prepaid - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

[New App] Burner Disposable Phone Number App Comes With One Free, More Numbers Via IAP

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

"Burner" cellphones, pre-paid phones that are used and discarded, have become a handy way to protect your identity if you find yourself dealing with people you might not otherwise want to meet. Just lately it has become possible to get "disposable" phones without the phone, thanks to apps like Hushed, which provides a limited-use virtual number that can be easily substituted for your real one. Burner is a new competitor in the same vein, happily landing on Android after considerable success on iOS.

While the operation is similar, Burner is much more interested in the "use and lose" nature of its virtual phone numbers.

Feb

PSA: Straight Talk And Net10 Sold Out Of AT&T SIM Cards Online – Don't Panic

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Carriers, News

We've been hearing for the past few days that users have been unable to get new AT&T-compatible SIM cards from Straight Talk and Net10 websites. The only option seems to be the T-Mobile SIM. This was causing quite a bit of consternation as the Nexus 4 is finally starting to ship again. The complete absence of AT&T SIMs from both sites led many to wonder if AT&T service was no longer being sold by these Tracfon-owned entities. Well, we've investigated and there appears to be no cause for alarm.

Straight Talk and Net10 are mobile virtual network operators (MVNO). That means that neither company runs its own towers – they just buy access from the big carriers.

Jan

Sprint Will Begin Pay As You Go Service On January 25th, But Standard Sprint Phones Aren't Invited To The Party [Update: Sprint Confirms]

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Galaxy Victory (SPH-L300), LG, News, Optimus Elite, Sprint

If you want to use Sprint's network without signing a contract, there are a lot of options out there, including its subsidiary Boost Mobile, the American MVNO Virgin, and hybrid provider Republic Wireless, among others. Sprint hopes that there are at least some prepaid customers left out there, because starting on January 25th, it will be offering its service in contract-free flavors.

Update: Sprint confirmed the new service to Fierce Wireless and provided some additional details. There will be no limits on data or bandwidth throttling, and LTE service will in fact be enabled on the Galaxy Victory.

There are only two smartphones that will be available at the beginning of Sprint As You Go: LG's somewhat misnamed Optimus Elite, and the Samsung Victory, conspicuously absent of the "4G LTE" branding that's present on Sprint's current Galaxy model.

Jan

T-Mobile Bringing Unlimited 4G Data Plan To Prepaid Starting January 9th

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in News, T-Mobile

In this age of tiered data plans, an unlimited option is increasingly hard to come by. Well, little T-Mobile is looking to attract more customers by offering just that – an new unlimited data plan. The carrier already offers an unlimited option on its contract plans, but now that tier is being extended to its popular Monthly4G prepaid service.

The offering will come in at $70 per-month and replace the current $70 Unlimited talk/text and 5GB data plan. That's a pretty killer deal for anyone already paying for a 5GB soft-cap. This unlimited plan will allow users to pull down as many bytes as they like at full HSPA+ speeds.

Sep

Walmart Offering A No-Contract T-Mobile Galaxy S II For $300 With A $30 Monthly Plan (5GB Data, Unlimited Text)

Posted by David Ruddock in Deals, Galaxy S II, News, T-Mobile

It's not often we find ourselves excited about prepaid here in the US, but if any store can get people excited about saving money, it's Walmart. And what Walmart and T-Mobile just announced is actually pretty exciting if you're looking for a way to get on the smartphone bandwagon with low monthly overhead.

For $300, Walmart will sell you a contract-free T-Mobile Galaxy S II. That in and of itself probably isn't very exciting. The Galaxy S II is definitely getting long in the tooth, but it's also not a bad phone by any stretch of the imagination. The really exciting part is that once you buy it, for $30 a month you can get a prepaid T-Mobile plan that gives you 5GB of 4G data, unlimited texting, and 100 minutes of voice (come on, who uses minutes?).

Jul

Kyocera Rise Is Rumored To Be Heading To Sprint And Virgin Mobile, Has Nothing To Do With Batman

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Kyocera, News, Sprint

If you're not in the market for an über cheap, probably contract free phone, feel free to move along. Assuming you didn't already when you saw the name 'Kyocera'. Still here? Good. Because I've got great news for you! The Kyocera Rise (no relation to the Dark Knight of the same name) is rumored to be coming to Sprint and Virgin Mobile very soon.

Twitter tipsters @evleaks, who has thus far tweeted nothing but leaked photos of devices with brief information on the devices depicted, has shared that Kyocera's contribution to the ~~Justice League~~ budget smartphone world will be headed to Virgin Mobile, one of the nation's leading prepaid carriers, as well as Sprint.

Jul

Kyocera Hydro Lands On Boost Mobile, "Where You At?" Can Now Be Answered With "Under The Sea"

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Boost Mobile, Kyocera, News

Okay, so Kyocera's not really known for producing the best smartphones. And Boost Mobile is perhaps best known for mildly entertaining ads and cheap plans, compared to the big dogs. If you're not interested in having the latest and greatest, if your primary concern for network carrier is price, and if you spend a lot of time making phone calls under water, then I've got some great news for you: the Kyocera ~~Hail~~ Hydro is coming to Boost Mobile for $129 (no contract) on August 3rd.

The phone, which we covered back at CTIA, boasts some pretty meager specs. A single-core Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM and a 3.5" 480x320 IPS display.

Nov

Why You Should Never Buy A Low-End Android Phone On A Major US Carrier (Read: They’re Junk, And You’re Getting Screwed)

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials

Android’s massive worldwide popularity has, in large part, the availability of cheap, low-end handsets to thank. We all know this. In developing markets in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, Android powers almost all of the smartphones that are being purchased by growing numbers of prepaid subscribers.

Cheap Android phones are, for that reason alone, a great thing. They’re empowering consumers in developing economies, giving them access to the full web wherever they go - something that has generally been the privilege only of the wealthy and of Western nations in the past decade.

But there’s a dark side to cheap Android phones here in the good ‘ol US of A.

Sep

Cricket Pre-Paid Service Going National, Set To Offer A Variety Of Devices Through Best Buy And Other Retailers

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Cricket Wireless, News

Leap Wireless, purveyors of Cricket pre-paid cellular services, is set to expand its business to the entire nation beginning Sunday, September 25.

Building on its presence as a regional service, Leap Wireless signed a reseller agreement with Sprint Nextel last year to begin using their network nationwide. On the 25th, Best Buy, followed by select Wal-Mart locations, Dollar Stores, and HSN will begin offering Cricket devices including the ZTE Score - an Android-based device - as well as phones supporting Leap's Muve Music service.

It would seem that Leap is seeking to move Cricket closer to a consumer base that seeks affordable smartphones and competitive pre-paid plans.

Aug

Chitika: Verizon Losing Android Market Share, AT&T And Budget Carriers On The Rise

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, AT&T, MetroPCS, News, US Cellular, Verizon Wireless, Virgin Mobile

Chitika released new Android market share figures today by carrier, and the results are somewhat interesting. Verizon, who previously controlled over 50% of the market for Android smartphones, has dropped to almost 40% over the last five months. Who's to blame? AT&T and small budget carriers, apparently (US Cellular, MetroPCS, Virgin Mobile).

August 2011

AT&T now makes up nearly 9% of all Android phones in the US - having more than doubled its share back in March, when it was a mere 3.5% of the pie. Smaller carriers control around 8.5%, up from around 3%. Here's the chart from March: