4g - 21/35 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

Verizon's 4G LTE Up To 10 Times Faster Than Sprint's WiMAX 4G, Says Independent Testing

Posted by David Ruddock in Carriers, Editorials, News, Sprint, Tips & Tutorials, Verizon Wireless

An independent test conducted by a research firm in New York City comparing the speeds of Verizon's and Sprint's respective 4G networks has made at least one thing clear: Big Red owns the Big Apple. After conducting over 1000 individual network speed tests in various locations throughout the city, BTIG Research tallied up the averages, and it's not a pretty picture for Sprint:

The connections were tethered through an HTC Thunderbolt and an HTC EVO 4G, respectively

You're seeing that right - Verizon's 4G LTE is averaging a whopping 10.3Mbps (down) when on a laptop tethered to an HTC Thunderbolt, while the EVO 4G barely eeks out 1.6.

Mar

PSA: AT&T And T-Mobile HSPA+ Are Not Compatible, Your Current 4G HSPA+ Phone Will Not Be Covered By Both

Posted by David Ruddock in AT&T, Editorials, T-Mobile, Tips & Tutorials

Wondering if you should be considering that T-Mobile 4G phone purchase now that the merger plan has come to light? Read on.

With the news of the AT&T / T-Mobile merger spreading like wildfire, there have been rumblings about the network compatibility implications of the deal. More accurately, how the merger will affect consumers' use of 4G handsets on their respective carriers.

Make no mistake - it has been confirmed that AT&T will slowly disassemble T-Mobile's 4G HSPA+ network over time, converting those HSPA+ bands (the "AWS" spectrum) into LTE frequencies. Consumers without at least a Wikipedia-level of 4G knowledge will likely ask why this is necessary if both carriers already use HSPA+ "4G."

They may know that it's generally not possible to use a T-Mobile phone to get 3G while on AT&T, and vice versa.

Mar

Update: Sprint Announces No Mail-In Rebates Through April 16th

Posted by David Ruddock in Carriers, News, Sprint, Tips & Tutorials

Update: An anonymous Sprint tipster has told us this deal will only last through April 16th - Sprint is probably trying to clear out its current stock of EVOs and soon-to-be-discontinued devices.

If you were pondering buying a Sprint Android phone this weekend, it may be wise to hold off for a couple more days - Sprint has announced to Phonescoop that devices currently offering mail-in rebates will switch to an "instant savings" model starting Sunday. That means no forms to fill out, and no rebate checks to wait for. Verizon recently canned its mail-in rebate offers in favor of the same system, so it seems logical that the US's other major CDMA carrier is following suit.

Mar

Video: CyanogenMod 7 (Gingerbread) Gets Unofficially Booted On HTC Thunderbolt, Not Yet Usable

Posted by David Ruddock in Development, Gingerbread 2.3, HTC, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Videos

DANGER: There is a link to download this unofficial, unsupported CM7 ROM in an XDA thread linked at the bottom of this post. Use of that software is 100% at your own risk, and unless you're a developer, there's not much reason to be playing with at this point. There is no data connectivity, no sound, and no Google Apps. Consider yourself warned.

A number of Gingerbread-hungry developers (including some from the CyanogenMod team, particularly Slayher) are hard at work preparing CyanogenMod 7 for its Thunderbolt debut, and progress is steadily being made. In the video above, you can see CyanogenMod 7 successfully booting up on the HTC Thunderbolt (albeit without the signature boot animation) and running through various simple tasks in Android.

Mar

PSA: Don't Blame Root And Unlock For Thunderbolt's Network Issues - Verizon Is Suffering From 3G And 4G Outage

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

Droid-Life has just confirmed what Justin's been hearing: that Verizon's network is having issues. Apparently both 3G and 4G are affected, and Thunderbolt activations are also reportedly being held up. No word on what the issue is or what areas are affected, but Droid-Life has asked readers who are experiencing issues to drop a line with the details in the comments, so that would be a good place to check.

Justin Case and TeamAndIRC have been fielding complaints/accusations/questions from angry rooted Thunderbolt owners who think their root method may be to blame. Don't worry - that's not the case; your rooted Tbolt has nothing do with it.

Mar

ATRIX 4G To Receive First OTA Update - Doesn't Include HSUPA Or Call Quality Fixes, But You Can Sign Up To Test It

Posted by David Ruddock in Atrix 4G (Olympus), Motorola, News

Motorola is preparing to release its first over-the-air update for the ATRIX 4G (beta signup link here, open until Friday at 12PM EST), which should be exciting news for owners of the device, though it may end up inspiring more angst than joy.

The ATRIX 4G has been known in particular for two problems since its release: first, a lack of HSUPA (high speed upload) support in the software and, second, poor voice quality on phone calls. Motorola has promised to address both of these issues - just not right now. Moto has yet to release the change log for the incoming update, but the admin on the Moto forums who posted on it has made it a point to confirm that neither of the ATRIX's biggest annoyances are being taken care of in the impending release.

Mar

The Super-Thin Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 And 10.1: As Seen From Outside A Glass Box

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, Samsung

Yesterday at CTIA, Samsung unveiled its revamped Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the all-new Galaxy Tab 8.9 (check out our live coverage of the event). Unfortunately, that's about all Samsung did with them - neither was ever powered on. Samsung's CTIA exhibit housed the new devices in glass security cases (as you can see below), while early "prototypes" of the 8.9 and 10.1 running Honeycomb with Samsung's TouchWiz 4.0 overlay were available for hands-on time, in order to demonstrate some of the software the company plans to include when the devices are released.

Why no demonstrations of the thinner, lighter, sexier Tabs?

Mar

Hands-On Video And Photos of The HTC View 4G

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in EVO View 4G, HTC, News

The second of our HD videos from yesterday's Sprint press conference has finally been uploaded (no thanks to the ultra-crappy WiFi everywhere...). Once again, a quick recap of the specs:

1.5GHz single-core CPU
1GB RAM
32 GB internal storage
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), will be updated to Android 3.0
Sense UI
WiMAX (4G)
Stylus

As mentioned in our hands-on with the EVO 3D, the View 4G features a new connector port dubbed MHL. It combines the functions of microUSB and microHDMI into one port. For more details, hit up our primer.

All things considered, the View 4G has potential in a lot of ways.

Mar

Hands-On Video And Photos Of The HTC EVO 3D

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in EVO 3D (Shooter), EVO View 4G, HTC, News, Sprint

After the Sprint press conference officially ended, they quite literally pulled back the curtains to reveal a large viewing area, with a team of Sprint and HTC employees available to demo the HTC EVO 3D and View 4G. While we weren't allowed to get our mitts on the EVO 3D, we were allowed to play with the View 4G a bit. In both cases, the employees on the floor provided a quick hands-on of the devices. We managed to snag some HD video of the demonstrations for both devices, as well as a few photos.

As a reminder, the EVO 3D specs:

1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm CPU
1GB RAM
4GB ROM
8GB microSD card in box (supports up to 32GB)
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Sense UI
Glasses-free 3D display
WiMAX (4G)
Dual 5MP cameras for 3D recording

The EVO 3D uses a new port called micro high-definition link (MHL), which combines microUSB and microHDMI into one port.

Mar

HTC ThunderBolt Review: When 'Tried And True' Meets 'New And Blazing Fast'

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in HTC, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: February 8th, 2012

Well, it's finally here - after almost as many rumored (and subsequently unmet) release dates as the Notion Ink Adam, the HTC ThunderBolt has finally gone on sale. But with a sky-high $250 price tag and essentially the same hardware as the rapidly aging Desire HD, can it still impress?

That's not an easy question to answer - while the ThunderBolt is a great all-around device on an incredibly zippy network, it doesn't exactly have the most future-proof hardware in the business, and it comes armed to the teeth with bloatware. But after putting it through its paces, I must say that I walked away much more impressed than I was going in.