The Rethink Possible carrier may be taking baby steps towards its LTE goals, but today more folks will be happy that they, too, can finally start experiencing some speedier service. AT&T has announced its adding a few more names to its LTE-ready list of cities, including Seattle, Portland, Pittsburgh and Hawaii’s beautiful capital, Honolulu. Additionally, users in the “metro” area of Detroit should now also be able to connect to the fresh Long Term Evolution network, while Memphis and Birmingham saw their names added to the listings early on yesterday. More importantly, though, how’s it working out for you (if at all)? Please let us know in the comments below.
Windows Phone was slow out of the gate with US carriers back when it first launched, but HTC and Microsoft aren’t going to make that mistake a second time. The freshly-announced Windows Phone 8X and Windows Phone 8S ”signature” handsets have already joined the line for AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile USA, with availability of all three expected from November.
Both phones will be available in LTE versions for the North American market, HTC has already confirmed to us, though we’re guessing that not all three of those carriers will have an LTE device. Similarly, it’s not been announced whether each carrier will range each color combination – both phones have four apiece – or if they’ll each stick to a certain subset.
HTC 8X and 8S hands-on:
Of the two, the 8X will be the more expensive. It has a 4.3-inch 720p Super LCD II display, 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dualcore processor and twin cameras – 8-megapixels on the back, 2.1-megapixels on the front for video calls and 1080p vanity videos – whereas the 8S makes do with a smaller, 4-inch WVGA display, 1GHz dualcore S4 and a single, 5-megapixel camera.
Exact pricing and specific launch dates will follow on closer to commercial availability in a couple of months time, and after all Microsoft has to give Windows Phone 8 its official launch first anyway. Still, expect to see a whole lot more of the two new HTC handsets in the coming months: as “signature” phones they’ll be featuring in Microsoft’s promotional campaigns for the OS.
It’s easy to make a flagship phone: simply throw the works at your drawing board. Harder, though, is crafting a midrange phone on a relative budget, and that’s where the Windows Phone 8S by HTC comes in. The second device in the company’s new line-up, the Microsoft-powered 8S is the culmination of some tough decisions on HTC’s part, around whether the target audience will appreciate Beats Audio or photography more. Read on for our first impressions.
In some ways, the 8S is arguably a more impressive design than the larger 8X. HTC’s choice of color schemes – black/white, grey/yellow, red/orange, and blue/purple – are eye-catching and, with the matte-finish to the plastic, draw your fingers in to touch them. The grey/yellow has something distinctively sneaker-like about its vivid yellow and putty grey; HTC says it’s counting on the Beats Audio cachet to win appeal in the youth market, but it’s the hues themselves that are most attractive.
While the exterior may be distinctive, what’s inside is less unusual. Altogether more pedestrian than the 8X, the 8S pairs its 4-inch WVGA display with a 1GHz dualcore Snapdragon S4 chipset and 512MB of RAM; it also has just 4GB of internal storage, but HTC has sensibly thrown in a microSD card slot. Pull off the brightly colored end-cap – which, as in HTC devices of old, doubles as the antenna – and there’s the SIM and memory card slots.
Windows Phone 8S by HTC hands-on:
Unfortunately there are compromises to be made elsewhere. The rear camera runs to 5-megapixels, an understandable figure given the positioning of the phone, but despite Microsoft’s emphasis on Skype integration in Windows Phone 8, HTC hasn’t equipped the 8S with a front-facing camera. The company tells us that it doesn’t expect video calling to be a particularly popular activity among the target audience.
That audience will get Beats Audio but not to the same extent as on the 8X. No twin amp magic here, individually driving speaker and headphone socket, with instead just the DSP we’ve seen on previous HTC phones that’s specially tuned to suit Beats headphones. Since Microsoft is playing it coy with Windows Phone 8, pre-official launch, we weren’t able to dig through the 8S to see exactly how well it performs, something which will have to wait until review units drop.
A price tag expected to come in at around the HTC One V point and the option of LTE in North America – if not Europe, at least according to the current plans – could still see the Windows Phone 8S by HTC carve out a niche for itself. Its certainly already found some favor among carriers: HTC tells us that over 100 operators in 37 countries have picked the 8S up. It will stand out on shelves, certainly, but Microsoft will need to put all its heft behind Windows Phone 8 if HTC’s midranger is to succeed.
Samsung’s Galaxy Note II may be confirmed for all “major” US carriers, but so far only US Cellular has put its money where its mouth is and announced a price for the 5.5-inch phablet. The 4G LTE version of the phone is headed to US Cellular stores in late October, the carrier has confirmed, priced at $299.99 with new, two-year agreement.
Of course, just because the Note II supports LTE, doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily get 4G speeds. US Cellular says its network currently covers 31-percent of its customers, with cities in Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin getting the high-speed love.
Galaxy Note II hands-on:
That coverage will expand later in 2012, to include “select cities” across Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. US Cellular’s goal is 58-percent of customer 4G coverage by the end of this year.
US Cellular is already taking preorders for the Note II, with the 16GB “Titanium Gray” model currently listed. If you preorder, you get the $100 rebate instantly; if you wait for in-store sales, you’ll have to go the tedious old-fashioned mail-in rebate route instead.
In the seemingly unending quest to remain connected while traveling abroad, we recently decided to try yet another option when departing the US for a lengthy amount of time: iPhoneTrip. In a way, it sounds like the perfect solution. A single rental SIM, mailed to your address anywhere in the world, that you don’t even have to return when you’re done. There are claims of supporting “200+ countries,” and if you don’t have a smartphone or mobile hotspot at the ready, the company will rent you one of those, too. Of course, we’ve long since learned to take grandiose claims with an adequate amount of salt. Care to see how iPhoneTrip’s rental SIM service stacks up against similar alternatives from Tep Wireless and XCom Global? Read on.
What’s tipped to be one of HTC’s new Windows Phone 8 devices, the HTC Accord believed to launch as the “Windows Phone 8X,” has shown up in the wild. Expected to be officially revealed at a New York event tomorrow, the phone in the live photo sent by an anonymous phoneArena tipster also bears Verizon branding, and the source says it will also support the CDMA carrier’s LTE network.
Those earlier leaks also suggested some specifications we can expect, including a dualcore Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 4.3-inch display, and an 8-megapixel camera. Interestingly, the leaked specs also claimed that the 8X/Accord would be able to record 1080p Full HD video using both the front and rear cameras.
Other tidbits include Beats Audio, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, WiFi, GPS and NFC, while physical ports will consist of microUSB and a 3.5mm headphones socket. No microSD has been mentioned, however, which would mean the rumored 16GB of internal storage is all buyers are getting.
We’ll know more after HTC’s event tomorrow, when the company is expected to spill all the details on its new range. What we really want to know, however, is when the Windows Phone 8 smartphones will actually reach store shelves, but we may have to wait for Microsoft to officially launch the OS before manufacturers can step up with that news.
LTE is the best 4G, and the only one that should really be able to call itself “Four Gee.” (Even if none of the 4Gs are real 4G.) But where can you actually get it in America? The answer is… not many places—unless you’re on Verizon. More »
Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you’re like us and really want to know what’s going on, then you’ve come to the right place. This past week, C Spire Wireless activated its first LTE networks and we discovered strong indication that Isis will leverage the GSMA’s SIM-based NFC standard for its mobile payments system. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the “best of the rest” for this week of September 10th, 2012.
Apple’s new iPhone 5 went up for pre-order today, and demand has already been huge: new orders from Apple’s online store face a two week wait, as day-one supplies were snapped up within an hour. Yet, with three different models to choose between – before you even get to color and capacity – there’s a big decision upfront if you’re not going to get increasingly frustrated over the course of your two-year agreement.
Apple probably would have liked to have offer a single iPhone 5 SKU and simply vary it by color – black or white – and capacity – 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB – but the hassles of LTE connectivity forced its hand. In fact, there are three different hardware variants, each equipped with slightly different radios and antennas, to handle 4G LTE networks (among other things) in different locations and with different carriers.
Each of those variants has its advantages and its compromises, however. AT&T’s model, the GSM A1428, supports the US carrier’s LTE network as well as those of Bell (and Virgin), Rogers, (and Fido), and Telus (and Koodo) in Canada. However, its two LTE bands and absence of CDMA support mean there’s no slapping in a Verizon LTE SIM and using that carrier’s network, nor indeed roaming onto LTE networks in Europe or Asia.
In fact, take the AT&T iPhone 5 out of North America, and the best you can hope for is HSPA+ or DC-HSDPA, depending on the capabilities of the network you’re roaming onto. That doesn’t necessarily mean tiny speeds – DC-HSDPA is capable of up to 42Mbps download rates, in theory at least – but it’s certainly slower than LTE can manage.
In fact, when it comes to roaming, Verizon’s CDMA A1429 iPhone 5 comes out on top. That version supports five LTE bands – including three commonly used in Europe and Asia among LTE operators – as well as HSPA+/DC-HSDPA roaming. However, you won’t be able to use it on AT&T’s LTE, even if you somehow managed to persuade Verizon to unlock it, and – more frustrating in day to day use – there’s no support for simultaneous voice calls and data. Instead, Verizon expects iPhone 5 users to rely on WiFi for their data needs while they’re making calls.
Finally, there’s the single international version offered outside of North America. That, the GSM A1429, supports multiple LTE carriers in Europe and Asia; however it also lacks all support for North America LTE, meaning no 4G fun if you’re roaming in the US or Canada. The spray of different bands supported by European LTE roll-outs so far means that you’ll be working with HSPA+/DC-HSDPA on the majority of carriers actually offering the iPhone 5.
Interestingly, according to ExtremeTech, there are really only two versions out there: the A1428 and the A1429, with the GSM version of the latter simply having the CDMA and two bands of the LTE radio disabled. Meanwhile, FCC documents seemingly confirm that the A1428 secretly has LTE band 2 (PCS, 1.9GHz) and LTE band 5 (Cellular 850, 850MHz) support, despite Apple not actually mentioning it.
Of course, arguably most pressing is the fact that you really get what you’re given. In the US, you can’t buy the GSM A1429 version of the iPhone 5, so if you want the best option for international roaming then you probably should opt for the Verizon model. If you plan on making calls while simultaneously browsing over 3G/4G, however, the Verizon model’s lack of support for that means the AT&T version is your friend. And, if you’re in Europe or Asia, you’re stuck with no option to buy the Verizon handset, even though it’s arguably a more flexible version.
Let us know if you plan to pick up the iPhone 5 in the poll below.
The iPhone 5 has gone up for preorder, though be prepared for a potential struggle as eager early-adopters attempt to get their order in for September 21 delivery. In the US, the official Apple Store is offering preorders, as well as carriers Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. Getting in as early as you can is generally a good idea with Apple product pre-orders, as stock usually gets constrained shortly after sales begin.
All four stores are offering the same prices, unsurprisingly, with the 16GB iPhone 5 coming in at $199 with a new, two-year agreement. If you want the 32GB model it’s $299, and $399 for the 64GB version. Each is available in black and white.
iPhone 5 hands-on:
Outside the US, preorders in Europe and elsewhere have begun. In the UK, you can buy an iPhone 5 unlocked and SIM-free from Apple’s own store, priced from £529 for the 16GB version. However, at time of publishing, only T-Mobile UK and Orange were accepting preorders, with Vodafone and O2 merely asking potential customers to pre-register for when preorders go live. Update: Vodafone preorders now live.
If you want 4G LTE in the UK, you’ll have to opt for T-Mo or Orange, and then be alerted when the EE 4G network launches. That will require a new price plan, a new contract, and a new nano-SIM, though pricing for the LTE service hasn’t been confirmed yet.
Those not wanting to preorder today can get in line for the in-store sales, which kick off September 21. For more on the iPhone, check out our full hands-on
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