HSPA+ - 5/9 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

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

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

Get Your Thumbs Ready - T-Mobile's 3.5" Sidekick 4G Goes Official, Ships Later This Spring

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, Samsung, Sidekick 4G, T-Mobile

The reincarnation of the Sidekick brand didn't quite come as a complete surprise after T-Mobile teased its return back in January, followed by a nice photo leak that showed the latest thumb-killer, this time made by Samsung, in its full glory. However, it's always nice to get official confirmations and specs from the carrier itself, and that's exactly what T-Mobile is gracing us with today.

The new Sidekick comes with a 3.5" touchscreen display, a 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor, HSPA+21 4G capabilities, a front-facing VGA camera, and, of course, a signature "pop-tilt" 5-row QWERTY keyboard.

Mar

Which Carrier's Network Is Really The Fastest? One Study Attempts To Answer

Posted by Will Shanklin in AT&T, News, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless

They say "talk is cheap" - and these days it seems like every major US wireless carrier is claiming to have the fastest 4G (of course 4G is a highly debatable marketing term that describes three vastly different networks, but that's fodder for another post altogether). It's relatively easy to tune all of the marketing hype out but, when presented with some solid numbers, it gets easier to pay attention. PC World has tried to give us some raw data to work with in their profiling of the data speeds on the four major providers.

There are, however, a couple of very important things to keep in mind before viewing these results:

PC World measured the best service they could get (whether 3G or 4G) over 260 locations in 13 cities.

Mar

The Four-Gees Comparison: Which Carrier Should You Be Looking To For Your 4G Android Phone?

Posted by David Ruddock in AT&T, Carriers, Editorials, Off-Topic, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: March 30th, 2011

4G is here - and it seems like all four of America's biggest carriers are more than happy to advertise the fact that they've got it. Sprint was first on the scene - offering their WiMax 4G, and T-Mobile shortly thereafter began its upgrade to HSPA+ technology. Verizon was next, providing mobile broadband LTE via USB dongle for laptops, though its much-awaited debut 4G handset, the Thunderbolt, has yet to hit shelves after numerous delays. Finally, lagging behind in truly characteristic fashion, AT&T has begun to roll out its own HSPA+ network, with plans to offer LTE in the second half of the year.

Feb

HTC Desire HD, Desire Z, Incredible S Set To Join The Gingerbread Club, But...

Posted by David Ruddock in Desire HD (Ace), Desire Z (Vision), EVO Shift 4G (Speedy), G2 (Vision), Gingerbread 2.3, HTC, Incredible S (Vivo), Merge, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

SlashGear has confirmed with HTC today that the Desire HD, Desire Z, and Incredible S (along with the standard Desire) will be receiving the bump to Gingerbread some time in the second quarter of this year. But, there's a potential caveat: US phones might not be included.

It remains unknown if HTC was also referring to carrier-branded versions of the aforementioned devices in its statement, and if it was, if those devices would be receiving updates at the same time as their unlocked, HTC-branded siblings. Phones in this category include the HTC Thunderbolt and Inspire 4G (both based on the Desire HD), as well as T-Mobile's G2, the EVO Shift 4G, and possibly the HTC Merge (all based on the Desire Z).

Feb

Motorola Atrix 4G Rooted Before Release, Bootloader Confirmed To Be Signed

Posted by Josue Alamo in AT&T, Atrix 4G (Olympus), Development, Motorola, News

Last Updated: February 22nd, 2011

AT&T users, rejoice! Brief Mobile has been informed that user DesignGears, along with Getaphixx, has rooted the Motorola Atrix before its official release.

AT&T is notorious for restricting its users to only Market apps. Through rooting, however, non-Market apps can run via sideloading. These privileges also provide an easy way to free users of the bloated social-networking service MOTOBLUR and disable many other unnecessary applications.

Full instructions follow:

What you’ll need first:

.NET Framework 2.0 or Mono v1.2.6 (more information on Linux) (Windows XP: Download .NET Framework 2.0)
Windows Vista

Windows 7

Ubuntu Hardy (8.04 LTS)

Ubuntu Jaunty (9.04)

Ubuntu Karmic (9.10)

Ubuntu Lucid (10.04 LTS)

Ubuntu Maverick (10.10)

Debian Lenny (5.0)

Debian Squeeze (testing)

Debian Sid (unstable)

Debian Experimental

Install Motorola drivers on your computer
Mount the device for Media Sync.

Feb

[Review] HTC Inspire 4G: A Pretty Face Only Gets You So Far

Posted by David Ruddock in AT&T, Inspire 4G (Ace, Stallion), Phone Reviews, Reviews, Videos

Last Updated: February 8th, 2012

About this time last week, I first started playing with our Inspire 4G review unit. And at first blush, I admittedly found myself enamored with this phone. Unfortunately, it was a love that started to splinter as the days went on, and the more I used it, the more I noticed just how unfinished some parts of this phone can feel. Overall, the Inspire is a good phone with the potential to be great, and I'll talk about what's holding it back (software, connectivity) further on in the review.

Don't let that statement deter you from considering purchasing it, though, because at $99 (or $60 on Amazon), the Inspire 4G is a steal of a deal if you're looking for a reasonably priced 4G smartphone.

Feb

Samsung Galaxy S 4G For T-Mobile Goes Up For Pre-Order At Wirefly, Out February 23rd

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Deals, Galaxy S 4G, News, Samsung, T-Mobile

The Galaxy S 4G is not the most exciting phone coming out on T-Mobile, but if you've been looking at T-Mobile and eyeing the Samsung Vibrant, then the Galaxy S 4G may be for you. It is essentially a 4G (HSPA+21) capable version of the Vibrant that also comes with a front-facing camera and a mobile HD version of the movie Inception (wait, what?). Sorry, it still ships with Froyo - no word on Gingerbread for any T-Mobile phones other than the Nexus S has been released.

Due out on February 23rd, the Galaxy S 4G will cost $150 + tax from T-Mobile.