Mobile Notes: LG Dare, iPhone activation, Samsung Instinct

by Joe P on July 10, 2008

Oh, that Samsung Instinct. Sprint touted it as an iPhone alternative for its customers. And it ran all sorts of new-fangled promotions to get the word out. To an extent, it worked, as it became Sprint’s fastest selling cell phone ever. Pretty neat. Now, it hits another milestone, becoming Best Buy’s best-selling handset in the past two years. So it seems that people are deeming this a decent alternative. Don’t tell that to Apple fanboys, though. They’ll just thumb their nose at you.

Planning to wait in line for the iPhone 3G? You’d better get there rather early if you plan to reduce your idle time. The process should take around 15 minutes, though that’s probably a high-end estimate. The company plans to allow 30 customers in the store at once. Once a batch of 30 is done and activated, they’ll let in another 30. They say they can get 100 people an hour serviced, but somehow I doubt that. Chances are, that first batch of 30 will take somewhere in the vicinity of 30 to 45 minutes. So, once again, get there early.

A little over a year ago, the FCC ruled that all cell towers must have eight hours of backup power. This caused a rabble among cell carriers, who said this wasn’t possible for all towers. So the FCC abided and said that there could be exemptions. Then CTIA filed a complaint, which was ruled on yesterday. The result is that the issue is on hold until the Office of Management and Budget approves the regulations. Because this is a presidential election year, we could be waiting a while for approval.

Thinking about sticking with Verizon and picking up the LG Dare instead of switching for the iPhone? You might be disappointed. While the Dare is a quality consumer phone, it doesn’t really match up with the vaunted iPhone. Really, if you want an iPhone through Verizon, you might just want to wait for the BlackBerry Thunder.

Filed under : Mobile Notes