Hasta La Gadget!

Windows Phone was slow out of the gate with US carriers back when it first launched, but HTC and Microsoft aren’t going to make that mistake a second time. The freshly-announced Windows Phone 8X and Windows Phone 8S ”signature” handsets have already joined the line for AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile USA, with availability of all three expected from November.

Both phones will be available in LTE versions for the North American market, HTC has already confirmed to us, though we’re guessing that not all three of those carriers will have an LTE device. Similarly, it’s not been announced whether each carrier will range each color combination – both phones have four apiece – or if they’ll each stick to a certain subset.

HTC 8X and 8S hands-on:

Of the two, the 8X will be the more expensive. It has a 4.3-inch 720p Super LCD II display, 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dualcore processor and twin cameras – 8-megapixels on the back, 2.1-megapixels on the front for video calls and 1080p vanity videos – whereas the 8S makes do with a smaller, 4-inch WVGA display, 1GHz dualcore S4 and a single, 5-megapixel camera.

Exact pricing and specific launch dates will follow on closer to commercial availability in a couple of months time, and after all Microsoft has to give Windows Phone 8 its official launch first anyway. Still, expect to see a whole lot more of the two new HTC handsets in the coming months: as “signature” phones they’ll be featuring in Microsoft’s promotional campaigns for the OS.

HTC confirms 8X and 8S for AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile in November is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Everything Everywhere has rebranded, launching EE, its new 4G combo-carrier harnessing T-Mobile UK and Orange and throwing in a fiber option for the UK too. Revealed in London today, with commercial availability in the coming weeks, EE will be broadly available in the UK by Christmas, delivering high-speed internet access across a range of devices.

EE will be the first commercial 4G network available in the UK, and the EE fiber network will be the company’s first such fixed internet service. There will be both consumer and business options, and EE promises more offerings to be revealed in the weeks ahead of the launch.

Described as “new propositions for a digital generation,” EE will sit alongside Orange and T-Mobile, with Orange positioned as a mainstream option with 3G coverage; T-Mobile UK, meanwhile, will be targeted at price-conscious customers, again topping out at 3G.

We’ll have more pricing details and information on devices very soon.

EE 4G: Everything Everywhere launches LTE & Fiber “in coming weeks” is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nokia is reportedly planning an exclusive 4G deal with UK carrier Everything Everywhere for the Lumia 920,  a potential distraction from its second mea culpa over the faked camera sample goof. The UK exclusive would see Everything Everywhere – including T-Mobile UK and Orange – snap up the Windows Phone 8 device for a November launch, the Financial Times‘ sources say, echoing Nokia’s sole-carrier deal with AT&T in the US on previous handsets. However, the new Lumia is still being overshadowed by Nokia’s faking of the initial photography samples, something the company now says will be handled with an internal inquiry.

“Nokia recently apologized when it became clear that a video, which had been produced to demonstrate the benefits of optical image stabilization, failed to make clear that it was a simulation only and not shot using the new PureView camera on the Nokia Lumia 920. This video was produced when the Nokia Lumia 920 was in preproduction. While there was no intention to mislead, the failure to add a disclaimer to the video was obviously a mistake, and we apologize for the misunderstanding it did cause” Nokia

Nokia had already apologized once for the camera mistake, where the company was caught using footage shot with a DSLR to demonstrate the potential effect of its PureView optical image stabilization. ”We are dealing with the situation swiftly, fairly and privately” a spokesperson told the WSJ; a second video demo, this time filmed with the Lumia 920 itself, had already been released.

Whispers of a November European release had begun shortly after the new Lumia launch last week, amid speculation that Nokia’s sales plans would be more focused than for its Windows Phone 7 range. CEO Stephen Elop said several months back that Nokia intended to mimic its strategy from the US for new European launches; for the US Lumia 900, that meant putting all of its eggs into AT&T’s basket rather than spreading the device across multiple operators.

Although Nokia declined to comment on any potential negotiations with specific carriers, the company did confirm that the LTE version of the Lumia 920 would be compatible with the 1800MHz 4G bands Everything Everywhere intends to use for its new network. The handset will also support four other LTE bands, though it’s not clear at this stage whether that means the same Lumia 920 will operate on both UK and US LTE.

Everything Everywhere is holding a “next-gen network” event on Tuesday this week, noted initially for being staged the day before the expected launch of the iPhone 5, itself believed to use LTE. It’s possible that a deal with Nokia could be announced at that event.

Nokia LTE Everything Everywhere Lumia 920 deal tipped; Apologizes again for PureView goof is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

UK carrier combo Everything Everywhere has announced a 4G launch event on September 11, with LTE rollout plans expected and, perhaps tellingly, all the day before Apple is tipped to reveal the LTE-capable iPhone 5. The London event will see the Orange and T-Mobile team-up discuss “the latest innovation in network technology” which UK regulators gave permission for an early launch back in August.

That came as no small frustration to rival UK carriers, but Everything Everywhere managed to convince the UK telecoms regulator Ofcom that it was in customers’ best interests to get a 4G network up and running as soon as possible. The earliest date that could happen, Ofcom decided, was September 11.

Apple’s new iPhone event, confirmed on Tuesday, is a more recent addition to the diary, but long-standing rumors of a 4G upgrade for the iOS smartphone do seem notable given Everything Everywhere’s news. Exactly how ready the fledgling LTE network will be remains to be seen, however – the network has previously warned not to expect anything to go live until October at the earliest – as is whether the new iPhone is compatible with Everything Everywhere’s LTE bands.

That’s no small issue, in fact. The current LTE iPad, for instance, does not support the 1,800MHz band the UK operator plans to use for its initial 4G services, meaning Apple would need to use a different modem for the iPhone 5 if it wanted UK users to be able to access LTE speeds.

SlashGear will be at the Everything Everywhere event next Tuesday to bring back all the news – and, indeed, we’ll be liveblogging the new iPhone announcement the following day at live.slashgear.com – so join us then for the details!

Everything Everywhere reveals 4G LTE event on iPhone 5 Eve is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

T-Mobile USA has switched on its unlimited 4G data plans, using the new tariffs to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Announced in August, the new “Unlimited Nationwide 4G Data” plan is now available in stores, with no overage charges, no throttling, and no limit on how much you download on your device, priced from $20 on top of your regular voice plan.

If you’ve got a Value voice and text plan, the unlimited 4G data will cost $20 monthly. Those adding it to a Classic voice and text plan will pay $30 per month for the unlimited 4G data.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile USA is also offering a sale on “select 4G smartphones” to mark the launch. The HTC One S, for instance, is free (after a $50 mail-in rebate) with a new, two year agreement. The option wasn’t available through T-Mobile’s webstore at time of writing, but should be popping up sometime today; alternatively, you can head to your nearest brick & mortar store to grab the same deal.

It’s worth remembering that, for the moment at least, T-Mobile USA’s interpretation of “4G” is HSPA+ – the carrier lacks an LTE network, unlike AT&T or Verizon. Still, speeds of up to 42Mbps downloads are possible, theoretically at least.

T-Mobile USA turns on Unlimited 4G Data is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.