Freedompop has forged a partnership with textPlus, preparing a free voice and text service that will start some time in the first quarter of this year. It will work with the sleeve that they have for the iPod touch and iPhone 4/4S. There is a free option, just like the free 500MB option, as well as stepped up plans that top out at just $15 a month for unlimited texting and 1,000 voice minutes.

“Our partnership with textPlus is another large step forward in offering consumers a true, free alternative to expensive mobile voice and data plans,” said Freedompop CEO Stephen Stokols. “FreedomPop and textPlus represent a new kind of telecom service based on principals established on the web. We are on a clear path to delivering affordable and convenient telecom services to everyone.”

I had a brief chat with Freedompop at CES in Las Vegas and they say that the transition to Sprint 3G/4G will likely happen some time in the third quarter of this year as they start to move away from the Clearwire 4G network. If you’re tired of giant cell phone plans, Freedompop’s “freemium” model sure sounds compelling.

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If you’ve been patient and wanted a bargain, Bell Mobility may be the place to go. The Canadian carrier has slashed the price on the Palm Pre to a much more affordable zero dollars and zero cents. Not one penny.  Back when it first launched, the Palm Pre was sold by Bell for $199.95 with a three-year contract, placing it on par with the iPhone. Then, they dropped the price. Then, they dropped it some more. The kicker is now you can get it for $0.00 with a two-year contract. Yup, Bell even took a year off the offer.

Slow sales may be a major motivator for Bell, but there could be another one. You know how American’s have the Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus? It’s possible – though far from confirmed – that Bell could be doing the same. Or they could just be giving up on Palm altogether.  After all, HTC already did the same.

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We had already known that Vodafone UK would be picking up this new BlackBerry, but we didn’t know too much about pricing. Over the weekend, the BlackBerry 8520 hit the retail channels for Vodafone and it came with a very pleasant surprised for cash-strapped smartphone enthusiasts.

There is a catch, of course, because it’s not like they’re just throwing boxes of these things into the crowd and hoping that the recipients sign up for a plan with them. Instead, you’ll need to waltz over to a Vodafone UK location and sign up for a monthly plan of at least 25 GBP.

That’s still a relatively small price to pay to get your hands on the newest BlackBerry, even if it is a decidedly basic BlackBerry. Some features include the QVGA display, trackpad, QWERTY keyboard, microSD slot, WiFi, Bluetooth, and 2-megapixel camera.

Source: Crackberry

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