Virgin Mobile

Nov

[Cyber Monday Deal Alert] Virgin Mobile's Motorola Triumph, LG Optimus V, And Optimus Slider All 50% Off

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Deals, News, Optimus V, Triumph, Virgin Mobile

Cyber Monday always brings some pretty killer deals, and this one is no exception. If you're looking to jump on a pay-as-you-go carrier like Virgin Mobile, then today is the day to grab your new phone - three of the most popular Virgin devices, the Motorola Triumph, LG Optimus V, and Optimus Slider are all 50% off.

Motorola Triumph - $150

4.1-inch display
1Ghz processor
512MB RAM
5MP rear shooter, VGA front
2GB built-in storage, microSD card slot
Android 2.2

LG Optimus Slider - $100

3.2-inch 320x480 display
800MHz processor
512MB RAM
microSD card slot
3.2MP rear-shooter
Android 2.3

LG ...

Nov

Off-Contract Virgin Mobile USA Wildfire S On Sale For $99.99 (Half Off) Till November 26th

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Deals, HTC, Virgin Mobile, Wildfire S / Wildfire 2 (Marvel)

OK, so it might not be the Galaxy Nexus, but HTC's Wildfire S for Virgin Mobile is a fairly decent smartphone (the carrier's second best option), and it is available off-contract for a fraction of the price of a more high-end handset. Under regular circumstances, the device comes in at just $199.99 without any sort of contract, but from now until Saturday (November 26th), it's half off - $99.99.

Again, that's less than a Benjamin for a fully off-contract Wildfire S, complete with:

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
WiFi/3G radios
Bluetooth
A 3.2-inch touch screen
A microSD card slot
A 5.0MP

...

Nov

Major Canadian Carriers Announce Impending Availability of Galaxy Nexus

Posted by Zak Stinson in Bell, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Rogers, Samsung, TELUS, Virgin Mobile

Being an Android fan in Canada can be a mixed bag. While you may miss out on some of the sweet devices exclusive to U.S. carriers - the EVO 4G comes to mind - there's also the chance for some benefits, such as the recent July release of the international model of the Samsung Galaxy S II.

Thankfully, living at such northern latitudes won't cost us the opportunity to get our mitten-clad hands on the next Nexus device. While we have known this for a while, the details as to who will carry the Galaxy Nexus and when we ...

Sep

Sprint Delays Data-Throttling On Virgin Mobile Until 'Sometime In 2012'

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Virgin Mobile

Back in July, Sprint announced plans to begin throttling speeds for customers who use more than 2.5GB of data in a month on its pre-paid subsidiary, Virgin Mobile. Naturally, this announcement did not sit well with Virgin customers, despite Sprint's claim that the change would only affect "3% of all data users."

However, the Now Network has decided to delay this throttling plan until sometime in 2012 to "ensure [they] have all the necessary systems in place so that [their] customer experience will remain positive."

There's no word as to exactly when this changeover will take place, but the company ...

Sep

LG Optimus Slider And HTC Wildfire S Coming To Virgin Mobile In October

Posted by Cameron Summerson in LG, News, Virgin Mobile, Wildfire S / Wildfire 2 (Marvel)

So there you are, at the end of the two-year agreement with your current carrier. You're at fork in the road. On one hand, you could drop a couple hundred bucks for a new phone, sign a new agreement, and start the cycle all over again. On the other, you could spend a couple hundred bucks with Virgin Mobile, nix the contract, and be a free man (or woman, whatevs). So what do you do?

We don't know the answer to that, but here's what we do know: Sprint just announced two new low-end phones for Virgin Mobile with equally ...

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:...

Jul

Sprint To Start Throttling Virgin Mobile Smartphone Data - A Sign Of Things To Come?

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Sprint, Virgin Mobile

In what can only be described as a real sphincter-clencher for Sprint customers, the nation's last true unlimited smartphone data provider has made a move that may signal the eventual end of that philosophy.

Yesterday, Sprint announced that customers on its Virgin-branded pre-paid arm, Virgin Mobile, will now be subjected to data throttling after 2.5GB of usage in a month. Sprint claims this will only affect 3% of all Virgin mobile data subscribers. The throttling will limit data hogs to a paltry 256Kbits/s once they've capped out at the 2.5GB mark in a single month - which is actually a ...

Jun

Samsung Galaxy S II Coming To Bell, Virgin Mobile, And SaskTel In Canada, US Still Lies In Wait

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Bell, Galaxy S II, News, SaskTel, Virgin Mobile

While the US patiently waits for any of its carriers to announce the Samsung Galaxy S II, our neighbor to the north just got itself a heaping helping of awesome. Not just one or two, but three Canadian carriers - Bell, Virgin Mobile, and SaskTel - announced that they would be carrying this superphone in the coming weeks.

The only carrier to provide any worthwhile info was SaskTel, stating that the GSII will come in for $79.99 with a three-year agreement, but no official release date was pegged.

While both release date and pricing are completely lacking for Virgin and ...

Jun

Virgin Mobile Doesn't Approve Of Rooting Or Custom ROMs, Even If It Does Like Vanilla Android

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Carriers, News, Virgin Mobile

Remember how we ran that story last week about Virgin Mobile laying the smackdown on manufacturer UI overlays? We liked that. But Virgin Mobile wants the Android community to know that they shouldn't consider the prepaid carrier a safe haven for illicit activities like rooting or custom ROMs - not that that's any different from all the other carriers. Here's what Virgin had to say:

"We do not endorse in any way end users using a non-officially tested operating system nor do we approve of 'rooting' devices. This constitutes a violation of our terms of service and puts our network

...

Jun

Tired Of Manufacturer UI Overlays? So Is Virgin Mobile

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Android OS, Motorola, News, Virgin Mobile

We've all heard it time and time again: generally speaking, people hate manufacturer skins on Android phones, i.e. Blur, Touchwiz, Sense, etc. I realize that not everyone falls into this category, but I think it's probably safe to say that the bulk of Android users do. It looks like we're not the only ones that are opposed to manufactures gumming up our beloved Android with their custom overlays - Virgin Mobile, a prepaid subsidiary of Sprint, has taken a pro-stock-Android approach to all of its devices. Have a look at what a Virgin spokesperson told PCmag via email: