lte - 12/29 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

[Updated x2: Staten Island, St. Louis Now Live] AT&T Set To Activate LTE In 12 New Markets

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in 4G, AT&T, News

AT&T's long, drawn out game of catch-up with Verizon is moving one step closer to completion. According to AT&T, Cleveland, New Orleans, Staten Island, and 9 other cities will be added to the list that will taste the sweet LTE waters "soon." The 12 markets are scheduled to receive LTE in "April, May and into the early summer."

Update 4/3/12: Muncie, Bloomington, Bryan-College Station are live.

Update 4/11/12: St. Louis and Staten Island are live.

The list of new markets includes (bold = markets that went live since the original post date):

Akron, OH
Canton, OH
Cleveland, OH
Naples, FL
Bloomington, IN
Lafayette, IN
Muncie, IN
Baton Rouge, LA
New Orleans, LA
St.

Apr

[Video] HTC Helps Viewers "Get To Know" The EVO 4G LTE From Design To Manufacturing In New Video

Posted by Liam Spradlin in EVO 4G LTE (Jewel), News, One X (Endeavor), Sprint, Videos

In a fascinating new video titled "Get to know the HTC EVO 4G LTE," HTC explains the ins and outs of Sprint's One X variant, from the conceptualization of its design, to decisions surrounding build quality, materials, and a pretty interesting explanation of the new EVO's soft-touch unibody form.

Senior Director of Advanced Materials Chris Porter details the EVO's soft-touch feel in the video, explaining that the device has a "warm, velvety, soft-touch feel as opposed to a harder, rougher, cold metal feel." Porter explains that creating the effect involves sand/grit-blasting the device's frame, followed by a light chemical etching process to remove the sharp "peaks." The EVO's design also utilizes around 100 custom-designed machine cutters, used to create exactly the right geometry and feel for each device.

Apr

LG Viper On Sprint Available For Pre-Order On April 12th For $99 With Two-Year Agreement

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Sprint, Viper

Looks like Sprint's first LTE handset, the LG Viper, will be available for pre-order from Sprint beginning on April 12th for a reasonable $99 after $50 mail-in-rebate, and will be available in all channels "later this month."

The Viper was originally announced alongside the Galaxy Nexus earlier this year at CES as one of Sprint's premier LTE devices and is packing some reasonable specs for the price:

4-Inch 480x800 display
1.2Ghz dual-core processor
1GB RAM
5MP rear shooter, VGA front-facing camera
4GB built-in storage, microSD card slot
NFC and Google Wallet
Android 2.3 (will likely be updated to Android 4.0)

Last we heard, the Viper was said to be released on April 15th, but that seems unlikely with pre-orders beginning on April 12th.

Apr

AT&T Bringing LTE To Muncie, IN; Bloomington, IN; And Bryan-College Station, TX On April 8th

Posted by Cameron Summerson in 4G, AT&T, News

Mid-last month, AT&T announced that it would bringing LTE to 12 new markets in "April, May, and into early summer." It appears to be making good on those plans beginning now, as it's going to flip the switch in three new markets on April 8th:

Muncie, IN
Bloomington, IN
Bryan-College Station, TX

This gives AT&T a total of 31 LTE markets now, putting it pretty far behind Verizon's "more than 200 cities."

There's no word as to when it should roll out the rest of the promised markets, but it's nice to see it getting an early start delivering the goods.

Apr

[Rumor Analysis] Is This Leaked "Press Photo" Sprint's HTC EVO One?

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

Last Updated: April 4th, 2012

When it comes to rumors, the day before the press conference announcing a device often turns out to be the most reliable. Just such a rumor has landed today, in the form of a purported "press photo" of Sprint's EVO One (at least, that's the rumored name).

Now, I don't want to be a Debbie-downer here, but there are a few things that make this "press photo" look like less than the real McCoy (though I'm not outright calling it a fake - so read on).

First, there are the images flanking the supposed EVO One. These stock photos of the AT&T and T-Mobile One X and One S, respectively, have been available for over a month now.

Mar

Sprint Says No More WiMax Devices Ever, Promises To Launch 15 LTE Devices By Year's End

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, Sprint

It's only been a couple years since the EVO launched as not only the first WiMax phone, but the first "4G" phone (by carrier reckoning). Now, though, Sprint says that not only will there be no more WiMax phones, which we knew earlier, but no more WiMax devices at all. That means hotspots and tablets will also lack any WiMax antennae. Don't worry, though. Sprint has promised 15 LTE devices by year's end.

Sprint's LTE plans have been no secret, although not without a fair amount of bumps in the road. Still, Sprint insists that its LTE plans are on schedule.

Mar

Verizon Unveils The LG Lucid, A Budget LTE Handset Without The Budget Specs

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Lucid, News, Verizon Wireless

We've been hearing about an upcoming LG device for Verizon's LTE network called the Cayman for a few weeks now; that device is now officially official, and it's bearing the moniker Lucid.

At $80 with a two-year agreement, the Lucid will hit a sweet spot in many users' wallets; just because it's affordable, however, doesn't mean it's lacking in the feature department:

4-inch display with Gorilla Glass
1.2GHz dual-core processor
1GB RAM
5MP rear shooter
Front facing camera
Android 2.3, upgradable to Android 4.0

As you can see, it's packing specs comparable to top-of-the-line phones from just a couple of months ago, but at less than half the introductory price.

Mar

Sprint Ends LTE Agreement With Lightsquared, Says Its Network Vision Plan Is Still 'On Schedule'

Posted by Cameron Summerson in 4G, News, Sprint

Back in July of '11, Sprint entered into an agreement with Lightsquared to provide 4G LTE to its network on the 1.6GHz spectrum. Lightsqaured was given until March 15, 2012 to work out the potential kinks (mostly dealing with GPS interference) but was unable to deliver on this deadline. As such, The Now Network had to call it quits.

Sprint has been and continues to be supportive of LightSquared’s business plans and appreciates the company’s efforts to find a resolution to the interference issues impacting its ability to offer service on the 1.6 GHz spectrum. However, due to these unresolved issues, and subject to the provisions of the agreement, Sprint has elected to exercise its right to terminate the agreement announced last summer.

Mar

Sprint's Galaxy Nexus Passes Through The FCC, Is Now One Step Closer To Landing In Your Hands

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Nexus, News, Sprint

Well, looky what just happened to stroll through the FCC - none other than the Galaxy Nexus for Sprint. The upcoming flagship for Sprint's LTE network appears to be identical in size to Verizon's version, making it a hair thicker than the GSM variant.

This actually offers little other details about the device, aside from the fact that it has been given the stamp of approval by the US Government, which means it's one step closer to hitting the Now Network's shelves.

Perhaps we'll get more info from Sprint at the annual CTIA convention in May, if not sooner.

[Engadget]

Feb

[Rumor] Sprint Adds Los Angeles To List Of Planned Network Vision/LTE Markets For 2012

Posted by Liam Spradlin in 4G, Rumors, Sprint

Just a few days after allegedly adding its NYC market to the list of 2012 LTE rollout locations, Sprint has evidently begun planning to light up the Los Angeles Metro area by the end of 2012 as well.

Sprint's Los Angeles Metro market currently spans all of Los Angeles County, including Avalon and Santa Catalina. According to S4GRU, Orange County, North LA, Riverside/San Bernardino, San Diego, and Lower Central Valley are included in different markets, and are expected to deploy some time after Los Angeles.

S4GRU also notes that while converting the necessary sites to Network Vision standards will take over 8 months, individual sites will be activated on a monthly basis, meaning customers who purchase Sprint's first round of 4G LTE-enabled devices will still have a chance of enjoying enhanced data speeds.