Boost

On Friday, Motorola introduced its latest iDEN phone, the Motorola Clutch i465. The Clutch is the company's first iDEN handset to include a full QWERTY keyboard, and it offers threaded text messaging as well as support for multimedia messages and e-mail.

The i465 features a ruggedized design and meets military specifications for extreme conditions (e.g., shock, vibration, and dust). It also has a 1.79-inch, 128x160 TFT display, a VGA camera, Bluetooth 1.2, and 20MB of user-accessible memory.

The Clutch i465 is expected to ship in Q2. No details about pricing or carrier announcements were specified at … Read more

It looks like Boost Mobile's new $50 unlimited calling plan has become a victim of its own success.

Customers using the prepaid wireless service, which is owned by Sprint Nextel, say that they've experienced delays in receiving text messages. The problem was first reported by the Associated Press. A Boost representative acknowledged that since March, some customers have experienced text delays that have lasted anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.

"We've already diagnosed and isolated the problem," said John Votava, Boost's spokesman. "And we've been working day and night … Read more

BoostCam is a quick and simple way to start a two-way video chat with someone else. You simply point your browser there and click a single button to start a chat. There's no sign-up for you, or the person you talk to--you just send them the URL it creates each time you begin a new conversation.

Despite its simplicity we had a few hiccups getting it to work in the office. There's about a second of delay between when you say something and when it hits the other end, which might get shorter or longer depending on your … Read more

Wi-Ex, the manufacturer of the zBoost line of cell phone signal boosters, announced two new products at CTIA.

Though we didn't get the chance to check them out while in Las Vegas, we can pass on the details.

The zBoost One is the company's first one-piece signal booster. It promises an easy setup process that consists of just plugging it in and syncing it to your phone. It's compatible with the 1900 CDMA and GSM band for both phones and data cards.

At $249, it still isn't cheap and you'll need to find a suitable … Read more

1 Click Boost is a diagnostic program that is supposed to quickly optimize your system's performance. However, when we put it to the test, we found no discernible difference in our system's memory and Internet connection speeds.

The user interface is colorful and easy to navigate. Menu shortcuts at the top of the window organize the program's functions into categories: Internet, Memory, Process, and Cache. Within each function are tune-up options. For example, under the Internet function, we could choose to enable automatic discovery and acknowledge optimization. Thankfully, the program does include an extensive Help file to … Read more

Although you can only remove the first five errors this quick Registry cleaner finds, you can still get a good sense of how it works.

RegBoost has a well-designed, modern interface organized in tabs. The Overview tab gives users a quick summary of the system and the option to complete a full scan. It takes a visit to the Registry Scan tab for a more detailed idea of what areas of the computer should be scanned. Here, users can pick and choose which sections to focus on. In our tests, we picked a full-system scan, which took around 5 minutes. … Read more

St. Patrick's Day is a popular day for "celebrations" and realizing that, Boost Mobile has those who want to party covered. According to the company, it will offer the #TAXI feature on all Boost Mobile phones free of charge on St. Patrick's Day. Upon dialing #-8-2-9-4, Boost Mobile users will be connected automatically to the first available cab company in their area. The feature will work in over 2,000 Boost Mobile network coverage areas. The service will only be free Tuesday.

Mint.com, an online personal finance service, announced Monday that it added its 1 … Read more

Ford's 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged, direct-injected EcoBoost V-6 engine, set to debut this spring under the hood of the Lincoln MKS and Ford Taurus SHO, makes so much torque (350 pound-feet, to be exact) that apparently the automaker's standard 6F-50 six-speed automatic transmission couldn't reliably handle it. So Ford went back to the drawing board and created a new transmission specifically for the higher torque demands of the new powerplant: the 6f-55 automatic transmission.

While most of the details are highly technical in nature, the key changes for this new transmission include stronger parts and materials to deal … Read more

Prepaid wireless customers usually have to settle for the most basic cell phones. But soon, Boost Mobile consumers won't have to sacrifice style and function for value.

Boost announced Monday that it will offer its prepaid customers the Motorola Stature i9. This thin flip phone is one of the most advanced devices available for prepaid consumers.

Prepaid phone services, which don't require a contract or a credit check, are geared toward value customers or those with questionable credit. So wireless operators typically only offer basic, inexpensive phones to these users, because operators don't subsidize the cost of the phones.

The conventional wisdom has been that consumers wouldn't be willing to spend a lot on advanced devices for a service that they could terminate at any time. But now, as consumers tighten spending and look for ways to reduce their monthly bills, they are gravitating toward prepaid and no-contract services.

Boost, which is owned by Sprint Nextel, recently launched an unlimited talk, text, Web, and walkie-talkie service for $50 a month. This is a huge value over other all-you-can-eat plans. Sprint offers its All-In plan for $99 a month. AT&T, T-Mobile USA, and Verizon Wireless also offer similar plans for about $100 a month.

The new plan offers wireless users an attractive alternative to the more expensive contract services. But until the i9, Boost has lacked a set of advanced, cool phones. Now, the wireless operator hopes it can pick up new customers who might be willing to pay a bit more for a phone, if they can reduce their monthly service and not have to deal with a contract. The i9 will cost about $300 when it goes on sale at the end of February, but it doesn't require a contract. Consumers have several options for payment that include either paying by the week, month or day for service.… Read more