Hasta La Gadget!

J.D. Power, that well known arbiter of human opinion in the United States, has just released its latest study on customer satisfaction with wireless carriers. It addresses such things as (the lack of) dropped calls, failures to connect, voice distortion, echoes, static, and late-arriving text messages, and ultimately churns out a rating out of five stars relative to the regional average and other carriers. In testing done between July and December last year, Verizon had the best or tied for the best satisfaction ratings in five of the six studied areas, while AT&T and Sprint traded blows for second and T-Mobile had to admit defeat as the laggard of the top four. US Cellular managed to score highest in the North Central region, but J.D. Power’s overall assessment isn’t very rosy for any of the carriers — the stats collector says growing smartphone usage, heavy texting and more indoor calls are collectively causing call quality to stagnate, and even warns that “increased adoption of smartphones and wireless tablets may continue to compromise the quality of network service.”

Continue reading J.D. Power: Verizon has best call quality nationwide, T-Mobile consistently below average

J.D. Power: Verizon has best call quality nationwide, T-Mobile consistently below average originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Mar 2011 11:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, we knew T-Mobile was promising an “easy transition” for Sidekick owners once Danger’s long-running cloud service was shut down later this spring, and we now finally have the details on exactly what that transition will entail. According to a letter sent to Sidekick owners and obtained by TmoNews, the carrier will be offering either fifty percent off “select” Samsung phones purchased on a new two-year contract, or a waived early termination fee between March 31st and May 31st for those that prefer to just pack up and go elsewhere. Hit up the source link below to read the complete letter if you haven’t already received one yourself.

T-Mobile offers Sidekick owners half off Samsung phones or waived ETFs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 13:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iFixit tears down Galaxy S 4G, lights a fire for science originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s Galaxy S 4G might not have the very latest version of Android or too much hardware differentiation from the original T-Mobile Vibrant, but hey, it brings a front-facing camera and HSPA+ connectivity, so of course it costs $200. T-Mobile will have disappointed many with its clarification that the Galaxy S 4G will cost a pair of Benjamins on contract, exactly as much as its Samsung-built predecessor did seven months ago, and not as the carrier had originally indicated, $150. Also similar is the fact that T-Mo is launching this phone with an Android build that’s one iteration behind the cutting edge, meaning the Froyo update headaches of last autumn may return in the form of Gingerbread jitters this spring. All the same, if the Magenta team sees fit to chop the Galaxy S 4G’s price the same way it’s been doing with its other Android handsets, we could be in for a fine bargain in the near future.

[Thanks, Matt]

Samsung Galaxy S 4G now available from T-Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 06:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Does that shot up there look just a little bit like T-Mobile’s allegedly shelved Nuron 2? Why yes, it does — so it would seem that the phone has a model code of C5-04, according to the Bluetooth SIG’s certification database. That would make a lot of sense since the rumored Nuron replacement was looking like a rebranded C5-03 already, and Nokia would need to bust out a new model code since T-Mobile’s version would require support for AWS 3G. Question is, does this mean that the phone is back on T-Mobile’s roadmap? It wouldn’t be out of the question for a canned device to continue its zombie-esque stroll through the world’s certification bodies — but this could also mean the carrier still wants to get this done; Nokia doesn’t have Windows Phone gear ready quite yet, after all.

Nokia C5-04 with T-Mobile branding gets Bluetooth certified: is the Nuron 2 still on? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 09:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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