Hasta La Gadget!

It’ll likely be a really, really good while before AT&T catches Verizon in the race towards becoming the largest LTE network in the States. Still, you can’t blame the Rethink Possible outfit for doing what it’s supposed to — even if it only means rolling out the “true 4G” in small chunks. As of today, though, AT&T’s flipping the switch on its Long Term Evolution waves in places like Miami, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and the Worcester, MA area. Meanwhile, the company also announced it’s improving LTE coverage in other vicinities around Massachusetts, Greater Baltimore as well as the Washington, D.C. region. Of note, this means AT&T’s speedier service is now live in more than 50 markets, a rather small figure when compared to Big Red’s 300-plus.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

AT&T lights up LTE network in a few more markets, expands coverage in others originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 15:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint’s second quarter figures have arrived, showing that the company’s billion-dollar gamble on the iPhone isn’t working right now. While it sold 1.5 million Apple-branded handsets in the three month period (40 percent to new and postpaid customers), it recorded an operating loss of $629 million and a colossal net loss of $1.4 billion — compared to an operating loss of $255 million and a net loss of $863 million in the first quarter. Operating revenues of $8.8 billion improved on those in the first quarter by a single percent — mostly due to higher service fees from its wireless offerings. It’s also grown its cash reserves, up from $128 million last quarter to $267 million today, and can point to 442,000 postpaid and 141,000 new prepaid subscribers pushing the company’s customer base up to 56 million nationwide — mentioning that 60 percent of former Nextel users chose to remain with Sprint during the enforced change.

The figures reveal that Sprint’s eating around $782 million due to the shutdown of the Nextel platform and a further $184 million to end leases on antenna sites for the moribund network. It’s also having to take a hit of $204 million due to its investment into infrastructure partner Clearwire. It’s affirmed its $1 billion lending facility, contingent upon purchasing gear from Ericsson to help build its LTE network, which it aims to have installed in 12,000 sites by the end of the year. Of course, that purchase was prompted by the collapse of Philip Falcone’s doomed LightSquared project, which caused the Now Network to lose $66 million in cash and its childhood innocence when it comes to trusting other people.

Update: Big Yellow also mentioned that it has no plans to adopt a shared data plan to follow AT&T and Verizon.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Internet

Sprint’s iPhone gamble isn’t paying off as 2012 Q2 figures reveal $629 million operating loss originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 07:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM has been planning a 4G-capable BlackBerry PlayBook for so long that CEO Thorsten Heins’ promises of a 2012 launch still made it feel distant. If Bell Canada information breezing past MobileSyrup‘s desk is any indicator, though, the launch is coming sooner than Heins implied — just one week away, as of this writing. The slip has at least the one carrier reportedly offering an LTE-equipped, 32GB version of the 7-inch tablet on July 31st at a price of $550 Canadian ($540 US) without a contract. And yes, it would get that rumored 1.5GHz processor upgrade if there’s any substance to the story. We’d still prefer to see the tablet jump to BlackBerry 10 more than anything, especially at that kind of price, but the RIM faithful could still find something to cheer if they’re looking for a truly definitive PlayBook to make the BB10 wait feel shorter.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

BlackBerry PlayBook with 4G LTE may reach Bell by July 31st, 1.5GHz chip tagging along for the ride originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 04:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cellular promos come and go. Rogers, however, wants to make sure that its 6GB Super Plan is one to remember: the carrier is offering the 6GB of monthly data that has become its summer tradition, only this time as part of a bigger plan that tucks in 200 minutes, unlimited messaging and the usual evening and favorites perks for voice calls. At $60, the combo isn’t just a better deal than usual, it’s impossible to build otherwise — the closest that exists is a $73 monthly plan that tops out at 3GB. The promo’s August 8th cutoff date doesn’t afford much breathing room for would-be adopters, but it should let new Galaxy S III buyers milk that LTE for all it’s worth.

Filed under: Cellphones

Rogers offers 6GB Super Plan, guarantees that Galaxy S III will stay busy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 03:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Early Lumia 900 adopters might feel spurned knowing that their devices won’t get any near-future upgrades beyond Windows Phone 7.8, but AT&T and Nokia are hoping that some new customers just need a little incentive to forgive the OS ceiling. As of now, the Lumia 900 has taken a permanent price cut to $50 on contract, whether it’s one of the early color options or pretty in pink. Although the price drop might not take power users’ eyes off of the Windows Phone 8 prize, it could make the Lumia 900 a low-hanging fruit for more than a few newcomers.

Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia and AT&T cut Lumia 900 price to $50, sweeten the Windows Phone 7.8 pot originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Jul 2012 11:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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