After LG announced that its new LG G4 smartphone would begin rolling out this week in certain markets, Sprint today revealed that LG’s new flagship will arrive for its customers on June 5 with a few extra perks.
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6pPIG3EvAs]
One of my favorite Youtubers (along with Dom and Detroit Borg), @MKBHD did his year end Smartphone of the year roundup and can say I agree with almost every choice he made here. Almost.
Some small gripes however: He didn’t ding Samsung enough for its overlay in the ‘Big Phone’ category (IMO), I might have given LG more props for their camera and One Plus One shouldn’t have beat the Moto G 2014 as best budget. You can get 2 Moto Gs for the price of a One Plus – if you can even find one! That’s not to say the OnePlus isn’t a great budget phone and running Cyanogen mod almost makes it more of a game changer than the Sharp Aquos Crystal.
One other thing: I’m OK with the HTC One M8 as phone of the year as long as it is the GPE. Otherwise Moto X gets the nod
Like I said, I’m almost completely in agreement!
If you happened to miss out on that recent Valentine’s Day sale from Motorola, the company announced on Twitter that it’s offering the Moto X for 1 cent on contract through Verizon or $70 off unlocked. That means you can pick up the 16GB Moto X customized through Moto Maker starting at $329 off contract. The penny deal will require you to sign up to a two-year contract through Verizon, and an additional $50 on either of the deals will bump you up from the 16GB to the 32GB model.
An even better deal is available through Amazon, however, with an additional $100 bill credit for those activating a new Verizon line on-contract. You might also be able to take advantage of that bill credit through Moto Maker for devices activated on Verizon, but there’s no mention of the offer on the site.
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Sony originally only announced availability for Europe when it first unveiled its new flagship Xperia Z1, Xperia Z Ultra, and SmartWatch 2 during IFA last month, but today the company has officially put all three devices up for sale in the US. Available through Sony’s website now, the Xperia devices are selling unlocked in black, white, and purple and start at a hefty $649, while the SmartWatch 2 is now available from Sony’s website for $199.
The Xperia Z1, which packs in a 5-inch display, 20.7MP camera, and quad core processor, will start at $649.99, but that model, however, will only offer HSPA+ support and not LTE connectivity. That same price will get you the bigger 6.4-inch Xperia Z Ultra with HSPA+, but for LTE connectivity you’ll have to hand over $679. The new Xperia devices have a lot to offer– superior camera systems, beautiful large displays, and premium hardware– but the off-contract price means Sony is certainly a little higher than we were hoping for. There’s no word yet on carrier partners, but the latest rumors hint that T-Mobile might be the first.
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Normally available for around $600 unsubsidized, Republic Wireless announced today that it will soon begin offering the Moto for just $299. That’s the carrier’s no contract price and just $100 more than most carriers are charging for the device on the usual two-year contract:
The Moto X will retail at $299 (plus taxes and surcharges) from the Republic Wireless store. That’s right – we took the hot, new Moto X, added Republic’s great Hybrid service and priced it at $299 with no contract required. That’s a price that’s, like, impossible to match anywhere in the industry. How did we do it? The phone is $299 because we are footing the bill. Period. This is NOT a $299 phone. Take a quick look around the web and look at “no contract” pricing for the Moto X.
The device will be available on two of the carrier unlimited plans that start at just $5 a month, but customers will have the following plans to choose from:
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AT&T made things official for customers interested in pre-ordering Samsung’s recently announced flagship Galaxy S4. While there is still no word when the actual handset will be available, AT&T announced in a blog post on its website today that customers will be able to pre-order the device starting April 16.
Continuing our legacy as the first carrier to launch Samsung’s Galaxy series, we are excited to announce AT&T customers will be able to begin pre-ordering the Galaxy S4 beginning April 16 for $249.99 with a two-year commitment. We are proud to offer this iconic device and continue to offer our customers the best smartphone line-up, with a variety of devices for every lifestyle and budget.
Those interested in learning more about the pre-order process can go to AT&T’s Galaxy S4 website.
T-Mobile announced earlier this month that it would launch the device May 1s, which is a pretty good indication of when we will start to see it arrive on other carriers.
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The Next Web is reporting that the US Government and Google are in talks over a contract that would license Google Apps to the whole US Government staff. The contract totals up-to $50 million dollars. The US Gov is also considering Microsoft’s productivity suite.
Microsoft’s suite could be considered pretty solid, but also pretty bland. Many corporations, and school districts, are currently using Microsoft’s suite. Some would say it’s in a good spot, but when compared to Google it just not up-to par (in my opinion). Many city governments are already using Google Apps.. so let’s call this a fair fight.
The US Government is currently reviewing the terms, and will soon select which company they’d like to side with. At any rate, both companies are probably opening their arms to $50 million, so it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
