Categories
Nokia WIndows Phone

Nokia Lumia 900 Data Network Not Connecting – New Fix In Place

Soon after the new Nokia Lumia 900 running on Windows Phone 7.5 was released, there were reports from several blogs and websites that the phone appeared to have problems connecting to the internet. While the initial reports suspected the issue to be with the Lumia hardware, the company has now confirmed that this is clearly a software issue. The hardware or the carrier network itself is not the issue.

Nokia has now announced that users facing this issue can now find a patch to the issue by plugging into Zune and downloading the latest update. You can check their complete statement here. If this seems some sort of a hassle to you, Nokia also says you can swap your Lumia 900 for a brand new phone with the updated OS at any AT&T store in your neighborhood. Check out the video below to see the steps to update the Lumia from a PC

In addition to this, all customers facing this issue are also being offered a $100 credit to their AT&T bill. This offer will also stand if you purchase a brand new Lumia 900 from the stores before April 21.

Categories
How To iPhone

How to Transfer Address Book Contacts To Verizon iPhone 4

We all know how irritating and frustrating it is when it comes to transferring your contacts to a new phone. This post is for all those who have purchased a new Verizon iPhone and are looking for a hassle free method to transfer their phone book from the old phone to the new Verizon iPhone 4.

Here is a short 10 minute tutorial briefing you with instructions on obtaining your address book. This guide is applicable for phones that are supported by 4 American carriers namely AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon and are having an active service on their present phone along with a gmail account (not required for Verizon wireless subscribers.)

Verizon Wireless Phones :

Transferring from an existing Verizon to a Verizon iPhone 4 is almost effortless. Verizon has a free program called Backup Assistant, so just register on Verzion`s website, install and run the application on your old phone first followed by the iPhone 4

Step 1 :

Register for the Backup Assistant application.

Step 2 :

Install it on your phone through the Get It Now store which is for feature phones or the App store for smartphones.

Step 3 :

Now load the software, log in and start backing up your contacts.

Step 4 :

Next, turn off the Wi-Fi radio on your iPhone 4 first as the application works only over a cell connection. Open the app store and install VZ Contact Manager. Now run this program and keep following the onscreen instructions.

Sprint Phones:

To transfer contacts from a Sprint feature phone, you will require a Sprint Mobile Sync and a gmail account. For a Sprint smartphone, only Google Sync is enough.

For Sprint Feature Phones :

Step 1 :

Register for Sprint Mobile Sync.

Step 2 :

Activate the software on your phone by navigating to Main Menu>Settings>Contacts>Mobile Sync>Activate.

Step 3 :

Now log in to Sprint Mobile Sync from your desktop computer and export all your contacts as .CSV file

Step 4 :

Log in to your gmail account and import the .CSV file

Step 5 :

Now install and run Google Sync on your iPhone 4.

For Sprint Smartphones :

All you need to do is just install and run Google Sync on your old phone first followed by installing and running it later on your iPhone 4.

AT&T  Phones :

For phones serviced by AT&T, if its a smartphone, the entire transfer process is free whereas a feature phone will be costing you around $1.99 for AT&T Mobile Backup.

For AT&T Feature Phones :

Step 1 :

Navigate to AT&T`s Mobile Backup Web Site which will be sending a link to your phone for installing the software.

Step 2 :

Load Mobile Backup from your phone and backup all your contacts.

Step 3 :

Log on to AT&T Mobile Backup from your desktop computer and export the contacts as  a .CSV file.

Step 4 :

Now log in to your gmail account and import the .CSV file.

Step 5 :

Lastly, install and run Google Sync on your iPhone 4.

For AT&T Smartphones :

Step 1 :

Install and run Google Sync on your old phone followed by the iPhone 4.

T – Mobile Phones :

Once again, transferring contacts from a smartphone is simpler whereas the same procedure becomes a bit more complex for a feature phone. The companies free contact backing software restricts you from exporting your contacts, but there is still a way to tackle this situation.

For T – Mobile Feature Phones :

Step 1 :

There is a preloaded application called Mobile Backup. Just load it and select “One Time Sync”.

Step 2 :

From your desktop computer, log on to the Mobile Backup Website and follow these instructions for exporting your contacts to a .CSV file.

Step 3 :

Log in to your gmail account and import the .CSV file.

Step 4 :

Now install and run Google Sync on your iPhone 4.

For T – Mobile Smartphones :

Just install and run Google Sync on your smartphone followed by the iPhone 4.

Categories
Apple iphone 4

AT&T White iPhone 4 Appears On Carrier's Online Database

Apple unveiled the white iPhone 4 back in June last year. Although this variant of the iPhone found terrific popularity among customers even before launch, the device never made it to the stores due to, what Apple calls, a manufacturing glitch. However, it looks like the company may have finally fixed the issues and a white iPhone 4 may soon be on its way. Just days after details about a white iPhone 4 was revealed from the back-end databases of Vodafone Germany and Best Buy in the United States, comes one more report – this time from AT&T.

The AT&T Online Account Management system now appears to include two entries that read, “iPhone 4 – 16GB White” and “iPhone 4 – 32GB White”. While the entries do not contain details about the launch date, we do expect it to happen in the next few weeks considering that Apple may want to have this new iPhone variant in the market for at least a couple of months before the next generation iPhone launches – presumably in June of this year.

Categories
Mobile

Free MicroCells For Poor AT&T Coverage Customers?

If you are in the United States and are experiencing poor network coverage at home or at office over your AT&T network, there is likely to be a fix for that soon. An internal memo circulated by AT&T talks about a new offer starting January 23 that will offer free MicroCells – with no monthly fee attached – to customers pre-selected by AT&T who have been known to suffer from poor coverage.

The MicroCell shall be free to use with only the monthly cellular service charges to account for.  However customers who cancel their account inside a year are liable to pay the equipment fee of $199.99 after deducting the monthly fee of $16.67 on a pro-rata basis.

AT&T’s new plan appears to target customers who are most likely to defect to another carrier. By offering free MicroCells for a year, not only will AT&T manage to retain these customers for an additional year, but will also be able to buy more time to improve infrastructure in these regions.

Having said that, this is still a rumor. So take this with a pinch of salt.

Categories
Mobile

AT&T Messaging Plan Pricing & Activation Fee Changes Revealed

In just a couple of weeks from now, the much anticipated Verizon iPhone will finally become available to customers. Perhaps in a bid to make their own offering more competitive, AT&T is learned to be sprucing up their messaging plans that will make it attractive to subscribers.

According to data leaked from the Best Buy inventory system, AT&T could be offering two messaging plans starting January 23rd. While the $10 per month plan lets users send up to 1000 text messages, the $20 plan will bring unlimited messaging to AT&T phones. Family plan subscribers can avail unlimited messaging on all their connections for a monthly fee of $30.

For a perspective, you may recall that the earlier messaging plans were priced $5 and $15 for 200 and 1500 text messages a month respectively. Existing subscribers may of course choose to retain their subscription, especially if they are not heavy texters.

The leaked screengrab from Best Buy also indicates changes with the activation fee although we do not have details with respect to this.

Categories
Mobile Nokia

Nokia X7 Launch In USA Affected Due To AT&T Cancellation?

Nokia may no longer be the most preferred destination for high-end phones. The company’s decision to stick with the Symbian platform despite its waning popularity in the US may not be doing Espoo any good as a recent report has found. According to sources, AT&T may have decided to cancel its planned launch of Nokia X7 – the first Symbian^3 phone on the carrier – in February this year.

There is no word on what the exact reason might be but speculations are rife that AT&T may be planning on focusing its resources on the popular platforms including iOS and Android for the time being.

Having said that, Nokia X7 has some exciting features as well. The phone is targeted at gamers and comes with a 4″ touchscreen, a 640×360 pixel resolution and an N8-like processing power. We will wait and see how Nokia plans to bring the phone to its customers in the United States.

Categories
Apple iphone 4 Mobile

iPhone Data Plans Comparison : AT&T Vs. Verizon

Until now, all iPhones in the United States were on just one carrier which meant there was nothing much to choose from as far as data plans were concerned. That has changed now with the imminent launch of a Verizon iPhone. Now, American iPhone customers have two carriers and an equal number of alternatives to pick from. So here is a comparison of offers from AT&T and Verizon.

Data Plans

Web access is one of the primary tasks of smartphones and Verizon has priced their data plans quite aggressively. Users can avail 150MB of data at a monthly price of $15. Additional data can be purchased in packets of 150MB – each costing $15. Alternately, users can also choose to go with unlimited data plans at $30 a month.

In comparison, while AT&T’s basic plan – 200MB at $15 (with additional 200MB for $15) – looks attractive, the carrier however does not have an unlimited data option. Instead, users have to pay $25 for a 2GB data plan and also pay $10 for every additional GB of data consumed.

Tethering Plan

Tethering is cheaper on Verizon. Users get 5GB worth data tethering at a price of $30. AT&T users on the other hand get 2GB of data tethering at $45. Do note that the $45 is just for enabling the tethering option and does not come with any extra data.

What plan are you going for?

Categories
Apple Mobile

Mobile Hotspot For AT&T iPhone To Come With iOS Update?

With Verizon having announced the availability of the mobile hotspot feature on their upcoming iPhone, there has been considerable speculation over whether this functionality shall also be available on GSM carriers like AT&T. According to a Netherlands based iPhone blog, a reliable insider has revealed that Apple is working towards releasing a new iOS update before February 10 – the proposed launch day for the CDMA variant. This iOS 4.3 update will also  bring the mobile hotspot feature to GSM iPhones.

But here is the catch – the feature would have to be activated by the individual carriers. This is similar to the USB tethering feature that was initially made available with iOS but was however kept disabled by AT&T for a long time. This time though, chances for a similar eventuality are less considering the significant mileage that Verizon may derive out of such a move from AT&T.

We will wait for an official statement from AT&T and Apple in this regard.

Categories
Apple Mobile

8GB iPhone 3GS Price Dropped

AT&T have announced a drop in the price of the 8GB iPhone 3GS. Starting today, users can get hold of a new iPhone 3GS at a price of $49. That is just half of the original price of $99. The new iPhone 3GS price shall be applicable on all units purchased off the online channel as well as on the AT&T and third party retail outlets across United States. Of course, as you may have guessed, this new price comes with the caveat that users must sign up for a new two year contract with Ma Bell.

The timing of this announcement is interesting considering that AT&T normally announces a drop in iPhone prices just a week or two ahead of new iPhone launches. It is possible that this move is being made ahead of the iPhone’s launch on Verizon that is speculated to happen in under a few weeks from now.

Categories
Apple Mobile

Buy Refurbished iPhone 4 From AT&T At $99

If you are in the United States, this is something you would want to look at – Refurbished iPhone 4 units; devices that have been returned or exchanged that have been quality-tested once again, are now available for cheap. You can now get hold of an iPhone 4 16 GB model at $99 while the $32 GB will be available for $199.

If these prices do not seem low enough, you can also look at one of these devices with “cosmetic blemish” – usually minor hardware issues that may not be easily noticeable. The 16GB and 32GB variants are available at a price of $79 and $179 respectively.

Do note that this price is inclusive of a regular AT&T contract that you will be bound for a period of two years. If the price sounds convincing enough, you can hit the AT&T site and make your online purchase right away.