Hasta La Gadget!

It looks as if T-Mobile will finally be launching its long-awaited 4G LTE network very soon. The carrier has confirmed plans to launch 4G LTE in the US by the end of this month, which means that they have just under two weeks to flip the switch. However, they shouldn’t be in any big rush, since all the other major carriers are already rocking their own LTE networks.

The carrier’s first two LTE devices will be the new BlackBerry Z10 and the Samsung Galaxy Note II. T-Mobile says its 4G LTE network will cover around 100 million people by the middle of this year, while they plan to cover a total of 200 million people by the end of the year. Verizon already covers over 275 million and counting, so we’ll see how long T-Mobile takes to catch up.

As for speeds of T-Mobile’s new LTE, some folks have already gotten a taste of what it’s like, and they seem rather respectable as far as what we’ve seen. Laptop Mag saw speeds has high as 58 Mbps on the download stream and 25 Mbps on the upload stream. However, with more people accessing the network, you probably won’t see those kinds of speeds on a daily basis.

While T-Mobile’s LTE network may not be up to snuff with Verizon’s or AT&T‘s as far as coverage goes, T-Mobile users will have a slight advantage. While Verizon’s phones use two chips in order to support both 3G and 4G LTE, T-Mobile devices only use one chip for HSPA+42 and LTE support, which can save tremendously on battery life.

[via Laptop Mag]

T-Mobile to launch 4G LTE network this month is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Samsung has announced some of its launch partners for the Galaxy S 4 which will include some 327 carriers in 155 countries. According to JK Shin, it will include global LTE roaming, with 3G and LTE models in multiple bands (up to hexa band, according to the slide). Samsung’s PR reveals it will be on all four major US carriers, plus US Cellular and Cricket, while European carriers include Deutsche Telecom, EE, H3G, Orange, Telenor, Telia Sonera, Telefonica, and Vodafone.

Update: AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint have all issued official statements to along with the launch which are included after the break. Look below for links to early registration for launch details from Samsung and the various carriers.

Update 2: Mobile Syrup has obtained a list of confirmed Canadian carriers which includes Bell, Eastlink, Fido, Koodo, Mobilicity, Rogers, SaskTel, TELUS, Videotron, Virgin Mobile and Wind Mobile.

Check out our event hub for all the action from Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 event.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile

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Source: T-Mobile, AT&T, Samsung

The recent law that went into effect in January that states that it is illegal to unlock your phone without the carrier’s permission has definitely ruffled a lot of feathers, and while most carriers are weary of unlocking their own devices, it seems AT&T doesn’t want any part of the negativity that came with the new law, thus the company has clarified that it’s willing to unlock devices if they have the proper information to do so.

AT&T has issued a statement on their Public Policy Blog stating that their policy is to unlock customers’ devices if the customers have met the terms of their service agreements and we have the unlock code.” If AT&T can get the unlock code from the manufacturer, then they are more than willing to unlock a device if the customer “has been active for at least sixty days.”

Customers must also be in good standing with their contract, meaning no unpaid balances, and those who have “fulfilled his or her service agreement commitment.” If all of these conditions are met, AT&T says that they can unlock up to five devices per account per year, which is usually more than enough for most users.

But of course, the kicker here is that your two-year contract (or whatever contract you’re one) has to go through its cycle before you can be less loose with an unlocked phone of course. Either way, it’s nice to see AT&T take some initiative and make an effort to get customers on their good side, rather than to lock down their customers.

[via Android Community]

AT&T willing to unlock devices for customers is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

You may have seen the AT&T newspaper ad a few days ago that attacked T-Mobile for its slow data network and the high number of dropped and failed calls. However, T-Mobile got a kick out of it, but it looks like they’re not letting AT&T have the last word. The company is prepared to push out several advertisements to newspaper as early as today.

TmoNews got their hands on some proofs that have already been sent to T-Mobile for approval, and the site claims that we could see the ads in newspaper as early as today, but there’s no word as to what newspaper the ads will show up in. However, we’re guessing that they’ll make an appearance in the same ones that AT&T used for their ads, including The New York Times and USA Today.

TmoNews also says that the marketing team behind these new ads is the team responsible for recent T-Mobile commercials, including the helicopter promotional ad that recently aired. As for the newspaper ads themselves, there are three total from the looks of it, and each say something different, including, “If AT&T thought our network wasn’t great, why did they try to buy it?”

Other phrases that T-Mobile uses in the ads include, “What keeps AT&T up at night? Apparently us.” and “Can you see the beads of sweat in this ad?”. Then below each clever phrase, T-Mobile addresses AT&T’s recent newspaper ad against the company, and notes that “someone is obviously worried.” Obviously, things are getting feisty between the two carriers, and we’re pretty excited to grab our pale of popcorn and watch this all play out.

[via TmoNews]

T-Mobile responding to AT&T with newspaper ad campaign is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

T-Mobile may have received a lashing from AT&T in regards to their network, but the company may be one upping them as they’re expected to announce their contract-less system some time this month.

According to TMoNews, T-Mobile could be planning to announce its new contract-less plans as early as March 4 to then go into affect on March 24. The “uncarrier” move will introduce a number of changes to make transitioning the these new plans a little more bearable for its subscribers. Existing customers will be allowed to finish their current contracts or upgrade to a new device without a new contract, whichever comes first.

Early termination fees will also be eradicated with T-Mobile’s new plans and a new equipment installment plan tier will be introduced that would range between $25 to $30 dollars, which would help its customers not suffer from sticker shock when they learn a phone they should pay only $99 or $199 with a two-year contract should cost them way more in a no-contract world.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: WSJ “Confirms” Google’s Retail Store Plans, Google Rumored To Be Opening Their Own Retail Stores This Year,