Hasta La Gadget!

The global edition of the still-unannounced Motorola Droid RAZR HD, also known as the XT925, was just seen getting FCC approval. This likely won’t come as a shocker to many, since this device (alongside its Verizon counterpart) has been the victim of numerous leaks. What we did find as a little surprise, however, was the inclusion of LTE radios, specifically in bands 4 (AWS) and 17 (700MHz). Of course, we’re not expecting to see AT&T (the US carrier that utilizes both bands) pick this particular device up — especially since it recently launched the similarly specced Atrix HD — but it’ll be great for importers. The presence of AWS LTE indicates we’ll likely be seeing the XT925 flourish in Canada, and the 2G / 3G bands will certainly make it a prime candidate for sales in other markets around the world. Head to the source link to take a look at the docs, and the More Coverage section to view the XT925’s User Agent Profile. We’re still expecting to see Verizon’s variant (the XT926) on September 5th, though we’ll likely see the global version pop up pretty soon afterward.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

Motorola RAZR HD global edition hits FCC with LTE included originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 18:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon received the Department of Justice’s blessing for its cable company spectrum purchase last week, and now it’s the FCC’s turn to rubber stamp the plan. The agency has followed Chairman Julius Genachowski’s recommendation and voted that Verizon can snap up the relevant AWS airspace as part of its LTE network expansion. Some riders are attached to the deal, although they’re not all weighty. Verizon has to make an “unprecedented divestiture” of spectrum to T-Mobile in addition to its swap with Leap, promise certain coverage levels in the newly acquired zones at 3- and 7-year milestones, guarantee some roaming deals and provide updates on how its DSL service adoption is impacted by all that 4G. That Verizon has 45 days to finalize the T-Mobile deal gives some idea of how quickly everything has to move, although it could be a long while before we see AWS-ready Verizon devices in the shops.

To no one’s surprise, advocacy groups are still upset: the Alliance for Broadband Competition believes the FCC decision “does not go far enough” to keep a level playing field, for example, and wants to voice its problems to the FCC. Anxiety still exists that just about any deal concentrates too much spectrum in the hands of Big Red. Still, there’s a sense among groups like these that Verizon has had to at least partially address worries over unfair competition.

Continue reading FCC approves Verizon deal to buy cable company spectrum, asks for concessions

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

FCC approves Verizon deal to buy cable company spectrum, asks for concessions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Aug 2012 18:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon’s S3 cloud service has proved a popular proposition, with many large web enterprises happily depending on it (most of the time) to serve up its content. Now, the internet retail giant is offering a similar product, aimed squarely at archives, called Glacier. The idea seems pretty simple, starting from a penny, you can store 1GB of data on the firm’s servers for one month. You’ll only pay for what you store, and there are no upfront costs. Thinking this sounds like a cheap way to host your website? Well, maybe not, as retrieval requests are sent to a queue, and won’t be available to download for a few hours. There’s no limit on the amount of data you can store though, which is not surprising, but each individual archive does have a 40TB limit — so those DNA back-ups are off the menu. Retrieval is priced differently, with 5 percent of your storage (pro rata) downloadable for free, but beyond that you’ll have to pay. The service is available from today, with storage locations in the US, Europe and Japan. Full details of pricing can be found via the source.

Filed under: Internet

Amazon launches Glacier archiving service, a cheap way to put your files on ice originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 22:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The results for T-Mobile USA’s second quarter of 2012 are in and first up is the bad news — reported net customer losses of 205,000 are more than the 50,000 lost in the same period last year, and more than give back the growth reported in Q1. Of course, the carrier is banking on strategic initiatives to launch LTE service and expand coverage thanks to that AWS spectrum its receiving from AT&T and Verizon (if the deal is approved) to turn all that around, and those plans are still on track. Other high points for the quarter included the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Note and Galaxy S III, as well as a host of other handsets. Also it announced the opening of it’s 1,000 T-Mobile Premium Retailer store, started pushing its prepaid and Monthly4G services at Dollar General Stores, launched two new mobile broadband data plans and added two MVNO partners. All the details are in the press release after the break, although it seems that as busy as T-Mobile has been putting pen to paper, investors will have to keep waiting to see the benefits.

Continue reading T-Mobile USA Q2 2012 results show net customer losses of 205k, progress on LTE and AWS

Filed under: Cellphones

T-Mobile USA Q2 2012 results show net customer losses of 205k, progress on LTE and AWS originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 02:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Samsung Galaxy Note is among a rare breed of smartphones that need no introduction. It’s polarizing, memorable and single-handedly responsible for the popularization of the term “phablet.” It’s also the indisputable king of that category, having recently defended its throne against LG’s Optimus Vu. Aside from the Note’s sprawling display, much of its appeal lies in the tight software integration with the S Pen stylus, which endows the phone with notepad-like functionality.

The first (and second) time we reviewed the Galaxy Note, it featured Android 2.3. Since then, it’s received an update to Android 4.0, along with a new set of productivity apps dubbed the Premium Suite. Now as the phone arrives at T-Mobile (for $250 with a contract and after a $50 rebate), we’re taking the opportunity to review not just the new variant, but in this case, the latest OS as well. You already know much of the Galaxy Note’s story, but now the question remains: just how much of the text has been re-written? Let’s find out.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Note for T-Mobile review

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung Galaxy Note for T-Mobile review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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