A MILESTONE FOR NEW ZEALAND MOBILE USERS
16 June 2010
Telecom is set to deliver a Milestone to New Zealanders, with the launch of its latest Android phone on 1 July.
The Motorola Milestone™ is the first smartphone to be powered by the Android™ 2.1 operating system available in New Zealand and is exclusive to Telecom XT customers.
Android is the fastest growing mobile operating system in the US market* and gives users a mobile internet experience about as close to a computer as they can get.
Telecom Retail CEO Alan Gourdie says, “Since its inception, the Android platform has shaken up the mobile world, and we have been watching it closely, looking for a device that makes these features come to life for our customers – we believe the Milestone is it.”
The Milestone allows users to surf the web on a high-resolution screen and look up favourite sites, videos and music quickly with the high-speed processor and the fast XT network connection.
But search capabilities on the Milestone go beyond the web. Users can find their way around town with MOTONAV turn-by-turn navigation and Google Maps™ with Latitude™.
The Milestone benefits from closely integrated Google™ apps. Google services such as Google Search™ and Gmail™ are tightly integrated with the platform.
And there are endless personalisation capabilities, allowing users to configure their mobile to look and behave exactly how they want. They can customise their homescreen with Facebook™ or download applications for music, sports, news, games and business.
“With internet search and personalisation features similar to what you’d get on a desktop, plus the ability to toggle back and forth between applications, it’s a very slick experience,” says Mr Gourdie.
Being open source, Android gives developers access to powerful and flexible platforms that will encourage increased innovation and competition in the mobile applications space.
Managing Director, ANZPI, Motorola Mobile Devices, Timo Brouwer says, “We are delighted to be working with Telecom to bring an easy and fun mobile internet experience to their XT customers.”
The Milestone is a thin, touch screen phone with a QWERTY keypad and slider design.
It features a DVD quality video recorder, a 5 megapixel camera and 8 gigabytes (GB) of storage – with the option to upgrade to 32GB.
Its introduction marks the re-launch of Motorola into New Zealand – a mobile manufacturer who has been lauded in overseas markets as a leading innovator in Android.
The Milestone will be available exclusively to Telecom XT customers for RRP $999 from 1 July.
Telecom is currently offering a Risk Free Trial when signing up to the Telecom XT Mobile Network. Find more information on this visit: http://store.telecom.co.nz/mobile/special-offers/risk-free.
*According to market tracker, NPD Group.
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As Dan said I don’t think the iPhone on Telecom is going to happen. To me they are now calling in the Android cavalry. I have a good friend in the know at Telecom who tells me they have given up on the iPhone for the time being with the main stumbling block being Apple not willing to budge on the 100,000 unit minimum order quantity.
It is a crying shame indeed!
(Paul has made 129 comments)
this could very well be a starting point for telecom, lets hope this means more for iPhone users!!
(Joe Bunting has made 65 comments)
hmmmm, hadn't thought about it that way round….. if they get the other big players with phones running Android perhaps it will give them better leverage with Apple?
Yeah hard to tell but I think I am with Dan's original thoughts that we would have heard by now if XT were partnering with Apple. Such a damn shame..I hope the outages didnt play a part in them not being successful. I assume they TRIED to win a deal as otherwise I am left asking "what were they thinking!!". The Iphone (3 and 3GS) were MADE for XT and the Iphone 4 is a very welcome addition…I still hold out hope but looks like I will be paying full retail from Apple just so I can use it on XT.
(camtab has made 271 comments)
Telecom are never going to partner with Apple. Apple are innovative, Telecom have hamstrung this country for years, Apple’s gear just works, Telecom’s is insanely counter-intuitive, falls over a lot and doesn’t support the best technology solutions currently available. The companies are at opposite ends of the spectrum, it just wouldn’t work. They’re throwing their hat in with Android because very simply, 600,000 pre-orders in the first day for the new iPhone is making them shit themselves and now they’ve realised (yet again) that they made the wrong choice (much like the WCDMA choice a while back…), they HAVE to throw their hat in with Android.
(usmcoap has made 4 comments)
@ usmcoap: That’s a pretty unfair assessment. Telecom’s XT network is a great network – it was a huge investment which nobody forced them to, but they saw the need to innovate and made the decision to go ahead. Yes, XT has had issues but considering the head of Alcatel-Lucent resigned, the new one publicly apologised to Telecom’s customers and compensated Telecom for the trouble, I think its fair to say that the issues were out of Telecom’s hands. Alcatel-Lucent have a reputation to uphold and they’re not going to take the wrap if it wasn’t their fault. Secondly… the 600,000 iPhone pre-orders thing happened yesterday. Do you really think that Telecom penned this deal with Motorola just yesterday?! It would have been weeks or months in negotiation.
New Zealand is pretty lucky and doesn’t always realise it. We have great broadband (and it is great, no matter what the mainstream media might tell you) and we have two nationwide 3G mobile networks. The closest comparable country to New Zealand is Ireland and you’d do well to look at what they have. Their national carrier (Eirtel) is a million times worse than Telecom, their broadband infrastructure is woeful.
The media love a scapegoat, but Telecom is just a phone company and operates just like any other phone company in the world. THey’re not here to just give stuff away, but the products and services they provide are high quality. The downsides such as price and lack of hundreds of other companies jostling for your money are unfortunately the downside to living in a country with a population the size of NZ’s.
(Steve has made 320 comments)
Yeah I am with Steve, everyone loves to slag off telecom but in reality they are no worse (and in fact better in many ways) to other telcos. And again how is apple taking 600,000 preorders yesterday anything to do with XT being the wrong choice? That made no sense at all. The iPhone 3/3GS and now 4 is perfectly suited to XT’s network.
Telecom are a nz company, while Vodafone are a multi billion dollar corporation. They had the chance to really win us over with the iPhone and instead they priced it’s plans to be close to (if not THE) worst in the world. I welcome the competition and hope telecom do partner with apple as god knows New Zealand deserves the choice
(camtab has made 271 comments)
I have to throw my two cents worth and I am with Steve and camtab all the way. I have been with XT since Sept last year and have had an iPhone 3GS since Christmas.
I haven’t had a moment’s trouble with the network in all that time. No dropped calls – which were a signature VFNZ feature – very fast data and also good plans. VFNZ have a history of throwing useless plans at customers which are inflexible and expensive.
XT rocks – and I sincerely hope they get the market share they deserve. Pity about the iPhone though……
(metroplis has made 3 comments)
I have to chime in with my 2 cents.
I moved over here from the UK around 10 months ago. I have been with Telecom from day 1. I have 2 iPhones, home phone and Business broadband with them and have NEVER had one single issue with either performance or customer service. I have switched mobile plans home broadband plans quite a few times and have never had an issue. I can tell you from personal experience Telecom XT mobile DATA speeds wipe the floor with ANY UK network. Without getting into another DATA speed debate, a dude in my office came up to me the other day and gloated about how his Voda iPhone now gets 1MBPS download speeds now, I didn’t say anything aside from “Wow that’s impressive” but you can imagine what I was thinking, he walked away and said to me “see I told you, you won’t get that kind of speed on Telecom” ‘No mate you won’t ……..thank god’
Having been here throughout the infamous outages I followed the story and how Telecom handled it with great interest, and for me personally they handled it well and continue to do so.
I don’t like the feel of the Vodafone stores or the staff either, for me they may as well wear a sign saying ” I am on commission and I don’t care how I get it”
The Vodafone iPhone plans as somebody else stated are amongst the worst in the world, when they got the original iPhone I remember being in the UK and even there hearing about Voda NZ iPhone plans. For me that is a typical example of a company exploiting their exclusivity deal. They had better come up with something special for the new iPhone to keep the original customers who are coming to the end of their 24 month term.
I can’t see the iPhone making it to Telecom anytime soon which given the quality and performance of the XT network is a real shame. My friend at Telecom as I posted earlier stated the main stumbling block as the 100,000 minimum order qty which Apple will not budge on. This order qty is nothing for Voda a multi million dollar company but for Telecom this is a big deal. I don’t think the outages on Telecom have anything to do with it otherwise lets face it AT&T would not have got or held onto their exclusivity in the states. Telecom have done what any other company would have done if they could not get what they want and that is get the next best thing which is Android.
Just my 2 cents
(Paul has made 129 comments)
Hey Paul, I reckon that was at least 20cents worth
Very good post/comment there Paul, always nice to get a point of view from someone who has experienced other countries Telcos. And 2c or 20c…your input is more than worth it haha
(camtab has made 271 comments)
@Dan @Camtab , I can assure you it was 2 cents, I know this for a fact as it is all the money I have left after buying my 2 iPhone 4′s yesterday
(Paul has made 129 comments)
@ Paul: LOL
No, I think it’s a very fair assessment. Telecom’s XT network has:
1. Been plagued with trouble from day one
2. Been rolled out only because the previous network (sorry, I did mean CDMA, just tacked a W on the front as I was obviously getting ahead of myself) is now classed worldwide as ancient outdated technology (as WCDMA is fast becoming actually). If they thought they could retain their stranglehold on this country with the pitiful offering they started off with, they would have. But Vodafone was bringing out its 3G network and Telecom could barely keep up with XT, they were behind the 8ball when they started and when the dust settles, they’ll still be behind it. It’s a bit like Windows Vs OSX. Microsoft spends all it’s time playing catch-up to what an OS should be like.
3. Been blamed on every man and his dog except Telecom by Telecom. If you look at the installation issues and problems with interfacing with old technology, it was clear that Telecom tried to put a square peg in a round hole.
No, as the customer, it’s in your hands. If there’s a rigorous testing and QA procedure (and you don’t try and roll out a new network on old outdated tech that can’t handle it) and you work closely with your suppliers, you should be able to do it. But they didn’t and they couldn’t.
You are kidding, right? The mobile phone prices in NZ are some of the worst in the world due to the government being largely spineless and Telecom and Vodafone having massive lobbying power to stop regulation. The broadband offering here is pitiful. Granted, it has got better in the last two years or so but to be honest, I think you’re living in a different country to me. I moved here from the UK nearly 9 years ago (so I have experience of a true competitive environment where the consumer actually wins for once) and I left a 3MB/s broadband connection with an unlimited cap for DIAL-UP here. Admittedly, I was in London and those unlimited plans no longer exist but the broadband offering here was absolutely godawful until they finally forced Telecom to unbundle the local loop just a little bit…
Ah, but they’re not, are they? They’re a content provider now (if you believe the bullshit behind Tivo), they’re a data and a broadband provider and they’re the reason that this country has been stuck in the telecommunications dark ages for so damn long. I agree that they should be allowed to make money, of course but for the money we pay them, we should get a service that works and a company that promotes healthy competition because they’re confident that they have the best service and can nail all these telecommunications upstarts to the wall. But Telecom (and Vodafone when it comes to termination charges) has used every dirty trick in the book to stop competition (much like Qantas and Air NZ with Pacific Blue and look who loses out there…)
Look, I have nothing personally against Telecom. I have a Telecom phone on XT for work that’s a piece of crap that drops calls or has no service and is basically rubbish and I have a Vodafone for personal use that has never once dropped a call in 9 years (obviously not the same phone but you know what I mean) and I’ve only ever used my telecom one in urban areas (where they’re supposed to have full coverage). I’ve used my Vodafone all over the country and way out in the boonies and if it’s got coverage (there are obviously some places that don’t), it’ll make the call.
As an ex-PR guy, I know for a fact that there was out and out BS on Telecom’s part and that much of the blame can be laid squarely at their doorstep, whether as the ones directly responsible or as the ones that should have checked it all was going to plan. Their PR machine is definitely impressive and that’s what’s got them (and will continue to get them) through.
(usmcoap has made 4 comments)
Hi all. I had a chat with someone at Telecom and it surely doesn’t look like the iPhone4, 5, 6 … will be available on XT any time soon.
As Paul was stating the Great Masters at apple decided that if you can’t sell 100000 units you’re not worthy of selling their product so if anyone wants to complain I’d point more at them than at Telecom.
And yes … the iPhone (3GS) works way better on XT than on Voda. No contest.
I’ve done a lot of testing on the South Island at the beginning of the year (pre/post outage) and the coverage and speed were very good. (Dial *3001#12345#* to bring up the iPhone’s Field Test tool, which will give you information about towers and signal strength)
(xescuy has made 19 comments)
@ xescuy: I tried that *3001#12345#* and nothing happened. Is it US only? I googled it but all I get is telecom telling me the number can’t be connected. Might be beyond my need anyway as field experience (just using iPhone) tells me XT better
(camtab has made 271 comments)
@ camtab: I use it on XT. I just tested it before posting. That’s odd.
I believe it’s a built in app called Field Test with the usual right arrow menus that is being called up by the key sequence above.
A la old nokia phones
(xescuy has made 19 comments)
It won’t even dial *3001#12345#*… I have to remove the last * (or at least remove a character) I am using iOS4 so maybe that affects it? No dramas
(camtab has made 271 comments)
I can get to the field test thing. Pretty cool! I typed it in exactly as above and pused ‘Call’.
Man! it even shows signal strength in numbers rather than the bars. Coolio!
(Mak has made 158 comments)
usmcoap wrote:
I think you mean CDMA. WCDMA is the technology behind XT.
Oh and I ditto Steve/Camtab.