Report: T-Mobile and Verizon are effectively buying out US Cellular’s network
The cellular market in the US may be shrinking again, as Verizon and T-Mobile are reportedly aiming to buy out US Cellular.
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Carrier availability: Here’s what we know about LG G6 at AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, more
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…
Support for US Cellular officially available on Project Fi today alongside app update
After announcing the addition early this month, Google has finally enabled support for US Cellular’s network starting today for all users. To “ensure your device is ready to connect,” Google says you should download an update the Project Fi app which is currently rolling out via Google Play.
Project Fi partners with US Cellular for better coverage and speeds
Google has today officially announced that its MVNO cellular network, Project Fi, has teamed up with US Cellular to add more coverage and better speeds for users on top of the current partnerships with Sprint and T-Mobile.
LG G4 pre-order and launch dates for T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, and US Cellular (Update: now AT&T)
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.
LG G4 available for pre-order at U.S. Cellular starting May 29th
Pre-orders of LG’s new flagship Android smartphone, the LG G4, have gone live for several major carriers in the United States, and now it’s U.S. Cellular’s turn. Through a tweet sent out on Saturday from U.S. Cellular’s official Twitter account, the carrier confirmed that pre-orders of the G4 on the regional carrier will begin May 29th in-store and online.
@_Stewartwhaley On May 29th the pre-sale begins in stores and online. ^AH
— UScellular (@UScellular) May 23, 2015
The G4 has shipping dates of early June for all of the big four, via information gathered from Best Buy pre-order pages and tweets. So while this tweet doesn’t provide a hard date from when the phone can be purchased outright it’s easy to assume that U.S. Cellular’s variant will also have wide availability starting around the first week of the month. And if you do pre-order a G4 from U.S. Cellular (or elsewhere), LG will throw in a couple accessories for free if you visit this official promo site within two-weeks of receiving your device.
If you’re unsure about whether or not the G4 is for you, be sure to check out our review and comparison with the Samsung Galaxy S6.
Nexus 6 now available from US Cellular in Blue & White, 32 GB & 64 GB
The Nexus 6, which is still fairly hard to find in-stock, is now available from US Cellular. Interestingly, while most carriers are offering only the Midnight Blue model at the current time, US Cellular currently has listed—and in-stock–both the white and blue varieties of the device in both 32 GB and 64 GB capacities.
Both Motorola and Google Play are currently sold out of the device, so the only way to order one at all at the current time is via a carrier. The carriers that are currently carrying the device are T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, and US Cellular—and with today’s addition, the only one missing is Verizon.
You can get the Nexus 6 from US Cellular or $199.99 on a two-year contract, or you can pay $33 monthly for the phone with a $0 down payment. Or if you use US Cellular but looking to get an unlocked Nexus 6, be sure to check the Play Store every Wednesday for more stock to be added.
LG G3 coming to US Cellular in October for no money down
Better late than never, US Cellular is finally getting the LG G3. The regional carrier announced today that it will offer the South Korean electronics maker’s latest flagship smartphone next month for no money down. The LG G3 made its US debut back in July across America’s big four carriers and now it’s extending its reach to customers in additional coverage areas.
Samsung S5 “Prime” & “Standard” models on the way, Sprint getting lower-spec’d one?
Samsung looks set to launch at least two different versions of the Galaxy S5, its replacement for the current range-topping S4, code-named Prime and Standard – and it appears possible that Sprint will be getting the lower-spec version.
The two versions first showed up in benchmarks by AnTuTu, showing a Prime model labelled US Cellular and a lower-spec Standard model labelled Europe …
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Motorola X press shots and benchmarks leak
The X leaks keep coming in. Evleaks/Unlockr appear to have the first press shots (besides the ones on the invite and all of the ones Eric Schmidt showed off).
AndroidPolice also tweeted out a AnTuTu benchmark (below) which verifies our “Ghost” codename scoop earlier this year.
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Verizon again tops J.D. Power and Associates Network Quality Performance report
J.D. Power and Associates is out with the second half of its 2012 “U.S. Wireless Network Quality Performance Study”, and Verizon once again come out on top for network performance in five of the six regions included in the report. Only second to U.S. Cellular in the North Central region, Verizon posted the best overall network performance among the other carriers in the remaining regions based on 10 key problem areas that could impact the customer experience.
For a 16th consecutive reporting period, Verizon Wireless ranks highest in the Northeast region. Verizon Wireless achieves fewer customer-reported problems with dropped calls, initial connections, transmission failures and late text messages, compared with the regional average. Verizon Wireless also ranks highest in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southwest and West regions… U.S. Cellular ranks highest in the North Central region for a 14th consecutive reporting period. Compared with the regional average, U.S. Cellular has fewer customer-reported problems with dropped calls, failed initial connections, audio problems, failed voice mails and lost calls.
The study also covered the customer experience specifically for data-related problems. Not surprisingly, LTE device users experienced significantly less issues than older 3G devices like the iPhone:
The study finds that the number of data-related problems, especially those related to slow connection speeds, is significantly lower among customers using 4G LTE-enabled devices than among those using devices with older 3G/4G technology standards, such as WiMAX and HSPA+… For example, among customers with 4G LTE-enabled devices, the problem incidence for excessively slow mobile Web loading is 15 PP100, compared with the industry average of 20 PP100. Furthermore, the overall problem incidence for excessively slow mobile Web loading is even higher among customers with WiMAX and HSPA+ technology
Based on responses from over 26,000 U.S. wireless customers, the report explained how network performance was calculated:
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LTE Samsung Galaxy S Aviator available on US Cellular, looks suspiciously like Droid Charge
If you really liked the Droid Charge’s look and feel, with its fast LTE speeds and physical buttons, but did not want to jump on Verizon Wireless, U.S. Cellular has a phone with a similar experience. The Samsung Galaxy S Aviator sticks out with the following features:
- · Android 2.3.6 (Gingerbread)
- · 4.3-inch Super AMOLED™ Plus touchscreen
- · 8 megapixel rear-facing camera
- · Front facing webcam
- · HDMI port
I am surprisingly a big fan of real buttons, because you can feel them for navigation, and sometimes capacitance gets all out of whack.
Otherwise, the Charge is a solid phone on Verizon, and now U.S. Cellular owners will have a nice option too.
The press release follows:
Galaxy Nexus listed with 7 carriers on signup page
On the product page for the Galaxy Nexus that was released yesterday there is a signup form to get more information on the device before it is available in November. The signup form hints to seven new carriers that the Galaxy Nexus will be listed on.
We already know that Verizon will probably be the exclusive carrier of the Nexus, but also listed are AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, MetroPCS, Cellular South (C Spire), and U.S. Cellular. It is not clear which carriers will be available at first.
This is fantastic news, giving users more choice — especially with those pre-paid carriers. If you haven’t seen the Galaxy Nexus you’re sure to want to check it out.
