We get quite used to seeing various leaks leading up to the release of the next version of the Apple iPhone, and we also saw a similar situation leading up to the recent launch of the latest Android flagship smartphone from Samsung, but that is not to say other lower end handsets don’t regularly get leaked. Today we have news of a Motorola QWERTY slider that is bound for Sprint being leaked seemingly running Android ICS 4.0.
Only last week we told you about an upcoming QWERTY slider device by Samsung that was heading to T-Mobile, and now as Android Central are reporting a handset is currently in the works that also features a QWERTY slider keyboard, and is heading to rival carrier Sprint via Motorola. The image that can be seen below is all that is basically known about the handset at this present time.
What can be seen though is that there is a keyboard with five rows of staggered keys, and dedicated arrow buttons. It is also believed that the upcoming handset will feature a qHD display, and it can be seen there is the Sprint Music app pre-installed.
Of course while the list of specifications for the handset is remaining thin on the ground everything else is just guess work. There is a good chance the device will be LTE compatible, and it is wondered if the handset will finally see a device from Motorola that is powered by Intel. The two companies back at the beginning of the year announced they would provide a number of handsets due for release this coming fall.
It can also be seen in the image that apart from the QWERTY keyboard, there are no other physical keys so it will use virtual buttons on the screen for home and multitasking, which is a different move that we have seen recently from the likes of Samsung and LG. This hints that the device will be using the Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system at launch, and is the way that Google originally wanted for its new software when it was first announced.
Are you a Sprint customer who likes the idea of a physical keyboard?
Boy of 12 who ran up £1,700 phone bill in a month chatting to girlfriend on his father's mobile - Daily Mail
- Oscar Rushen's father Dennis in battle with Vodafone over bill on 10.50-a-month contract phone
- Pensioner Mr Rushen accuses phone giant of being greedy because it did not inform him of the sudden change in spending
- Schoolboy Oscar spent hours a day speaking with his girlfriend, 13
By Andrew Levy
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Shocked at the cost: Dennis Rushen, left, has now cut up his SIM card after finding out his son Oscar has run up the astronomical bill speaking to his girlfriend
They say that true love conquers all. But there are always hurdles along the way.
In 12-year-old Oscar Rushen’s case, the hurdle was a 1,700 phone bill, run up in only a month as he chatted to his 13-year-old girlfriend on his father’s mobile.
The schoolboy now relies on Facebook while his father Dennis – who cut up his SIM card when he found out – battles with Vodafone over the bill.
Mr Rushen, who is divorced, accused the network of being greedy, saying it should have intervened when the 10.50-a-month contract suddenly went up to hundreds of pounds a week.
The 65-year-old said: ‘When I saw this massive bill, I thought there must be a mistake.
'It turned out there were sometimes several calls a day and they could last more than two hours.
‘Part of the problem is Vodafone don’t post bills any more and they don’t even email them.
‘You have to go online to see them so the onus is on you to check.
'But if your bill is 80 to 100 times higher than normal questions should be asked. They are just greedy.’
Oscar struck up the relationship at the start of March after meeting the girl, called Charlie, at a youth club near his mother’s home in Banham, Norfolk.
Unable to meet regularly because of the eight miles between Banham and her home in a nearby village, the pair began a telephone romance.
Mr Rushen, who lives in Attleborough, Norfolk, discovered the price of their love a month into the relationship.
The racing car driver manager said: ‘I went straight to a Vodafone shop and they told me to write to customer services.
‘I’ve done that and I’ve made lots of calls – although I didn’t think at first and Oscar was still making calls when the complaint began,’ he added.
‘In the end I told him to give me his SIM card. I cut it up and told him I wasn’t paying any more.
‘When we went into a shop shortly afterwards he bought me a bottle of Coke and asked if he did that every day for the rest of my life would it be enough.’
Unaware: Oscar Rushen said he did not realise that he was racking up such an enormous mobile phone bill
Mr Rushen, who has been with Vodafone for 15 years, said he would be cancelling the 12-month contract, which was in his name, when it ends this month. He has now given his son a pay-as-you-go phone.
Oscar said: ‘I didn’t realise how it worked. I’m 12 and I don’t know much about it. I feel really bad for my dad.
‘Charlie’s phone is with O2 and when she went over her limit they shut it off.
‘I didn’t realise Vodafone were the only people who don’t do that.’
The 10.50 deal comes with 300 free minutes per month and unlimited text messages. Any extra calls cost 35p per minute.
A Vodafone spokesman said that the company was looking into the case.
Vodafone’s CWW bid wins key support - Shropshire Star
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Vodafone’s £1 billion play for ailing telecoms group Cable & Wireless Worldwide is back on track after the target’s biggest shareholder backed the deal. The blue-chip giant’s bid was in serious doubt after Canadian firm Orbis, CWW’s largest ...T-Mobile Reveals New Roaming Internet Boosters - techweekeurope.co.uk
T-Mobile has become the latest mobile operator to reveal roaming plans ahead of the EU price caps coming into place on 1 July.
The operator promised customers are ‘guaranteed’ never to run up an unexpected data roaming bill and, unlike its competitors, the Internet and Broadband Travel Boosters can be used outside Europe.
The boosters will come into effect on 19 June, across all consumer and businesses plans and can be used on smartphones and mobile broadband devices.
The end of bill shock?
“We are really proud to be the first UK operator to ensure our customers can continue to be connected, anywhere in the world – and have the peace of mind they’ll never come back to an unexpected bill,” commented Ben Fritsch, head of propositions at T-Mobile.
Once a customer has landed in another country, they will be directed to a page where they can purchase one of the boosters in order to continue using the Internet. A number of bundle sizes are available, and all last for 30 days or until the data has been used up.
The cost of the booster is dependent on the size and the category of country visited.
Varying costs
The cheapest booster costs £1 for 3MB of data in Europe, which increases to £25 in Group D countries, which includes the likes of Brazil and Japan. The cost will either be added to the customer’s monthly bill or deducted from their Pay As You Go credit.
Last week, Three launched its Euro Internet Pass to allow customers to use as much data as they went while abroad for £5 a day, although there were a number of restrictions, such as a lack of tethering. Vodafone has launched a similar Eurotraveller service, which lets customers use their UK price plan abroad, and includes calls and texts.
However they do not make provisions for outside Europe (with the exception of some overseas territories and departments), and the services are opt-in, rather than automatic.
“Where the other networks put the onus on customers to be savvy and sign up to the plans, T-Mobile customers will automatically be alerted to its Boosters every time they try to go online abroad – and it applies outside of the EU,” said Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at uSwitch. “With the new EU regulations coming into force at the start of July, it is encouraging to see that providers are taking the lead and are already responding to the obvious demand for affordable data by offering customers the chance to curb their mobile spending while in the EU.”
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Isn't it against Facebook's T&C for a 12 year old to use the service? Come on dad , get a grip
- Mark, The view from the hill ..., 18/6/2012 13:48
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