24
Apr
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Dearly beloved, we are gathered together in the sight of the FCC and these witnesses to join MetroPCS and T-Mobile in the bonds of holy mergrimony. If any shareholder can show just cause why they may not be joined together, let them speak now or forever shut the hell up.

Today, MetroPCS shareholders approved the merger between the company and T-Mobile USA. As a result of the deal, Deutsche Telekom will own a 74% stake in the new company, while the former MetroPCS shareholders will own 26%. The new company will be called T-Mobile US and, for the first time, be traded publicly on the NYSE under the name TMUS.

24
Mar
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The rumors were true and now T-Mobile has launched its new, simplified, contract-free plans. Starting at $50/month for unlimited talk and text with 500MB of high-speed data (throttled, but sans overage fees after that), the new services allow customers to forget about counting minutes and messages and focus solely on data. This could be good or bad news, depending on your usage, but perhaps the most important aspect of these new plans is that you can get them without a 2-year commitment.

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You can select to get the new plans with or without a new device (which some carriers will allow you to do already), but if you do decide you want to buy a phone from T-Mobile, you'll have two tabs: 'Monthly Payments' or 'One Payment'.

21
Mar
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MetroPCS, the not-yet-T-Mobile-company, just announced its newest 4G LTE handset this morning, the Huawei Premia 4G. Sounds fancy, no? Don't worry – it's just OK. But for $150, you can't expect it to be a GS4.

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And a GS4 it isn't. What is it, though, is a decent mid-ranger with some specs that should live up to its buck-fiddy price tag:

  • 4-inch 480x800 display with Gorilla Glass
  • 1.5GHz dual-core processor
  • 1GB RAM
  • 5MP rear shooter, 1.3MP front camera
  • Android 4.0

Nothing super special about this one, but if you're looking for a decent mid-ranger and LTE without a contract, this may be a good way to go.

31
Jan
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If you're looking for a 4G LTE handset on MetroPCS that packs a pretty decent punch, the just-announced LG Spirit may have your number. At $200 and no annual contract, don't expect the Spirit to be a game-changer, but at first blush it does look like a bang-for-your-buck investment:

  • 4.5" display with Gorilla Glass
  • 1.2Ghz dual-core processor
  • 5MP rear shooter, 1.3MP front camera
  • 2150mAh battery
  • Android 4.0 with Optimus UI

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The Spirit also features LG's QuickMemo feature, as well as MetroPCS' joyn service, which is essentially an all-in-one chat hub. The device is available beginning today for $270 with a $70 mail-in-rebate.

10
Jan
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Thinking about switching to a prepaid carrier? As the fifth-largest U.S. cellular provider, MetroPCS should certainly be on your list (at least if you live in an urban area). Today they've shuffled up their tiered service plans, adding in some more full-speed data at the lower tiers and consolidating the highest tier into a single plan. For those of you who want the genuine article, don't worry: the $60 plan remains, with real unlimited 4G LTE data. The only stipulation is that you gave to have one of MetroPCS's LTE phones.

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At the $40 level, customers can now access the network at LTE speeds for up to 500MB, after which customers are throttled to 3G speeds.

20
Dec
ZTEAVID

If you're looking for an LTE smartphone on a serious budget, look no further - MetroPCS may have just unveiled the cheapest LTE phone to date, in the form of the $150 ZTE Avid 4G. Yes, really, an LTE phone that costs $150. Color us shocked (well, as shocked as we can get about budget phones).

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Of course, the Avid 4G is designed to also work with Metro's CDMA network, (thus that whole PCS business) so it won't do much good outside America's smallest national carrier.

The Avid 4G packs a dual-core 1.2GHz processor of some variety, a 4" 480x800 display, Android 4.0, and a 5MP rear camera.

30
Oct
cm10ico

It's always a joyous occasion to welcome a new device into the CyanogenMod family. This time it's the MetroPCS variant of the Samsung Galaxy S III.

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CyanogenMod is one of the most popular Android ROMs and is supported on a ton of devices already. The CyanogenMod 10 version being offered for the MetroPCS SGS3 is a nightly build, meaning it is the experimental product of a day's work. Bugs are to be expected, but CM10 is getting quite stable overall. There are no monthly builds for this device, but that might happen soon. The monthly "M Snapshots" tend to be a little more sturdy.

22
Oct
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While we're just hearing that an entirely new version of Google Wallet is on the way (what exactly is new about it is what we don't know), Google announced via Twitter that MetroPCS is the latest Wallet carrier partner. The Galaxy S III is the only Wallet-compatible device on Metro for the moment, but you can probably expect most future Metro phones to carry Wallet support, as well.

If you're keeping count at home, that brings Wallet support up to three carriers: US Cellular, Sprint, and MetroPCS are all now official Wallet partners, US Cellular being a recent addition we reported on earlier this month.

03
Oct
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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.

20
Sep
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MetroPCS just announced a new 4G smartphone from ZTE for its ever-expanding 4G LTE network. Dubbed the Anthem, this new handset offers mid-range specs under a 4.3" 480x800 display, including a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor and Android 2.3. Past that, the pay-as-you-go carrier was overly-scant on details, but we'll assume it's packing 1GB of RAM and some sort of camera (5MP, maybe?).

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So far as looks are concerned, it's not the prettiest thing we've ever seen, but it's hard to complain for around $220 (after MiR) with no contractual agreement.

The Anthem will be available "in the coming weeks." We'll let you know when that time comes.

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