Hasta La Gadget!

MetroPCS announced it has chosen Ericsson for its 4G LTE infrastructure launch, and–more importantly for consumers–Samsung to build its first LTE cell phone.

The company said in a statement that it is planning to launch a dual-mode LTE/CDMA smartphone in late 2010 as part of the initial rollout for its 4G LTE services in major metropolitan markets. “With the announcement of our LTE launch vendors, MetroPCS will move directly to 4G,” the company said.

MetroPCS is promising a “richer HTML browsing experience” and new multimedia apps that take advantage of the extra speed. Earlier this year, MetroPCS made waves with its $50 unlimited, flat-rate, no contract plan for the BlackBerry Curve 8330.

Currently, the carrier sells several Samsung handsets, including the Samsung Finesse (pictured).

There’s one critical thing to understand about big merger rumors – they usually don’t make it past the rumor stage. The idea that T-Mobile’s parent Deutsche Telekom might buy Sprint has popped up periodically (most recently in 2008) among stock-market analysts, but it’s a horrifyingly bad idea that fortunately never makes it past the idea stage.

The rumor raised its head again today, but the idea hasn’t improved in quality at all.

Motorola CEO Dr. Sanjay K. Jha made one thing unflinchingly clear during yesterday’s keynote at GigaOm’s Mobilize 09 conference: the Cliq is all about Motorola–not Google and certainly not T-Mobile. The focus on the company no doubt stemmed to some degree out of its recent economic woes–the event was something of a make-or-break for Motorola, which, as of late, has been struggling to recapture the success of mid-00 devices like the Razr. On the software side, the event marked the latest in an on-going shift in focus for Android handsets away from Google.

Launched in October of last year, the first Android handset was all about Google–the “G” in T-Mobile G1. The device was branded with Google’s logo and the name HTC was dropped entirely from the device for its US launch. The branding was actually part of a marketing deal with Google that insured the software giant would have a good deal of control over the version Android included on the handset, which meant that it was centered around such Google products as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Maps, and YouTube.

The focus shifted away from Google a touch with the launch of subsequent handsets from HTC, the T-Mobile myTouch 3G and the HTC Hero. From the talk surrounding both devices, however, it was clear that there was still some emphasis on the OS–in fact, in the UK, the latter is sometimes called the T-Mobile G2.

Motorola today hoped to kickstart its ailing handset division with the introduction of two new Android-powered smartphones. The company’s CEO, Dr. Sanjay K. Jha took the stage at GigaOm’s Mobilize 09 conference to showcase the first of two new handsets he promised would fulfill the need for “a new, differentiated smartphone.”

T-Mobile CTO Cole Brodman was brought out on stage to help introduce the Motorola Cliq. Originally codenamed Morrison, the Cliq will be exclusively available on that carrier, Motorola has deemed the Cliq the “first phone with social skills.” The Cliq is aimed at the T-Mobile texting-enthusiatic crowd who came to the network for handsets like the Sidekick.

The phone features 3G connectivity, a 5-MP camera with 24 FPS video, and the “best-in-class HTML browser.” The device will be available internationally on a number of carriers including Orange, America Movil, and Telefonica.

The device is powered by Motorola’s Android skin, MotoBlur. The OS promises to sync together information across a plethora of social networks and other online services. MotoBlur features a number of “live widgets,” such as Social Status, which lets users update statuses across sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace.

A second Android smartphone will be available in “the coming weeks,” according to Motorola. The device will likely be the finalized version of the handset codenamed Sholes.

AT&T has announced plans to bump up the speeds of its 3G network to its new HSPA 7.2 technology. The company is rolling out the upgrades in a number of cities, including LA, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, and Charlotte. Two cities, however, are conspicuously absent from the list: New York and San Francisco.

As Business Insider points out, AT&T doesn’t mention the two cities by name, but does add that the faster 3G will be rolled out in 25 of the 30 largest markets by 2011. That number includes 90-percent of the carrier’s current 3G coverage.