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May

Samsung Prepares For Gigabit Mobile Speeds With "5G" Millimeter Wave Band Transceiver, ETA 2020

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in News, Samsung

Most mobile users these days are happy to get LTE service (and a few of us just wish we could get 3G reliably) but there is already a surprising push towards the next big thing in wireless speeds. Samsung thinks it has the solution, or at least what might become one: expanding existing LTE networks into the super-high 28GHz range, the lower part of what's known as the millimeter wave bands. The company is calling this system 5G, and expects to have it ready for cellular networks in 2020.

Any grade school science student can tell you that higher-frequency radio waves have the capacity for more data, and Samsung's system has been tested with speeds just north of 1Gb per second, about ten times as fast as the best current LTE offerings.

Mar

Samsung Galaxy S4 Available For Pre-Order In The UK From All Major Networks, As Well As Carphone Warehouse, Phones4u, And Amazon

Posted by John Thompson in Everything Everywhere (EE), Galaxy S4, O2, Orange, Samsung, T-Mobile, Three UK, Vodafone

If you've been waiting to pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S4, today's the big day, and you're not short of choices when it comes to retailers or networks.

The phone is up for pre-order on all of the UK's major networks - EE, Three UK, Vodafone, O2, Orange, and T-Mobile - as well as Carphone Warehouse, Phones4u, and Amazon. Don't know which network to go with? Let's break it down for you...

EE

EE is the only network that will provide the phone with 4G for the time being, as the other networks are yet to get their services up and running.

Mar

T-Mobile's New Contract-Free Plans Go Live, Unlimited Everything For $70/Month And No Commitment

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, T-Mobile

The rumors were true and now T-Mobile has launched its new, simplified, contract-free plans. Starting at $50/month for unlimited talk and text with 500MB of high-speed data (throttled, but sans overage fees after that), the new services allow customers to forget about counting minutes and messages and focus solely on data. This could be good or bad news, depending on your usage, but perhaps the most important aspect of these new plans is that you can get them without a 2-year commitment.

You can select to get the new plans with or without a new device (which some carriers will allow you to do already), but if you do decide you want to buy a phone from T-Mobile, you'll have two tabs: 'Monthly Payments' or 'One Payment'.

Feb

EE Launches 4G In Nine More Towns And Cities Across The UK, Including Coventry, Preston And Walsall

Posted by John Thompson in Everything Everywhere (EE), News

Continuing its rollout across the UK, Everything Everywhere has expanded its 4G service to nine more towns and cities. As a result, superfast mobile broadband is now available to 45% of the UK.

The following nine towns and cities will see 4G service turned on today:

Barnsley
Chorley
Coventry
Newport
Preston
Rotherham
Telford
Walsall
Watford

As Everything Everwhere's monopoly over 4G in the UK will soon be coming to an end, following successful bids for spectrum by all of the major mobile carriers in the country, the network is continuing to aggressively rollout its service to as many people as possible, promising 4G in 72 towns and cities by summer 2013.

Feb

'AT&T' And 'GM' Fill This Month's '[Carrier] And [Automaker] Bring 4G To Your Car' Headline

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Carriers, News

In the future, your car is going to be connected to the internet. This is a matter of when, not if. Volvo and BMW are already working on auto connectivity, and Verizon has partnered with just about everyone. Today, AT&T and GM announced that they're joining the fray by combining their strengths. Starting in 2014, cars from General Motors will have LTE radios .

More specifically, most 2015 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac models will support wireless connectivity in the U.S. and Canada. AT&T notes that it expects its LTE network to cover 300 million people by the end of 2014.

Feb

T-Mobile Announces New GoSmart Mobile Brand: Contract-Free, Low-Cost, "DUM" Slogan

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Carriers, News, T-Mobile

Little T-Mobile already has a reputation for being the carrier for budget-conscious consumers, but it's taking things even further with the new GoSmart service. The plans are cheap, and there are no annual contracts to worry about. Service starts at $30 per month and customers get access to the full T-Mobile network. It sounds like a solid deal if you can get past the contrived marketing lingo that would insult the intelligence of a third-grader.

Like other pre-paid brands, you can plug in a compatible phone that you already own, or buy one from GoSmart. There is a $49 Alcatel dumbphone, and a $99 ZTE device running an ancient version of Android.

Jan

AT&T Is Going Shopping For A European Carrier To Buy Or Merge With, Says WSJ

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in AT&T, News

AT&T has a problem on its hands. It's big, but is it big enough? If you're a CEO of a major corporation the answer to that question is always "no." However, the carrier has difficulty expanding on the home front. An overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens have phones with one carrier or another, so there's very little wiggle room to grab new customers. And gaining in market share when you (and all your competitors!) are dead set on locking people into two-year contracts is very difficult. In short, growth isn't much of an option outside acquisitions, and those haven't gone so well.

Jan

T-Mobile Confirms Unlimited Data Plans For Monthly4G Prepaid Service

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Carriers, News, T-Mobile

We reported a few days ago that T-Mobile was rumored to be implementing an unlimited data option for its prepaid phone service. Well, now the carrier is confirming it. Starting on Wednesday January 9th, customers will be able to sign up for unlimited 4G HSPA+ data, voice, and text on prepaid for just $70 per-month.

This plan replaces the $70 unlimited talk/text plan with 5GB of 4G data. T-Mobile's data plans can be a little confusing because the carrier likes to still call them "unlimited" at times. What T-Mobile means is that all its data plans are technically unlimited if you don't mind downloading at a snail's pace.

Jan

T-Mobile Launching Updated Samsung Galaxy S III With 4G LTE Support, Actual LTE Network May Be Coming This Month

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Carriers, Galaxy S III, News, Samsung, T-Mobile

T-Mobile is the smallest national US carrier, and it was also the last to announce a cogent strategy for the deployment of 4G LTE. Yes, after years of insisting to no end that HSPA+ is 4G, the magenta carrier is rolling out LTE. As part of that move, new phones are going to be needed. The first device designed for T-Mobile's LTE is a revamped version of the popular Samsung Galaxy S III.

T-Mobile has not yet said when the updated S III will arrive, but it will likely replace the HSPA+ GS3 in the carrier's lineup. Most of T-Mobile's phones have no support for LTE, thus the new version of Samsung's flagship.

Jan

[Live Blog] NVIDIA's 2013 CES Press Conference (With Live Video)

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News, NVIDIA, Project Shield

Android Police is live at NVIDIA's 2013 CES press conference at the Palms Hotel, primed and ready for what we can only assume will include the announcement of the next generation of Tegra mobile processors. Check out the ScribbeLive widget below for our coverage as it happens, starting at 7:45PM PST (that's 10:45PM EST).