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Jun

[Deal Alert] DROID Charge Now Just $129.99 At Wirefly On New 2-Year Agreement

Posted by David Ruddock in Charge (i510), Deals, News, Tips & Tutorials

I'm not a big fan of the DROID Charge, but hey, to each his own. And apparently consumers haven't been such huge fans of the phone's notoriously high original MSRP ($300 on upgrade or new agreement), making it the most expensive subsidized Android phone to date.

Well, Wirefly has started playing hardball, and after having dropped the Charge down to $180 a month or so back, they've gone price-slashing yet again: you can now pick up the Samsung DROID Charge for $129.99 on a new Verizon account with a 2-year agreement, or when you add a line to your existing plan (sorry, it's still $200 if you want to upgrade).

May

[Deal Alert] LetsTalk.com Memorial Day Sale

Posted by David Ruddock in AT&T, Deals, News, Sprint, T-Mobile, Tips & Tutorials, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: May 30th, 2011

Update Memorial Day: Well, Amazon prices didn't drop today. Our Amazon rep hasn't gotten back to us to confirm, but @AmazonWireless has tweeted that the "all 4G phones free" sale wasn't real, so I'm writing off the Amazon part of this sale as a hoax. :(

LetsTalk.com

Deals - we got 'em. While Amazon is having their own Memorial Day Android handset sale over at Amazon Wireless, LetsTalk.com wasn't about to be outdone. Here's the most relevant (not all-inclusive) deals, including the 20% off coupon code for Verizon phones (the code is: 7c7f3319) (prices that beat Amazon's are italicized, and we've provided Amazon's prices for comparison).

May

Tiered Data Coming To Verizon This Summer As Planned, Says CFO - And Family Data Plans?

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Verizon Wireless

We knew it was coming. We've known for a while, in fact. But as summer draws near, reality is starting to set in: unlimited data is coming to an end on Verizon. For real. Here's what you need to know (based on what we know): Verizon's CFO told Reuters at a tech conference that tiered data will be implemented this summer, and that all unlimited data options will be eliminated. There was also a suggestion that family plans may (eventually - not with the launch of tiers) get data pooled in a fashion similar to minutes - eliminating the need for individual data plans.

May

[Deal Alert] Amazon Drops Price of DROID Charge To $199 On New 2-Year Agreement

Posted by David Ruddock in Charge (i510), Deals, News, Tips & Tutorials, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: May 20th, 2011

So, I'm probably not the best person to write about anything that might encourage someone to buy a DROID Charge (I sure as hell wouldn't, and our friends at Droid-life agree), but here we are. Amazon's offering the Charge for a slightly-more-reasonable price of $200 on a new 2-year agreement or eligible upgrade, down from the absolutely absurd price of $300 you'll get it for everywhere else.

I still wouldn't call it a deal. But hey, it's $100 cheaper than it was, and if you were thinking about buying one (for whatever reason), now is probably a good time.

Apr

PSA: Take It Easy, AT&T Isn't Targeting Unauthorized Android Tethering (And May Never)

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, AT&T, Editorials, News, Tips & Tutorials

There's been a lot of talk about AT&T's crusade against rogue tethering lately, and it all comes back to this AT&T text message sent to some poor iPhone customer(s):

AT&T Free Msg: We’ve noticed you’re continuing to enjoy the tethering feature with your smartphone service. Remember, you need a tethering plan ($45/mo, incl. 4GB) to use this feature, so we’re planning to update your line with the required plan soon.

Yes, the carrier everyone loves to hate is cracking down on unauthorized tethering - and they are automatically switching violators onto AT&T's 4GB data plan with tethering access, at a steep $45 a month.

Apr

Deal Alert Speed Challenge Edition: All 4G Phones FREE On T-Mobile Until 3AM PST Tonight

Posted by David Ruddock in Deals, News, T-Mobile

If you head over to T-Mobile's site right now, you'll find the carrier has slashed its entire 4G Android lineup to the low, low price of free on any new two year agreement. Move quick if you want to take advantage of it, though - this sale ends at 3AM PST (April 13).

T-Mobile

Apr

Sprint Motorola XOOM With WiMAX 4G Now Imminent

Posted by David Ruddock in 4G, News, Sprint, XOOM

Boy Genius Report dropped a piece of information this afternoon confirming a long-standing suspicion that the Motorola XOOM will soon be available on America's most budget-friendly carrier, Sprint - and it'll be packing a WiMAX 4G radio.

The tip came via Sprint store employees, who found XOOM case SKUs in the Sprint inventory system, along with an actual case in an accessory shipment, as shown below.

Pricing has not yet been made public, but expect some kind of subsidy to be available with a 2-year agreement.

Is the WiMAX-ified XOOM just what you've been waiting for? Or do you like your XOOMs cheaper, contract-free, with only the wi-fize and fewer gee-beez?

Apr

T-Mobile Launching Even More Plus Unlimited Plan For Just $59.99 A Month

Posted by David Ruddock in 4G, Carriers, Deals, News, T-Mobile, Tips & Tutorials

T-Mobile is starting to get aggressive with customer acquisition and retention, and in light of less than stellar fiscal performance and the news of the AT&T deal, it's not hard to see why.

On April 13, the carrier will begin offering a new off-contract smartphone plan, and it's a steal - for $59.99 a month (down from $79.99), you'll get unlimited talk, text and data*. But, there are some significant catches. The first is that you'll have to pay full retail for your phone of choice - the Even More Plus plan is a month-to-month affair.

The second is arguably worse - your data usage is technically unlimited, but after the first 2GB (as opposed to the current 5GB) your data speeds will be throttled down until the next billing cycle.

Apr

Updated: AT&T Raising Smartphone Prices For 1-Year Contracts, Full Retail, And Early Upgrades

Posted by David Ruddock in AT&T, Carriers, News, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: April 4th, 2011

Update: BGR just confirmed with AT&T that the early upgrade price bump listed for iPhones applies to all smartphones - that means early upgrade pricing for 2-year agreement customers will go up by 50 bucks on all Android phones.

Well, there's not a lot of ways to spin this positively, and it's pretty clear what's going on - AT&T is disincentivizing its 1-year and no contract plans in order to goad customers into making more economical 2-year agreements. Customer retention method much?

If you want to go month to month (no contract) on AT&T, the full retail price of your smartphone of choice will shoot up by $50, for no apparent reason other than to discourage you from making that decision.

Mar

HTC Flyer Will Come To The US On T-Mobile

Posted by David Ruddock in Flyer, HTC, News, T-Mobile

Pocketnow dropped some images of the HTC Flyer in T-Mobile regalia earlier today, apparently dismissing rumors that the unbranded version of the Flyer would not be headed to American shores. In particular, the image below of a rebranded T-Mobile USA YouTube page would seem to all but confirm that HTC's stylus-sporting tablet will be making a stateside-debut.

HTC's Flyer tablet runs Android 2.3 (with a planned upgrade to Honeycomb), and utilizes a single-core, 1.5GHz processor. The 7" tablet's pricing has to be confirmed, but speculation on a Wi-Fi only version (read: not this T-Mobile edition) hovered around $500-600. This device will then probably be getting contract pricing, but it's anyone's guess as to how much a subsidy T-Mobile is planning.