Hasta La Gadget!

T-Mobile just announced the official launch of their new 4G LTE network, and customers will have six devices to choose from, one of which is a new LTE hotspot. Customers will have their shot at the Samsung GALAXY S 4, Galaxy Note II, BlackBerry Z10, HTC One, iPhone 5 (announcement here), and the Sonic 2.0 Mobile HotSpot LTE.

The GALAXY S 4 is the newest smartphone to be announced, and T-Mobile will have it available starting in May, with CEO Legere mentioning “about May 1.” However, pricing hasn’t been announced yet. The BlackBerry Z10, on the other hand, is available starting today. It’ll cost you a total of $531, but it’ll be split up over 24 months with $18 payments per month, and a $99 down payment at the start.

The HTC One will also be hitting T-Mobile “later this spring.” The carrier hasn’t announced pricing or availability, though. The HTC One was announced last month, and it pretty much stunned us with its 4.7-inch 1080p display and the new “UltraPixel” camera technology, not to mention its beautiful metal design.

The Samsung Galaxy Note II is already available on T-Mobile, but customers can update the device via an over-the-air update to enable the LTE chip for the network. If you don’t yet have a Galaxy Note II, you can grab one for $29 down, and $16 monthly payments for 24 months. As for T-Mobile’s new hotspot, the Sonic 2.0 Mobile HotSpot LTE supports up to eight devices and is available for $29 down with 24 monthly payments of $5. The device is available now.

T-Mobile unveils 4G LTE UNcarrier device lineup is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A few days ago, T-Mobile’s LTE network was detected to be running in a handful of cities around the US. While it wasn’t being seen by everyone, network-detection app OpenSignal was able to see that T-Mobile’s new LTE was present. However, some networks have been reported to have already launched ahead of the company’s event today.

According to Engadget, several T-Mobile users have reported that they’re able to access T-Mobile’s LTE network in Phoenix, Arizona and San Jose, California. We already knew that San Jose was a city hosting T-Mobile LTE, but Phoenix is a new market that looks to be getting the LTE treatment from T-Mobile.

Some users are also reporting that the LTE is live in Houston, Texas, which would bump up the number of cities that we currently know will have T-Mobile LTE up to 10 (11 if you count the spotty coverage in Oakland, California). We should be from T-Mobile officially later on today when they’ll be hosting an event where the company is rumored to be launching several new items.

Most recently, T-Mobile is said to be introducing the iPhone officially to their network, as well as officially launching their LTE network, which the company announced would launch before the end of the month, so today seems like a viable day to do such things. Other than that, several other phones may come to T-Mobile, including the new LG Optimus G Pro and the BlackBerry Z10.

[via Engadget]

T-Mobile LTE goes live in several cities before official launch is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It seems to be a bad week for cell phone safety, with another vulnerability coming to light, this time concerning T-Mobile‘s Wi-Fi Calling feature. While the feature is handy for those who want to save minutes and utilize the Internet connection they already have available, it is also a potential hazard when it comes to keeping your personal texts and calls secret. Researchers at the University of California, Berkley are credited with finding the problem.

This information comes from SecurityWeek, which interviewed the two researchers – Jethro Beekman and Christopher Thompson – about their discovery. When Android handsets utilize Wi-Fi Calling, they fail to properly validate the security certificate for the server, which leaves them open to MiTM (man-in-the-middle) attacks. This vulnerability was discovered by reverse engineering the T-Mobile feature.

Says the researchers, T-Mobile uses regular VoIP for Wi-Fi Calling instead of a connection that encrypted, something that aids in its vulnerability. An attacker can take advantage of the victim if he is using the same wifi network the call is being placed over, intercepting calls and doing with them as he pleases. Mention was also given of the possibilty for setting up a malcious network to get callers to connect and use it.

Said the researchers: “Without this proper verification, hackers could have created a fake certificate and pretend to be the T-Mobile server. This would have allowed attackers to listen to and modify traffic between a phone and the server, letting them intercept and decrypt voice calls and text messages sent over Wi-Fi Calling.”

[via Security Week]

T-Mobile’s “Wi-Fi Calling” security vulnerability leaves subscribers at risk is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It looks as if T-Mobile will finally be launching its long-awaited 4G LTE network very soon. The carrier has confirmed plans to launch 4G LTE in the US by the end of this month, which means that they have just under two weeks to flip the switch. However, they shouldn’t be in any big rush, since all the other major carriers are already rocking their own LTE networks.

The carrier’s first two LTE devices will be the new BlackBerry Z10 and the Samsung Galaxy Note II. T-Mobile says its 4G LTE network will cover around 100 million people by the middle of this year, while they plan to cover a total of 200 million people by the end of the year. Verizon already covers over 275 million and counting, so we’ll see how long T-Mobile takes to catch up.

As for speeds of T-Mobile’s new LTE, some folks have already gotten a taste of what it’s like, and they seem rather respectable as far as what we’ve seen. Laptop Mag saw speeds has high as 58 Mbps on the download stream and 25 Mbps on the upload stream. However, with more people accessing the network, you probably won’t see those kinds of speeds on a daily basis.

While T-Mobile’s LTE network may not be up to snuff with Verizon’s or AT&T‘s as far as coverage goes, T-Mobile users will have a slight advantage. While Verizon’s phones use two chips in order to support both 3G and 4G LTE, T-Mobile devices only use one chip for HSPA+42 and LTE support, which can save tremendously on battery life.

[via Laptop Mag]

T-Mobile to launch 4G LTE network this month is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

First news of the T-Mobile acquisition of MetroPCS surfaced back in October 2012. Thus began the long process of passing through government red tape before the deal could actually go through. Earlier today, we reported that the carrier has received a thumbs up from the Department of Justice to move forward with the merger. Now, according to sources, the next step will be a large number of layoffs at T-Mobile’s headquarters.

The sources are said to be from within the company, and say that T-Mobile employees know about the upcoming layoffs. The cuts could affect over 100 people in the carrier’s marketing group, among others, and is said to be slated for Thursday (tomorrow). Not surprisingly, T-Mobile hasn’t said anything on the matter, and declined offering a comment.

The layoffs will happen at the company’s headquarters in Bellevue, which has more or less been shielded from the layoffs that the carrier had issued over the past months. In 2012, in excess of 4,200 jobs were terminated, most of which (3300) were in the company’s call centers. Word was that T-Mobile would refill those numbers with new employees for its Business Sales department.

Many have feared that the T-Mobile/MetroPCS merger would result in massive job losses, a concern to such a degree that the FCC was asked by both Congress and the Communications Workers of America to put in blocks on the acquisition that would preserve jobs. T-Mobile hasn’t been doing fantastic financially, having suffered a 5-percent drop in sales in its fourth quarter over the same quarter the year previously.

[via Seattle Times]

T-Mobile to layoff employees before MetroPCS merger, sources say is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.