Hasta La Gadget!

We were pretty sure Acer’s Iconia Tab would be riding Big Red — you know, given the LTE modem and Verizon apps on board — but it looks like the company will also support America’s GSM juggernaut with a “4G” radio of some sort. AT&T just announced that the Acer Iconia Tab A501 will bring the 10.1-inch Honeycomb form factor and dual-core 1GHz Tegra 250 processor to its network sometime in Q2, giving the carrier a Android rival to Sprint’s HTC EVO View 4G, T-Mobile’s LG G-Slate, and of course Verizon’s Motorola Xoom. How many Benjamins will it take to bring one home? Now that, my friends, is the question. You can join us in failing to find the answer in a press release below.

Continue reading AT&T nabs Acer Iconia Tab A501, expect it in the summer months

AT&T nabs Acer Iconia Tab A501, expect it in the summer months originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

The Thunderbolt 4G is the first honest-to-goodness 4G phone on Verizon, the first LTE smartphone you can buy in the US. In other words, it’s the fastest phone—connection-wise—that you can buy right now. And holy crap, is it fast. More »

Ofcom, the UK version of the FCC, is currently sitting on two fat bands of prime 4G spectrum, at 800MHz and 2.6GHz, but it won’t be doing so for long. This morning has seen an announcement from the independent regulator that it’s looking to sell off those airwaves to the highest bidder, as early as 2012, pending the conclusion of a consultation on how to ensure the auction helps promote, rather than stifle, competiton. The 800MHz band comes directly from spectrum freed up by the country’s transition to digital television, and together with the 2.6GHz is equivalent to three quarters of all the mobile spectrum the UK uses today. The usual suspects of O2, Vodafone and Everything Everywhere will be vying for prime position in the next wave of superspeedy internet … we just wonder how 3G-centric network Three will react to the news.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading UK 4G spectrum set to be auctioned off next year

UK 4G spectrum set to be auctioned off next year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Ofcom  | Email this | Comments

Ready for some serious Sidekick 4G news? We thought so. First up, we’ve finally got the official pricing details from T-Mobile. That’s right, come this spring the revived Sidekick will be hitting the likely-to-be-acquired carrier for $99.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate and two-year contract with unlimited data — those that opt for the two-year contract but go with a lower-end data plan will have to pay $149.99 for the Android 2.2 handset. Sure, the pricing doesn’t sound all that shabby, but how’s the actual phone? There was no stopping us from getting our hands all over the first ever touchscreen-equipped Sidekick here at CTIA Wireless — hit the break for our impressions and a hands-on video.

Continue reading T-Mobile Sidekick 4G by Samsung priced at $99.99 with a two-year contract, we go hands-on

T-Mobile Sidekick 4G by Samsung priced at $99.99 with a two-year contract, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 01:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

We’d been excited to use our HTC Thunderbolts as integral parts of our show setup here at CTIA this week — only thing is, the mobile hotspot capability is kind of important if we’re going to make that happen. On one occasion while reviewing the device last week, we noticed that the phone’s radio was cycling between LTE and CDMA-only coverage, dropping the data connection to the tethered devices altogether each and every time, effectively rendering the hotspot capability useless — thing is, we only saw it happen once. Well, this week at the show, we’ve got two Thunderbolts on hand and they’re both exhibiting exactly the same behavior… and they’re doing it consistently, which sadly means there’ll be no LTE for us at this week’s festivities. A quick check of Verizon’s official support forums confirms that other users are seeing the same behavior, so it seems to be a real problem; we’ll let you know when we hear more. In the meantime, follow the break for a video demo of the issue.

Continue reading Is your Thunderbolt having LTE mobile hotspot problems?

Is your Thunderbolt having LTE mobile hotspot problems? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments