4g - 6/35 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jun

US Cellular Announces The Samsung Galaxy S III, Pre-Orders Begin June 12

Posted by David Ruddock in 4G, Galaxy S III, News, Samsung, US Cellular

Alongside Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile, regional carrier US Cellular has made official that it will be carrying Samsung's Galaxy S III, with pre-orders beginning on June 12th. Pricing has yet to be announced, but as a regional carrier, US Cellular often has slightly higher premiums than its national counterparts, so potentially expect something above the standard $199 price-tag for the 16GB model.

As with all the announced US Galaxy S III devices, it is packing a Snapdragon S4, rather than a quad-core Exynos processor, which means full LTE support.

US Cellular will offer the device in both blue and white; however, only the Marble White color will be available with the 32GB capacity version.

May

Rumor: The LS860 Is A Sprint LG Viper With A Slider QWERTY Keyboard

Posted by David Ruddock in 4G, LG, Rumors, Sprint

Hot on the heels of blurry-cam shots of the upcoming LS970, a rumored upcoming Sprint LG device, today we've heard that the carrier has yet another phone from the other Korean electronics giant waiting in the wings - though this one's a little less exciting.

If you recall, the LG Viper is essentially Sprint's take on the LG Lucid, found at Verizon - a mid-range device with highly capable, if slightly dated, specifications. Packing a dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor and LTE, along with a pretty good IPS LCD panel, it definitely has raised the bar in the budget handset scene.

May

Sprint Kills 5GB/$29.99 Wi-Fi Hotspot Plan For Phones And Tablets, Replaces It With More Expensive 2GB/$19.99 And 6GB/$49.99 Plans

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in News, Sprint

Sprint has long been the refuge for data-hungry users that don't want to deal with caps or overages. While Sprint's regular 3G and 4G data usage on phones is still unlimited, back in October the Now Network started capping the mobile hotspot feature at 5GB per month. Starting last Friday, May 18th, that plan is gone. In its place are two pricier options.

The low-end option comes with 2GB of monthly bandwidth and costs $19.99 per month. The high-end offering is quite a jump; 6GB for $49.99. It's a clever way to push you to a much more expensive option that you might not need.

May

[Update: Verizon Clarifies] Verizon Will End Unlimited Data Grandfathering If You Buy A 4G Phone From This Summer Onward

Posted by David Ruddock in 4G, News, Verizon Wireless

Update: In response to the rather vocal outcries of many of its subscribers on the web, Verizon has clarified what will happen to 3G/4G data plans explicitly. The takeaway is this: anyone purchasing a smartphone from this summer forward on subsidy pricing will be pushed into tiered/shared data. If you choose not to buy a smartphone on subsidy, you can keep your unlimited plan if you choose to.

This means if you renew your 2-year agreement, from this summer forward, on any line by buying a "discounted" phone, you lose unlimited.

Here are the exact statements:

Customers will not be automatically moved to new shared data plans.

May

Verizon Launching LTE In A Slew Of Cities In The Eastern US On The May 17

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in News, Verizon Wireless

As much as I complain about how ridiculous the monthly price of a good wireless plan is, I have to admit it does have its upsides. For AT&T and Verizon especially, that means that when they take in those huge profits, they pay part of it back out in the form of network upgrades and advancements. That's a big chunk of why their 4G (LTE) rollouts are ahead of the other two carriers, and part of why they're ahead of their European counterparts (the other big part, at least compared to Europe, is spectrum).

Verizon is continuing its impressive rollout of LTE by going live in another 29 cities on May 17, mostly in the Northish-East area of the country:

Jersey Shore, NJ
Lancaster and York, PA
Cape Cod, MA
Northern VT
Delaware Shore, DE
Dickinson, ND
Williston, ND
Martinsville, VA
Shenandoah Valley, VA
Fredericksburg, VA
Canton, Ohio
Youngstown and Warren, OH
Cambria County, PA
Erie, PA
Somerset, PA
Bucyrus, OH
Lima, OH
New Castle, PA
Defiance, OH
Toledo, OH
Ashtabula, OH
Oil City and Franklin, PA
Mansfield, OH
Benton Harbor and St.

May

The EVO 4G LTE Will Launch May 18th (Pre-Orders Ship May 15th), Unless Issues With LTE Push It Further Out

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in EVO 4G LTE (Jewel), News, Sprint

Want to hear more about the EVO 4G LTE? Good! Because we have a release date for you! And if you don't like that one, we have another one. According to Wirefly's pre-order FAQ page, this slick beast will be unleashed on May 18th. Sprint's own pre-order confirmations seem to lend some credence to this idea, stating that pre-order will begin to ship as early as May 15th.

Sprint's promotional email also supports this, stating that the pre-order offer ends May 17th, which would make sense if the next day is launch day.

However, not everyone is convinced that May 18th is the big day.

May

DROID Incredible 4G LTE Officially Official, Available In "Coming Weeks," Packs S4 Processor And Removable Battery

Posted by David Ruddock in HTC, Incredible 4G, News, Verizon Wireless

It's finally here, the DROID Incredible 4G LTE, that phone you might have sort of been a little curious about at some point, but probably weren't because it isn't nearly as good looking as the real HTC One phones. But hey, it has a removable battery, Verizon's ever-expanding 4G LTE network, and a Snapdragon S4 processor that hopefully won't devour juice like the Cookie Monster at an all-you-can-eat Nestle Toll House buffet.

Here are some specs:

4-inch super LCD qHD display
8 megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus, LED flash, BSI, f/2.2 and 28 mm lens
Front-facing camera for video chatting with friends and family
1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ S4 processor
Mobile Hotspot capable to share 4G LTE connection with up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices
Support for up to 32 GB microSD™ memory card
1,700 mAh lithium ion removable battery

From International CTIA Wireless® 2012, Verizon Wireless and HTC today announced the new and exclusive DROID INCREDIBLE 4G LTE by HTC.

May

Yep, It's Pretty Likely The Galaxy S III Won't Have A Quad-Core Processor In The US

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy S III, News, Rumors, Samsung

If you've been following the Galaxy S III news today, you know it has a banging new Exynos 4 quad-core processor that absolutely obliterates benchmarks. The problem is that the Exynos 4 platform is quite old at this point (for a mobile chipset), and was never designed to support LTE. That's why devices like the Galaxy S II Skyrocket don't use an Exynos chip. Devices with Exynos 4 chips that do, like the Galaxy Tab 7.7 LTE, use an external one - adding thickness and increasing power consumption.

While Samsung has hinted at times that the Exynos 4412 chip could, in theory, support LTE with an external (read: adding thickness, weight, decreasing battery life) modem, nothing concrete has come of those rumblings.

Apr

Ice Cream Sandwich Update (2.14.531.1) For T-Mobile's HTC Amaze 4G Leaked

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Amaze 4G (Ruby), Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Leaks, News, T-Mobile

Remember way back in December when T-Mo hinted an Ice Cream Sandwich update for the HTC Amaze? Almost five months later, the page has not been updated and an official software update has not been released. Thanks to veteran XDA user Football, however, Amaze owners can download a leaked version of the official ICS update. Considering that the Amaze recently got S-Off capability, it's looking like users have a lot to be excited about this week.

For those interested, this update contains software version 2.14.531.1. Though the download was only posted earlier today, several reports of success are rolling in already.

Apr

[Update: It's Back!] Deal Alert: All Sprint 4G Smartphones For A Penny Right Now On Amazon Wireless

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Deals, News, Sprint

If you've been looking to jump ship from the carrier juggernauts and get in on Sprint's promised "truly unlimited data", may we suggest now might be a good time to do so? From now until March 26th, all of Sprint's 4G phones (read: Sprint's best phones) are available for a penny with a new activation. Sorry upgraders.

Update 4/20/12: All Sprint Android phones are free again thanks to the Sprint Through Spring promotion... well, at least until the Galaxy Nexus shows up. Remember, offer ends April 30th and midnight PDT.