19
Oct
2012-10-19_10h13_47

MetroPCS Is Getting The Galaxy S III Too, Priced At $499 Without A Contract

Posted by in Galaxy S III, MetroPCS, News

When we think of "budget" phones, a $500 Galaxy S III may not be the first thing that comes to mind. However, MetroPCS' usual strategy of having customers buy phones off contract and save money on the service is in full swing here. The device comes with a hefty price tag up front, but pick up the carrier's $50/month plan for unlimited talk, text, and 2.5GB of data, and you're looking at around $1700 over the course of 2 years. Compare that to, say an $80/month plan with a $200 device ($2120 over two years) and you could face some steep savings.

12
Oct
2012-10-12_12h06_11

[Update: More Carriers] Canadian Galaxy Note II Will Launch On Mobilicity On October 30th, Get $50 Off If You Pre-Order Now

Posted by in Deals, Galaxy Note II, News

Residents of the great white north have a special treat coming up soon. The Galaxy Note II is coming to Mobilicity the day before Halloween. If you know you're going to want it on day one, though, you can sign up for a pre-order right now and get $50 off. Unfortunately, the ad doesn't specify just what price you'll get $50 off of.

2012-10-12_12h28_59

One tipster sent in an email that he received after placing his order. The email seemed to have an additional stipulation that you must be one of the first 1,000 people to purchase and activate your phone. If there are more than 1,000 pre-orders, it's unclear if everyone will receive the $50 credit.

12
Oct
sprintlogothumb

Sprint Promises LTE Coverage For San Francisco, 21 Other Cities 'In The Coming Months'

Posted by in News, Sprint

Sprint would like you to know that, while LTE coverage has not yet been activated in these areas just yet, the Now Network has plans to rollout the shiny new towers to cities like San Francisco and Napa, CA, Naples and Cape Coral, FL, and several markets in midwest and southern states. The network is not live yet, of course. As with the carrier's previous announcement, this is simply to let people know what's coming.

Here's the full list of cities that have been added to the plan:

  • San Francisco, CA, San Mateo-Redwood City, CA
  • Cape Coral-Ft Meyers, FL
  • Dyersburg-Union City-Martin, TN
  • Emporia, KS
  • Fort Wayne, IN
  • Greenwood, MS
  • Joplin, MO
  • Kokomo, IN
  • Lafayette/West Lafayette, IN
  • Lexington Park, MD
  • Marion, IN
  • Napa, CA
  • Naples-Marco Island, FL
  • Ottawa-Streator, IL
  • Punta Gorda, FL
  • Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA
  • Sarasota-Bradenton, FL
  • Sebring, FL
  • South Bend-Mishawaka, IN
  • Terre Haute, IN
  • Vallejo-Fairfield, CA
  • Warsaw, IN

According to Sprint, before the official launch of these networks, you may see LTE coverage pop up and, in that case, you "are welcome to use the network" (as opposed to politely declining the coverage you paid for?) but there's no word yet on when the official launch in these cities will occur.

11
Oct
sprintlogothumb

Sprint Is In Talks With Softbank For A "Substantial Investment" That "Could Involve A Change Of Control"

Posted by in News, Sprint

We've heard rumors that Sprint is considering outbidding T-Mobile for MetroPCS's affection. Just in case that doesn't work, though, Sprint wants us to know that there is another plan in the works: being purchased by Softbank. Since most of you likely aren't up to date on Japanese telecoms, here's the deal: Softbank is a Japanese telecom. The third largest wireless carrier in the country, so a bit of a kindred spirit with Sprint. Now, the Japanese company may be interested in purchasing big yellow. Rumors broke earlier today, and now Sprint has sent out this brief press release to confirm:

Sprint (NYSE: S) today confirmed that it is currently engaged in discussions with Softbank regarding a potential substantial investment by Softbank in Sprint.

03
Oct
t-mothumb

T-Mobile's Acquisition Of MetroPCS Has Been Approved By Both Companies' Boards, Expected To Complete Mid-2013

Posted by in MetroPCS, News, T-Mobile

Previously, we'd heard rumors and whispers that T-Mobile (by way of its parent company Deutsche Telekom) would be acquiring MetroPCS. Today, both companies' boards have approved the merger and, pending regulatory and MetroPCS shareholder approval, the deal should be completed by mid-2013. The two companies will have a combined subscriber base of about 42.5 million customers, which still leaves it in fourth place in the U.S. behind Sprint with 56 million and AT&T/Verizon who each have over 100 million users.

The biggest news is that this will allow T-Mobile the spectrum it needs to rollout a competitive LTE network.  In fact, T-Mo's CEO John Legere hopes to some day be able to "taunt" competitors over their LTE coverage.

01
Aug
image

New Jelly Bean (JRO03H) Binaries Up For Nexus S/4G, Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi, And Verizon, GSM Galaxy Nexus

Posted by in Android OS, AT&T, Development, Galaxy Nexus, Jelly Bean 4.1, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Nexus S 4G (Crespo4g), Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

In a post to Google's Android Building group today, Jean-Baptiste Queru once again acted as the bearer of good tidings for developers and tweakers everywhere, announcing that "a new set of proprietary binaries for Jelly Bean are available."

The new batch of binaries includes those of the Nexus S and Nexus S 4G (Crespo and Crespo4G respectively), the latter of which we just recently saw added into the AOSP fold.

The set also includes updates to the both the GSM Galaxy Nexus (maguro), and Verizon's Galaxy Nexus (toro, which itself is ever so close to full AOSP support).

Conspicuously absent from the party is Sprint's variant of the Galaxy Nexus, but there's no surprise there.

31
Jul
republicwireless

Republic Wireless Is Ready To Begin 'Wave B' Of New Customers, Launches Motorola Defy XT In The Process

Posted by in Carriers, News, Republic Wireless

Republic Wireless, the wireless carrier that prefers WiFi for most of its connections, and utilizes Sprint 3G in the interim, has announced that it's ready to take on new customers. The company reported that "Wave A", which consists of an unspecified number of users, has been a resounding success and that they believe they've found a model on which a $19/month unlimited everything plan is sustainable.

Today marks an important milestone for republic wireless. We’ve unveiled our new phone, the Motorola DEFY XT, and are opening our doors to welcome new members from our waitlist, starting with Wave B.

Over a year ago, a small initial team set out with a big idea to change the way wireless works.

03
Jul
image_thumb86

White EVO 4G LTE May Be Set To Land At Sprint July 15 Along With A Special Deal On the Epic 4G Touch

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

Remember late last month when we caught what was alleged to be a white EVO 4G LTE on an inventory sheet and subsequently got a glimpse of the rumored device thanks to a suspect Sprint banner? Well, it looks like we can expect the snow-colored device to land at Sprint July 15th, according to TechnoBuffalo's "trusted source."

A white EVO LTE will probably come as no surprise to current Sprint subscribers or followers of the EVO line. Sprint has a habit of offering white versions of each iteration of the EVO, so it's only natural that the EVO LTE would follow suit.

02
Jul
galaxy s iii

AT&T Announces The Galaxy S III Will Arrive In Stores On July 6th, Still No Word On That Sexy Red Device

Posted by in AT&T, Galaxy S III, News

The wait is nearly over for the Galaxy S III if you're on AT&T. The big blue ball has just announced that Samsung's newest flagship will be available for same-day purchases starting July 6th in all of its stores nationwide. The company isn't sharing specifics on whether that will include only the blue and white versions of the phone, or if we'll also see AT&T's exclusive red version of the device. If we had to bet on it, we'd say the red version will still be a little way's off.

The device will also be available for overnight shipping on July 6th, so if you're keen to order online, you'll be covered as well.

03
Jun
attDeathStar

[Weekend Poll] Is A Carrier Move To Data-Only Service A Win Or Loss For Consumers?

Posted by in Carriers, Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Google + Motorola: A Match Made In Heaven, Or A Disaster Waiting To Happen?

A few days ago, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson revealed that the cellular industry would be moving towards data-only plans in the next few years, rather than the separated voice, message, and data system that is used today. Under the new system, voice and messages would be billed as data. The question, obviously, is at what rate they'd billed.

Initially, this may seem like a great idea for both parties. Obviously it allows carriers to get a handle on all the services their customers are using (such as Skype for calls rather than normal voice), as well as sneak in some "toll-free" data services.

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