Hasta La Gadget!

CTIA 2013 seems to be dedicated to some of the lesser-known names in the US wireless industry, so it’s fit that Chinese manufacturer Coolpad should take advantage of the situation to steal the show. Indeed, we were able to take a look at the phone maker’s upcoming stateside model, the lower-end Quattro II 4G. In the past year, its predecessor cranked out roughly a million units on MetroPCS, and Coolpad is hoping to build upon that success to get a foothold in the US. This sequel, which offers stock Android 4.1.2 with a 4.5-inch qHD TFT display, 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8930 chip, 5MP rear camera and VGA front-facing cam, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal storage and a 1,800mAh battery, isn’t going to satisfy the tastebuds of power users or high-end flagship seekers, but it’s a quality option for those who aren’t planning to spend a ton of money on a decent handset. Given the intended audience, the device is perfectly solid with reasonable performance; we appreciated the company’s use of a textured back cover. One nitpick: despite our best efforts to get rid of fingerprints, smudges remained with no hope of removal in sight.

Coolpad wasn’t able to give many details on pricing or availability, but reps confirmed that it should arrive on C Spire in late June / early July, with it likely hitting other regional prepaid carriers after. Given the original Quattro’s $80 price point on MetroPCS last year, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the next-gen version offered for around the same cost. The company’s still working to expand its presence on some of the larger networks, but it hopes to make its debut in the postpaid world early next year.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Sick of that spotty (read: non-existent) cell coverage 1,000 miles off the coast of Alaska? This time, you can’t blame AT&T. There is an option for getting connected, though, and it’s not quite as pricey as you think. Spot, a subsidiary of satellite communications giant Globalstar, recently announced its new Global Phone, a fairly basic lightweight handset that supports phone calls, SMS and compressed data at speeds of up to 28 kbps for $499. Usage fees are also fairly reasonable, with plans ranging from 10 minutes per month for $25 to unlimited calling for $150, plus a $50 activation fee. There’s also an 80-minute plan for $40, 200 minutes for $65 or 400 minutes for $100 with monthly billing. The device itself sports four hours of talk time or 36 hours of standby, and provides direct access to GEOS International Emergency Response Coordination Center when you dial 911. The Global Phone is available now through a variety of retailers, including Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s and REI.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Source: Spot

Will video Hangouts launch when you’re on AT&T’s 3G network? Can you FaceTime with a friend over LTE? The carrier’s current video chat support is confusing at best. Following Google’s Hangouts app launch last week, we attempted to try out the Android version over AT&T’s HSPA network. After hitting connect, a message popped up instructing us to hop over to WiFi in order to complete the call. The carrier followed up by suggesting that Google was to blame — as the software was a replacement for a native Android app, it was up to Mountain View to flip the switch. Now, by the end of this year, AT&T has pledged to support all video chat apps, regardless of which device you own, what you pay in fees or whether or not you downloaded the app yourself. This is good news, no doubt. You can catch AT&T’s statement just below.

For video chat apps that come pre-loaded on devices, we currently give all OS and device makers the ability for those apps to work over cellular for our customers who are on Mobile Share or Tiered plans. Apple, Samsung and Blackberry have chosen to enable this for their pre-loaded video chat apps. And by mid-June, we’ll have enabled those apps over cellular for our unlimited plan customers who have LTE devices from those three manufacturers.

Throughout the second half of this year, we plan to enable pre-loaded video chat apps over cellular for all our customers, regardless of data plan or device; that work is expected to be complete by yearend.

Today, all of our customers can use any mobile video chat app that they download from the Internet, such as Skype.

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

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Via: The Verge

Europe may be enjoying deeper and deeper integration, but that doesn’t extend to mobile connectivity; citizens are still whacked with hefty roaming rates. European digital commissioner Neelie Kroes hopes to change this, telling business leaders that she’s planning to push through a single mobile telecoms market before she retires in 2015. Speaking at the European Business Summit, she said she had “no intention to retire until [she’d] knocked down all the barriers to a single market,” which was her “major priority” for the rest of her term. Hopefully those on that side of the pond will never again have to fork over $8 per day just to check Vine.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Source: EUObserver

A checkerboard-style glitter pattern with a white background? Yes, please. We’ve always been impressed by the elegant look and feel of LG’s Nexus 4, announced alongside Android 4.2 last October, and now Google is making an ivory version of the device available to (hopefully) the masses. The twist: it still hasn’t been officially announced, despite the fact that a conference like I/O would be the perfect time and place to do so. While Google chose not to take advantage of the situation to show the unicorn Nexus to the world, real-life units have been discovered floating around Moscone West. Androidandme‘s Taylor Wimberly happened upon one of them at the show and was gracious enough to give us a brief moment or two with the device.

There isn’t any surprise associated with this particular beaut, as it’s packing the same design and specs as we’ve already seen in the original black model (sorry, LTE hopefuls). The pattern on the back actually doesn’t stand out as much as it does on the black version, as it happens to blend in with the white a little more. We also noticed the same set of tiny nubs on the bottom that mysteriously appeared on the black version a few months ago. Lastly, the white Nexus is rumored to be the first device with Android 4.3 when it officially launches, but this particular version we saw only sports 4.2.1. There’s not much else for us to write about the new color, but let’s face it — you’re here for the pictures, which you can gaze upon below.

Myriam Joire contributed to this post.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Google, LG

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