HoFo Blog

Yep, the world. These are getting good.

I think Big Red has one of the best advertising teams out of the big 4 here in the US. What's that you say? ITU who????

I think it's because their new ads are like movie trailers. Very effective.

Verizon's LTE network will launch in December.

Would you switch carriers if your current one replaced unlimited data plans with solely UBP (usage-based plans)?

According to a survey conducted by Sanford C. Bernstein and Co. 58% of light data users and 67% of heavy data users would do just that.

What would you do?

More: Reuters | FierceWireless

I'm giving away a Powermat induction charging system for the iPhone 3G/3Gs. It comes with an iPhone charging sleeve and a charging surface.

To enter this contest just reply to this thread. I'll be picking a random poster from this thread in a week.

Please only one entry per person, this contest is not open to HowardForum moderators.

NOTE: This contest has been running in the Apple forum since the 12th. Just wanted to let everyone know that it's ending tomorrow night, so if you haven't submitted an entry please do so before then for your chance to win.

Enter here

UPDATE: The contest is now closed and the winner will be announced soon.

Beginning November 18th and lasting until January 7th, Verizon Wireless customers on a Nationwide Family SharePlan of $69.99 or more who add an additional line with a smartphone and data plan of $29.99 will have the $9.99 monthly access fee credited for 24 months.

Press release here

Verizon is considering an alternative route for LTE pricing. Similar to how home broadband works, they might be charging based on the speed you want. For example, 5 megs a sec is cheaper than 12 megs a sec. I think this route will prove both efficient and flexible for people like me who probably won't ever need more than 5 megs a sec.

Read more: WSJ - Verizon Rethinks Pricing

What are everyone's thoughts?

At this week's Web 2.0 Summit RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie had some words for Apple about apps vs. the web:

Is this simply a case of sour grapes (<20,000 apps vs. ~250,000) or is he on to something?

More at: FierceWireless - RIM's Balsillie pumps up PlayBook, hits Apple over app model

Mobilicity just updated their coverage map and now includes Edmonton.

See the map at: http://mobilicity.ca/coverage/

Are you planning to treat yourself to a new smartphone this season? Or buy one to give as a gift?

With several smartphone operating systems and form factors out there, you have a lot to choose from.

With that in mind FierceWireless has put together a nice guide to what they believe are the top smartphone and tablet devices (webOS devices are not listed unfortunately) amongst the U.S.'s Tier 1 carriers (Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile). Visit the link above for the list.

Did you find it helpful? Anything you would add to the list?

So I was at the Eaton Center today (in Toronto) and figured I'd go to the TELUS, Rogers and Bell stores and ask the people there if people where buying Windows Phone 7 devices and just check out how high a profile the devices have in the stores.

First off I went to the TELUS store near the south side. There is an HTC Surround right in the middle of the entrance of the store. They were giving away 100 XBox 360's with WP7 purchase on Monday. Seems they sold around 50 or so WP7's on launch (and then MS came and took the rest of the XBox 360's away). The WP7's seem to be moving okay. They have plenty of stock of HTC Surrounds while they never had stock of the LG Optimus 7's.

Next I went to Bell. There is live LG Optimus Quantum that you can play with but it's off to the side and it was turned off. Actually both Bell stores were like this. They didn't seem to be pushing WP7 as much. One of the people there said they were selling okay. Some people were coming in wanting to buy them while others were steered towards them.

Next up was Rogers Plus. The first one (next to the south TELUS store) had a big lineup so I didn't want to wait. I looked around quickly and didn't see any mention of WP7. The Kiosk near the middle of the mall had someone I could talk to. The person told me that you can only get a WP7 device online at rogers.com and that retail wouldn't be getting anything until the end of the month.

I was about to leave when I decided to swing by Future Shop. I didn't see any WP7 displays or dummy devices. I also took a look at their stock (it was behind glass) and didn't see any WP7 phones. I'll grill some people next time I'm there.

Overall I was a little suprised Windows Phone 7 didn't have a higher profile. Part of this may be a lack of hardware - Rogers didn't have any Samsung Focus and there were no LG Optimus 7's available at TELUS. Another thing I noticed is that at least in Canada Microsoft is more interested in promoting the Kinect. There was a big bill board at Dundas Square plus they had a store across from the Eaton Center where you could try it.