Hasta La Gadget!

Bad news for all of you Sprint-subscribing, bandwidth-hogging data gluttons out there: The company will soon implement a new $10 monthly data-plan fee for smartphones activated after Jan. 30. And it applies to all Sprint smartphones, including those capable only of using Sprint’s 3G network.

Sprint announced the upcoming change in a press release Tuesday. But in a leaked memo sent to third-party retailers, the company more narrowly defined the types of phones and customers affected by the new fee. It includes “all smartphones operating on the CDMA, iDEN and 4G networks,” where a smartphone is defined as “a device that supports a robust operating system including: Android, BlackBerry, Instinct, Palm and Windows Mobile.”

The $10 premium-data charge currently applies to all HTC EVO 4G, EVO Shift 4G and Samsung Epic 4G smartphones in the Sprint network, so now 3G smartphone users will feel the same financial burn as 4G users, but without being able to access the 4G networks’ faster speeds.

For those of you that already have 3G phones on the Sprint network, fret not (or at least not yet), as you won’t be dinged with the new charge unless you either upgrade your existing smartphone or activate a new smartphone on your existing account. If and when you do decide to upgrade or change your plan, however, even those of you that aren’t packing the latest 4G phones will still have to pony up another $10 bucks a month.

Sprint claims a “wireless data explosion” in smartphone user growth and network popularity have necessitated the company’s fee expansion. Complaints about fees first circulated in June, when Sprint debuted the HTC EVO 4G with a mandatory $10 data fee for 4G. The company’s initial statements made the fee seem a necessary counterpart to 4G access.

Before griping, we should remember that giving Sprint that extra 10 bucks a month gets you unlimited 4G data with no tiered pricing structures for different monthly caps. (Sprint does cap its 3G data plan at 5 GB monthly, however.) That means there are no overage fees for exceeding your monthly data-plan limits, either. AT&T currently offers a tiered system, with a $15 fee for a 200-MB monthly limit, or a $25 fee for a 2-GB monthly cap. AT&T ceased offering an unlimited data plan in June 2010.

Verizon may follow AT&T, but for the time being maintains a $30 monthly unlimited-data-plan option. We may see that change, however, with the company’s recent iPhone 4 deal. Verizon also offers a $15 monthly plan for 150 MB of data.

So, after looking at other pricing models, the $10 monthly option from Sprint doesn’t look half bad. But with Gartner’s report that smartphone sales in the fall of 2010 were up 96 percent over the same period in 2009, we’ll wait and see if Sprint’s pricing model is sustainable.

Photo: Samsung Epic 4G/Samsung

See Also:

• AT&T’s Data Limits Rein In Cloud-Based Media Services
• Verizon to End Unlimited-Data Party
• Samsung Launches 4G Phone on Sprint

Edited at 8:33 a.m. for a clarification on iPhone network capability

Perhaps Samsung’s Vibrant 4G won’t be tied to Froyo, after all. Although the initial leak suggested Android 2.2, Boy Genius Report’s managed to obtain what it suggests is an in-the-wild shot with a lock screen that looks remarkably reminiscent of the aesthetic touches from Android 2.3 Gingerbread. No TouchWiz UI here, but word on the street (i.e. from its source) is Sammy’s hard at work to remedy that disconnect and make the skin jibe with the new version. And if that’s not enough, TmoNews is claiming a leaked document that indicates Vibrant 4G will launch February 23rd. Back to the picture, though: if that timestamp is at all accurate, and this is really just hours fresh, perhaps that lucky right-handed gent can snap a few more convincing shots while it charges.

Update: As a number of readers have pointed out, there’s some odd discrepancies between this image and the Gingerbread lock screen we all know, chief among them the inclusion of AM / PM in the top bar (that option doesn’t exist in actual 2.3. we just checked to be sure). Brief Mobile’s got a more nuanced breakdown, but the point is, this looks to be either a half-baked ROM or the work of a certain Robin Goodfellow.

Samsung Vibrant 4G for T-Mobile in the wild? (Update) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now that AMD’s Fusion is finally real, we’re all sorts of excited to see what kind of numbers the E-350 Zacate APU puts up in honest-to-goodness machines like Fujitsu’s latest. The minty fresh Lifebook PH50/C is just one of the many new lappies unveiled this week by the company, but this particular 11.6-incher has managed to grab our heartstrings and not let go. Boasting a cute, albeit familiar design, the PH50/C is equipped with a 1.6GHz E-350 APU, Radeon HD 6310 graphics, 2GB of memory, a 500GB hard drive, Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) and a 5,800mAh battery good for up to seven hours of life in ideal conditions. For those more interested in Intel’s Sandy Bridge, the like-minded PH74/C gets powered by a Core i3-2310M, and given that it’s a Japanese machine designed for Japanese owners, an in-built WiMAX module is thrown in for good measure. We’re also getting the impression that both of these can be ordered up with Intel’s Wireless Display technology, and considering that Buffalo just introduced a new WiDi adapter for this very market, we’d say things have lined up quite nicely. Pricing remains up in the air, but they should be out in Q1 for under $800 or so.

Fujitsu launches 11.6-inch Lifebook PH50/C, complete with AMD Fusion APU originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 19:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Want some help with your newfound choice of iPhone carrier? Let T-Mobile break it down for you in an entirely unbiased and dispassionate fashion. The pink carrier’s latest hit piece commercial highlights the fact that, whether on Verizon or AT&T, the iPhone only has recourse to 3G connectivity, painting the two carriers as a pair of grey suits distinguishable only by the color of their ties. It’s a cute way to promote your own 4G network, sure, but it conveniently disregards the fact that Verizon’s enriching its LTE (Lightning! Thunder! Electric!) network with some true superphones while AT&T is similarly committed to a 2011 LTE rollout. So, really, the only thing under critique here is Apple’s rapidly aging 3G wonder. Skip the break to see the video ad.

Continue reading AT&T and Verizon are the same bag of 3G hurt for iPhone owners, says T-Mobile (video)

AT&T and Verizon are the same bag of 3G hurt for iPhone owners, says T-Mobile (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 21:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A picture of Samsung's first generation Vibrant, released during the Summer of 2010

Pictures of what look to be leaked press promotional materials of a new Samsung Android-based smartphone have been circulating the web this morning. If they’re the real deal, it could mean that last year’s Samsung Vibrant will soon have a 4G brother.

The mystery device highlighted in the leaked materials is aptly named the Samsung Vibrant 4G, according to pictures acquired by mobile blog TmoNews. From the looks of it, the hardware specs line up with the first-generation, 3G Vibrant (shown above): 1GHz processor, 4-inch super AMOLED screen, 16GB SD card storage (upgradable to 32GB), all the bells and whistles of the non-4G predecessor.

To keep it from being a complete rehash of last year’s model with 4G tacked on to the end, the new Vibrant does seem to have a few new upgrades. First, there’s the addition of a front-facing camera (pixel resolution not yet specified), a feature that seems to be about par for the course in the coming generation of smartphones we saw at CES last week. While it’s playing catch-up with the iPhone 4, we think it’ll soon be a standard for higher-end smartphones in the industry.

Another perk: The new Vibrant will supposedly run an upgraded version of Android, version 2.2 ‘Froyo,’ rather than the 2.1 ‘Eclair’ of last year’s model. (Though it’s still no version 2.3 ‘Gingerbread,’ the most recent release.)

What T-Mobile really seems to be hyping, according to TmoNews’ photos, is the phone’s claimed increase in speed. The Vibram 4G would run on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network, which T-Mobile spokesperson Erica Gordon says is capable of “theoretical peak download speeds of up to 21 Mbps.” Depending on the city you live in, what you’ll probably get is something closer to what independent test groups have found, somewhere in the area of 4 to 5.5 Mbps down and 1 to 2Mbps up.

T-Mobile offered no comment to specific questions about the rumored device, and Samsung followed suit.

If the phone does indeed exist, T-Mobile and Samsung are most likely betting it will do as well as its predecessors in the Galaxy S series of smartphones. We’ll continue to report on news of the Vibrant 4G as it breaks.

See Also:

• Samsung Vibrant Looks Like an iPhone, Has Battery Life to Match
• First Look: Samsung Vibrant Rips Off iPhone 3G Design
• Samung
• First Look
• T-Mobile, Garmin Announce New Android Phone

Photo: Samsung Vibrant (Stefan Armijo/Wired.com)