AT&T has announced that they will launch a Mobile Hotspot application for Android the same day as the HTC Inspire 4G becomes available in the store - 13 February that is. With only $20 per month the users will be able to use the Mobile Hotspot application, but there's the obligation for a $25 per month AT&T Data Pro Plan, which offers 2 GB of data traffic.

To make a long story short, for $45 per month you can use your Android handset as a mobile hotspot and you will also get 4 GB traffic in this price for devices connecting to the hotspot. If you get over the bandwidth available, AT&T will charge $10 for each GB of traffic used.

Source: Unwired View

Virgin Mobile's second prepaid mobile phone is available at the specified carrier starting today. The price of the phone is going to be $150, which is a great price tag for this prepaid device, considering there's no contract or any other fee involved.

The phone will run Android 2.2 Froyo and will feature a 600MHz processor, 3.2 inch VGA display, (320 x 480 pixels resolution), 3MP camera and 2 GB of internal storage. The card slot is a microSDHC. Reports on the internet suggest that though the features are not extremely attractive for a mobile phone, the fact that there's no contract involved and the price tag is making users happy with their purchases.

LG announced yesterday the release of a new mobile phone designed not only for users interested in different features, but also for the ones demanding and attractive design. The device is really cheap, getting sold for less than $100, and we have to say that it looks fine for its price tag.

The LG A160 Candybar features a 2 inch QCIG (174 x 144) display, dual-band GSM, Bluetooth, MP3 player, Radio, USB 2.0 and a VGA foto and video camera. The microSD memory card is good for up to 2GB.

As the official release says, the phone is only available in Russia right now, for around $85, but LG will probably release it to other markets soon.

Source: Unwired View

The microUSB is winning its ways into becoming the default port for lots of mobile phone companies, letting smaller companies ask themselves if they should also adapt to the trends. Two years ago the GSMA announced to have managed to persuade a large group of mobile phone producers to move to microUSBs by 2012.

The microUSB is becoming the main port for mobile producers such as Nokia, Apple, RIM, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Alcatel - is Alcatel even on the market anymore? Didn't heard anything from their company lately.

Sure, now everybody will ask if the next generation iPhone will feature a microUSB too, but I seriously doubt. The USB port is not proprietary for Apple and it might take a longer time until we will really see it happening.

A tipster let our source know there's a new device on the way to TELUS. Surprise or not, it's the INQ CHat 3G which will most likely be the phone he was talking about. It is possible the INQ to be released in a couple of months, but there are not informations about price or exact release date. The phone in the image also displays the TELUS logo, so it's pretty sure the device will come to the carrier sooner or later.

The phone has a 2.2 inch QVGA display with a resolution of 320x240, full qwerty keyboard, a 3.2MP camera with autofocus and video capabilities, GPS, social media integration (Facebook and Twitter) and can hold up to 8GB on a microSD card. The phone, as its name says, has chatting capabilities, and those are considered to be its special features.

Via MobileSyrup

LG announced today that they will expand their Optimus range with two other devices, called Optimus one and Optimus Chic. Both will run Android 2.2 Froyo. In this announcement they also said that Optimus Q and Optimus Z will also get Froyo updates in the coming months. We don't have to forget LG announced up to 10 new devices until the end of the year, and this announcement makes us happy, because they had a rather slow start.

The press release brings us no specs. We just know they will run Froyo and they will probably have Wi-Fi connectivity. We don't know more, LG kept the secret and there are no leaks out there. We know now Optimus Q and Z will get Froyo updates, but we haven't heard anything about the original Optimus. In the press release they also talked about their future Windows Mobile 7 phone, saying it will be released this year. No date, no specs, not anything.

Via GSM Arena

Puma, the worldwide known shoes seller, has now its own mobile phone too. Sure, the phone is not very impressive, the design is decent, while the performances are just ok. That'd not be the problem, anyway. Even Puma is spread worldwide, their phone is now available in only nine countries from Europe, Africa and Middle East. No USA, no Canada, and not many big European countries. What's cool about this phone? Well, it has solar panels on its back, so that's probably why it has been released in Africa first. 

Pricing is also a little bit spicy for a phone if its calibre. About $500, but it depends on the country you want to buy it in. You would probably get it SIM-free too, which is cool, but that's not a price I would really want to pay for a phone like this one.

Some of the specs include GPS, sports tracker (not a surprise), mp3 player, e-mail and full web browser and photo / video camera.

Via Engadget

NTT Docomo, a phone carrier in Japan, with more than 100 million mobile subscribers, decided to make an interesting move starting next April (when the fiscal year starts in Japan). It seems the carrier with 55 million customers will offer SIM-free mobile phones starting next year. The move came after Japan's Communications Ministry said it will be good if phone carriers would sell SIM-free mobile phones.

This kind of plan can prove to be a failure, because a user can now buy cheaper phones from a carrier, and move to the other right away, without any problem. Anyway, Docomo's stock at the Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed from 2.600 yen to 139.600 yen in just a day. Impressive, would we say. But what will Docomo win after this move? That's a question journalists from Japan ask themselves. At a first glance, this is in every user's favour, not in the companies one.

Via MobileCrunch

As you probably already know, the new Motorola XT520 is also heading to China. The smartphone has been certified back in May as was first known as Motorola Greco. At that time we didn't knew too much about it. Besides a blurry photo, nothing, actually. Now there are lots of more details on the wai and we got them too. There is a 3.5mm headset jack, 5MP camera with LED flash, Wi-Fi, GPS, USB port and Bluetooth. 

There's also a 3.2 inch touchscreen with trackball, call/end buttons, capacitive function buttons for Android and 1230 mAh battery. Sure, the phone looks good, not very promising, but good. Though, we would like to know more things about it before actually buying it.

Via PhAndroid.

BestBuy Canada started to sell unlocked phones. You can now get Sonim XP3 Enduro off-contract for $449.99 and then go and use it with any carrieri you want. That's an interesting move, but you should also consider the prices upon buying an unlocked phone from there. For almost $500 you can get other devices, such as Nokia N97, HTC Pro and even iPhone 4, all of them with different deals and plans. If you are interested you can check the offer here.

The XP3 Enduro, as the name sais, is probably designed to resist to any kind of shocks. It can be dust, water, drops and extrem temperature, this mobile phone will be as good as new. A bad side of it, as expected, is that it weighs 166 grams, which is much, but for a phone which is considered the toughest in the world... it's ok. The phone was released back in 2008 and is still considered incredible, blowing the benchmark wide open.

Via MobileSyrup