lte - 6/29 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Oct

Sprint's Galaxy Nexus Landing Page Accidentally (Doesn't) Tease Galaxy Nexus 2

Posted by Liam Spradlin in News, Rumors, Sprint

As Nexus season progresses, and as we approach Google's October 29th event, rumors and speculation are reaching a fever pitch. Tonight, we caught sight of a story over at Gizmo Fusion pointing out a suspicious Sprint landing page potentially teasing Samsung's mythical Galaxy Nexus 2 so many fans have been hoping for.

The page in question (which one of our readers, Freak4Dell, also noticed) is Sprint's landing page for the original Galaxy Nexus which, for at least two days now, has had an interesting title – "Samsung Galaxy Nexus 2 – 4g Android Smartphone from Sprint".

Just in case anybody out there took this as a sign that their Galaxy Nexus 2 prayers would definitely be answered, we should point out that this almost certainly doesn't tease an unannounced device.

Oct

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

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft 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.

Oct

LG Escape For AT&T Review: The Best Budget Phone I've Ever Reviewed

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in AT&T, Escape 4G LTE, Phone Reviews

When it comes to the newest generation of phones, "budget" is closer to "flagship" than ever before. Two months ago, I reviewed the free-on-contract Pantech Marauder and came away highly impressed. Ron, too, reviewed the $100 Motorola Razr M and said "This is what budget phones are like now? Where do I sign up?" The old budget formula of taking last-gen hardware and slapping it in a cheap chassis has given way to current-gen hardware in a better chassis - not to mention that the optimizations and polish of Android 4.0 make the experience better than ever on virtually any level of hardware.

Oct

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

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft 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.

Oct

HTC Unveils The One X+ With Sense 4+, Jelly Bean, Tegra 3 With LTE, And Improved Specs

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in HTC, Jelly Bean 4.1, News, One X (Endeavor), One X+

Last Updated: October 26th, 2012

The worst kept secret in HTC's recent history, the One X+, was finally officially announced this morning by the Taiwanese manufacturer. Let's take a closer look at what has changed.

Hardware

The updated One X variant features:

A beefier Cortex-A9 NVIDIA Tegra 3 AP37 processor running at 1.7GHz (up from 1.5GHz)
ULP GeForce NVIDIA GPU, running at 520MHz (up from 416MHz)
64GB of internal storage (up from 32GB)
2100mAh battery (up from 1800mAh), which HTC says may give you up to 6 hours of extra talk time
1.6MP front-facing camera (up from 1.3MP)
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Sense 4+
135g - slightly heavier but only by 5 grams (up from 130g)

The rest of the specs remain the same, including a 4.7" 1280x720 display, 1GB of RAM (a real bummer considering Samsung's and LG's latest offerings contain and really benefit from double that), Beats Audio, and an 8MP rear-facing camera.

Sep

AT&T Announces A Handful Of New Galaxy Devices: Express, Rugby Pro, And Tab 2 10.1

Posted by Cameron Summerson in AT&T, Galaxy Express, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Rugby Pro, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, News

Last Updated: January 14th, 2013

Wow, AT&T. Instead of sending multiple device announcements on different days, the company just announced a few new smartphones and a tablet for its 4G LTE network, all of which are made by Samsung. Let's take a look, shall we?

Samsung Galaxy Express

The Galaxy Express seems to be sort of a tweener device. Not in terms of "your child between the ages of 10 and 12 will love it!" but in that it appears to be right in the middle of the Galaxy S III and some mid-range devices.

4.5" Super AMOLED display
1.5GHz dual-core processor
5MP rear shooter
2000mAh battery
Android 4.0

Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro

Much like its predecessor, the Galaxy Rugby Pro is a rough and rugged mid-ranger.

Sep

Sprint Rolls Out LTE To More Cities, Begins Network Vision Rollout In Chicago, New York, And Los Angeles

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, Sprint

Sprint has some presents for you, especially if you live in the midwest. For starters, several cities are getting their shiny new LTE networks lit up today including Wichita, KS, Waukegan-Lake County, IL and more (listed below). As an added bonus, the #3 carrier also announced that the Network Vision rollout is beginning in Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles. For those who are unaware, the Network Vision plan provides for significant improvements to the existing 3G infrastructure, in addition to eventual LTE upgrades.

Here's the list of markets that will see LTE activated in their area:

Lawrence, KS
Topeka, KS
Wichita, KS
Waukegan-Lake County, IL
Barnstable-Hyannis/Mid-Cape, MA

It's not a huge rollout, but the improvements to the 3G network in Chicago, NYC, and LA should be welcome as Sprint makes ready LTE coverage in those cities.

Sep

AT&T's 4G LTE Network Live In Eight New Markets, Expanded In One

Posted by Cameron Summerson in AT&T, News

Slowly but surely, AT&T is trying to close the gap between its LTE network and Verizon's. Today, it announced that its lightning fast LTE network is available in eight new markets:

Detroit, MI
Pittsburgh, PA
Portland, OR
Birmingham, AL
Memphis, TN
Honolulu, HI
Seattle, WA
Sacramento, CA

In addition to these new markets, AT&T's existing LTE network in Miami-Dade County has also been expanded.

AT&T's 4G Network
AT&T's innovation and investment has resulted in the nation's largest 4G network, covering 275 million people with ultra-fast speeds and a more consistent user experience. That's coverage in 3,000 more 4G cities and towns than Verizon.

Sep

Galaxy Note II With Quad-Core Exynos And LTE Coming To Top Five US Carriers In Time For The Holidays

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in AT&T, Galaxy Note II, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, Verizon Wireless

We knew it was happening, but now things are official. The Samsung Galaxy Note II is coming to Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular. This is going to be a big deal, and not just because this phone is physically massive.

The centerpiece of the Note II is the 5.5-inch Super AMOLED HD panel at 1280x720. This screen uses Wacom inductive technology so you can make use of a pressure-sensitive S Pen, which docks neatly in the body of the phone when you're not using it. Whereas the US Galaxy S III used Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4, the Note II will run Samsung's own Exynos quad-core chip.

Sep

Leak: Sprint 4G LTE Will Be Lighting Up In Boston And Chicago In The Next Week

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

According to an internal document sent to us by a tipster, Sprint will be turning on the four-gee taps in two major US cities this week - Boston and Chicago. As we know, Sprint is in something of a panic-mode in regard to its 4G rollout, and has decided to begin bringing its network online in some locations before it's fully ready. As you can see in the document below, that is exactly what's happening here.

While Sprint isn't ready to call it "launch" time, it's telling employees that they should be informing customers that 4G coverage is being rolled out, and is accessible in "certain areas," but that the experience may not be "optimal." This basically lines up with a press release Sprint sent out earlier this week, which stated that LTE may be available in some regions before an official launch, and that customers are "free to use it" (read: don't complain if it sucks).