Hasta La Gadget!

Earlier this morning, we reported that BlackBerry’s Z10 has been tipped by sources as arriving at AT&T on March 22. Now more information on the handset has surfaced, this time with T-Mobile announcing that business customers will be able to get the Z10 starting on March 11, which is this coming Monday. Non-business customers, however, will have to keep waiting.

Those who purchase on Monday could then receive their BlackBerry Z10 by Friday of next week. This is similar to what the sources had to say about AT&T and the Z10, which is set for March 22 for consumers, not just business customers, according to sources. If that proves true, there’s a chance consumers will see wider availability of the Z10 to non-business customers via T-Mobile later this month after the launch for business customers, although nothing specific was stated by the carrier.

The BlackBerry Z10 has been available to European consumers for a while now, but has been delayed in the United States due to longer testing periods required by carriers. The US is a big market for the company formerly known as RIM, which announced BlackBerry 10 and the handset back in January, a platform and device the company hopes will help it regain market share.

The BlackBerry Z10 features a 4.2-inch 1280 x 720 LCD display, as well as a rear 8-megapixel camera with an LED flash and a front 2-megapixel camera. Inside, users will find a Qualcomm MSM8960 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage space. There’s a microSD slot for additional memory expansion for up to 32GB. Connectivity is comprised of quad-band UMTS/HSPA+ and GMS/EDGE, LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, and Wi-Fi a/b/g/n. You can check out our full review of the Z10 here.

[via Reuters]

T-Mobile BlackBerry Z10 will be available to business customers March 11 is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Sony has confirmed that its Xperia ZL smartphone, similar to its Xperia Z, will be available in the United States. Even better, the 5-inch handset will be unlocked, and can be used with both T-Mobile and AT&T. The Xperia ZL will be available in three colors – red, white, and black – and could be priced as high as $760.

The price hasn’t been officially specified, however, nor has a release date for when the handset will hit shelves Stateside, with the Xperia Store simply listing it as “coming soon.” For those willing to wait, what they’re get is a high-end Sony flagship handset that offers excellent hardware, a sleek body, and the benefits of not being tied to a carrier.

The Xperia ZL is officially in the phablet category with a 5-inch full high-definition 1080p display. Inside, users will find a Qualcomm quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, as well as 2GB of RAM. There’s a 13.1-megapixel camera around back, and the handset runs Android Jelly Bean. Although the phone doesn’t support Verizon, users can use it with both AT&T and T-Mobile’s 4G LTE networks.

While the Xperia ZL is unlocked, it isn’t a dual-SIM handset. It comes pre-loaded with Google Talk, YouTube, and Facebook. Connectivity includes NFC, Bluetooth, a microUSB port, and wifi. Battery life is excellent, with up to 40 hours of music playback, 500 hours of standby (460 LTE), up to 10 hours of talk time, and up to 5.5 hours of video playback.

[via Android Community]

Sony announces unlocked Xperia ZL destined for US is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

T-Mobile may have chosen to brand themselves as the uncarrier, however it is looking they they may soon take that a step further. These latest details are still in what we would consider the rumor category, however it is looking like T-Mobile may soon ditch the contracts. But before you start thinking about high priced phones and large up front payments, there is more to the story here.

The details suggest that T-Mobile will soon go contract free, which also means that early termination fees will be a thing of the past. That alone is starting to make things seem better already, isn’t it. As to how this is expected to work without requiring someone to shell out $500, $600 or more upfront — a mix of down payments and monthly payments. Think of it like financing the price of the device. Details suggest that would mean paying $99 or less at the time or purchase and then paying the remainder monthly until the device is paid in full.

Again, details have yet to be confirmed by T-Mobile which means things could still change. The nice part here, this is all expected to go into effect later this month. TmoNews is reporting that T-Mobile may be looking to put this in effect as early as March 24 with an announcement coming as soon as this Monday. Assuming that plays out as expected, Monday could be a big day for T-Mobile.

As for those existing customers still under contract with T-Mobile — you are not going to let off entirely. In fact, it was said that any existing contracts will remain in place until they expire. Otherwise, if you were considering upgrading this weekend, you may want to hold off until Monday, just in case. In addition to the contract-free shift, T-Mobile is also expected to do some further rebranding. This is expected to include what is being called “Dual 4G” in which they promote their HSPA+ and LTE networks.

[via TmoNews]

T-Mobile may up the “uncarrier” approach by ditching contracts is written by Robert Nelson & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

T-Mobile has announced a new service that gives users access to inexpensive unlimited prepaid plans. Call the GoSmart Mobile plans, they start at $30 a month, and are aimed at those who don’t want to be locked into a contract, and who want to avoid high monthly costs without sacrificing in their mobile usage. According to the Seattle Times, this is the first time T-Mobile has unveiled its own separately-branded service.

The service is aimed at consumers who make annually between $30k and $40k, as well as the younger consumer crowd that spends most of their mobile usage texting and checking Facebook. GoSmart’s marketing director Shailendra Gujarati said regarding the service, “We are looking at customers whose predominant needs when it comes to wireless are talking, texting or entry level data services.”

The service was already launched in nine markets in December, during which time it was tested. Today, however, the carrier has launched the service nationwide. Needless to say, it runs on T-Mobile’s own network, and two handsets are being offered under the service – a $49 cell phone and a $99 Android smartphone, in addition to an $8 activation kit and SIM.

The cheapest plan is $30 per month, which offers unlimited text and talk but no mobile data, while the best plan is arguably the $35 plan, which offers text, talk and unlimited data access at slower speeds for things like checking email. The most expensive plan is $45 per month, and is the same as the $35, except that web access is high speed for those who want to watch videos and stream music on the go. There’s a 5GB cap, at which point the speeds are throttled.

[via Seattle Times]

T-Mobile announces GoSmart Mobile unlimited prepaid service is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

T-Mobile’s first 4G LTE hotspot has been revealed through a press image. The 4G LTE hotspot will be called the T-Mobile Sonic 2.0 Mobile HotSpot LTE. The device is set to launch on March 27th, but the pricing for the device is still unknown. The hotspot features a very simple, black design with a power button, navigation buttons, and a colored display. The display shows your connection info, battery life, settings menu, number of people connected to the hotspot, and more.

March 27th looks like it will be a very busy day for T-Mobile. Not only is it planning on launching the T-Mobile Sonic 2.0 Mobile HotSpot LTE, but it will also be launching the Blackberry Z10 on the same day. The Blackberry Z10 will be capable of utilizing T-Mobile’s 4G LTE data network. The Samsung Galaxy S III LTE should also be released and will be fully capable of taking advantage of T-Mobile’s LTE network. Finally, there is the Samsung Galaxy Exhibit that is supposed to be the U.S. variant of the Samsung Galaxy S III Mini, however we don’t believe it should be touting any 4G LTE bands.

It has also been rumored several times that T-Mobile should be launching the iPhone on its network sometime around late March as well, although it doesn’t appear on the road map. It could be that T-Mobile is being very secretive about its iPhone launch because it plans on holding a separate, grand event altogether for it. T-Mobile has been left out of the iPhone game for a long time, with all 3 of the other major carriers selling iPhones on their networks while it had to compete without it.

It looks like T-Mobile will be fully stocked for its LTE network, whenever it decides to launch it. It can be any day from now, but we’re hoping that it’s sooner rather than later. T-Mobile is the last carrier to launch its LTE network, with AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint well on their way of getting their LTE network to cover as many people as possible. T-Mobile will be launching its LTE network in Las Vegas first, and moving onto Kansas City afterwards.

[via TmoNews]

T-Mobile Sonic 2.0 Mobile HotSpot LTE revealed in press image is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.