Well, this is sad: despite a successful Indiegogo campaign which saw the company pass its funding goal in mere hours, Yota Devices just announced that the “two fronts” YotaPhone 2 with its secondary always-on ePaper display won’t be coming to North American shores. The Verge first reported on this news.
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T-Mobile has today released minor updates for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge this morning, including some improvements for battery life. Both phones received Android 5.1.1 fairly recently, and now, the “Uncarrier” is releasing a couple of bug fixers. The S6 update notes battery improvements and “various bug fixes and device improvements” for the Galaxy S6, and the S6 Edge adds a “cocktailbar error fix”…
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T-Mobile today has announced a new communication platform called Advanced Messaging. The service is based on the Rich Communications Services standard and is first supported on the previously announced Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime and will rollout out to nearly a dozen more devices as 2015 progresses…
T-Mobile and its main prepaid brand, MetroPCS, had some exciting news to share with us this morning. Of most importance to us Android fans is the arrival of yet more promising options for those on a tight budget. From July 22nd, T-Mobile will start selling the HTC Desire 626s, Samsung Galaxy Core Prime and Galaxy Core Prime. MetroPCS will also be offering the 626s and Grand Prime, but won’t launch the HTC until August 3rd, while the Core Prime was made available on July 13 (Monday just gone)…
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T-Mobile’s Uncarrier Amped moves are still going strong. Just days after announcing its cross-border ‘Mobile Without Borders’ plan, the magenta carrier has unveiled a brand new family plan.
With the new plan, two customers can get 10GB per line for $100 per month. Each additional line is then $20 per person, each with 10GB data allowance. As a special offer, T-Mobile is also giving customers a fourth line for free. Between now and Labor day, customers will be able to sign up to four lines with 10GB data on each, for $120 per month.
T-Mobile’s mission to change the entire U.S. wireless industry took another step forward this morning. In an Uncarrier Amped move dubbed ‘Mobile without Borders‘, T-Mobile announced that it will offer its American customers free telephone call roaming to and from Mexico and Canada. For the first time, it will also include free 4G LTE data. Postpaid, prepaid and business customers will be able to make use of it from Wednesday, July 15th. It’s a killer move, and effectively erases the virtual borders between the U.S. and its neighboring countries.
Unlike the current Simple Global feature, when a T-Mo subscriber crosses the Mexican or Canadian borders, they won’t be reduced down to EDGE speeds. They retain 4G LTE connectivity seamlessly, providing there is LTE coverage in that area. T-Mo partnered with carriers in those two countries to pull this move off. There’s only one small asterisk — the feature is being offered in specific cities within Canada and Mexico — as discussed below…
T-Mobile is upgrading its Jump plan introduced two years ago to allow subscribers to move to new smartphones more frequently than before. The new Jump On Demand option lets you lease a smartphone for a small monthly fee, then trade it in for a new smartphone up to three times per year at no additional cost.
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German Manager Magazine (via Reuters) reports today that Deutsche Telekom is in talks with Comcast and others to sell T-Mobile US. Sources say that these potential buyers include satellite TV provider Dish (as corroborated by Reuters), but Comcast is seen as the most attractive option from the point of view of the German telecom, due to its financial strength and ability to buy T-Mobile’s shares in whole:
Deutsche Telekom is in talks with U.S. cable company Comcast about a potential sale of T-Mobile US, German Manager Magazin reported on Wednesday, citing sources.
Deutsche Telekom is in talks with several parties, including satellite provider Dish, according to the magazine, but Comcast is viewed as a more attractive buyer by the German telecoms provider’s management.
Comcast would be a better candidate as it is financially stronger and would be able to make an offer to buy all shares in T-Mobile US, Manager Magazine reported.
As reported by Bloomberg, T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom shares rose slightly following the news:
T-Mobile shares rose as much as 3 percent in early trading, before the U.S. markets opened. Deutsche Telekom traded 1.8 percent higher at 15.31 euros at 1:44 p.m. in Frankfurt. T-Mobile, which is the fourth-largest U.S. mobile-phone company and is about 66 percent owned by Deutsche Telekom, has a market value of $31.5 billion.
A conflicting report has since surfaced, thanks to a “Comcast source” for ArsTechnica. According to the person familiar with Comcast’s thinking, the company isn’t actually interested in buying T-Mobile. As of yet, no official statement has been made by Comcast or T-Mobile, but Deutsche Telekom has said that it “does not comment on rumors and speculation.”
Thanks to a Reddit user in /r/MotoX who posted the image above, we’re now pretty sure that Android 5.1 Lollipop is rolling out OTA to owners of the Moto X Pure Edition.
Multiple users have entered the thread to confirm that the update has been hitting their 2014 Pure Edition devices this morning, mostly owners on T-Mobile.
This update comes shortly after 5.1 began rolling out to Moto X (2nd gen) and Moto E LTE users on U.S. Cellular. Unlike that rollout, we haven’t heard much from Motorola Senior Director of Software Development David Schuster on whether or not this rollout to the bloatware-free variant of the Moto X is wide or happening in some sort of soak test, but it seems like at the very least T-Mobile has green-lighted the update.
One user has also already posted the OTA link here which you can download and then install using our guide.
The well-reviewed (click here for our review) and hotly anticipated LG G4 is almost here for most major carriers here in the United States, but the exact date when you can pre-order the phone along with its launch date, pricing, and customization options vary across all of them. We’ve covered the announcements on this information from each carrier as they’ve trickled in, but thought it’d be helpful to collect everything we’ve got as of now into one post.
Update: According to a post in the /r/Android subreddit, customers who have purchased a 32GB Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge from T-Mobile in the past 14-60 days also have some special opportunities through the end of today. If you purchased your device less than 14 days ago, you can visit tmobile.com/promotions and enter the promo code MEMGS6 along with the phone number associated with your line and account PIN number to receive a free upgrade to the 64GB model upon approval. Those who purchased their device more than 14 days ago but less than 60 can go through the same process to receive a $50 rebate. This is the last day of the promotion so get on it!
Memorial Day is coming up this weekend and T-Mobile is celebrating the occasion with a sale on Samsung’s in-demand Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge flagship phones. Starting May 23rd and going through the 25th, the third largest carrier is offering the 64GB variants of both smartphones for the same price as their respective 32GB models.
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Update: Either the individual who sent that tweet from before (it was pulled) misspoke or information has changed, because in a press release today T-Mobile officially announced May 27th – so, tomorrow – online availability of the phone with a June 3rd launch in nationwide stores. The carrier in partnership with LG is also throwing in a 128GB SD memory card for free while supplies last, and apparently has an exclusive on the brown leather back plate, so get on it!
LG and T-Mobile have set off on a nationwide tour of the United States to promote the newly announced LG G4, and it appears that this tour has now brought us a firm date for the device’s in-store launch on the country’s third-largest carrier. In a conversation between the Twitter account of LG’s Preview Tour and a prospective customer, LG said the following in response to a question about availability on AT&T:
https://twitter.com/G4Preview/status/598877993717501953
It’s not clear whether the tweet was confirming availability on AT&T or T-Mobile, or both, but considering that the Twitter account is part of a promotional campaign between T-Mobile and LG, we have to assume they’re confirming a launch date for the Magenta network.
All the major U.S. carriers have committed to selling the device—Sprint and US Cellular have pledged to start selling it in June (you can pre-register on Sprint here)—but this is the first time we’ve heard a hard timeline for nationwide availability from any carrier.
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T-Mobile is currently offering the best price around for a new Nexus 6 by dropping $100 off the device’s regular retail price. That means you can pick up the 32GB model for $549 (usually $649), or the 64GB model for $599 (usually $699).
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvQhMIyksHQ]
T-Mobile is hitting back at Verizon’s ‘Never settle’ ad campaign, offering to lend Verizon customers a new smartphone and port their existing number to it for a 14-day trial. If customers prefer T-Mobile’s service, the company will pay off Verizon’s Early Termination Fees up to a maximum of $650.
Any outstanding payments on your phone are also paid off, within the same overall limit, when customers choose to trade in their old phone for a new one on T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plan.
T-Mobile promises you won’t lose out if you choose to stay with Verizon. You always retain your existing phone, the carrier will refund any fees incurred on its own network and will pay any costs for switching back to Verizon.
The offer opens on 13th May, running until the end of the month. Visit t-mobile.com or one of the company’s retail stores between those dates for details. The company introduced crowd-sourced coverage maps back in March.
Carriers have just begun announcing availability of the newly-unveiled LG G4 flagship, and it looks like the device will start hitting the major carriers sometime during the summer. Sprint says the phone will be available in June, while T-Mobile has launched an early-access sweepstakes (but has yet to announce general availability).
We’ll keep this post updated as more carriers announce their plans for the new phone…
Update: Verizon says that the phone is coming “soon.”
https://twitter.com/VZWnews/status/593083505384493057
Update: Sprint too.
Many tech companies are attempting to help victims of the devastating Nepal earthquake this week and the latest is T-Mobile. The carrier announced that it’s making calling and texting Nepal free in order to aid relief efforts:
In the wake of the devastating Nepalese earthquake, many T-Mobile customers are trying to stay in touch with their family and friends in Nepal. T-Mobile is making this easier by waiving and crediting fees for all calls and text messages to and from Nepal from Saturday, April 25 through Saturday, May 16. Calling and texting to and from Nepal without charges applies to all postpaid and prepaid customers of T-Mobile, MetroPCS, GoSmart Mobile and Walmart Family Mobile with international calling.
T-Mobile also notes that its customers can text to various charities to make a donation that will be charged to their mobile bill:
Google and Apple have also launched efforts to aid people in Nepal impacted by the earthquake.
It’s almost time for Google I/O, and that means we’re likely approaching the announcement of the next big version of Android. As usual, though, last year’s major iteration is still just now making its way to plenty of handsets. Today we have word (via Sprint) that its Galaxy S5 should be receiving the update imminently, and T-Mobile representative Des has confirmed (via Twitter) that the update is rolling out to the uncarrier’s LG G3 early next week.
#Lollipop Update: @TMobile #LGG3 software update available on 4/7 for download #uncarrier pic.twitter.com/OOqhTe7VaT
— Des (@askdes) April 2, 2015
Lollipop’s adoption has been pretty abysmal, and only early last month hit 3.3%. It’s been about a month since those numbers were released, however, so we’re probably at or beyond 5% at this point. As of the most recent data, KitKat actually saw an increase up to 40.9 percent up from February’s 39.7 percent. It wouldn’t be surprising if we still see the Material-packed software still hitting devices long into the summer months.
T-Mobile has today unveiled what it hopes will be the next-generation of network maps, breathing new life into the carrier coverage maps of old. T-Mobile says that its new “Next-Gen Network Map” is the industry’s first crowd-sourced map, and reflects “near real-time customer experiences.”
Update: AT&T has now shared their Galaxy S6 preorder details too.
T-Mobile and AT&T are both offering an HTC One M9 presale, but it looks like the un-carrier is also going to offer a similar promotion for Samsung’s Galaxy S6. Starting Friday, March 27 at 7 a.m. PDT you’ll be able to order Samsung’s newest flagship from T-Mobile, and the company says it will be shipping presale orders sometime before the device’s official April 10th launch date.
While the new HTC M9 goes on sale tonight unsubsidized for $650, T-Mobile and AT&T have just announced plans to kick off a presale of the device starting tomorrow for $0 down on their usual financing plans.
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The HTC One M9 goes on sale tonight in the US. We’d love to tell you all about it, but it is currently under embargo and Dom will have an amazing video review when the embargo is eventually over. Sure, lots of publications got to review the almost identical international version, and to sum up those reviews, it isn’t a huge upgrade from the M8. Think tweaked look, more megapixels in the camera, and a slightly toned down Sense overlay.
The device that goes on sale tonight is the GSM version, which is similar to the one that will be sold on AT&T and T-Mobile in the US. It won’t be subsidized by the carriers and will cost $650.
If we were allowed to tell you about it, we’d probably tell you that the heat issues you’ve seen are unfounded. From pictures (above), you can tell it looks very nice in both the popular Gunmetal and Gold/Silver models. It feels less slippery in the hand and is very subtly smaller and lighter than its M8 predecessor (or so we’ve heard).
In general I do recommend buying a phone outright and getting yourself on an inexpensive pre-paid plan. If your carrier starts messing with you, you can easily go to another carrier either with number portability or, Google Voice/Hangouts (my choice).
Even with that in mind, though, should you buy this phone at full price?
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Android 5.1 was officially announced earlier this month, with rollouts gradually occurring for Nexus devices since then. Today, T-Mobile has joined in and started rolling out Android 5.1 to its Nexus 6 variant. The update carries the build number LMY47M and is unique to devices with T-Mobile SIM cards inside.
Today during its latest Un-carrier event, T-Mobile announced new initiatives including brand new plans and pricing for businesses and a promise to all of its customers that it won’t increase prices. It’s also paying off bills for those locked into leasing plans on other carriers if they switch to T-Mobile.
That “Un-contract” guarantee that prices won’t increase goes for all of its Simple Choice plans (including Simple Choice promotional plans) as long as you remain a T-Mobile customer with a qualifying plan. However, the carrier will only offer the guarantee to those with unlimited 4G LTE data for two years. The guarantee will automatically start for all existing customers on March 22nd.
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T-Mobile announced Data Stash back in December, giving postpaid customers 10GB of LTE data free of charge and the ability to roll over their unused data month-to-month for up to a year. As of Sunday March 22nd, prepaid customers will now get to enjoy the same deal.
This month, we’re taking Data Stash even further. I’m happy to announce that, starting Sunday March 22nd, Data Stash will start rolling out to Simple Choice prepaid customers. Every single one of our prepaid voice customers with a qualifying Simple Choice plan will start out with a Starter Stash with up to 10 GB of 4G LTE data. And when that’s all used up, they’ll start rolling forward their unused data for use up to a full year. Automatically… and at no extra charge.
T-Mobile says that the ability to roll over data from month to month has been one of the most requested changes, with 27% of postpaid customers having already dipped into their data stash.
The full text of the press release can be found below.
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