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May

[Exclusive] How To Root The AT&T HTC One X On Version 1.85 (Or Earlier)

Posted by Justin Case in AT&T, Exclusives, News, One X (Endeavor)

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

While giving the AT&T HTC One X's firmware a look over, I ran across a a vulnerability that would allow us to gain root access. It turned out not to be all that useful at the time, as another root was released the same day. With the latest 1.85 firmware leak, the previously published root has been fixed, making the one I found earlier useful once again.

Update: AT&T disabled the app installation features of Ready2Go thereby breaking this root process. We don't have an updated root method at this time.

This vulnerability happens to be in carrier bloat - specifically an app called ATT Ready2Go (also know as dashconfig), which is shipping on many new AT&T LTE devices.

May

Sprint's Galaxy S III Also Confirmed By Bluetooth SIG, That Makes Four Out Of Four US Carriers

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Galaxy S III, News

Mere hours ago, we got confirmation that the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) approved a Verizon-bound version of the SGSIII. Now, we're seeing a similar listing for what is likely a Sprint variant of the Galaxy S III. The device appears in SIG's listing with the model number SPH-L710, which has been rumored to be the designation of the Sprint-branded variant.

The model number is only one character off from the Sprint-branded SGSII (SPHD710), so we're pretty confident this implies that the Galaxy S III will be heading to Sprint, which is the last of the four major US carriers to receive confirmation.

May

Google Play Store Expands Carrier Billing Options To Include Books, Movies, And Music On Sprint

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, Sprint

Last Updated: August 23rd, 2012

Two weeks ago, Google announced a series of expansions to carrier billing options for Play Store Apps, Movies, Books, and Music on various carriers. While some changes went into effect immediately, Sprint, which already allowed direct billing for apps, was one carrier that was listed as "coming soon."

As of today, all three additional options are available to Sprint customers: books, music, and movies. Not surprisingly, carrier billing is the default option since it's by far the cheapest to carriers and Google as they get to bypass credit card fees. While this addition doesn't benefit everyone, I can see a few handy uses for carrier billing:

you don't own a credit card at all
you don't want to add a credit card to your Wallet account for some reason, be it security, paranoia, or a medical condition that prevents you from typing 16 digits in a row (also known as laziness)
you don't want to pollute your credit card statement with multiple charges
you don't want your significant others with access to your credit card statement to see what you're doing

Enjoy, Sprinters!

May

Sprint Signs Contract With WSCA That Nets The Carrier $2B Over Four Years

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, Sprint

Sprint's money troubles are no secret to anyone. After losing out on the Lightsquared deal, not to mention the decreased revenue from the iPhone deal (which should pay off in the long run), Sprint has had trouble making ends meet in the short term. Thanks to a new deal signed with the Western States Contract Alliance (WSCA), Sprint will receive $2bn in revenue over the next four years in exchange for its wireless services. Big customer.

It's not enough to offset the absolute thrashing that Sprint's finances have taken recently. When the carrier is taking losses a billion dollars in one quarter, two billion over 16 of them seems like a drop in the bucket.

Feb

Motorola Laying Blame On Hardware Variation For Slow Updates Is Missing The Point - Carriers Are The Real Culprits (In The US, At Least)

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials, Motorola, News

Earlier today, when I read comments from Motorola executive Christy Wyatt over on PCMag explaining that lagging software updates could be blamed in large part on hardware variation, my first response was "really?" Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Motorola has iterated so much hardware in the last year that it has actually promised to cut down on the number of versions of Android handsets it will make.

Specifically, Wyatt made a point of the obvious fact that when Google releases the source code for Android, the only devices it will readily compile on fall into the "Nexus" category.

Dec

[Weekend Poll] Would You Switch Carriers For A Phone? Have You Before?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Carriers, Galaxy Nexus, Polls, Verizon Wireless

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Now That The First Quad-Core Tablet Has Landed, Would You Still Buy A Dual-Core Tablet?

Inspired by the (sort of) pending release of the Galaxy Nexus (and the hilarious VZSucks coupon being offered for one at Negri Electronics), I'm curious: would you ever switch carriers for a phone? Have you before? Or does the phone come second to the network? Sound off in the poll below, and head down to the comments to speak your mind.

Nov

Major Canadian Carriers Announce Impending Availability of Galaxy Nexus

Posted by Zak Stinson in Bell, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Rogers, Samsung, TELUS, Virgin Mobile

Being an Android fan in Canada can be a mixed bag. While you may miss out on some of the sweet devices exclusive to U.S. carriers - the EVO 4G comes to mind - there's also the chance for some benefits, such as the recent July release of the international model of the Samsung Galaxy S II.

Thankfully, living at such northern latitudes won't cost us the opportunity to get our mitten-clad hands on the next Nexus device. While we have known this for a while, the details as to who will carry the Galaxy Nexus and when we can expect it to hit shelves have dropped today.

Jun

[Weekend Poll] How Much Cellular Data Does Your Device Use Per Month?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Carriers, Editorials, News, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see How Much Has Owning A Tablet Impacted Your Computer Use?

It seems the explosive growth of smartphone use has had some unintended consequences: U.S. carriers are moving towards tiered data. While some carriers have had "soft" caps for years, we've recently seen a move towards hard caps. "Tiered" plans have long been standard in other parts of the world, but the simple difference is that US carriers charge significantly more across the board - be it basic plans (just minutes), add-on's (such as texting), or data (whether used on a plan or as-you-go).

May

[Updated: Yes There Will Be] Verizon: There Won't Be Any Unlocked Devices On Our Network

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, HTC, News, Verizon Wireless

Update: Verizon has reneged on their previous tweet - unlocked HTC devices will be able to be activated on Verizon's network. Huzzah.

HTC may have switched to the good side, but that doesn't mean the Legion of Doom is finished. Far from it, in fact, as Verizon has taken ~~the wrong~~ a stance on the issue of locked bootloaders.

Admittedly, this may be a huge misunderstanding; perhaps the Verizon rep hasn't heard the big news about HTC yet, or the carrier simply hasn't had time to properly respond.

But if it is accurate... well, HTC and Verizon have a highly successful partnership with each other - so where does this leave things?

Apr

[Story Time] Sprint + Google Voice Integration: I Did It, And Here's How It Went

Posted by Brad Ganley in Carriers, Editorials, News, Sprint, Tips & Tutorials

Back in March, when we first heard about Sprint getting the Nexus S, we also heard about their fancy new Google Voice integration plan. The idea was simple: Let Sprint users do one of two things:

Use their current Sprint phone number as a Google Voice number, enabling all of Voice's awesome features to be utilized without having to create a group on Facebook to give out your new number.
Allow current Google Voice users to use their Voice number for their Sprint line without having to port the number to Sprint, because, a while ago, they went through the trouble of creating a Facebook group and gave everyone they know their Google Voice number so now nobody has their Sprint number.