Hasta La Gadget!

Few of us who live outside of Asia or Eastern Europe know the potential convenience of a dual SIM phone. Own one and you can globetrot, or else keep separate home and work lines without the bulk of an extra device in the pocket. Sony is gambling that enough Americans have that multi-line desire by selling the Xperia tipo dual and its regular, single-SIM counterpart in the US as unlocked GSM models. Neither of the Android 4.0 phones is what we’d call a powerhouse with the same 3.5-inch screen, 3.2-megapixel camera and 800MHz Snapdragon inside, but both can latch on to HSPA 3G on AT&T, refarmed T-Mobile coverage and 2100MHz carriers abroad, even if the single-SIM tipo curiously has 900MHz 3G support that the tipo dual lacks. It’s undoubtedly price that Sony is counting on more than anything: at respective contract-free prices of $180 and $190 for the tipo and tipo dual, the pair of Xperias may be sold most often as travel-only phones for the jet set.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Sony Xperia tipo and tipo dual reach the US in unlocked form, give Americans a taste of dual SIMs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Sony (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

When we learned that Verizon wouldn’t lock the GSM-related components of the iPhone 5, we were waiting for a “gotcha” moment. Surely the carrier would clamp down and steer us back towards its more expensive roaming plans, right? Not according to Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney: she says there’s no plans to lock Apple’s handset at a later point. In other words, you should be free to use a Verizon-locked iPhone 5 on any compatible GSM and HSPA+ networks for as long as you’d like, including with AT&T and Canadian carriers. Of course, this still brings the caveats of having to both buy a Verizon model, either at full price or with a contract attached, and track down a nano-SIM for the carrier of choice. It could nonetheless settle the question of what carrier to pick if you regularly need a passport when you travel — especially knowing that neither AT&T nor Sprint will be quite so open-minded.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Verizon has no plans to re-lock iPhone 5’s GSM and 3G sides originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Sep 2012 14:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  AP  | Email this | Comments

Well this is an interesting bit of news: iDownloadBlog’s Jeff Benjamin has discovered that Verizon’s iPhone 5 is indeed GSM unlocked. The way he discovered this was by cutting up an AT&T micro SIM card and putting it in his freshly-acquired iPhone 5 from Verizon. To his surprise (and ours), the iPhone picked up an AT&T signal, and he was able to hop onto the carrier’s HSPA+ network and do a little bit of surfing.

Verizon later confirmed to him that their version of the iPhone is GSM unlocked, which in theory means that you could pick up a micro SIM from AT&T or T-Mobile and take advantage of their networks. That’s going to take a bit of work though, as it sounds like Benjamin had something of a rough time getting that AT&T micro SIM to fit into his Verizon iPhone 5.

What’s even more exciting is that Verizon is giving these phones to people who are on contact. Benjamin says that he attempted this micro SIM switcheroo on the same day that he picked up his iPhone 5 from Verizon (today), which also happened to be the day that he signed up as a Verizon customer for the first time. This, obviously, is good news for travelers, as it means that they can potentially switch between networks if they need to while on the road, despite signing a two-year commitment to Verizon.

The fact that the iPhone 5 comes in three different models that support various LTE bands has proven to be a headache for some consumers, and we’ve been talking about how it highlights a broader LTE problem since the different models were revealed. After all, this LTE issue isn’t only limited to the iPhone 5, but thankfully Verizon has at least done something that helps with it a bit. What do you think? Does this help sway you more toward Verizon as your iPhone 5 carrier of choice?

iPhone 5 comes GSM unlocked at Verizon is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Those of you pumped up about the iPhone 5 bringing in architecture that allows simultaneous voice and data on a single radio, take heed: it’s been confirmed that this ability only works on GSM-based LTE (and 3G) networks. If you’re planning on working with a network that uses CDMA for voice and LTE for data, you’ll be out of luck – they’ll both work, just not at the same time. The key here may be in the official Apple statement (as seen below) which includes a “not yet” which may keep some doors open.

If you’re working with AT&T with the iPhone 5, you’ll be on GSM, and will be able to work with simultaneous voice and data right out of the gate. If you’re on any other carrier here in the USA, you’ll be working with CDMA, and will not yet have that functionality. Have a peek at the official statement from Apple on this situation.

“iPhone 5 supports simultaneous voice and data on GSM-based 3G and LTE networks. It is not yet possible to do simultaneous voice and data on networks that use CDMA for voice and LTE for data in a single radio design.” – Apple

Again keep your eyes on that “not yet possible” and decide for yourself whether or not that means that the operating system will be able to be tweaked to a degree in the future to allow both voice and data at the same time over LTE. For those of you that do plan on purchasing an iPhone 5 and have not yet chosen a carrier, take a peek at the timeline below with a collection of iPhone 5 news bits and updates to help you see.

iPhone 5 simultaneous voice and LTE data on GSM only – for now? is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We know now that the iPhone 5 will be launching in multiple regions around the world on hundreds of different carriers, and in order to make the iPhone compatible with everyone’s LTE networks, Apple will be launching two different models of the newest iDevice. One of these models will support GSM, while the other will support CDMA. That’s in contrast to the iPhone 4S, which had support for both included under the hood.

The models Apple details on its iPhone 5 specs page list a GSM model dubbed A1428 and a CDMA model going by the number A1429. Both support HSPA+, DC-HSDPA, and LTE, but the difference is that A1428 comes with support for bands 4 and 17 while A1429 supports bands 1, 3, 5, 13, and 25. There is also a GSM model called A1429 that supports bands 1, 3, and 5, which should be the version used in international markets. GSM A1428 will obviously be used at AT&T and Canadian carriers, while A1429 will be headed to Verizon.

We’ve seen Apple do this plenty of times in the past, offering different GSM and CDMA models of the iPhone 4, and then again with the new iPad so it could support LTE at both AT&T and Verizon. Of course, with Apple offering separate models of the iPhone 5, don’t expect to be able to unlock your device and take it to any carrier you want. Since these different models support different LTE bands, some carriers will be off limits depending on which model you have, at least as far as 4G LTE service is concerned.

Still, we doubt that little caveat will prevent people from rushing out to purchase to new iPhone. Apple’s presentation today had a bunch of major talking points, and you can find them all (including our brand new hands-on posts) by visiting our Apple portal. Stay tuned, because we’ll have plenty more iPhone 5 news throughout the day.

iPhone 5 will come in different GSM and CDMA versions is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.