool" phones and the U.S. doesn't? It's because the way our 3G network is setup. Everyone has different frequencies, and it's almost impossible to make a chip to carry all of them. Europe has a bunch of different carriers that use the same 3G frequencies, which is why it's easier to roll out the phones there. Helps the consumer, helps the carrier, helps the manufacturer.
So when some manufacturer DOES decide to bring a phone to the U.S., you lambaste them because of it's high unlocked price, even though all unlocked phones are expensive. (I was in best buy today and they're selling the N95-4 for $750 still!). Guess what, the X1i is free on contract in Europe. It would be free here too if our 3G network weren't so backwards.
So basically, all these manufacturers are producing 3G phones for the U.S. and they know fully well it only works on AT&T. That's why they only make a few phones compatible - it's not economical to bring them over just to work with one carrier.
dinan said:
You ever wonder why people complain that Europe and Japan get all of the "cool" phones and the U.S. doesn't? It's because the way our 3G network is setup. Everyone has different frequencies, and it's almost impossible to make a chip to carry all of them. Europe has a bunch of different carriers that use the same 3G frequencies, which is why it's easier to roll out the phones there. Helps the consumer, helps the carrier, helps the manufacturer.
So when some manufacturer DOES decide to bring a phone to the U.S., you lambaste them because of it's high unlocked price, even though all unlocked phones are expensive. (I was in best buy today and they're selling the N95-4 for $750 still!). Guess what, the X1i is free on contract in Europe. It would be free here too if our 3G network weren't so backwards.
So basically, all these manufacturers are producing 3G phones for the U.S. and they know fully well it only works on AT&T. That's why they only make a few phones compatible - it's not economical to bring them over just to work with one carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right that the US frequency mish mash is a mess....but don't think for a minute that phones can't include multiple frequencies and that the carriers are innocent! Verizon, for example, recently insisted that a mfr modify their phone to remove frequencies that would allow the phone to work on T-mobile's network (I forget the phone....a blackberry, I think). Who decides that a quad band phone should be released in the US as triband or dual band? The phone mfr...nah.
As microsoft said the other day....US carriers don't want to be considered "dumb pipes"; i.e., providing generic access to cell frequencies for customers to use any phone with at reasonable rates! It's the carriers that block phones from tethering unless extra fees are paid to do what the phone can do using the cell networks....its the carriers that create goofy MediaNet type "services" to extract extra fees for doing what the net provides on the unadulterated phones! Its reminiscent of when AOL made users think they were part of some special club that was better than the new fangled internet....even by rebranding a limited access to the net as their own service!
Ah well....I rant and I vent....and I still pay crazy high phone bills.
Bill Gates himself once said that we'd one day look back and view paying for telephone services based on time and distance as "quaint". Within a country we're clearly there (ever watch an old movie and see people run to the phone when a "long distance" call came through?...too funny). But we're not there currently internationally! One day we'll look back at Orange being able to offer a phone for free on contract compared with AT&T being able to charge $299 or even blackmail the mfr into not making a deal, forcing them to sell a phone (a few of them, anyway) for $800 as quaint.
I can't wait for the arrival of international voice and data packages that would allow customers to choose Orange or AT&T or whomever we want to give our monthly money to without being forced to accept bloated software crippled phones!!
Ahh...ok...NOW rant over.
Be seeing you,
The Duck
p.s. - the carrier greed doesn't excuse Sony for this goofyness! If they wanted to sell an unblocked phone they could have made it compatible with more networks than AT&T. It looks like they screwed up and built a phone that was only suitable for AT&T without locking up a contract with AT&T. The carrier probably used the position of strength to extract more than SE's ego would accept....but the phrase "cutting off your nose to spite your face" comes to mind. Bad SE lawyers + greedy AT&T = bye bye Xperia.
TheDuck said:
Sure....an $800 unlocked phone for the US that will only fully work with a single carrier...riiiiight.
Could Sony Ericsson have possible botched the Xperia any more than they have??
Any bets on the date that SE announces they're withdrawing the Xperia from the US market?
Be seeing you,
The Duck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you have to complains, u cant afford it!
did u also complain about HTC diamond selling for 699$ at bestbuy? haha
well, i bought diamond at bestbuy for 699+tax=748$, i know i can get it cheaper online, but i just hate waiting!
Completely out of curiosity...
why is it that iPhone users with At&T can Jailbreak then Unlock their phones via software hacks, but I have to either call up T-Mobile for some code, or pay some dodgy guy over ebay??
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/how-to-tech/how-to-unlock-cell-phone3.htm
doesnt explain anything :S
Try this, more phones coming all the time.
Great way to root your android.../bit.ly/aa4jxJ
Sent from my Android for Telechips TCC8900 Evaluation Board (US) using XDA App
thanks but i was looking for Unlocking from Network providers, not rooting?
from the limited knowledge i have on the subject and the things ive picked up while owning an iphone:
the iphone started out being locked to the networks indefinitely. at&t, to this day i believe, didnt/dont provide unlocking of the iphone. the way regular unlocks work, ie by code, is that the imei of the phone is used with an algorithm to provide the code. the people who have this algorithm are either the phone manufacturer and/or the network provider.
tmobile may be able to generate the code themselves, or go direct to the manufacturers for the code. the ebay sellers pay for your specific code, and then sell it onto you, basically middle men.
however with the iphone, neither at&t nor apple wanted to assist in unlocking, so without access to the algorithm generated codes, the only other option was software hacks.
problems with iphone software unlocks are that they can be wiped off with a restore; when a baseband update is released in a new firmware update, it can take a while for an update software unlock is released; you can get signal problems (blacksn0w, ios4.0.2 on unlocked 3g). nowadays, uk carriers at least, unlock phones eg o2, with t&c of course.
all in all, id rather pay the £6 to the "dodgy guy" on ebay, than have a software unlock.
ah thanks for that!
Hi board,
I've been closely following the Droid Pro since its announcement, as I love the form factor, and I was wondering if it would ever land in Europe - and as far as I am concerned, in France .
I couldn't find anything about that, but maybe I missed something!
Thanks for any hint!
It does have European 3G(along of course American CDMA 3G), so you could always buy one off ebay get it unlocked and you should be set for use with whatever sim you choose(default is Vodaphone as they have majority shares in Verizon).
Thanks for the advice. Do you know in what the unlocking process consists?
I've read that it was basically hardwired against AT&T & other Verizon competitors but that it would be free for the rest of the world.
Well so far from what I read the Droid 2 and Pro do not work in America or Canada without a firmware hack, but people at XDA are working on to fix that. The unlock is fairly simple, as you call the carrier up and ask for unlock code which should be free if have customer with good standing account, or been with them for like 90 days. I am sure code(s) will be listed somewhere in the coming weeks(it just came to retail stores today as it was online only at first) if you google it.
I was at the AT&T store today and was talking to a sales rep. I am currently with AT&T on family plan and I told him that I was going to cancel my phone (the primary line) to T-Mobile to pick up the DVP.
Well, he told me that a Microsoft rep told him that T-Mobile had a 45 day exclusivity on the DVP starting from the launch date (11/8). Further, the DVP will be on 3 carriers once the exclusivity runs out. Now the speculation on the other two was Verizon and possibly AT&T.
He also said that the 3 WP7 phones at AT&T were under the 45 day exclusivity as well and that other carriers would be carrying the three devices currently at AT&T.
He wasn't sure if and when all this would happen but if in fact AT&T will be getting the DVP soon, I can hold out a bit longer as the only reason I was planning on switching to Tmo was for the DVP.
Don't mean to start a wild rumor thread but thought I share what I heard and would like to know if others have heard something similar.
Happy Holidays...
Thats interesting news.
I'm on AT&T too and planning to move to TMobile just for this phone. Hope you're right.
That's good news. I currently have a Focus but still miss a hardware keyboard. 45 Days would put it right after the holiday season which would allow carriers to make their money before the agreement ends. Let's hope this is true.
I hope someone will be able to enable tethering on the DVP and that will be perfect.
lies that carriers tell you to keep you. dont know for sure tho
i rather have dvp with webos or android. wp7, ill wait till 2nd or 3rd gen
c_legaspi said:
lies that carriers tell you to keep you. dont know for sure tho
i rather have dvp with webos or android. wp7, ill wait till 2nd or 3rd gen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I have some doubts that something like this will actuall happen. Nevertheless, I'll give it some time - until the reviews of the new and improved launched (part deux) DVPs.
I'm hoping to hear some more from folks who may knowledge or have heard something similar in the meanwhile.
Would be nice, but I wouldn't hold my breath on this one. If it were true, that would put us 2 weeks out and this would be the first real rumor I've heard. Things like this tend to get leaked in advance. Kind of telling that there hasn't been any FCC filings for the additional radio flavors either. We can still cross our fingers though.
patrickk said:
Would be nice, but I wouldn't hold my breath on this one. If it were true, that would put us 2 weeks out and this would be the first real rumor I've heard. Things like this tend to get leaked in advance. Kind of telling that there hasn't been any FCC filings for the additional radio flavors either. We can still cross our fingers though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe thats the Dell Venue?
the one with android and without the keyboard?
Another clue might be a statement from Greg Milligan of Microsoft Canada: “the first manufacturers are LG, Samsung, HTC, we’ll have those available here in Canada. We also see Dell coming into the market as well and some other manufacturers in 2011”. (http://mobilesyrup.com/2010/11/29/m...ices-with-hardware-keyboard-coming-to-canada/)
In Canada, AT&T frequencies are dominant right now: ever since Bell and Telus stopped expanding their CDMA network and built an all-3G UMTS/HSPA+ national network on 850/1900, pretty much all their new 3G devices are GSM. Add that to Rogers' existing 850/1900 GSM/EDGE/UMTS/HSPA+ network, and you're looking at AT&T frequency compatibility from our three biggest national carriers. They all launched AT&T-compatible Windows Phone 7 devices last month.
The new "urban" carriers - Wind, Mobilicity, Videotron - are running AWS in major cities. But none of these carriers have launched any WP7 devices.
Dell could just launch the DVP in its current configuration on Wind or Mobilicity (or both). It could also launch the DVP as an EDGE-only device on Rogers (very unlikely). Or, it could build a new DVP with 850/1900 3G support and release it on any combination of Rogers, Bell and Telus for a much larger customer base.
was planning to get the t-mobile version, but i am not sure if i should right now
i am on at&t and i dropped my phone in water last week, want a smartphone so bad right now...
Well, it would appear that HTC HD7 may be headed to AT&T. If so, perhaps this will mean that other "exclusive" phones will find it's way to other carriers. One can only hope...
If Canada gets them, I think we'd be in good shape either way. Their bands are fully compatible, so I wouldn't mind plunking down a few dollars more to get it. However, it would have to be unlocked so that might be an issue (hopefully a short one).
Can't wait!
I had my doubts about this, but it seems quite possible. The FCC has approved two models of the Dell Venue Pro:
FCC ID: E2KV03B002
(https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas...me=N&application_id=218753&fcc_id='E2KV03B002')
3G band tested: AWS
FCC ID: E2KV03B001
(https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas...me=N&application_id=425269&fcc_id='E2KV03B001')
3G bands tested: 850/1900
Note: as far as I can tell, these documents don't preclude the "B001" version from also supporting European 3G on 2100 MHz, since the FCC didn't test the 900/2100 euro bands on the "B002" but we know it has them anyway.
It would only make sense that this would happen.
Dell would be crazy to limit their handsets to the smallest Mobile Carrier in terms of subscribers. Giving Tmobile a leg up is okay but to give it the whole leg would be silly.
I would take the HD7 on the AT&T network as I returned by HD7 on the T-MOBILE network due to signal issues.
I would like to have it on the Sprint Network but that isn't happening anytime soon. I do not like the HD PRO they have rumored to get WP7.
The DVP or the HD7 will be my choices for now. a 4.3" S_LCD on the HD7 would be great/
TheGlowingCurve said:
Just for the record, 45 days after the 8th of November would be December 23, 2010.
I'll be checking back on that day (and probably sooner, anyway).
I am also anticipating the DVP. :] I'll be waiting for AT&T.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, given recent news of the delay yet again, I wonder if:
1) At this rate, the DVP will be available on AT&T at the same time as T-Mobile
or
2) This is vaporware and never make it to AT&T
Utterly disappointed with Dell....
Just got this link from MS
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/buy/7/phones.aspx?cmpid=14303401#detail=1568 and was wondering if these bands will work on AT&T. Anyone know?
hmm.....
it only state UMTS 900 and 2100, which are the frequency the rest of the world use
it didn't even state AWS or 1700
interesting
TheGlowingCurve said:
Well, three days left (actually, it may be four days, since the 23rd may be the 45th day).
Just for the record, I did a Google search to check for any updates and found this:
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Windows-Phone-7-Dell-Venue-Pro-Headed-to-ATandT-895659/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It appears that the eweek article is a collection of blog posts on this topic.
With regards to the 45-day, I'm guessing that we won't hear anything until the new year until the holiday shopping period is over.
I wanted an X10 since I first heard of it but I waited more than a year for AT&T to carry it, even SE in the US started selling it several months before it was available somewhere else.
My question is, I am determined to buy this phone as soon as it comes out anywhere in the world. But I made a mistake of buying a phone from a foreign country and doesn't support AT&T's 3G frequency band (can only go up to EDGE), it was a Sony Ericsson P1, I am not sure if Android phone works the same way but is there's any way to find out before I order it online if the configuration of the phone is going to work with AT&T? 3G and the coming HSPA? (which I think are on the same band for AT&T)