09
Jun
ATT

AT&T Changes Upgrade Advantage Program – Subsidized Pricing Available After 24 Months Instead Of Only 20

Posted by in AT&T, Carriers, News

Two-year contracts are a drag for all sorts of reasons, but AT&T just found a way to make them even more annoying. The carrier has quietly altered its upgrade terms to stipulate that customers have to wait for the full 24 month term to be up before getting subsidized pricing on an upgrade. You can see the before and after versions of Ma Bell's upgrade page below.

large 24-2

It would be one thing if the change only affected new contracts from the effective date of June 9th, but it also pushes back the upgrade date for anyone whose contract ends after March 1, 2014.

29
Apr
image

Deal Alert: $50 Off Sprint Galaxy S4 Upgrades On Amazon ($199.99)

Posted by in Deals, Galaxy S4, News, Sprint

After a short delay, Sprint is now ushering Samsung's highly anticipated successor to the popular Galaxy S III to store shelves, but how much does it cost? New customers can pick up the Galaxy S4 with a two-year contract for $149, but existing customers looking to upgrade must plop down $249 to bring home the same phone. This isn't the best of news for current Sprint customers, but there is now another option available.

Amazon-GalaxyS4

As of today, Amazon is allowing existing Sprint customers to upgrade for $50 less. This brings the price of upgrading an existing contract down to levels resembling the price of starting a contract anew.

25
Jan
1

[Deal Alert] Lowest Price Yet For The DROID RAZR HD: It's Free At Wirefly For Upgrades Only

Posted by in Deals, News, RAZR HD / RAZR MAXX HD, Verizon Wireless

Most of the time when we post a good deal – especially on a free phone – it's typically for new customers. In a rare event, though, Wirefly has turned that deal on its head by making  the RAZR HD free for upgrades only. New customers will still have to shell out $50 for the same devices. It's a pretty good deal either way, but it's particularly killer for existing Verizon customers.

image

If you need a quick spec-refresher for the RAZR HD, here you go:

  • CPU: 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4
  • OS: Android 4.1.x
  • Display: 4.7" Super AMOLED HD (1280x720)
  • Memory: 1GB RAM, 16GB storage, microSD slot
  • Cameras: 8MP rear, 1.3MP front
  • Battery: 2530mAh
  • Ports: microUSB, microHDMI
  • Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11a/b/g/n
  • Radios: LTE, GSM, CDMA (Global)
  • Dimensions: 5.19" x 2.67" x 0.33", 5.15 oz.

26
Apr
aosp

Key Android Engineer Weighs In On Manufacturer Contributions To AOSP And Update Rollouts - You Might Be Surprised Who's On Top

Posted by in News

If you follow AOSP code drops long enough, you're eventually going to hear about JBQ (as well as a ton more acronyms). Jean-Baptiste Queru, Technical Lead of the Android Open-Source Project took to Google+ today to talk about Android update rollouts, as well as to praise one of the manufacturers that he sees as leading the pack in aiding the AOSP: Sony.

It took Sony only about 5 months to ship this [Android 4.0 for the Sony Tablet S] after I released the code in the Android Open Source Project at the very end of last year. This is actually a very reasonable time, since under the hood Ice Cream Sandwich is quite different from Honeycomb (and upgrades from Gingerbread are likely to take longer as those differences are huge).

14
Sep
wm_9-14-2011 5-24-15 PM

Sprint To Shut Down Premier Program, Continue Cost-Cutting Measures

Posted by in News, Sprint

The newest version of Sprint's weekly "playbook" has been sent around to employees, and as usual, we have a copy. Sadly, this week's edition doesn't exactly inspire confidence for the future of the nation's third-largest carrier - in fact, one of Sprint's primary benefits, the Premier program, will be disappearing down the drain shortly. It's not all bad news, though, so let's dig in and see what's up and coming in the world of Sprint.

The Death of Sprint Premier

wm_9-14-2011 5-21-57 PM wm_9-14-2011 5-22-15 PM

In retrospect, we should have seen this one coming - Sprint has, after all, been gradually decreasing the benefits of its Premier program over the last year or so.

06
May
us-cellular-logo-main

U.S. Cellular Goes 4G LTE, 25% Of Customers Will See It Before The Holiday Season

Posted by in News, US Cellular

Today, U.S. Cellular announced that it would be bringing 4G LTE services to about a quarter of its customer base in certain areas of Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin before the holiday season this year. Some of the cities that will be included in this initial rollout are Milwaukee, Madison, and Racine in Wisconsin; Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Davenport, Iowa; Portland and Bangor, Maine; and Greenville, North Carolina.

This is just the first of many phases for the carrier to build on its current 3G network, which should bring about a dramatic change in speed and convenience.

05
May
T-Mobile-Girl

T-Mobile Revamping Prepaid Plans, Get Ready For Unlimited Data

Posted by in News, T-Mobile

On May 22, T-Mobile will be lifting the figurative data gate on its web70 and web50 plans, offering users unlimited data to go along with the unlimited talk and text that is already a part of the deal. As it stands right now, the web70 plan has a 2GB data cap, while the web50 plan only allows for a measly 100MB of data usage. While the latter will get the benefit of unlimited data, there will still be one restriction: the speed will be throttled after 100MB. Fortunately for web70 users, that plan will not suffer the same effect, so you'll be able to surf and download at 3G/4G speeds to your heart's content.

17
Feb
image

[Deal Alert] HTC Inspire 4G For AT&T Now Shipping From Amazon - $59.99 For New Accounts, $69.99 For Upgrades

Posted by in AT&T, Deals, HTC, Inspire 4G (Ace, Stallion), News

How terribly boring were the last 2 months with regards to picking yourself up a new Android handset? We've seen hundreds of exciting announcements but practically no products to actually buy - end of December and January always seem to be those kinds of months. However, things are picking up, and one of the first new devices on the market fresh out of the oven is the HTC Inspire 4G for AT&T.

The device will cost you $99.99 + tax from AT&T, but on Amazon, where it just went live, it is available for $59.99 to new customers (including family plans) and $69.99 to those upgrading.

29
May
beholdjk

Doomed To Eat Donuts Forever – The Behold II Won’t Be Upgraded Past 1.6

Posted by in Behold II, Carriers, Devices By Manufacturer, News, Samsung, T-Mobile

Fragmentation is often brought up as one of Android’s bigger flaws, and despite Google’s promises, it doesn’t look like it will be going away any time soon. Google has said that Froyo is supposed to help bridge the gap between OS versions, and help stem fragmentation, but I haven’t been able to track down exactly how that’s supposed to happen.

Not that any of that matters for owners of the Samsung Behold II – it doesn’t look like they’ll be seeing anything past 1.6, let alone version 2.2. Much to the chagrin of Behold II owners everywhere, Samsung has officially stated their position regarding the upgrade path…and it’s not pretty:

To All:
Samsung Mobile and T-Mobile USA are planning to update the Behold II to Android 1.6 which provides access to Google Maps Navigation, Google Voice Search capability and quick search box for Android.