Acer Iconia Tab A501 with HSPA+ hits AT&T on September 18th: $330 on contract

As promised, the Acer Iconia Tab A501 is hitting AT&T just before summer draws to an official close. The carrier just announced it'll start selling the 16GB model next Sunday, September 18th for $480 -- or $330 with a two-year contract. When we first heard about this way back in March, we knew it would be a "4G" device, and today AT&T clarified that this means HSPA+, not LTE, so sorry to burst anyone's bubble. Even so, five months after the A500 went on sale it remains one of a select few slates with a full-sized USB port, so there's that to consider if you're still on the fence about getting a tablet. As planned, it'll ship with Android 3.0, and an Acer rep confirms 3.1 is coming via an over-the-air update, though she couldn't say when, exactly, that'll happen. You can sign up for a monthly plan, if you so choose, though you can also pay as you go, with $15 getting you 250MB and $25 expanding your allowance to 2GB. Customers who commit to two-year agreements will have the same choices, to be honest, except they'll also have to contend with overage fees -- $10 per gigabyte or $15 per 250MB, depending on the plan.

Acer Iconia Tab A501

Update: We've added Acer's official press release below. Heads up: you'll notice that Acer lists the price as $499.99 for the 16GB model and $549.99 for the 32GB version. That's just the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP). It doesn't say so in the press release, but AT&T confirmed to us before we published this story that it will actually be selling the 16GB version only, and for $480 (again, that $330 with a two-year contract).

Update 2: We've swapped in AT&T's press release, which fully spells out the pricing.

MAXIMIZE ENTERTAINMENT ON THE GO WITH THE
NEW ACER ICONIA TAB A501

Acer's Popular 10.1-inch 4G Tablet with Android 3.0 OS Coming Soon to AT&T Retail Stores Nationwide and www.att.com

DALLAS, Sept. 12, 2011 - AT&T* today announced it will begin selling the Acer Iconia Tab A501, a 10.1 inch, AT&T 4G** mobile broadband capable tablet featuring Android™ Honeycomb, online at www.att.com and in AT&T company-owned retail stores nationwide beginning Sunday, Sept. 18.
Designed for both consumers and small businesses, the newest wirelessly enabled member of the Acer Iconia family of tablets gives customers the freedom to enjoy technology around the clock on the AT&T mobile broadband network. AT&T's HSPA+ technology with enhanced backhaul provides up to 4 times faster data transmission than AT&T's already fast mobile broadband network.

The tablet's 10.1-inch multi-touch screen provides precise finger-tip control for leveraging social media, email, productivity applications as well as games and entertainment. Powered by a NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 mobile 1GHz dual-core processor and integrated GeForce™ GPU, customers can enjoy high-definition video, speedy browsing, multi-tasking, digital media playback and flash-based sites, games and applications.

"For tablet users it needs to be always on, connected, and readily available to access the content they want, including entertainment, social networking, email and Internet browsing," said Glenn Lurie, president, emerging devices, AT&T. "We're connecting the Acer Iconia to the AT&T 4G network and we're offering several data options, both prepaid and postpaid plans, to ensure the best experience, the best value and the greatest flexibility for our consumer and small business customers. We also plan to prominently feature the Acer Iconia in our AT&T stores across the country."

"Fast and fluid, the Acer Iconia Tab A501 is one of simplest ways to stay informed and entertained whether it's playing games or viewing a video on its high resolution capacitive touchscreen," said Sumit Agnihotry, vice president of product marketing, Acer America. "This tablet is not only intuitive, but it's svelte, stylish and comfortable to hold and carry, which appeals to consumers on the go."

The Acer Iconia Tab A501 will be available at AT&T company-owned retail stores nationwide and online beginning September 18 for $479.99. AT&T customers may also choose to purchase the Acer Iconia at a discounted price of $329.99 after committing to a two-year agreement for a new $35, 3GB monthly data plan.

Customers who do not choose a long-term commitment may still select one of two existing monthly billing options:
- Postpaid: $14.99 for 250 MB or $25 for 2 GB. Customers on the 2 GB plan who exceed their monthly data allotment will be charged $10 per 1 GB of overage. Customers on the 250 MB plan who exceed their monthly data allotment will be charged $14.99 per 250 MB of overage. Charges will appear on customers' monthly wireless statements.
- Prepaid: $14.99 for 250 MB or $25 for 2 GB. Customers on the 2 GB plan who exceed their monthly data allotment may choose to purchase an additional 2 GB for $25. Charges will appear on customers' credit card statements.
Offering the simplicity of a single bill, the postpaid option will show up on customers' monthly wireless bill after the data is used. The new postpaid billing option will be available online at www.att.com and across AT&T retail locations.

For the complete array of AT&T offerings, visit www.att.com.

Windows Phone 7 App Roundup 12 Sep 2011

In this episode of the Windows Phone 7 App Roundup we demonstrate five applications in 30 seconds each. These apps will keep you entertained, allow you to go on a geocaching adventure, and test your bandwidth. To downloadthese apps directly to your WP7 device, just click on the title of the application and the Zune software will automatically launch to the app in Marketplace. If you have the free Microsoft Tag app installed on your WP7 smartphone just snap a picture of the Tag image and the mobileMarketplace will navigate to that app.

Bandwidth Test – Trial and $0.99 full version



Bandwidth Test allows you to test the bandwidth of your Windows Phone 7 smartphone. Just click on the run test button and Bandwidth Test will run the test using both a US and UK server. View the previous test results to make sure you are getting the correct speeds for your carrier or Wi-Fi network.



Geocaching – Trial and $9.99 full version



Geocaching is a really fun outdoor hobby in which you search using a GPS enabled device to find various treasures and landmarks people have submitted. There are over 1.5 million geocache sites on this app. Search for a Geocaching site in your area that looks interesting and click on it to get more information. Get detailed maps and directions to the geocache site.



Got News – A free application



Got News is one of the best news apps available for Windows Phone 7. The app uses RSS feeds to update through your favorite or the top news authorities from around the world. View the entire article using Internet Explorer and share the news with friends or other associates.



Prime TV – Trial and $0.99 full version



Want to know when your favorite shows are playing? With Prime TV you will be able to view the upcoming and past schedules of your most liked television shows. Just search for which shows you want more information on and Prime TV will automatically display episode information, video clips, photos, and the season schedule. View trending shows to see what other are watching.



Danger Wing – A free application



Danger Wing is a fun shooter style game in which you must navigate a small space craft while destroying the enemy ships. There are many levels available and bosses can be rather challenging. Upgrade weapons to deliver a more powerful attack to help get through the levels more quickly.

LG Enlighten For Verizon Delayed: "Coming Soon"

Whatever happened to the LG Enlighten? You might be more familiar with the phone as the LG Gelato Q QWERTY slider. As of late August, the phone looked all ready to launch, but its expected August 25 release date came and passed without the model materializing. Did Verizon pull a Bionic at the last moment and send it back to the drawing board? A newly-leaked image suggests that the Enlighten launch is still a "go", though doesn't help us narrow-down just when it may be.

A picture taken from an upcoming Verizon catalog shows the Enlighten as "coming soon". At least that implies that any delay may only be temporary, and that we might hope to see the phone's release in the next month or so.

We're left scratching our heads as to why the launch was re-scheduled, but wouldn't be surprised to learn it was a strategic move on Verizon's part.

The Enlighten is powered by an 800MHz single-core processor, has a 3.2-inch HVGA screen, and a 3.2-megapixel flash-less camera. Not the most interesting hardware, sure, but we'll let the phone's price speak for itself once it arrives. 

BlackBerry 9980 Mystery Model To Be Porsche-Branded Phone?

Remember that really-odd-looking BlackBerry that showed up late last week? Supposedly the Bold 9980, the phone followed the basic layout of the 9900, but adopted a harsh-looking metal exterior. We've since heard some new rumors that hope to nail down just what this model is, and also gotten a chance to see the phone on video.

It's starting to look like this really is a legit BlackBerry, rather than some kind of counterfeit look-alike. Supposedly, it's got the code name Knight and may be a special edition phone released with Porsche branding. If that's to be the case, we can expect the 9980 to be both rare and quite expensive.

The new video shows the 9980 running BlackBerryOS 7, and we've also got an alternate render of the phone to check out, replacing the PROCEEDING up top with what appears to be Chinese characters. This would make a whole lot more sense if there was one that read PORSCHE, but that would be just too easy, wouldn't it?

Has anyone who was initially not a fan of the phone started coming around to it yet?

HTC Wildfire S Review

Lately we've gotten accustomed to high-end, expensive smartphones. The low-end is still primarily populated with the "dumb" flip-style phones. Apple has opted for selling older versions of its iPhone as "entry level". HTC, on the other hand, has decided to offer slower, less feature-rich phones as their entry-level models.

Such is the case with the modestly spec'd HTC Wildfire S, a very compact, reasonably priced smartphone, powered by Android and HTC's own Sense UI. Originally released in May 2011, the Wildfire S is a relative new-comer to T-Mobile USA.

BOX CONTENTS

The Wildfire S comes with everything essential to get up and running. The box includes a USB wall charger, a microUSB charging/sync cable, a 2GB microSD card, a quick start guide, and a postage-paid label for recycling your old phone. What's missing, however, are headphones. You'll have to supply your own, or do without.



HARDWARE

Unlike its bigger siblings, the selling points on this phone are its small size and inexpensive price.

This phone's screen is quite small at just 3.2", and has a chassis to match. Fitting very comfortably in both large and small hands (4.10" x 2.34" x 0.49", 3.7 oz), the TFT capacitive touchscreen, with its 320 x 480 pixels (at approximately 180 ppi pixel density) is a little disappointing. It's highly reflective, and has horizontal lines that run through the display. This makes the images on-screen look less sharp than power-users may be used to, but its Gorilla Glass screen makes it durable enough to carry in your pocket.

The phone is powered by a 600MHz processor, which might sound fairly slow, but is plenty fast enough to get around without feeling slow or laggy. Another cost-saving measure was limiting the RAM and ROM to 512MB each. However, only 418MB of the ROM is available to the end-user, which was crippling for me and all the apps I normally install. I spent quite a bit of time moving every app I could to the SD card.

Since this phone is designed for use on T-Mobile USA's network, it supports the 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz; UMTS Band I (2100), and UMTS Band IV (1700/2100) frequencies. Both 2G and 3G are included and work well, but you're not going to get any 4G HSPA+ network speeds with this little guy.

Luckily the Wildfire S does support Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, and performed well very when connected to my home 802.11n router and cable internet. Also, since this is a T-Mobile phone, it also comes pre-loaded with T-Mobile's Wi-Fi calling feature, so if you wander out of your coverage area and find yourself under a Wi-Fi bubble, you'll still be able to make and receive voice calls.

On the top of the phone is a standard 3.5mm headset/headphone jack, power button, and a notch to help you take the back cover off. The right side is devoid of any buttons, not even a dedicated camera button (you'll use the on-screen button to take pictures).

The bottom features a modern interpretation of the old G1's "chin" and a couple microphone holes. On the right side is the micro-USB port for charging and connecting to a computer, and a very comfortable volumerocker.

Moving to the back of the device you'll find a basic, clean panel with HTC branding, 5MP camera with LED flash, and external speaker.

On the front is more HTC plus T-Mobile branding, the small screen, handset speaker with a notification LED hidden in the grill, and the traditional four Android buttons (capacitive): home, menu, back, and search.



Overall, the Wildfire S is very well constructed. It's tightly put together, so tight, in fact, that it's somewhat difficult to take the back-bezel off. I'd suggest you have your local T-Mobile store install your SIM and any microSD card upgrades for you.

SOFTWARE

The Wildfire S runs Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) with HTC Sense 2.1 (you read that correctly). Why the older version of Sense UI? Remember that little 600MHz processor? I assume the later versions of Sense UI are just to heavy to run well on the slower CPU. Sense UI 2.1, however, runs snappy and looks great, even on a slower processor.

Other than the Sense-related apps, the Wildfire S comes with relatively little bloatware pre-installed.



CAMERA

The camera on the Wildfire S isn't particularly noteworthy. It's a good, general purpose, 5MP camera which takes good pictures, and has a fast shutter. There are no 3D nor HD recording capabilities, the video is low-resolution 640x480 at 24fps. The quality of the video is decent, given those limitations, as you can see in the demo below.



Still pictures are surprisingly good for an entry-level phone. Images can be taken in a wide variety of lighting conditions and varying depths of field. Close-ups look very good as well. The following images arethumbnails linked to the full-sized, unedited images.

 

 

 

 

BATTERY LIFE

The battery is Lithium Ion, and holds 1230 mAh of power, which T-Mobile says equates to 6.7 hours of talk-time and 13 days of stand-by time. I was able to get through 2-3 days of moderate use between charges without a problem.



PERFORMANCE

The 600MHz, single core processor that powers the HTC Wildfire S is a bit dated in terms of specs, but it's still responsive, and carried out all my daily tasks without any noticeable slow-downs, hangs, or lagginess.

Benchmarking the phone against others proves that the new processors are a lot faster.

Smartbench 2011: (did not complete)
LinPack Multi-thread test: 6.526 MFLOP, 25.85 Seconds, Norm Res 3.24
Quadrant: 720

These results put this phone in the same class at the original Motorola Droid and Nexus One.

CALL QUALITY/NETWORK SPEED

Wi-Fi 802.11n: 6Mbps down, 4Mbps up via Comcast Cable
3G: 1.1Mbps down, 350kbps up

Calls made and received over T-Mobile's cellular network were crisp, clear, and reliable with high-bars anywhere I went -- except in one known coverage "hole". Calls made and received via Wi-Fi calling were equally as impressive as those made over the traditional GSM network, and worked great in my coverage "hole", letting me stay connected even when I had no bars on the cellular network.

PROS

+ Very small formfactor
+ Very inexpensive (without sacrificing quality or features)
+ Solid battery life

CONS 

- Small, highly reflective screen
- Screen has small horizontal bars across it -- if you look closely enough
- Single-core, 600 MHz processor
- 418MB user-accessible internal storage
- No headset included
- No 1080p or 720p video recording
- No HSPA+ 4G
- HTC Sense UI 2.1 (rather than the newer 3.x versions)
- Hard to remove back cover

PURCHASING AND AVAILABILITY 

The Wildfire S can be purchased from T-Mobile for $249.99 off-contract, or free on-contract after a $50 web-only instant discount.

CONCLUSION

If you're looking for an entry-level phone, but want all the features and benefits of Android, this is the phone for you. It fits in-hand wonderfully, is very well built, has all the minimum requirements that you need in a smartphone, and is priced well below the high-end phones running the same OS.

The processor and amount of internal memory are limiting factors which will likely sway power-users to a higher-end phone.

As a side-note, this review took significantly longer to complete than any other phone I've reviewed. The best way to sum up why is that this little phone is "camera shy". Its screen is so highly reflective that several takes were required of each video before an acceptable image could be captured. While this shouldn't detract you from considering this phone, it did set back the review schedule substantially.

This phone's final score reflects the fact that it's an entry-level device. If we were to compare the Wildfire S to other low-end phones (the T-Mobile G1 or myTouch, for example) it would likely receive a 4.5 or higher. Since we try and rate phones on consistent scale, it would be unfair to rate this phone that highly.

As such, we give the Wildfire S a 2.5/5.