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TIM posts

Italy's TIM nabbing HTC Magic

by Chris Ziegler, posted Apr 25th 2009 @ 10:42PM

In Europe, HTC's Android devices are fragmented among the big players, which means TIM could end up being the first carrier anywhere to offer both the Dream and the Magic now that they've popped a product page on their official site for the keyboardless device at a stiff €449 (about $595). There's no launch date listed, but Tecnophone says that the phone's are already in TIM's possession -- and they might be looking at a May 4 launch to line up with Vodafone. Unable to decide which version you're going to buy, TIM subscribers? Yeah, it's a pretty awesome problem to have.

[Via Tecnophone]

HTC Dream comes to Italy's TIM for ?429 on prepaid

by Chris Ziegler, posted Mar 21st 2009 @ 3:07PM

HTC's first Android device is pretty much all over the place now -- either as the G1 or the Dream -- and TIM is the latest to go live with it over in Italy. Like most European carriers, TIM is happy to get you a Dream for as little as €0, but where it gets interesting is with the prepaid option: for €429 (about $583), you can just have the darn thing outright and pay as you go. T-Mobile USA: there's a lesson to be learned here. Maybe.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Italian HTC Touch HD gets unboxed, looks highly desirable

by Darren Murph, posted Nov 8th 2008 @ 1:02PM

Not that you don't already have an awesome idea of what HTC's luscious Touch HD looks like from all the hands-on love it's been receiving overseas, but how's about an official unboxing in Italy to really put the cherry on top? Go on, Europeans -- enjoy your Touch HD. It's not like we want one in our part of the world anyway. In fact, don't even bother checking out the read link, there's nothing worth being completely envious of in there, anyway.

[Via Coolsmartphone]

Samsung's C6620 looks fun, means business with WinMo 6.1

by Chris Ziegler, posted Oct 29th 2008 @ 10:13AM

Along with the change in naming convention comes a change in industrial design, and the C6620 -- one of the first smartphones to make use of Samsung's annoying new one-letter, four-digit scheme -- definitely looks a bit different than your average WinMo piece out of Seoul. Italian carrier TIM appears to be the first in the world to offer it, featuring triband GSM along with HSDPA, Bluetooth (we should certainly hope so), and a 2-megapixel camera -- not earth-shattering by any stretch, but we're digging the two-tone thing they've got going on here. It's selling for €199 (about $254), which we think makes this (or something very close to it) a perfect spiritual successor to the original BlackJack, yeah?

[Via Unwired View and mobileblog.it]

BlackBerry Pearl 8220 launches on TIM in Italy

by Chris Ziegler, posted Oct 5th 2008 @ 6:54AM

T-Mobile USA's busy with... ahem, another launch at the moment, but Italians on TIM now have access to RIM's first and only clamshell (TIM, RIM? Coincidence?). The Pearl 8220 is ready for shipment to the Mediterranean villa of your choosing for 269 (about $372), though TIM's only offering black at the moment -- so maybe T-Mobile's taking so long because they have to prepare some specially formulated dyes for that red version. Or something.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

LiMo Foundation breaks 50-member mark

by Chris Ziegler, posted Aug 5th 2008 @ 4:34PM

The deafening silence out of the Android camp as of late has left plenty of room for competitors to steal some of the spotlight to advance their own causes, and the LiMo Foundation certainly seems to be doing what it can to take advantage of the opportunity. The "other" Linux-based mobile platform already has a key advantage over Android and the Open Handset Alliance -- products that are actually shipping -- and they're working to wide the gap here by announcing that they've now pushed their member count over the half-century mark. As usual, there are a few heavy hitters in this round, too: ZTE, Motorola spinoff Freescale Semiconductor, and Telecom Italia headline the eleven-strong class of carriers, component manufacturers, and software shops. Separately, they've announced that 21 LiMo phones now grace the market, so it's looking like these guys are here to stay regardless of what the Android camp's up to.

Symbian Foundation adds another round of supporters

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jul 14th 2008 @ 12:16AM

The Symbian Foundation's founding member list was nothing to sneeze at, featuring the likes of Vodafone, Samsung, LG, AT&T, and of course Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Motorola -- but the initiative is getting even stronger here with the addition of a couple other major carrier players, a chipset giant, and a heaping handful of software firms. From the carrier side, 3 and America Movil get added to the list; Marvell joins Texas Instruments from the silicon side of things, and the app developers now include Aplix, EB, EMCC Software, Sasken, and TietoEnator. We're not going to lie, we're not familiar with some of these devs -- but when you're fighting juggernauts like Android and LiMo to win the hearts and minds of the open-platform public, you need all the ammo you can get.

Reuters: 3G iPhone announcement for Italy Monday, or Tuesday

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 6th 2008 @ 4:47AM

Reuters Italia is reporting that the 3G iPhone will be announced by the Italian carrier TIM (and presumably the rest of Europe) on Monday, Tuesday at the latest. ~~Better yet, Reuters' source within TIM says that the 3G iPhone will be available immediately, Tuesday at the latest.~~ Availability is still rumored for sometime in June for Italy and it's been awhile since Apple did an announce-and-launch on the same day. Quietly distributing 3 million or so iPhones around the world even with Apple's stealth is no easy task and we still haven't seen it, or anything from Apple hit the FCC. Still, at this point the biggest surprise of WWDC would be for Jobs not to announce a 3G iPhone.

Update: After some initial confusion over the translation, Reuters says that it will be announced on Monday or Tuesday.

[Via ToTouch, thanks Giovanni]

TIM says it's bringing the iPhone to Italy, too

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 7th 2008 @ 2:59PM

Breaking with the longstanding tradition of granting exclusivity to the carrier in each country that can withstand Apple's vice-like iPhone profit sharing pressure, Italy's Telecom Italia has issued a super-brief statement simply letting the world know that "it has signed a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Italy later this year." No details, no launch date, no word on whether it'll be 3G (our money says yes) -- but either way, this means Italian customers will have the option of not one, but two carriers from which to get their Apple fix since Vodafone will be hauling in the device as well. A little competition never hurt anyone, right?

Qualcomm plans multiple HSPA+ trials this year

by Chris Ziegler, posted Feb 12th 2008 @ 12:18PM

Why can't we just have and enjoy the latest, greatest pre-4G technology for a few frickin' minutes without having our collective attentions immediately redirected to the next latest, greatest thing? Qualcomm has gone and spoiled all the fun by announcing that it'll be setting up HSPA+ trials with Australia's Telstra, Italy's Telecom Italia, Hutchison 3 in the UK, and Telefonica this year to deliver downlink speeds up to 28Mbps as an evolutionary upgrade to the networks' already-deployed HSPA systems. If all goes well, Qualcomm expects that the technology could be commercialized as early as 2009, potentially putting it head-to-head with the very first volleys in the race to true 4G via LTE. 28Mbps, 173Mbps... we think we know which one we'd rather have in our backyard.

[Via MobileBurn]

Italy's TIM signs up for Ovi, too

by Chris Ziegler, posted Dec 5th 2007 @ 5:55PM

At first, Nokia's multimedia-centric Ovi announcement was met with a downright icy reception among European carriers for fear that it was going to hit 'em where it hurts -- in the bottom line. Things have been warming up, though, thanks in part to Nokia's willingness to customize carrier-branded devices to offer access to both Ovi services and carriers' own services side by side -- a tad confusing to consumers, yes, but likely a win-win for revenue. Telecom Italia is the latest group to give in and accept Nokia's encroachment on its bread and butter, agreeing to offer up the N81 and N95 8GB preloaded with the goods. They're calling it a "sustainable business model" with a "mutually beneficial approach" -- but ultimately, the proof's in the pudding, so we'll have to see how long this goes on once those two models have run their course.

LG's KU380 3G slider for Orange and TIM

by Chris Ziegler, posted Oct 30th 2007 @ 12:05AM

We don't necessarily bother bringing up every last midrange phone that hits the European market, but this thing's kinda cute, isn't it? It's the KU380 from LG, a decidedly pale slider whose highest-end feature happens to be its UMTS radio. Otherwise you get a 220 x 176 display, 1.3 megapixel cam, microSD slot, Bluetooth 1.2, and that's about it. Look for it to land on Orange and TIM.

[Via Unwired View]

Deutsche Telekom confirms iPhone talks, TIM a possibility for Italy

by Chris Ziegler, posted Aug 29th 2007 @ 4:16PM

In case it wasn't plainly obvious yet, Deutsche Telekom has finally confirmed that it's been in official talks with Apple to bring the iPhone to its German T-Mobile subsidiary -- though it has nothing specific to report about the outcome of those talks. T-Mobile Germany's CEO did say, however, that he fully expects Apple to make official European partner announcements "well ahead" of the holidays in an effort to cash in on the Festivus cheer. Concurrently, word is spreading that Italy's TIM may be involved in talks, too, making Apple reps a very busy group east of the pond these past few weeks. Whether there'll be any 3G involved remains to be seen, but either way, it looks like there will be plenty of some kind of iPhone going around Europe by year's end.

[Thanks, Mattia]

Read - Deutsche Telekom
Read - TIM

Samsung delivers P930 TV swivel phone for Italy

by Chris Ziegler, posted Dec 3rd 2006 @ 12:06AM

Fresh out of Samsung's gates comes the do-it-all SGH-P930 swivel phone, a handset that rocks pretty much every acronym we care about: HSDPA and DVB-H, just to name a couple. The 20-millimeter thick phone presumably locks into the 90-degree orientation or swivels fully open at the user's discretion, making for a more pleasant viewing experience when vegging out with that mobile TV they've got goin' on over in Europe these days. Italy's TIM will be the first carrier to take delivery of the P930, which also packs in a 2 megapixel cam, VGA front cam for video calling, picture-in-picture (as if the 2.3-inch display is even big enough for a single channel), and microSD expansion. Grab it on TIM now for a stiff €529 (about $700), which we sincerely hope is a contract-free price.

[Via Tech-On!]

Italy gets Motorola RAZR V3xx

by Chris Ziegler, posted Nov 8th 2006 @ 8:01PM

Hong Kong gets the KRZR first, Australia gets the MAXX first... what's next, Italy first out of the gate with the V3xx? Well, actually, yes. Telecom Italia's mobile division, TIM, is now showing the HSDPA-infused RAZR for a pricey €299 -- about $380 for us yanks, which is a smidge more than we were hoping considering that the V3xx is the entry-level model in Motorola's 3G clamshell push. Entry-level or no, though, the V3xx brings it strong with A2DP, a 1.3 megapixel main and VGA secondary cam, microSD expansion, and the typical alphabet soup of support for GSM flavors. We're personally going to keep holding out for our MAXX, but folks taking the plunge will get their choice of Licorice Black and Burnt Orange flavors.

[Thanks, Jewberg]