News from 7-25...Virgin Mobile, Tracfone, Net10!

Interestingly, I only had enough time yesterday to hear about all tstuff that happend...not enough time to write about it...even though a 20-ounce Dr. Pepper confined me to insomnia till about 1:15 in the morning. But ah well...I'll play catchup now...

First off, the Virgin Mobile announcements, three of them:

1. Virgin Mobile has a new plan: 10 cents when you're talking with Virgin Mobile customers, 20 cents with everyone else. Basically, if you use more than 20% of your minutes (yes, only 20%) calling Virgin Mobile customers, and don't use a lot of minutes anyway...or sped less than 35 minutes a month talking to non-Virgin Mobile customers, this is a really good plan believe it or not. Sorta reminds me of Boost Mobile's pay as you go plan...except that nights and weekends aren't discounted. Still, it's a nice addition if you ask me. Choice is always good.

2. You know the LG Aloha that I talked about a few posts ago? The basic, cool-looking LG flip phone that Alltel also has (running on their U Prepaid service)? Well, now Virgin Mobile lists it as coming soon". Again, it's a basic phone but it's gotta be a world better than the Kyocera Marbl, and likely for the same price. Interesting how Virgin Mobile is converting a bit more to LG and such while Tracfone is...well...read on...but first take a look at the Aloha on VM's website...

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/phones/phoneDetail.do?skuId=VMLX14

3. Oh, and the "Slice II" from UTStarCom for Virgin Mobile is also on their website now...also listed as "Coming Soon". Its name? The "Super Slice". Not highly original, but it's an apt description. Better features include a built-in camera, a bigger, higher-res screen, a raised keypad for less painful texting\dialing for those of us with larger hands, Bluetooth (ooooh! aaaah!) and the high=emd software features like IM and Email that aren't on the original Slice. All this while shaving 0.01" off the thickness of the phone (cool!), making it actually a decent bar phone that wouldn't even be embarrased on a contract plan. I just wonder how much it'll cost...speaking of cost, the original Slice is down to $29.99 in both colors on Virgin Mobile's website, which is cool if anyone needs a dependable basic phone. Anyway, here's the link to VM's Super Lice description:

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/phones/phoneDetail.do?skuId=VM1450

And now for the two Tracfone news bits...one bigger than the other...

1. For starters, Tracfone now posts the LG C200 as "coming soon" on their website. Yay...a new CDMA phone! But wait...this is the same phone that Alltel and Virgin Mobile are coming out with (you know, the Aloha). But I don't mind...it's new, it's CDMA, it's at least a little more stylish than the LG 3280...and it's SingleRate. See it here:

http://www.tracfone.com/phone_details.jsp?model=TFLG200C

2. Saving the "best" for last, Tracfone is...and no I'm not kidding and this isn't Virgin Mobile...going to carry a Kyocera phone! Of course, it's a CDMA phone, and this one's decidedly low-end...the "color" display is clearly described as being black-and-white with a pretty background. Oh, and you only get 10 ringtones...at least they're polyphonic. Is this going to be a $10 phone or something...just wondering...at least it's small and looks halfway decent. The model number is the K126c...you can gawk at it here:

http://www.tracfone.com/phone_details.jsp?model=TFKY126

And last but not least, the Net10 news...

They're getting CDMA! I know this because the same two phones mentioned for Tracfone...well...they show up as "Coming Soon" on Net10's site as well. Except with different color schemes so both look nicer, especially the Kyocera. Interestingly, the Kyocera is marked "not available in all areas" (I guess Trac doesn't make a lot of money on CDMA compared with GSM) but the LG model isn't. MMisprit or not? I wonder...but at any rate I'm glad the choice of CDMA is nwo available for Net10.