Back in June, we reported that FreedomPop was planning to add free calls and texts on top of free data, something that would result in a complete phone plan sans price tag. That time has come, with FreedomPop now offering a complete monthly subscription at no charge, giving users a decent number of texts and […]
If you’ve been following along with the way T-Mobile is attacking the mobile service provider market this year so far, you know that they are (at least appearing to be) doing a pretty good job of shaking things up. They started by introducing the “un-carrier” plans that tossed out the idea of a 2-year contract, added “JUMP!” to allow users to switch from one device to the next when new technology is introduced to the market without penalty (effectively), and this week aim to set another fire a their competitors’ feet with a zero cash down plan for every single service-providing device in their store.
So you’ll still be kicking out the full cost of any device you purchase, should you decide to team up with T-Mobile for a smartphone or tablet with this deal, but it won’t hurt your wallet quite as much as it would have otherwise had you purchased a device from T-Mobile outside this structure.
What T-Mobile has done with its pricing structure is to make the full cost of the phone itself apparent – this is in contrast with many major carriers who charge what appears to be a small amount of cash for a device connected to a 2-year contract, then having the rest of the cash included in the monthly service price as a sort of “hidden” cost. You won’t see it written in on your bill as a separate entity, but it’s there.
T-Mobile’s plan this summer – starting on the 27th of July (no end date yet stated) – includes what the company describes as “4G LTE smartphones, tablets, mobile hotspots and feature phones”, meaning you’re not going to be getting any free accessories any time soon. This does include the iPhone 5 16GB edition, but not the two larger internal storage sizes. It would appear at the moment that no other devices have such restrictions, including brand new devices for the carrier like the Nokia Lumia 925 and Sony Xperia Z.
Have a peek at the monthly payments and rack that price up all at once, and remind yourself – no matter what carrier you’re on, you’re going to eventually be paying several hundred dollars for that brand new smartphone. They’ll get it from you, one way or another.
T-Mobile’s “Zero Dollars Down” announcement takes another stab at game-changing is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
While companies like T-Mobile and AT&T aim to lead the way with new and improved ways of being transparent with smartphone customers, Verizon Edge (introduced today) brings big red into the fold. This “flexible equipment payment plan” allows users who would otherwise have had to pay a relatively large fee to switch from one phone to another on the same payment plan to upgrade instead inside 6 months. This after having spread the cost of the phone over 24 months and paying off at least 50% of the phone in the first place.
It’s rather simple, really – Verizon is cutting the contracts out of smartphone sales. This plan appears to be really, really similar to what T-Mobile began offering earlier this year, aiming to expand the number of choices consumers have in how they pay for their phone. While any phone that’s “subsidized” by the mobile carrier it works with, the cost remains – if you pay $199 for a smartphone that’s $599 “off-contract”, the additional cost is rolled in to your 2-year contract monthly payments, whether you can see them or not.
“Here’s how it works: Choose the phone you want and sign up for a month-to-month service plan, it’s as easy as that. The full retail price of the phone will be divided over 24 months and you’ll pay the first month at the time of purchase. If you want to upgrade after 6 months, just pay off 50% of the full retail price of the phone and you can choose a new phone and start all over again.
There are no long-term service contracts, finance charges or upgrade fees with Verizon Edge. Every six months, as long as 50 percent of the cost of the phone has been paid, you can upgrade to the newest basic or smartphone available.” – David Samberg for Verizon
This all comes not long after both Verizon and AT&T pushed their upgrade time requirements to 24 months, one after the other.
Have a read of our looks as T-Mobile “Jump” article for more information on the carrier’s efforts to allow switching of smartphones while their Uncarrier plans lead the way with up-front and clear pricing on the hardware itself, in the first place.
Meanwhile AT&T’s latest efforts include Yearly updates and device trade-ins. T-Mobile quickly responded to AT&T’s announcement of their “Next plan” earlier this week with a declaration that it was “all wrong.” We’ll be expecting something similar from the carrier now that Verizon has revealed something similar.
Verizon Edge brings “flexible equipment payment plan” to battle T-Mobile is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
It’s just a few weeks away: the Verizon HTC One, the smartphone introduced in February and out on carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile in the months that came soon after. Now the Verizon version of the device is headed to market and it would appear – not confirmed 100%, but just as well – that the HTC One will be appearing on big red on the first of August. Will it have been worth the wait, or will it be too late to care?
This device will still come with a 4.7-inch display with the highest pixels-per-inch resolution on the market at 441. That’s 1080p across the slightly-smaller-than-Samsung Galaxy S 4‘s display which rings in at 5-inches. With the same amount of pixels in a smaller area, the HTC One will beat the Galaxy S 4 even though the Samsung device has ben with the carrier for weeks. And the two are doing battle in their Google Play editions, as well.
So you’ve got the HTC One with its UltraPixel camera on its back, its also-impressive 2 megapixel camera on its front, and Verizon under the hood. You’ve got the full HTC Sense experience here as you’ve seen with the original HTC One as well as the HTC One AT&T edition. The AT&T version will give you a bit better an idea of what’s in store for carrier-added apps, too, red instead of blue.
Verizon did not hesitate on this release. Thought it may seem like they only decided to carry the HTC One once the first reviews were in, the DROID DNA still sits with the carrier having nearly run its full life with Verizon per the carrier’s preference in keeping a certain amount of months between releases of a device with the same manufacturer. This means that if Samsung released a Samsung Galaxy S4 “Slightly Better Edition” this week, Verizon still wouldn’t carry the phone until the first Galaxy S 4 had run its course.
While it’s not the same case for the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Note III, you’ll find the number of months between the release of the last Samsung Galaxy Note and this year’s edition to be more than abundant. The Galaxy Note III and the Galaxy S 4 also have a key differentiator that the HTC One and the DROID DNA do not: a digital stylus by the name of S-Pen.
So here we are, more than five months since HTC announced the HTC One, and Verizon will carry the device with its own brand of 4G LTE. Will you pick it up? Or have you moved on?
Verizon HTC One hits August 1st: too late? is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
When you sit down and read the rules involved in the current web of oddities known as smartphone contracts, it’s easy to find surprisingly complex ins and outs. T-Mobile has suggested several times over the past several months that they will be aiming to take an axe to tradition, making way for their own, much more “consumer friendly” rules. Here with what they’re calling “Jump”, T-Mobile says they’ll be turning the upgrade process on its head, allowing consumers to upgrade from their current smartphone to a new phone with the same prices a new customer would pay.
Of course it makes sense – if you’ve got a T-Mobile phone with one of their current new-age plans, you’re not paying a subsidized price for a smartphone. You pay an up-front cost then a monthly cost to pay off the rest of the smartphone. While other carriers include this monthly cost in with the data and voice plans they’re attached to, T-Mobile shows the cost clearly, this cost disappearing once the phone is payed off.
When “Jump” is brought to the market, the obvious becomes true.
Switching from one phone to another with T-Mobile will cost the same as it very well should, sensibly, given the company’s current rule set.
Once you want a new phone, you pay T-Mobile for the phone, the same cost you’d pay if you were a new customer. If you were a new customer, you’d pay X amount then Y per month until the device is paid for in full. With AT&T and Verizon, to give two fine examples, there are two approaches:
Approach 1. A new customer gets the cost of the device as advertised, X amount attached to a 2-year contract with Y cost rolled in on the monthly data cost.
Approach 2. A customer that’s currently inside a 2-year contract, currently under contract as they are, must pay an additional cost to get out of that first contract and into another – the full “unsubsidized” price of the new smartphone, that is.
With T-Mobile there’s also a cost you may want to consider: the cost of the first phone. No matter what you do, once you’ve been locked in with the phone you’re purchasing, you’re still responsible for the full cost of the phone. I
f you’re switching over to a new phone and still intend on only paying T-Mobile for one line of service, the original phone must still be paid for in full. Switching to a new device still means you’re paying the full cost of the phone (though the final cost may be ever-so-slightly different from AT&T or Verizon’s “unsubsidized” price) – so there’s no good reason for T-Mobile to penalize you for wanting to jump in on another purchase, is there?
Also note – this upgrade system only works twice per year, so if you’re planning on upgrading every time you see a new device – think again!
T-Mobile “JUMP” unlimited upgrades and what it means for consumers is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
A United States-wide test of mobile data has been run this year with each of the top mobile service providers under the magnifying glass. This is not the first time PC Mag has run such a test, but as in each successive year, this year’s test has been the most expansive. What they’ve found is
This week at CTIA 2013, Verizon announced a partnership with Latino-centric mobile carrier brand Viva Movil – and they did it with the company’s top shareholder Jennifer Lopez. Speaking about how the Latino population is up at 50 million strong – and growing – Verizon’s own chief operating officer Marni Walden made it clear: this company wants to expand through an exclusive partnership with Viva Movil.
This partnership will be working with one of Verizon’s largest premium retailers Moorehead Communications as well as Brightstar. Walden introduced Jennifer Lopez who represents Viva Movil as a celebrity and a leader in the Latino community – she says – and speaks about statistics and bits and pieces that make it appear that Verizon with Viva Movil will be in the best position possible to address the Spanish-speaking market segment in the near future.
Lopez spoke about an exclusive line of accessories that she’s created herself. At the moment it would appear that this includes iPhone 5 cases – but it’s likely that other devices will be included as well.
“There’s no specific place for Latinos to really, really be catered to, which is why we did this. But anyone can come in and enjoy this.” – Jennifer Lopez, Chief Creative Officer for Viva Movil
The company “Viva Movil, by Jennifer Lopez”, as she called it, will be opening up today online. The first store will be open on June 15 and it’ll be open in New York City. More physical stores will be opening across the USA – 15 in all, for starters, – in places like L.A. and Miami.
Verizon invites Jennifer Lopez on stage for Viva Movil team-up is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
AT&T has begun offering the opportunity to schedule an appointment at any one of their retail locations, similar to the Apple Store’s Genius Bar. Customers will be able to go online on AT&T’s website and schedule an in-store appointment if you’re having problems with your service or if you just have general questions.
The tool looks fairly easy to use, and all you have to do is select the store that you want to make the appointment at, and then select the date and time that you’d like your appointment scheduled for. Then all you have to do is enter in your name, contact information, and the reason for your visit.
The web page also allows you to change your appointment if you already scheduled one, which will definitely be convenient for those who are constantly changing their schedules around on-the-fly. Previously, AT&T relied on a first-come first-serve system, which was a shot in the dark on how long you would be waiting for a representative to help you out.
Most wireless carrier stores rely on the first-come first-service system, but this new scheduling system should definitely move things right a long and make more customers happy at the same time. We’re not sure whether or not AT&T is moving full-time to the new scheduling system, but we’re guessing customers will still be able to walk in to a store without scheduling an appointment and take their chances.
AT&T rolls out new online scheduling tool for in-store appointments is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
The FCC has announced that ahead of yesterday’s deadline, carriers have instituted an alert system that will give subscribers a heads up when they’re nearing what will be a large bill. This follows many stories about unsuspecting consumers who have gone about their daily mobile usage, only to be faced with a massive bill at the end of the month for exceeding their limits.
Says the Federal Communications Commission, 97-percent of mobile device users in the United States are now covered by the high bill alert system. The remaining 3-percent are using carriers who weren’t part of the voluntary agreement Consumer Code for Wireless Service. That doesn’t mean those carriers won’t send out alerts to their customers, only that they won’t be doing so under the CTIA-sponsored agreement.
Participating carriers include Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, Clearwire, Cellcome, and a few others, all of which provide voice, data, roaming, and text alerts (if applicable). The high bill alerts will be provided free of charge, so users don’t have to worry about the notifications eating into their text limits, for example.
Obviously, the alerts will only be given to those who have a plan where there’s a limitation in place with penalties for going over it, such as a limited number of minutes. Also, alerts will be provided if someone is roaming and doesn’t have a roaming package, putting them at risk of higher fees. The alerts are automatically generated and delivered. Those who want more info should head over to the CTIA’s website.
[via FCC]
Carriers will now provide high bill alerts, says FCC is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
While it may not be as big of an acquisition between T-Mobile and MetroPCS, Verizon announced today that its acquisition with regional carrier Mohave Wireless is now complete. The Mohave, Arizona-based wireless carrier (hence the name), is now in the hands of Verizon, and Big Red now has 100% control and ownership of the smaller carrier, buying them from Frontier Communications and Rio Virgin.
The acquisition will expand Verizon’s coverage in northwest Arizona, a region of the US that doesn’t get much coverage in the first place (because, you know, it’s out in the desert). Mohave’s operations cover a population of just over 200,000. 3G data will be available, with Verizon’s blazingly-fast 4G LTE rolling out sometime in the near future.
For the time being, Mohave customers won’t be affected until the Verizon network transformation is complete in early 2014. At that point, Verizon will begin to transfer Mohave customers over the Verizon’s network. Again, this only affects those in northeast Arizona who are currently with Mohave Wireless.
It turns out that Verizon has already invested over $80 billion since the company began to increase the coverage of its network around the US, and it looks like it’s paying off. Big Red has the largest 4G LTE network in the US right now, with 486 markets that have Verizon’s LTE, and it covers almost 90% of the US population, according to Verizon.
Verizon completes acquisition of Mohave Wireless is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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