The BlackBerry Keyone was a phone I didn’t expect to win me over, but after using it for several weeks, it quickly became one of my favorite recent releases. Unfortunately, it’s not a phone easily accessible to all as it has only been sold through unlocked channels. Today, the Keyone is making its debut on Sprint, its first carrier home.
Following a deal with Sprint to acquire 33% of Jay-Z’s TIDAL streaming music service, today the companies announced that the first exclusive release as part of the partnership will be Jay-Z’s new album later this month. The release will be a big one, Jay-Z latest full-length album set for release at the end of this month. But it won’t exactly be a total Sprint exclusive like the company is making it seem…
Following a report late yesterday over the weekend, Sprint today confirmed that it will indeed be the exclusive launch partner of the Essential Phone, a new smartphone from father-of-Android Andy Rubin who started on the venture after leaving Google.
While Sprint isn’t confirming much about the details in terms of pricing and specific availability, we do get info about the specs and the 4K 360° camera attachement :
In addition to unlocked availability online, the Essential Phone will be sold through Sprint. As the “exclusive U.S carrier,” Sprint will be providing a “premium space to showcase” the device.
Sprint has announced the Magic Box, a signal booster that it’s making available free of charge to ‘qualifying’ homes and businesses. The booster – which it bills as ‘the world’s first all-wireless small call’ – amplifies LTE data signals from nearby cell towers, increasing both upload and download speeds by an average of 200%.
Good news for Sprint customers: Samsung‘s midrange Galaxy J7, which was announced earlier this year, has officially made it through the carrier’s certifications and is due to join Sprint’s offerings as “Galaxy J7 Perx“…
Last year, LG’s attempt to make a modular smartphone with the G5 ended up being more or less a flop. This year, the company has shaken up their mobile platform by announcing the LG G6 with a complete redesign, a better software experience, and a fantastic dual camera setup. Thankfully, it has been confirmed that the LG G6 will be available on all four of the major US carriers…
The unlocked HTC 10 got Android Nougat last year, but it goes without saying the carrier variants tend to take a bit longer. In Sprint’s case, it was about 3 months longer. But for those with this specific device, the wait for the latest flavor of Google’s mobile OS is finally coming to an end…
A new Reuters report today shares that SoftBank is willing to hand over control of Sprint to Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile to make a merger happen, according to unnamed sources close to the matter. Discussions haven’t begun yet, but are expected to start in April after the FCC auction of airwaves and anti-collusion ban is over.
With Verizon and AT&T both fighting to keep customers with new unlimited plans this week and 5G networks on the horizon, a merger could be mutually beneficial for Sprint and T-Mobile.
According to a (seemingly targeted) email that Sprint sent out recently, you can bring over an unlocked Google Pixel to the carrier and get up to $325 in service credits when you activate your device. That would in effect bring down the price of a new Google Pixel XL down to $445 out of pocket if you’re willing to stick with Sprint for a whole 24 months…
Pokémon Go is teaming up with Sprint to turn businesses into PokéStops and Gyms as part of Niantic’s latest move to keep players in the game. The news comes just one day before Starbucks is expected to do the same while introducing a Pokémon Go-themed drink for trainers. Niantic has also teased out when we might start seeing new monsters appear in the game.
Over the past three years, HTC has only partially tweaked the design of its flagship smartphones. Concurrently, Sprint has seen its fortunes decline; falling to fourth place in subscribers. The HTC Bolt for Sprint is very much emblematic of these two trends; it’s a minor iteration for HTC, and tries to bring improved networking to serve as a competitive advantage.
Notable points to know about this phone: there’s IP57 water proofing, and no headphone jack. There’s also a stunning amount of pre-loaded software, which probably shouldn’t be surprising since the primary reason for its existence is as a technological showcase for Sprint’s LTE Plus network…
After laying the groundwork and garnering support from carriers worldwide, Google is finally launching RCS messaging. Android devices on Sprint will be the first to send and receive enhanced SMS messages that feature read receipts, better group chat, high-res photo sharing, and more.
Following a ‘safe’ Note 7 fire on board an airliner, Sprint has told Re/code that it will allow any owner to return replacement models outside of the standard return window. Owners will be able to swap them out for a different device.
If a Sprint customer with a replacement Note 7 has any concerns regarding their device, we will exchange it for any other device at any Sprint retail store during the investigation window
The terms are more generous than those currently offered by other carriers …
Shortly after Samsung and the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced an official recall on all Galaxy Note 7 handsets, the four major US carriers immediately stopped selling the phone.
Now, with over a million customers having exchanged their faulty units, Verizon and Sprint have both once again begun selling the phone while T-Mobile has announced that it plans to as well…
HTC may have just unveiled its renewed Desire lineup, but it looks like that won’t be it for the company this year. Well, at least not for Sprint customers in the US, which may find a shiny new flagship device in the carrier’s stores in the not too distant future…
Just last night LG finally revealed the all-new LG V20. After dropping the ball a bit on the modular LG G5, the V20 hopes to bounce back with an improved design, Android Nougat out of the box, and all of the best features from last year’s fantastic V10. As with most LG devices, the V20 will be available on most US carriers — and so far all four major carriers have confirmed availability.
Here’s everything you need to know…
Just this morning Samsung officially issued a worldwide recall of every Galaxy Note 7 on the market. Why? Due to an issue with the battery, some users were having their devices explode (mainly while charging). Samsung noted 35 cases of this issue, and that was more than enough to issue a full recall. Owners of unlocked devices will be able to get a replacement device directly from Samsung, however with carriers, things get slightly more complicated.
Following the modest upgrades AT&T announced to its mobile plans yesterday, both T-Mobile and Sprint have hit back with new ‘unlimited’ plans.
T-Mobile has replaced all its plans with a single one called T-Mobile One.
It’s 100% unlimited and comes with unlimited talk and text and unlimited 4G LTE smartphone data – including unlimited standard definition video – all on America’s fastest 4G LTE network. And, it’s available at a great price: just $40 per line for a family of four.
As with all carrier plans, there are some caveats in the small-print …
Even though the Android N Developer Preview was released yesterday, Marshmallow is only on 2% of devices. The number should only increase as more OEMs release updates to last year’s flagship devices and starting today, Sprint is updating its Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge variants to Android 6.0.
Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge will be hitting US carriers much sooner than the LG G5. While AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint have all announced they will carry the LG G5 and its accompanying accessories, there is not a set availability or pre-order date among the carriers. The best hint of when LG’s latest flagship device will be available comes from Best Buy.
Update: Samsung’s Galaxy S7 is now up for pre-order at Best Buy and through the carriers below.
The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge were made official at long last today, with Samsung taking the wraps off of the two devices during its press event at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Now, all of the major carriers in the United States are announcing their respective pre-order information and details.
HTC’s product management chief, Mo Versi has confirmed on Twitter that several North American carrier-locked variants of the HTC One M9 and One M8 will be getting Android Marshmallow over the coming weeks.
Beginning this coming Monday, January 18th, the Marshmallow OS update will be pushed to Sasktel, Rogers, Wind and Videotron HTC One M9 owners in Canada.
Great news for our Sasktel, Rogers, Wind and Videotron HTC One M9 owners! We'll go live on Monday for the Marshmallow OS update. Thank you!
— Mo Versi (@moversi) January 15, 2016
As you’d expect, following that tweet, many HTC One owners with different carrier-locked versions were keen to known an ETA for their Marshmallow update. In response to those, Mo Versi stated that the HTC One M8 on Sprint will get the new software from the middle of next week, while the T-Mobile variant is on schedule for a January 25 release.
Sadly there’s no specific news for AT&T or Verizon users, except to say that HTC needs a “few more weeks” before the update is ready for the HTC One M9 on AT&T.
The trend of carriers ending contract pricing continues today. According to an internal leaked document obtained by Android Central, Sprint smartphone subsidy options are now limited to customers who wish to add a line to an existing account or upgrade their existing phone. This move follows AT&T’s announcement that it will stop offering two-year contracts this week, as well as Verizon, who simplified its offerings last August.
