Hasta La Gadget!

If you didn’t get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we’ve opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week brought a new LTE phone to Boost Mobile, hints of consolidation between Sprint and T-Mobile, and lastly, hints of what we might see at Nokia’s upcoming ‘innovation reinvented’ event. These stories and more await. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that’s happening in the mobile world for this week of September 23rd, 2013.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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An ice bar isn’t how we’d choose to showcase a water-resistant smartphone, but that’s just what Kyocera did at CTIA this year for the Hydro Edge. At the time, Sprint and Boost Mobile had set a loose summer launch for the modest device and now we have a hard date: July 19th and July 23rd, respectively. The IPX 5/7 certified device can be had on a two-year plan at the Now Network for $20 or for $150 outright at Boost, which gets you a 4-inch WVGA display, dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon processor running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and a 5-megapixel rear shooter. It’s not as sleek and stylish as Sony’s own hydrophobic smartphone, but if you’re on a budget and need to brave the watery element, the Edge’ll have to do.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Google, Sprint

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Boost Mobile launched a Mobile Wallet app and service today at CTIA 2013 with an interesting twist in that it is tied to a Visa Prepaid card. Boost Mobile customers simply hit up a store to get signed up, download an app onto their handset and once funds are added to their account can use them in a wide variety of ways. From sending money via the app to people in 135 other countries, the ability to pay more than 3,500 billers nationwide, top up your prepaid account and using the included Visa debit card any money in your account can be accessed via that card as well. The app also makes use of your handset’s camera with its Quick Check feature — which is coming soon — allowing an account holder to snap a photo of a check and submit it using the app to have the check’s value added to your mobile wallet once approved — which is nifty, if you don’t use a bank we suppose. There are no month-to-month fees for the service but each bill you pay will cost some $2 and climbs depending on how quickly you need the payment made against the account. The service launches in Los Angeles, San Diego and parts of New Jersey today with rollout to all markets expected by the end of the year.

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We’ve seen US-based wireless operators offer low-cost calling to Mexico before — and frankly, creations like Google Voice and Skype have made it cheaper than ever to make a cross-border voice call — but it’s not everyday that you see an MVNO launch a dedicated calling plan to MX. That said, Boost Mobile is today introducing a $15 per month add-on that allows its users to phone up every single landline and mobile number in the country immediately south of America, assuming that it’s added on to a monthly unlimited plan.

Curiously, the offer is only designed to stand through June 6th, and the company isn’t mentioning what that sum will rise to after said date. For those who indulge, that $15 also includes limitless calling to landlines in over 45 nations (including Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Argentina and Colombia), unlimited calling to Canada, unlimited international text messaging worldwide from the United States and reduced calling rates to over 200 other destinations. Of course, this is assuming you still communicate via voice, which may or may not be true at this stage.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sprint

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Source: Boost Mobile (1), (2)

Sprint announced on Wednesday the availability of its new Direct Connect Now Android app, which brings push-to-talk capabilities to the Kyocera Rise and LG Optimus Elite with support for other devices “coming soon.” Compatible with both Nextel and Sprint Direct Connect devices, this free app features group calls for up to 21 people, touchscreen controls, call alert notifications and contact synchronization. While we appreciate this advancement in push-to-talk communication, we can’t help but shed a tear reminiscing about the good old days of Boost Mobile’s “where you at?” campaign. Please join us as we pour one out and celebrate faded memories of the chirp.

Continue reading Where you at? Sprint Direct Connect Now brings push-to-talk to select Android devices

Filed under: Mobile, Sprint

Where you at? Sprint Direct Connect Now brings push-to-talk to select Android devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 17:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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