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MetroPCS may be top contender for AT&T’s post-acquisition assets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple will be expanding its iPhone 4S availability to another U.S. carrier in the next few weeks. No, it’s not T-Mobile, but rather C Spire Wireless, a small, regional carrier that’s popular in Mississippi and pockets of the Southeast. It’s hard to resist that Southern charm.

C Spire, which runs a CDMA-based network like Verizon and Sprint, will begin selling the iPhone 4S “in the coming weeks.” C Spire hasn’t released many details about the announcement, but Jim Richmond, director of corporate communications, said that interested consumers can sign up on the C Spire website to find out more information as it becomes available.

The C Spire announcement comes as a surprise to most Apple enthusiasts, as C Spire isn’t as well known as other national carriers, such as T-Mobile, or even Cricket Wireless. But maybe all the surprise stems from a likelihood that most Apple watchers are concentrated in large, metropolitan markets.

“C Spire offers Apple access to a region typically neglected by the larger carriers and provides the potential for additional growth away from the urban centers Apple already dominates,” John Feland, CEO of analytics firm Argus Insights, says.

Another reason so few people have heard of C Spire Wireless: The company used to be known as Cellular South. The privately held regional carrier primarily has store locations in Mississippi, along with a few locations in neighboring regions of Alabama, Tennessee and Florida.

The iPhone 4S originally launched on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint on Friday, Oct. 14. The handset promises to be a big money maker for carrier partners, and has already sold more than 4 million units in its first weekend alone. In the past, the iPhone was exclusive to AT&T, and then Verizon began supporting the iPhone 4 in January of this year.

Given lowered price points for the iPhone 3GS and 4, it’s clear that Apple is trying to branch out and make its smartphone accessible to more customers. The majority of cellphone owners aren’t yet smartphone owners, whether due to tight personal budgets, network coverage issues, or because they feel they don’t need smartphone features. But partnering with a carrier in an under-served area where smartphones don’t yet rule the roost could provide Apple with a large number of potential new adopters.

Indeed, the location of C Spire’s customer base offers a number of benefits for Apple that may not be immediately obvious. First, Southerners are typically regarded late technology adopters, says Feland (and as a Texas native who spent several years in Tennessee and Mississippi, I can attest to this as well). This means C Spire has strong potential in converting “feature phone” users to iPhone users. What’s more, thanks to an improved broadband infrastructure and the exploding popularity of social media platforms like Facebook, technology-averse Southern customers might now be more easily swayed to purchase an iPhone, confident that (a) they’ll actually have reliable network service, and (b) they’ll have something really fun to do with their new devices.

But what of T-Mobile? Well, it’s a large national carrier, but already has a presence in the same places as AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. Because of this, “there are marginal additional unit sales available” for Apple to leverage, says Feland. And, of course, adding a heavyweight like T-Mobile to the mix could anger Apple’s existing iPhone partners. Working with C Spire, the nation’s 8th largest carrier, meanwhile, shouldn’t give anyone much of a scare.

“C Spire’s strong regional presence offers Apple more bang for their buck as they continue to push off an iPhone in every hand and an iPad in every home,” says Feland. “The Southern market is ripe for Apple’s picking.”

Whether C Spire will sell the iPhone 3GS or 4 isn’t yet known. Nor are the carrier’s pricing plans. However, C Spire could potentially offer unlimited data, as the company has an “80/40 plan” that offers unlimited minutes, data and messaging for $80 per month for the first line on a plan, and a mere $40 for additional lines. Currently, Sprint is the only carrier that offers an unlimited data plan for iPhone 4S owners.

Updated 3:38 P.M. with information from C Spire.

If you’re of the ilk who vehemently hates contracts, yet adores T-Mobile, read on. Alongside its existing pay-as-you go plans, Little Magenta has introduced a new $60 choice, offering unlimited minutes, texting and data — though the latter is throttled after consuming 2GB. If a month of commitment is too rich for your blood, how about about one of three new “pay by the day” plans? The priciest option’s three bucks for all the minutes and texts you could ever want and 200MB of data at full speed. A dollar less still gets you unlimited talk time and texts, but slows that all you can eat data buffet down to 2G speeds. True cheapskates (or those who only communicate via the written word) will love the dollar daily plan, which grants boundless texting, but dispenses the data altogether and runs ten cents per minute for phone calls. If any of that’s up your alley, head on over to the source for more.

T-Mobile adds new daily and monthly plans for true commitment phobes originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 06:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We 21st century humans are busy creatures. Bombarded by a constant stream of data flowing into our smartphones, we struggle to respond to text messages, tweets and e-mails in a timely fashion. But LG’s latest smartphone, exclusive to T-Mobile, may provide a solution.

Dubbed the DoublePlay, the handset boasts a 3.5-inch touchscreen display for viewing content, and a slide-out qwerty keyboard that should appeal to the dwindling numbers of BlackBerry faithfuls among us. And, in a strange twist of industrial design, the DoublePlay also comes with another 2-inch touchscreen that splits the keyboard in twain, and serves as a second app dock for fast task-switching.

At first glance, the second screen seems like sheer novelty. T-Mobile pitches the dubious idea that the additional screen is perfect for the world of “fast-paced social networking.” I can’t say I’ve ever been struck with such an urgency to tweet that I’ve required a second screen to do so, but perhaps my wit isn’t as sharp as yours.

Nonetheless, the DoublePlay allows instant access to up to eight apps docked on the second screen, eliminating the need to mash the home button over and over to access your app menu. It’s a nifty time-saver for those obsessed with multitasking, and even the non-obsessive tweeters and texters among us should find the second screen helpful.

Android device manufacturers are scrambling to differentiate themselves from one another in today’s extremely crowded mobile market. Some companies are attempting to carve out identity by adding more screen real estate, and, to this extent, the DoublePlay is akin to Kyocera’s take on an Android handset from earlier this year, as well as Sony’s unreleased clamshell tablet, the S2.

In addition to the 2-inch touchscreen, the DoublePlay boasts a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor running Gingerbread, the latest version of Android (hopefully it will be upgradable to the forthcoming Ice Cream Sandwich OS release). The phone also sports what looks on paper to be a decent camera: 5 megapixels with support for 720p HD video capture.

T-Mobile is also boosting its group and cloud text messaging services, which now essentially let you text multiple contacts across different platforms. So, for example, if one buddy is working from his PC while another is on a tablet, you’ll be able to text both friends from your phone. For better or worse, T-Mobile is essentially taking apps like Pinger and Google Voice’s texting capabilities and replacing them with its own, carrier-branded versions.

We don’t yet know the Doubletake’s price or release date, but it’ll be available in time for the holidays.

Photo courtesy of LG

Where have all the split-keyboard phones gone? It’s been roughly six years since the days of the Nokia E70, a messaging device with an innovative form factor, but handsets with a similar mold have become extreme rarities in the market — if they even make it to the market at all (remember the MotoSplit?). LG’s hoping to gain some ground in this area by officially announcing the DoublePlay, a unique Android 2.3 handset with dual touchscreens and split QWERTY. Here’s the scoop: the DoublePlay’s powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU and offers a 5MP rear-facing camera capable of capturing 720p HD video. Where it gets interesting, however, is in the DoublePlay’s design — it uses a 3.5-inch display on top, sliding out to reveal a 2-inch internal screen sandwiched in between both halves of the keyboard. As it turns out, both screens can be used separately or in tandem with each other, depending on your needs. No pricing or availability was specifically announced, but the presser appears to coincide with the 2011 National Texting Championship beginning October 26th, so the phone will likely launch around the same time. Perhaps we have a device here that’ll be a legend in another seven years?

Continue reading LG DoublePlay makes its official intro on T-Mobile, offers dual-screens and split keyboard

LG DoublePlay makes its official intro on T-Mobile, offers dual-screens and split keyboard originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Oct 2011 01:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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