Hasta La Gadget!

While it’s been easy for Canadians to get data plans for the iPad and iPad mini, they haven’t had the luxury of picking one up at a carrier store like their American neighbors. They will soon, however: Rogers and Telus say they’ll be selling the LTE versions of both iPads sometime in the “coming weeks.” Details are scarce, although the two networks promise that they’ll keep offering contract-free data plans. We’ve reached out to learn whether or not Bell is following suit.

There isn’t any talk of similar offerings with smaller providers, although Wind Mobile is offering an olive branch to iPhone owners. The carrier is now selling $25 nano-SIM cards for those who’ve bought an unlocked, AWS-friendly iPhone 5 through Apple. These customers won’t have LTE, but they’ll get HSPA+ data on less expensive (and less restricted) plans. Hit Wind’s Facebook page to learn just which devices qualify.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Wireless, Mobile, Apple

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Source: Rogers, Telus, Wind Mobile (Facebook)

Bloomberg reports that Apple will be starting an iPhone trade-in program in an effort to increase the uptake of the iPhone 5. According to the always erudite “people with knowledge of the plans,” Cupertino has tapped wireless distributor firm Brightstar to help run the exchange program through Apple stores — allowing customers instantaneous trade-ins instead of having to deal with the endless shipping wait times of online exchanges. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment, but if the news is true, you can bet that Cupertino isn’t likely to confirm it until next week at WWDC.

Filed under: Mobile, Apple

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Source: Bloomberg

After a month of offering the iPhone 5 for $100 down, T-Mobile has quietly increased the upfront cost by $50. Even with the price hike, it’s still less expensive than on most other carriers, but some type of warning would’ve certainly been appreciated. As for the rest of T-Mobile’s new pricing scheme, its $20-a month, two-year amortization schedule remains intact. Consider us skeptical, but hopefully this is just a case of growing pains, and unannounced promotions won’t be part of the UnCarrier’s game plan going forward.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, T-Mobile

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Via: TmoNews

Source: T-Mobile

Verizon said today on its earnings conference call that it had activated 4 million total iPhones during Q1 2013, of which half were LTE devices, and half were 3G-only. That means 50 percent, or around 2 million were iPhone 5, with the remaining 2 million making up iPhone 4 and 4S devices.

iPhones represented a little over half of its total smartphone sales for the quarter, or 55.6 percent. Verizon activated 7.2 million smartphones in total in Q1 2013, and 5.9 million LTE devices, which means iPhones accounted for around one-third of all LTE device sales at the carrier during the three-month period.

Last quarter iPhone represented 64 percent of all smartphone sales by comparison, with 6.2M devices sold. As with this quarter, around half of those were iPhone 5, with older models making up the rest. The dip is mostly in keeping with past iPhone sales performance at the carrier, though it likely was higher last quarter due to strong interest in the still newly-launched iPhone 5 heading into the holiday shopping season.

The decrease in share of total smartphone sales is consistent with past performance, but it’s worth watching those numbers over the next couple of quarters as new flagship Android devices like the Galaxy S4 make their way to market. And if Apple is indeed planning an iPhone revision in June as many now expect, we could see more changes, though based on current data it looks like iPhone sales share might be settling in to a regular pattern, at lest at Verizon.

As T-Mobile prepares to officially offer the iPhone for the first time, it’s trying to pump up the lure with a trade-in offer for owners of the 4 and 4S models. Available through mid-June, the promotion lets iPhone 4 and 4S owners trade in their current device for an AWS HSPA+ friendly iPhone 5 for no money upfront (with monthly payments) under its new no-contract Simple Choice Plans. Additionally, depending on the condition of the hardware being traded in, customers can get a credit of up to $120 to be used against those payments (knocking it down to $15 from $20, for example) their usual bill or accessories. If last month’s colorful presentation wasn’t enough to pull you to T-Mobile from another carrier, does this new offer sweeten the deal enough? A full breakdown follows below in the press release, sales start Friday.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, T-Mobile

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Source: T-Mobile