T-Mobile keeping Even More Plus around, but not online
Remember how we said yesterday a customer service rep told us T-Mobile was in the process of "sneaking away" its discounted, no-contract Even More Plus plans for full-price hardware ? So yeah, the good news is that the plans apparently aren't going away -- but the bad news is that the carrier is trying to make them a little harder to get to
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: annual-contract, breakingnews, contract, customers, existing, its-discounted, mobile, news, omega1202-notes, plans, rep, result, said-yesterday, user
T-Mobile customers being mistakenly shipped Micro SIMs, just begging to get shoved into iPhones
You've got to admit, this is a little weird: we've received a number of tips today about T-Mobile USA customers being shipped Micro SIMs rather than the typical Mini SIMs. We've gotten a picture of just such a module (see above), and you can plainly see it's not a hybrid -- it can't be snapped out as a Mini SIM, meaning that unless you've got an adapter lying around, you need to head into the store to get it swapped out for the right kind. The only consumer devices out there in any measurable quantity right now that make use of Micro SIMs are, of course, the iPad and iPhone 4 -- and when you pair this up with the fact that T-Mobile stores are starting to sell iPhone cables right now, the situation is starting to get wacky.
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: apple, customers, either-the-ipad, entry, ipad, Sim, sims, situation, theory, usa
US Cellular rolls out $70 Primary Plus plan for smartphones
Targeting "customers making their first foray into the smartphone frenzy," regional carrier US Cellular has put together a new data-focused, all-inclusive plan called "Primary Plus" that should meet the needs of a pretty wide swath of its subscriber base. The $69.99 package bundles 450 voice minutes, unlimited messaging, and 5GB of data, which compares to roughly $90 for a comparable package on Verizon -- granted, you get unlimited data for that price on Big Red, but for most folks, we suspect 5GB of non-tethering data is as good as unlimited.
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: calls, comparable, customers, engadget-mobile, entry, mobile, swath, weekends
Peek experiences permanent outage for older devices, vows to replace with free Peek 9
Thinking of upgrading your Peek or Peek Pronto to a shiny new Peek 9 ? You may no longer have a choice -- following an epic fail when migrating to a new network provider, loads of older devices were reportedly fried. Normally consumer outrage would run rampant at this news, but Peek CEO Amol Sarva has a plan -- he's offering brand-new Peek 9s to existing customers, free of charge
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: amol sarva, brick, customers, customerservice, difficult, existing, experiences, outage, outrage, peek 9, peek classic, rep, sky
Boost Mobile announces ‘Shrinkage’ plans, cost goes down over time
Loyalty has its benefits, and that's certainly true in the wireless industry; though carriers don't always advertise it, it's not uncommon for longtime customers to get lower upgrade prices and early availability on hardware -- not to mention sweet, succulent grandfathered plans. To that end, Boost Mobile is introducing its questionably-named line of "Shrinkage" plans that will reduce your plan pricing by $5 a month for every six months of on-time payments
Categories: BlackBerry, Mobile Phone Tags: black, BlackBerry, Boost, Boostmobile, customers, entry, existing, result, shrinkage, time
T-Mobile G2 now shipping to some pre-orderers
You can't grab one of these bad boys from your local store just yet -- you'll have to wait until early October for that -- but some current T-Mobile customers who'd pre-ordered the G2 (including our own Myriam Joire) are reporting that their devices have shipped.
Categories: Android, htc, Mobile Phone Tags: boys, customers, engadget, myriam-joire, pre-order, qwerty, slider, these-showing, threads, thumbs-oiled
Study: we’re keeping our mobiles longer, despite sinking prices
Had your current cellphone for the better part of the this century? Turns out you aren't the only one -- according to new research gathered by J.D.
Categories: htc, Mobile Phone Tags: after-the-break, cellphone, customers, existing, fees, industry, length, lte, mobile, phone, report, smartphone, traditional
Clearwire’s San Francisco WiMAX launch was a bureaucratic nightmare
It seems awfully odd that San Francisco -- you know, San Francisco , part of America's technology nexus -- had been left out in the 4G cold for so long while over 70 other networks have been brought live in Clearwire's WiMAX footprint. Well, turns out there's a good reason...
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: antenna, appeal, clearwire, customers, future, other-networks, planning, planningcommission, Reason, tremblor, wimax
Samsung Galaxy S keeps up global offensive with three Chinese launches
Samsung's done an admirable job of pushing its Galaxy S line far and wide already, but when you enter the Chinese market -- a market with a billion wireless customers -- you're potentially taking things to a whole new level. Sammy has crafted HSPA, EV-DO, and TD-SCDMA versions of its high-end Android phone for China Unicom , China Telecom , and juggernaut China Mobile , respectively, all offering the same 4-inch Super AMOLED display seen elsewhere around the world. The Telecom model launches first -- this month, in fact -- but all three versions will be available before the end of the year.
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone Tags: admirable, before-the-end, china, chinatelecom, chinaunicom, customers, galaxy, galaxys, Job, juggernaut, mobile, samsung, td-scdma, wireless
Orange HD Voice service and handsets go live in the UK, we go ears-on (video)
Good news for UK mobile addicts: Orange's long-anticipated HD Voice service has officially made it to the Land of Hope and Glory. Starting today, British customers can pick up a HD Voice-enabled handset -- including the Nokia 5230 , X6 , E5 and Samsung Omnia Pro at launch -- from Orange, and start buttering their ears with "crystal clear" phone calls while within the carrier's 3G coverage. Prior to the launch, we were fortunate enough to try out the new service on a couple of Nokia E5 prototypes, and boy, that was some pretty impressive stuff there -- the wider speech bandwidth really added a lot of clarity to the caller's voice, and additionally, the noisy traffic from the caller's end was well suppressed at where it'd otherwise crackle over a normal call.
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: british, Carrier, customers, disappointing, engadget, glory-starting, hd-voice, Mobile Phone, nokia, nokia e5, orange, voice