Archive for September 25th, 2011

Could Google become a wireless carrier

There is some industry speculation that Google may be planning to take on the role of wireless carrier in parts of Europe soon. In fact, they may have already started testing a Mobile Virtual Network (MVN) in Spain. The images posted are of what appears to be a Google-branded SIM card and a Nexus S running on a network dubbed “Google_es”. According to the report, a few trusted engineers have started receiving this starter pack for testing purposes already. Here’s a quote with a few more details,

HTC and Dropbox to offer 5GB accounts for Sense 3.5 users

HTC has partnered with Dropbox to bring a deal to those who upgrade to an HTC Sense 3.5 device. While we mere peasants are entitled to a paltry 2 GB of free cloud storage, HTC Sense 3.5 devices will get access to 5 GB at no extra price. Pretty sweet deal if you ask us.

Currently, the only device with Sense 3.5 is the brand new HTC Rhyme on Verizon. If you happen to get this device, odds are that it will be through an upgrade or new contract. This means you’ll be hitching your wagon to data caps.

This isn’t exactly a new idea, companies like Asus have been doing it for a few years right back from their original Eeepc. Data caps from network providers do limit what you can do with your phone, Spotify and music and video streaming services are a fine examples.  If you plan to take advantage of those 5 free GB, you’d better keep that unlimited data contract. Your 2 GB will fly away in no time if you use cloud storage constantly. So be careful with those transfers! You can also use WiFi when transferring large files to/from your Dropbox account (or upgrade to a higher data cap).

There’s still no word on whether current HTC Sense users will also get this treat or not. Future Sense 3.5 smartphones will definitely get an extra 3 GB, though. It might not be a major decision factor when choosing your next smartphone, but it’s definitely a nice extra. These devices will also come with the Dropbox app pre-installed. Depending on how you see it, this could be great or just more bloatware.

Posted by Gareth