Hasta La Gadget!

While EE scrambles to spread its LTE network far and wide before the other UK carriers get into the 4G business, it also wants to flex some spectrum muscle. The network’s announced it’s planning to double the LTE allocation on its 1800MHz band (from 2 x 10MHz to 2 x 20MHz), which it claims will increase download speeds to an average of 20 Mbps, topping out at 80 Mbps. Ten of the 11 original 4G launch cities will be seeing this bandwidth boost first: London, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield. EE doesn’t want you to think it’s done expanding, though, and says it’ll continue to make use of its MHz and GHz by rolling out boring, normal LTE in new areas whilst doubling up in others. The first ten cities are due to receive “double-speed” 4G by summer, which we assume means around the time summer is supposed to happen.

Update: EE’s Howard Jones has added on Twitter that the network will start trialing carrier aggregation, LTE-A (that’s even better 4G) later in 2013. We’ve asked for more details and will fill you in when we hear more.

EE will be trialling carrier aggregation, LTE-A, for 4G within 2013. We’ll be the first anywhere in the world to do so. #onestepahead

– Howard Jones (@howard_jones) April 9, 2013

[Image credit: Lazygamer, Flickr]

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T-Mobile’s LTE rollout has been a long time coming, but as of today that network is finally live. At an event in New York City, the carrier made its initial batch of LTE cities official — seven markets in total. Now, subscribers in Baltimore, MD; Kansas City, KS; Houston, TX; Las Vegas, NV; Phoenix, AZ; San Jose, CA and Washington D.C. will be among the first to take advantage of the UnCarrier’s fully-fledged 4G network and its newly revised unlimited talk, text and data plans. As for New York City, a market many assumed would make this first LTE round, CEO John Legere says that’s coming soon, mostly likely by early summer. Speeds on this new network, as we saw demoed just a little over a week ago, should range between 10 to 20Mbps down and 8 to 12 Mbps up — at least, during this intro phase — with a fallback onto HSPA+ when LTE isn’t present. When T-Mobile gets around to repurposing that MetroPCS spectrum it’s so close to acquiring, expect to see even more robust LTE speeds and wider coverage across its footprint.

To kick off adoption of this nascent network, T-Mobile’s offering up a pretty attractive portfolio of handsets and high-end ones, at that. So Magenta subs or prospective carrier-switchers looking to sign up for T-Mobile’s LTE can choose from the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S 4, iPhone 5, Galaxy Note II and BlackBerry Z10 — that latter two of which are currently available. And now that the UnCarrier’s removed the contract chains we’ve all come to know and loathe, subscribers can opt to snag one of these handsets outright with an accompanying Simple Choice plan. If you’re excited by all of this change or just want to see it laid out in the company’s official terms, head past the break for official PR.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, T-Mobile

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The great 4G race is upon us and two of America’s major contestants are working on expanding their respective reach. In an effort to extend its existing lead, LTE frontrunner Verizon announced that it will light up Butte, Montana; Mount Vernon, Illinois; Grand Junction, Colorado; Rock Springs, Wyoming and several parts of Southern Arizona on November 15th. Not to be outdone by Big Red, Sprint also announced plans to serve up fresh baked LTE to nine new territories, including Minneapolis, Minnesota; Oakland, California; Fort Smith, Arkansas and Bloomington, Indiana. Swing by the source links below for a complete list of future red and yellow LTE recipients.

Continue reading Verizon and Sprint detail LTE expansion plans

Filed under: Wireless, Mobile, Verizon, Sprint

Verizon and Sprint detail LTE expansion plans originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T will have more to come after its Windows Phone 8 launches are underway this month, as it’s has committing to launching two of its previously promised affordable devices on November 16th. Its mid-tier Samsung Galaxy Express will go on sale that day with a $100 contract price to satisfy those who want a Galaxy S III-like experience at half the cost. Those who just want LTE and HSPA data should also find Novatel’s MiFi Liberate touchscreen hotspot on sale for $50 under similar terms. Neither will necessarily shake up the mobile world, but they won’t have to at their prices.

Continue reading AT&T ships $100 Samsung Galaxy Express, $50 MiFi Liberate hotspot on November 16th

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Networking, Mobile, Samsung, AT&T

AT&T ships $100 Samsung Galaxy Express, $50 MiFi Liberate hotspot on November 16th originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As Sony’s second stab at the US mobile market, the Xperia TL arrives with a major corporate synergistic push: a 007 movie franchise tie-in. But an awkward distinction as the official Bond phone and a smattering of pre-loaded “Skyfall” multimedia content alone won’t drive consumer adoption; the specs and pricing will. Following in the footsteps of the company’s first stateside flagship, the Ion, this AT&T 4G LTE exclusive is priced aggressively at $99 on two-year contract, packing a 4.6-inch HD Reality display (1,280 x 720) powered by Mobile BRAVIA Engine, a dual-core Snapdragon S4 clocked at 1.5GHz, 16GB of storage (expandable up to 32GB via microSD), 1GB RAM, NFC, dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, as well as an integrated 1,850mAh battery.

With Ice Cream Sandwich running the show and a planned upgrade to Jelly Bean in the works, it has all the makings of a current-gen high-end offering. So will the Xperia TL help Sony build much-needed buzz for its mobile division here in the states? Can a sub-$100 price tag effectively lure consumers away from the bigger, faster and flashier Android phones AT&T has to offer? Or is this mainly one for Sony loyalists? Find out after the break as we put the TL through its paces.

Continue reading Sony Xperia TL review: the company’s second US flagship is much improved, but still imperfect

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony, AT&T

Sony Xperia TL review: the company’s second US flagship is much improved, but still imperfect originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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