Hasta La Gadget!

Consider it a trend: Verizon’s wireless charging 8X variant will work out of the box with U.S. GSM networks. According to Windows Phone Central, users have reported success swapping in AT&T and T-Mobile micro-SIMs, indicating that the devices are shipping unlocked. And it’s not just hearsay either, as we’ve confirmed on our own review unit that this does indeed work. In fact, with the network openness afforded by recent additions like the Droid DNA and iPhone 5, this is quickly becoming more rule for the carrier than exception. Certainly we can all agree that it’s a welcome break from Big Red’s stodgy past.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, HTC, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile

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Source: Windows Phone Central

Huawei upped its ante in the smartphone games with the Honor 2 just weeks ago, but with few mentions of where the phone maker might place its bets outside of its native China. An FCC filing has at least raised the slim chance that Huawei might look to North America. The newly-tested device doles out HSPA+ support on the 850MHz, 1,700MHz and 1,900MHz bands, letting it work with the 3G of just about any American or Canadian GSM carrier. Without any LTE to speak of, though, the Honor 2 variant is more likely to appear on a smaller network that doesn’t yet have access to the faster data, such as T-Mobile or Wind — if it shows up at all, that is. As FCC approvals only occasionally spoil a launch, we’ll mostly be waiting to see if Huawei or carriers step forward before anticipating the mid-tier phone on this side of the Pacific.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, AT&T, T-Mobile

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Source: FCC

If you didn’t get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we’ve opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This past week, we discovered an abundance of special edition smartphones and T-Mobile gave ten new reasons for owners of unlocked iPhones to smile. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the “best of the rest” for this week of November 19th, 2012.

Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of November 19th, 2012

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Samsung, Verizon

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Google began directing customers looking for the Nexus 4 in the U.S. to T-Mobile this morning, since Google itself hasn’t had stock for quite a while now. The search giant was advertising a special offer, whereby T-Mobile customers could get the Nexus 4 for $199 on a 2-year contract, after a $50 mail-in rebate. That’s still not nearly as good a deal as the $300 Google was charging off-contract, but people apparently didn’t care that much, because T-Mobile is now sold out only hours after Google started pointing shoppers in T-Mobile’s direction.

The Nexus 4 seemed to be a hot seller initially, with Google selling out of the handset in markets around the world within hours or even minutes (a friend joked that I must have been one of 15 who got in under the wire for Canadian pre-orders). The smartphone is Google’s latest Android reference device, meaning it carries stock Android 4.2, and will always be first in line for future updates, regardless of carrier. The phone is made by OEM partner LG and shares many of its internal specs with the Optimus G, save for the absence of LTE connectivity. Its shared internals with LG’s own branded phone, which could very well bring in higher margins, might have something to do with its stock scarcity.

Google likely didn’t anticipate the kind of demand that the Nexus 4 is seeing, hence the global stock shortage. In fact, one of its execs even said in a recent interview it doesn’t expect Nexus devices to be top-selling Android handsets. But it’s interesting to see the company have to direct users to carrier stores, and away from its own Play device marketplace, if only because Google’s attempts to sell hardware directly to consumers haven’t gone swimmingly in the past. In fact, many pointed fingers directly at the carriers as the cause of problems when Google’s initial attempt to sell Nexus devices (specifically, the Nexus One) directly via its online store.

This time around, the price and other conditions appear to be right. Now all Google has to do is keep the thing in stock somewhere, hopefully in time to satisfy hungry holiday shoppers.

We guess it’s something of a sore point for T-Mobile and their subscribers that they are the only major carrier out of the four that does not offer the iPhone. T-Mobile instead makes up for it by supporting unlocked iPhones on their network with access to their HSPA+ network, but what’s the reason behind T-Mobile’s lack of iPhone in their portfolio? Is it because Apple does not think T-Mobile is worthy, or is it because either company could not reach an agreement? Well as it turns out, T-Mobile simply cannot afford the have the iPhone.

This was revealed by T-Mobile’s COO, Jim Alling during Morgan Stanley’s 12^th annual Media & Telecoms Conference, in which he was quoted as saying (via Fierce Broadband Wireless), “Make no mistake about it: We would love to carry the iPhone. However, we want the economies to be right for us. We recognize that it has been a point of churn for us.” If you’re wondering why T-Mobile can’t afford an iPhone, you might recall that not too long ago Sprint revealed that they had to commit to signing a deal with Apple for $20 billion worth of iPhones, money which we guess T-Mobile just can’t spare at the moment.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: T-Mobile loses 492,000 customers in Q3, blames it on the iPhone 5, T-Mobile unlimited data for unlocked iPhone users,