Hasta La Gadget!

We already knew that BlackBerry‘s newest QWERTY device would hit T-Mobile at some point next month, but the wireless carrier officially confirmed a date that customers would be able to pick one up. Starting June 5, the BlackBerry Q10 will be available at T-Mobile stores, as well as on the carrier’s website.

Since T-Mobile got rid of contracts and has moved exclusively to pre-paid plans, customers will be paying full price for the Q10, with a $99.99 down payment along with 24 equal monthly payments of $20, totaling just a penny shy of $580 for the device without being tied down to a two-year contract.

Business customers have had the opportunity to snag a Q10 earlier this month on T-Mobile, as the carrier released the device early exclusively to business customers. However, June 5 will mark the full launch of the device, allowing consumers to get their hands on the QWERTY-equipped Q10, which also comes with a 3.1-inch touchscreen display.

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins thinks that the Q10 will be a huge seller, given the claim that tons of users will enjoy the physical keyboard as well as having access to a touchscreen display. The UK’s Carphone Warehouse actually sold out of all its initial stock of the Q10 in a matter of hours, proving that people really want to own the device.

The BlackBerry Q10 was announced back in late January along with the company’s flagship Z10, as well as the BlackBerry 10 operating system. These new devices are essentially BlackBerry’s attempts to try and wiggle their way back into the smartphone wars, where the company has been left behind in recent years.

T-Mobile BlackBerry Q10 arriving June 5 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Verizon is continuing to roll out its 4G LTE in more locations across the US of A by hitting many of the smaller cities and towns in between of the larger cities that they’ve already hit. Doing so will soon see them reaching the 500-market milestone. The carrier already has the largest LTE network in the US, and they expect to completely blanket their 3G network with LTE in just a couple of months.

Verizon launched LTE in 6 new markets today, including locations in Kentucky, Michigan, and Colorado. This brings the total number of markets that are equipped with Verizon 4G LTE up to 497, which is just three shy of hitting that illustrious 500 mark. AT&T is in second, but they still have work to do in order to catch up, and T-Mobile just launched their LTE network, so they’re still spring training, so to speak.

Verizon plans to cover its 3G network entirely with LTE by the middle of this year, and they carrier said that their 3G network is already 95% covered by their LTE, so they only have a little ways to go at this point. If you’re wondering if you’re city has LTE, it most likely does, but if you’re not sure, Verizon has a full list of LTE-equipped markets in the US.

Last year, Verizon blew past its year-end goals for 2012, covering 417 markets by the middle of October with a year-end goal of covering 400 markets. That’s quite an accomplishment and proves that not only is Verizon willing to casually meet their goals, but they aim to exceed them.

Verizon celebrated the 2nd birthday of its LTE network back in December, and announced that 440 markets had the carrier’s faster LTE speeds. Currently, more than 40% of Verizon’s smartphones run 4G LTE, as well as 63% of all internet devices sold from Verizon. Plus, over half of all of Verizon’s mobile network and data traffic is over LTE speeds. That’s quite impressive to say the least, and while there will be an equilibrium with AT&T eventually, Verizon is making sure they stay on top for as long as possible.

VIA: Android Community

Verizon 4G LTE nearing 500 markets across US is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nokia’s new Lumia 925 will launch on T-Mobile USA, the company has confirmed, as a flagship Windows Phone for the carrier. The handset, announced in London today, will also be released on China Mobile and China Unicom in the Chinese market; global pricing is expected to be in the region of €469 ($608/£398) pre-taxes and subsidies.

Exactly when T-Mobile USA will begin to offer the Lumia 925 is unclear. Nokia has said that the smartphone will begin to roll out in June, though that’s for Europe and China. The US release is due sometime after that; T-Mobile says it will detail exact dates and pricing soon.

Whenever it lands, it will have LTE 4G on the carrier’s fledgling network, along with the 8.7-megapixel PureView camera which Nokia is so proud of. There’s also a 4.5-inch OLED display and optional wireless charging with a clip-on back cover.

The camera may use the same sensor as in the Lumia 920 and Lumia 928, but it’s paired with a new lens assembly on the Lumia 925. That has a sixth lens component – glass, rather than the plastic of the other five parts – which Nokia says is good for better sharpness and brightness.

Nokia Lumia 925 coming to T-Mobile USA is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

LG’s Optimus G Pro phablet has launched on AT&T today, with the sizable smartphone on sale for the first time in the US. Priced at $199.99 with a new, two-year agreement, the Optimus G Pro has a 5.5-inch Full HD display and a 13-megapixel camera, with a quadcore 1.7GHz processor lurking inside.

That processor is used to good effect, as we discovered when we reviewed the Optimus G Pro earlier this month. Then, the LG impressed us with its smooth Android performance and the usefulness of the various sketching and note-taking apps, which are still included despite the phone lacking a dedicated stylus.

That’s arguably the most significant deciding factor between the Optimus G Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy Note II. Nonetheless, even without a pen, the big screen of the LG does have its advantages for multimedia consumption and web-browsing.

LG Optimus G Pro review:

It’s likely to be too big for many users, but we should see features like dual-recording – which combines footage from the front and rear cameras into a single frame or video clip – showing up in smaller LG devices over the coming months.

If you’re convinced, the LG Optimus G Pro is available from AT&T today, though you’ll need to sign up to the usual two-year agreement with a mandatory voice and data plan. The phone has been up for preorder since May 3rd at $199.99.

LG Optimus G Pro “phablet” finally arrives at AT&T today is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

T-Mobile USA has detailed its payment options for the Nokia Lumia 521, which will launch on the carrier’s network come May 11. In fact, there will be three ways to pick up the entry-level Windows Phone, either through Microsoft Retail Stores at $149 with a new, two year agreement on T-Mobile, or at Walmart for $129.88 with the same contract deal. However, the carrier will also offer its Simple Choice Plan payment scheme, dropping the upfront cost down to $29.99.

That then spreads the remainder of the cost of the smartphone out, over the length of the 24-month agreement. You’ll be looking at $5 extra on your bill each month for the privilege, though at least you’re paying no more than you would if you spent the money upfront. T-Mobile will offer the payment plan option from May 22.

As for the Lumia 521 itself, unsurprisingly it’s a variant on the Lumia 520 we reviewed last month, complete with a 5-megapixel camera, 4-inch touchscreen, and support for 720p HD video recording. However, it will gain WiFi Calling in T-Mobile’s version, though that won’t be enabled until a firmware update is ready from May 20.

Those who pick up the phone early, at a Microsoft Retail Store or Walmart, will have to wait for that update to be pushed out to their phone before they can make WiFi calls. That’ll be installed OTA, however, rather than demanding the Lumia 521 be plugged into a computer.

T-Mobile details Nokia Lumia 521 roll-out with WiFi Call update due May 20 is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.