Posted on June 9, 2009, at 1:02 pm .
Taiwan Mobile and RIM have announced that the highly anticipated BlackBerry Storm – the first touch-screen BlackBerry smartphone – is now available in Taiwan. The BlackBerry Storm features the world’s first “clickable” touch-screen and delivers the renowned usability and performance of the BlackBerry solution with powerful communications and multimedia features.
Taiwan Mobile also announced new monthly plans for BlackBerry Internet Service at NT$390, NT$690 and NT$990, providing customers with flexible and economical choices for service. The BlackBerry Storm is available at only NT$8,990 for customers who sign up with a plan at NT$990 for 24 months and Taiwan Mobile’s Myzone voice service plan at NT$968 for 12 months.
Hopefully the device will ship with all the updates from the last Verizon OS upgrade.
Posted on August 22, 2008, at 7:45 am .
In order to rope in a few corporate contracts, Taiwan Mobile now has a promotion to give away the BlackBerry 8120, BlackBerry 8300, BlackBerry 8707 and BlackBerry 8700 to enterprise customers who are willing to sign up for a monthly NT$1,499 ($US 47.70) plan. Taiwan Mobile is aiming to crank up their enterprise activations tenfold before the end of the year, which, while ambitious, could very well happen with a promo this enticing. Australia’s having a similar promotion with the BlackBerry Bold, which will likely see a lot of success. If you’re in an enterprise in the neighbourhood, you can contact Taiwan Mobile here to get started.
(via DigiTimes)
Posted on October 4, 2007, at 8:13 am .
Gemalto and Far EasTone Telecommunications are tag-teaming a new initiative to bring SIM card-based near-field communication services to Taiwan, starting with a trial phase and eventually leading to a full roll-out in ‘08. NFC allows for contactless transactions, so you just wave your phone in front of a sensor, which debits your account and sets you up with whatever service you were looking for. Here’s an example.
Taiwan’s hypermarket chain, Far Eastern Geant for instance, will hang posters embedded with NFC tags at their stores. Shoppers walk by, wave their NFC mobile across the poster and walk away with a coupon downloaded to the SIM for use at the checkout or for later purchases. Moreover, subscribers can view and interact with services provisioned using the mobile’s own web browser.
Embedding this function in SIM cards allows users to swap devices without any disruption in service, and lets mobile operators introduce new services through it, such as topping up your minutes at a terminal. NFC is becoming a growing market, and getting the technology inside a SIM card could significantly increase adoption.
Posted on July 26, 2007, at 10:54 am .
We don’t really know why we like making fun of BlackBerry Connect so much here at BBCool. Maybe it’s our blogger nature, forcing us to pounce, fierce and lion-like, on whichever wounded gazelle limps too far behind RIM’s otherwise svelte pack of great devices and strong stock price. That’s why it was disappointing to hear that the poor beast still has a bit of life left in her, coming by way of support from Taiwan’s second largest carrier, Taiwan Mobile.
Taiwan Mobile announced yesterday that it was rolling out BlackBerry Connect support for the Sony Ericsson P1i and Asustek M530W handsets, with BBC support for HTC devices possibly soon to follow. Taiwan Mobile started offering BlackBerry service to its customers in late 2006, and expects to have 10,000 BlackBerry subscribers by mid-2008.
So keep running, you steely-eyed gazelle. We’ll meet again in the tall grass of the Internet someday soon.
