As I was busy doing my work today, sipping my tea as I attempted to focus on my excel file over the rings and buzzes of my manager’s new Verizon Droid Pro and my new T-Mobile My Touch 4g. I have to say, that our corporate phones are quite nice and we did have the option of all 4 major networks – AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile.

I also have the Samsung Captivate, a Galaxy S phone, based on the AT&T network. In fact, I have been with AT&T for around 8 years now and if it wasn’t for having to deal with waiting for contracts to end and the hassle of switching to a new network, I probably would have switched already. I mean, AT&T isn’t really the best when you think about the overall user experience. On paper, however, all 4 service providers seem very similar. I created this table below so you can see how similar they actually are.

Carriers	AT&T	Verizon	Sprint	T-Mobile
National Coverage	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
GSM	Yes	No	No	Yes
CDMA	No	Yes	Yes	No
3G	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
4G	Not Yet*	Yes	Yes	Yes
Number of Phones Available	72	62	42	45
Early Termination Fee	$175	$175	$200	$200
Activation Fee	$36	$35	$36	$35
Voice Plans
450 minutes	39.99	39.99	39.99	39.99 - 500 minutes
900 minutes	59.99	59.99	59.99	49.99 - 1000 minutes
Unlimited	69.99	69.99	N/A	59.99
Talk & Text
450 mins + Text	59.99	59.99	49.99	49.99 - 500 minutes
900 mins + Text	79.99	79.99	69.99	59.99 - 1000 minutes
Unlimited + Text	89.99	89.99	99.99 (Includes Unlimited Data)	69.99
Data Plans
Limited Plans	$15 - 200 MB	$15 - 150 MB	N/A	N/A
Unlimited Plans	$29.99	$29.99	N/A	N/A

Do note that the ones with smaller market shares (T-Mobile & Sprint) have lowered prices and such to compensate for their size. Well, when you compare all four major networks and all of them seem so similar, then what makes AT&T suck so bad? For one, look at their text messaging plans. I was fortunate enough to be grandfathered into their 750 text message plan but their 200 message plan for $5 is somewhat useless, considering that the next step up isn’t 1000 messages but 1500.

But again, thats not the biggest of their problems, although I’ve always renewed my contract, paid my bills on time and been an all-round great customer, they just don’t seem to care. Several times while on the phone with a customer service representative, I have been told that if I like the other providers so much, why not try them? Are they just trying to come off as being too pompous? I mean, think about the 4G service in the table above – AT&T is the last to get on the bandwagon and their 3G service on my Captivate is really not that great either. Being in Houston, you would think that I would be in 3G most of the time, but around 40% of the time, I do not have 3G coverage and when I do, its mediocre.

Another problem is that their customer service representatives just don’t seem to care. I had a friend that had purchased a Blackberry Curve on Verizon in May 2010 and the phone suddenly stopped working in January 2011 (Approx 7 months later). They took it back to the Verizon store and even though they did not have insurance or anything of that sort, Verizon replaced the phone right away and they walked out the store with their replacement phone in their hand. Flashback to my debacle with my Samsung Epix, similar situation where the phone had stopped charging completely and the employees at the AT&T store recommended places for me to take my phone so that I can get it repaired. They looked it up, said it wasn’t under warranty (even though it was under a year old) and sent me on my way.

The problem with AT&T is that service is bad, coverage is mediocre and the customer service sucks. There is a reason why they had one of the lowest customer satisfaction ratings out there. I’d be surprised to see anyone from AT&T even respond to this blog post seeing I’ve been ignored as a customer for years. I just want someone to come out and make me feel as if they are honored to have me as a customer, rather than seeing me as one more number. I have a feeling that after all these years of loyal support for AT&T that sooner or later, I too will become a convert and when the iPhone will be available at Verizon on Feb 3rd, I am sure that a lot of other AT&T iPhone users will make the move as well. Help save your customers! Common’ AT&T!

Ever since Toyota had unveiled the 2011 Re-design for the Toyota Corolla, I was awaiting its arrival and its finally here – the 2011 Newly Redesigned Toyota Corolla. At first glance, not much has changed – atleast whats under the hood and the outside looks very familiar with some new additions. Lets take a look at the new changes, followed by an overview of the options/trim levels available and pricing.

Whats New?
The New 2011 Corolla is mostly the same if you look at its engine and powertrain, etc but whats new is the exterior. The 2011 Corolla now turns away from the very familiar front end with a new front fascia. The grille is body colored and almost looks like the older model Mazda 6. At first glance, you may mistake the front end for being that of a Camry and thats always good – an inexpensive car mimicking a more expensive one. The changes to the front fascia also flow through to the back. The rear of the car also has the new Avalon style chrome bar on the trunk connecting the two tail lights. The rear of the car is also not as rounded anymore and the lights are all new as well. The other exterior changes are there but somewhat minimal as the front grille and fascia as well as the rear of the car have seen the most changes.

Although not significant, the biggest problem with the Corolla was that it used to look dated. The Nissan Sentra went through quite a lot of changes, so did the Hyundai Elantra and the Mazda 3 so it was about time that the Corolla saw some change. The interior of the car is another part where quite a few changes have been made. The interior layout of the center console has received a major face lift. Instead of being dull and boring, the console is now better organized with nice sized buttons as well. The display for the radio is quite nice as well and the higher trim models also come with a USB port, aside from the standard Auxiliary input jack. The dials for the climate control are easy to understand and laid out well. The steering wheel also has moved away from the usual circular shape to a more square shape at the bottom of the wheel. This is a trend that we are seeing in a lot of new model cars and it doesn’t bother myself or car buyers as well.

Trim Levels/Pricing
Unlike previous model years, the Corolla seems to be missing the XLE trim model and the XRS trim level that used to be powered by the more powerful engine 2.4L engine, which is also missing. Only three trim levels remain – Base, LE and the S. Pricing for the base model, for the manual and the automatic transmission have only increased $150 to $15,600 for the manual and $16,400 for the automatic. What also has increased is the city mileage, which was 26 mpg in the 2010 model and is now 28 mpg. Interesting increase considering the engine is the same 1.8L that produces 132 horsepower. I would have liked to see a slight increase in the horsepower but I guess an increase in horsepower cannot be coupled with an increase in mileage. The new trim levels are fairly priced as you can see below:

Base – $15,600 (Manual) $16,400 (Automatic)
LE Version – $17,300 (Automatic only)
S Version - $17,470 (Manual) $18,300 (Automatic)

The Build Your Own Toyota tool was not updated as yet to reflect the New 2011 Corolla so I am not able to provide pricing of the options but I would expect for the options to remain the same in terms of pricing and such. Most of the standard features remain unchanged as well however I do expect to see more features and options coming soon as this mostly just seems as a visual upgrade for the Corolla rather than a performance upgrade.

Exterior Pictures
                

Interior Pictures
              

When you need to get your kids from point A to point B, coupled with decent mileage, your options for a full size car/suv/van to comfortably seat 5 or more passengers is limited to certain SUVs or if you desire utmost comfort, your options are limited completely to minivans. Minivans have gained a reputation over the past few years as being un-cool, a soccer mom favorite, baby hauler, etc. Are car companies doing anything to mend this reputation?

This new article on Yahoo claims that car companies are now moving onto new types of minivans to change consumer perspectives regarding the minivans. Are consumers too set on their thoughts though? Is transforming the minivan all that it will take? Its hard to answer those questions but with a 40% increase in its sales of minivans for Honda alone, I think the answer might be that consumers are looking towards the minivan without any particular mindset. Consumers, as car companies know it, will buy any car as long as they see features, value and a car that meets their needs no matter how ugly it may be ::cough::PT Cruiser::cough::.

Lets take the Toyota Sienna for instance, the Swagger Wagon video attached below portrays the new “era” of minivans. Then you have Honda pushing a new look claiming its unlike any “van”. Chrysler is creating a high powered van called the man van and Ford jumping back in the market with the C-Max. All this as Mercedes still attempts to disguise its R-Class as a crossover rather than a plain old minivan which is exactly what the R-Class is.

Are Minivans coming to the point where they can separate themselves from the competition and stand out to consumers as a plausible choice for a vehicle. Minivans are transforming themselves to become more appealing in terms of features and design. Honda’s high end model of its Odyssey has a waiting list and a sticker price of more than $40,000. This only furthers the idea that minivans are making a comeback. What do you guys think? Is it time for the minivan to make a comeback?