Hasta La Gadget!

Well, there wasn’t any word about it from the stage yesterday, but we’re happy to report that the iPhone 5 will be going pre-paid from (almost) day one. The contract-free Cricket will be first to offer the latest from Cupertino in a pay-as-you-go format, repeating its claim to fame with the 4S. Price is still up in the air, but we expect the 16GB iPhone 5 and 4S to land at the same price points already on the books for pre-paid iOS handsets — $499 and $399, respectively. It doesn’t look like there will be a pre-order period, so you’ll just have to carry yourself down to your local Cricket shop on September 28th if your want your 4-inch iOS without the commitment. You’ll find the exceedingly brief PR after the break.

Continue reading iPhone 5 coming to Cricket September 28th, keeps the pre-paid faithful happy

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

iPhone 5 coming to Cricket September 28th, keeps the pre-paid faithful happy originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 07:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From today, Cricket is bundling its all-you-can-listen Muve Music service as a standard part of its Android smartphone plans. The offering gives users unlimited text, picture and video messaging, mobile web and a big catalog of banging beats you can pull down to your phone for those impromptu tap dancing sessions. The plans start at $50 a month, and you can access the sonic buffet if you pick up the Huawei Mercury, Ascend Q and Ascend II, HTC One V, Samsung Vitality or the ZTE Chorus. After all, if it’s included in the price, you might as well, eh?

Continue reading Cricket now including Muve Music on all new Android smartphone plans

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Mobile

Cricket now including Muve Music on all new Android smartphone plans originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 05:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re just about a week out from the rumored launch of RadioShack’s Cricket-based No Contract Wireless plans, and more details are beginning to trickle out about the prepaid service. Specifically, we’ve just received information concerning how much The Shack intends to charge on a monthly basis, and it’s just about what you’d expect: you can choose between featurephone and smartphone options, with the former hooking you up with unlimited messaging and your choice of 300 minutes for $25 or 1,000 minutes for $35. As for the smartphone plans, you’ll get unlimited voice, messaging and Muve Music downloads on both selections; the $50 option will get you one gigabyte of 3G data (before throttling ensues), while $60 bestows you with 2.5GB data and mobile hotspot use, Visual Voicemail access, unlimited international text and all-you-can-eat directory assistance.

As a comparison, Cricket’s $35 featurephone plan will give you unlimited voice and SMS, compared to 1,000 minutes and unlimited SMS / MMS / 1X data on The Shack. The carrier’s basic smartphone option is $55 and offers unlimited voice, messaging and 3G data (throttled at 2.5GB); this may seem like the better deal — unless you’re interested in using Muve Music. Since you have to pay an extra $10 to add the unlimited music service into the mix on Cricket, you’ll see a monthly savings of $5 if you waltz into The Shack for the top-tiered plan. We’re still waiting for RadioShack to come clean and acknowledge the existence of the NoContract service, but we’ll continue to reveal more details as they come down the pipeline. Check out the featurephone rate plans after the break.

[Thanks, Anonymous!]

Continue reading RadioShack No Contract Wireless rate plans leak, $60 will get you everything

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

RadioShack No Contract Wireless rate plans leak, $60 will get you everything originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 12:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The One line hasn’t seen much carrier love lately, but that’s all set to change next month. Beginning September 2nd, the littlest member of that smartphone troupe — the One V — will be hitting Cricket’s lineup at $270, no contract necessary, and notching two milestones in the process. Aside from offering subscribers a belated first taste of Ice Cream Sandwich, the Sense-skinned 3.7-incher’s release also counts as HTC’s official hardware debut on the network. In case you’ve forgotten and need a bit of a spec refresher, the odd-lipped Legend throwback bucks the de rigeur multi-core trend for a single 1GHz Snapdragon S3 CPU running Android 4.0, a 5-megapixel rear camera powered by ImageSense tech and, for better or worse, features Beats Audio integration. It’s no heavyweight as current smartphones go, but if you’re keen to push things forward, this lil’ fella packs a considerable punch. Check out the company’s official presser after the break.

Continue reading HTC One V makes the leap to Cricket’s lineup September 2nd for $270

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

HTC One V makes the leap to Cricket’s lineup September 2nd for $270 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tired, perhaps, of juggling mainstream cellular carriers, RadioShack may be launching its own wireless branding. According to a tip we’ve received, the Shack is gearing up to launch RadioShack Mobile, a no-contract MVNO based on Cricket Wireless. A pair of leaked screenshots (above and after the break) seem to show a RadioShack Mobile-ready HTC One V listing and a snippet of an accompanying product page that promises low monthly rates without the shackles of a 2-year agreement. The Cricket connection? That can be found under the page’s “getting started” section, which lists an activation number that pipes into Cricket’s customer service line. Details on pricing and plans are scarce, but we’re being told that RadioShack Mobile is expected to mirror Cricket’s existing offerings, and may also offer the Huawei Mercury, the Huawei Pillar and a 4.3-inch Android device from Alcatel. We contacted RadioShack for a statement and were told that it couldn’t comment on rumors or speculation.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Continue reading RadioShack Mobile leak suggests Cricket Wireless-based MVNO on the way

Filed under: Cellphones

RadioShack Mobile leak suggests Cricket Wireless-based MVNO on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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