So, I have a bit of a story to tell... I preordered my Galaxy Nexus in early November of last year and received it in early December. My previous phone was an iPhone 4, and after a harrowing 30 minutes trying to get my microSIM + adapter unjammed from the SIM card slot in the Galaxy Nexus, I realized I had to head to my local AT&T store. I had a normal experience - walked in, told them I needed to activate a new device and needed a new SIM card, and it was all pretty efficient (minus the...
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AT&T announced that they won't be acquiring T-Mobile due to antitrust concerns. Crazy! Because of this breakup, T-Mobile will get $4 billion in cash. Not too shabby.
AT&T users: Does this hinder AT&Ts plan for building an LTE network? T-Mobile users: I imagine you're feeling pretty good right now!
So it's CTIA Enterprise & Applications this week in San Diego, and that means plenty of gadget announcements, including cell phones (where's our Nexus Prime?). AT&T just announced five Android phones to be released this fall, check them out (and add them to your want list) here on gdgt:
The folks over at Wired have gotten their hands on an interesting Department of Justice document from August 2010 called "Retention Periods of Major Cellular Service Providers" that details how long they hold onto your data: this includes subscriber info, cell and text message details, IP sessions, and so on. Wired has helpfully created some easy-to-read infographics to lay it all out: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/09/cellular-customer-data/ As a T-Mobile customer it concerns me that they...
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Big news today for those who've been against the pending AT&T-Mobile merger. The U.S. government has stepped in and sued to stop the merger from going through. The believe such a merger would have significant implications on competition in the mobile industry. From Bloomberg: ---- In the complaint filed today in federal court in Washington, the Justice Department is seeking a declaration that Dallas-based AT&T’s takeover of T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE), would violate...
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Thursday I got a call from T-Mobile telling me that new plans were available and they were just letting the customers know so they could go over the plans on the phone and make sure their customers were getting the best price. I declined, saying I would just go on the website and look at the plans myself. Good thing I did—what I actually discovered was that the plan I currently have (Get More 600 + unlimited text, which is about $40/month) was eliminated and the only way I could get...
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Dear AT&T, no. No, no, no! According to the folks at 9 to 5 Mac, the next iPhone on AT&T might as well be the long awaited "4G iPhone." Only in terms of name only though -- since AT&T is currently rebranding what 4G means to them. This makes me pretty sad.
As I'm sure you've heard by now T-Mobile USA is getting bought out by AT&T. According to the press release that means that T-Mobile is going away in about 1 year. Anybody who stays will become part of AT&T. So I ask are you going to switch to Verizon, Sprint or a regional; or stay with AT&T? Personalty I thing Verizon will be getting my money as soon as they come out with an LTE phone I like. Though the EVO 3D may tempt me mighty in the mean time.
1. It makes sense for T-Mobile. Deutsche Telekom has been trying to unload T-Mobile USA for a while now, and it was probably just a matter of time until they found a buyer. I don't think they're interested in being the the fourth biggest player in any market. Despite rebadging HSPA+ as 4G and calling itself "America's Largest 4G Network", T-Mobile doesn't actually have any plans to deploy LTE -- they simply don't own the spectrum for it -- and so was going to...
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http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/att-announ... The laptop dock sells for $499, which is insane. You could buy a really nice netbook for that price. Or an iPad, for that matter. You can get it bundled together with the phone for $499 total (after $100 rebate), but even that's too much (works out to about $300 for the dock and $200 for the phone). The other dealbreaker: you...
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Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T (rumored, not official yet) are making some pricing changes that look cost prohibitive to their customers or taking away some discount offers that they've offered for years to keep customers. Usually when these types of pricing changes go into affect for one carrier, the rest follow. It's like clockwork. Here are the details of AT&T's purported pricing changes:...
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On me, I have a Virgin Mobile Novatel Mifi 2200 (which piggy backs on Sprint's network) and my jailbroken iPhone 4 (obviously using AT&T's somewhat notorious service). I've been working via my laptop all morning and afternoon, and some things I've noticed: 1. Outside of the Bay Area, AT&T coverage is as good, if not better than Sprint. 2. Outside of the Bay Area, AT&T speeds are DAMN fast. I've stopped using the MiFi for my internet access because I was...
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A huge thanks to everyone who came out to gdgt live in San Francisco this past Friday. Nearly 1,000 people came to the SFDC Galleria to check out goods from 49 different companies, making this our biggest and most successful gdgt live event yet! It was a fantastic and welcome homecoming. So, if you went and got your hands on some cool gear, what did you think? My impressions: Windows Phone 7 absolutely blew me away. The interface looked really slick and it seems like it will be a dream to use....
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Originally published in the gdgt newsletter, sign up at http://gdgt.com/newsletter/ It looks like sooner or later we're going to witness the end of unlimited wireless data plans here in the States. They had a good run, but all indications are that eventually all of the major US wireless carriers are going to follow AT&T's lead and institute data caps of some kind. I'm not sure anyone is super happy about this, most people like the idea of being able to surf the web, watch online...
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With the only 2 QWERTY devices being the Backflip with a horrid skin and G1 class hardware & the X10 still on Android 1.x... It would be nice to have a current generation QWERTY phone as an option.
At gdgt HQ we get 5 bars AT&T coverage, so it's hard to tell just what kind of impact touching the iPhone 4's corner of death really has. This obviously isn't a massively scientific study or anything, but I did some initial testing with the phone flat and stationary on the table, and saw consistent results: When not touched at all and when touched with a single finger to the lower left antenna contact point that causes the issues, with the gdgt Incipio iPhone 4 case on, the iPhone...
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Since neither Apple nor AT&T will unlock the iPhone (even if purchased outright at the beginning or fulfillment of the time in the contract) and unless you wish to use the iPhone only as an iTouch after the contract time period, you are still locked to AT&T. There is no choice to use T-mobile in the US or any other carrier when overseas. That is why a class action has been started against these predators of the unknowledgeable.
AT&T's Premier website. Even though I got a confirmation email right away, I have yet to get a tracking number. Does anyone know if it is possible to get the phone from Apple (where I have it reserved) and send back the one from AT&T, since it seems it will be in the second round of shipments. My main concern is eligibility. It continues to tell me I'm eligible when I dial *NEW#. I called AT&T and they can't seem to figure out what's going on at all. Anyone else...
My mother-in-law is looking for a new phone because hers broke. She doesn't want a smartphone, she does do a good deal of texting, and she can't sign up for a new contract. Lastly, it would be good if the phone isn't too ridiculously expensive ($200 at most, preferably under $100).
So what is a great phone for simple texting and where could I get it unsubsidized?
I'm in the market for a 4G hotspot. I currently have AT&T so I was looking at the Elevate 4G Mobile Hotspot. However, I don't mind going with Verizon or any other company that might offer better service. Does anyone have experience with the Elevate 4G Mobile Hotspot (good or bad)? I am in the Miami, FL market if that helps. In fact, if you have experience in this particular market, your input is greatly appreciated. Please include details on speed, reliability, battery life and any other...
I'm asking this on behalf of my sister, who is traveling to Canada over Christmas. She has a shiny new iPhone 4S on AT&T and she doesn't want to be caught off guard by crazy and unexpected cellular data charges.
How should one go about preparing their phone for international travel? What sorts of settings should be off, and should she call AT&T and get an international data plan, just in case?
Last week, C.W. Nevius, a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote an editorial on how to potentially curb smart-phone thieves. He argued that some carriers in foreign countries (e.g., Australia) will actually block mobile phones from their networks if reported stolen. (See: http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-12-03/bay-area/30473599_1_phone-companies-smart-phone-phone-thefts) From the SF Chronicle: Australia uses something akin to a serial number, basically a 15-digit fingerprint found on ...
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Hey everyone, I'm looking for a new phone and interested in a Windows Phone 7. I currently use a Nokia 5800 mostly because it's an unlocked phone that is not charged the data premium from AT&T. I only pay $10 for unlimited data and I'd like to find a Windows Phone that can do the same.
My theory is, if phone is carried by AT&T, it can be recognized and then they'll ask you to increase your data plan.
So any suggestions or ideas would be great. Thanks.
I was browsing AT&T's site earlier and noticed that you can get an unlimited texting, messaging, and data plan for $30/month for a dumbphone. When I continued to process my cart it asked for my device's IMEI number. Can I just put in a dumbphone's IMEI number and then just use my unlocked smartphone (Nexus S and/or HTC Titan)? I understand that if you use a locked device with the wrong plan AT&T (or any other carrier) will make sure to catch you about it but I'm not sure about the case...
So earlier tonight I won an HTC Titan at the Windows Phone Inner Circle Tour. So far I'm loving the phone but, unfortunately, I'm on T-Mobile. Unless I'll be able to unlock the phone easily, I'll just be using this as a nice Zune device.
Do any of y'all know how to unlock this phone without going through ATT?
If I absolutely have to go through ATT, how lenient is ATT with unlocking phones? Do I need to be an ATT customer to unlock this phone?
I'm in the LA area so I'd still be waiting a bit to make use of the Holiday's LTE, but the larger screen and higher res is appealing to me, especially since my current phone is a Dell Streak.
I pre-ordered on the 7th and I'm still waiting. I find this extremely frustrating. I can walk into a store and buy the 4s, but I can't get the two that I pre-ordered shipped to me. This is absolutely ridiculous. /endrant
Now that new phones like the Droid RAZR and Nexus Prime are creeping up to the $249/$299 price points, are the Telcos under any obligation to adjust their ETFs? Are these new phones really that much more expensive to manufacture that the consumer has to pay $50-$100 more while still being handcuffed with a $350 ETF? Not to mention new policies like Tmobile's automatic contract extension if you want to change your calling plan. To me, a policy like this clearly contradicts the Telco's claims that...
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I had a Verizon iPad 2, but I only added data to it when I knew I was going to be travelling, otherwise I was content to use wifi both at home and at work. However, last week my car was broken in to and my iPad was stolen. Because I didn't have a data plan, Find My iPhone was unable to track it, since the thief presumably wiped it before trying to connect to wifi. I'm planning on getting a new one to replace it, but now I'm reconsidering my choice of carrier. My thought is that it's worth having...
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I live in the Denver area and currently have service with Verizon. The coverage is decent but I've read that the touted 14mbps will only work on ATT's GSM network. Would you switch? I just found a few posts covering this question: http://9to5mac.com/2011/10/04/iphone-4s-will-be-faster-only-on-att-unlimited-on-sprint-but-maybe-not-interchangeable/ http://parislemon.com/post/11054327513/the-carrier-question I will probably end up going with Sprint to save some money each month. And it will be nice not...
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Currently I'm a member of my parents' AT&T Family Plan. I moved to the bay area a few months ago but it's cheaper for me to pay them for my share of the family plan than to start my own plan. However, the news that the iPhone 5/4S may be coming to Sprint got me thinking that I could open my own plan (with the added benefit of getting the new-contract price on a new iPhone 5), and potentially also take advantage of Sprint's unlimited data plans and 4G coverage (if the new iPhone supports it)....
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So I'm on Sprint currently, and they have announced that they're killing unlimited data use through their hotspot add-on plan, which I use. It's a major bummer, because I specifically opted for that option as it would let me use data freely without worrying about the 5gb cap that other carriers and other plans have. (I don't go crazy with it, but I do go over 5gb often) And now I'm right back where I started, with a cap. They won't even be grandfathering in users like myself who signed a...
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Our new apartment has zero cell service. AT&T will kindly sell me one for $199. This is not really ideal. How do we restore our cellphone service? Hunger strikes? Chain ourselves to the door? Open up the tear ducts?
I never go over 2 GB per month and AT&T seems to have placed so many asterisks that it's unclear why I'm paying the extra $60 a year. The only theory I have left is that faster data in the future will make extra data good to have. Unfortunately, there no way to know if AT&T will let you carry over the plan the same way they have blocked tethering and are penalizing the "top 5%".
