The Droid Eris could cost almost half as much as the Hero at Sprint when it goes on sale, a source says today. The "very trustworthy" insider tells gdgt that the HTC Android phone should cost $99 (likely $100) on a Verizon contract when it ships November 6th. The price compares roughly to the Hero at Cellular South but is much lower than Sprint's $180 asking cost for the same phone.
A Tuesday PhoneArena report maintains wireless provider AT&T will begin offering the HTC Hero early in 2010. This information reportedly comes from a tipster's friend who is developing firmware for the device. It remains to be seen whether the AT&T version will be styled differently from the reference GSM version.
Cellular South began taking pre-orders for the HTC Hero along with a pair of moves to draw attention to its launch. The phone itself will cost just over half of Sprint's price at $100 versus the larger carrier's $180. Both Android device versions have the same features, including HTC's Sense UI, a 5-megapixel camera, 3G, GPS and Wi-Fi.
Google's Android platform reached its first smaller US carrier on Monday night with adding the HTC Hero to its lineup. The smartphone is very close close to the Sprint version with the same "chinless" design, CDMA/EVDO support and Sense UI but will make Sprxmobile's Layar augmented reality point-of-interest app a highlighted download. In hardware, the 5-megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi and 3.5mm headphone jack carry over.
Wireless provider Cellular South on Tuesday announced it will offer an as-yet unnamed Android handset in its lineup sometime this year. The carrier is short on details but justifies the move by arguing that the open-source operating system is seen to be growing by industry experts. Cellular South plans special treatment for the device and expects to give customers help online and in shops.
Verizon on Friday told US federal officials that it would voluntarily limit the duration of its exclusivity deals for phones to six months, albeit with limits. The terms will let any carrier with 500,000 or fewer subscribers pick up a phone regardless of the manufacturer. The carrier argues that it can't drop exclusivity altogether as this gives it a competitive edge and spurs on the phone manufacturers themselves.
Wireless provider Cellular South on Wednesday announced it will soon sell its own subsidized 3G-capable netbook, the 10.1-inch Dell Inspiron Mini 10. Its version, like that for AT&T, holds an internal 3G modem that supplies long-range data access wherever the carrier has coverage. As a CDMA carrier, though, Cellular South will use EVDO instead of HSPA.
Wireless provider Cellular South on Friday is the latest to offer the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 smartphone to its lineup of handsets. The provider will offer the handset in pink and black, which has the same specs as other Flip 8230s, including a 2-megapixel camera, 240x320 pixel LCD internal display in addition to an external display, and a SureType QWERTY keyboard.
