Carriers

Virgin Mobile to land iPhone 5 next Friday

After months of speculation, Virgin Mobile announced it will finally start carrying Apple's iPhone 5 starting Friday, June 28. The handset will be offered on a subsidy basis on a two-year contract and with one of the Beyond Talk plans, starting at $35 a month for unlimited 4G LTE data and messaging. Virgin Mobile is owned by Sprint and supports both Sprint's CDMA 3G and LTE 4G radio technology (see coverage map here)...

AT&T lights up LTE in new Texas, Alabama markets and more

Folks with an iPhone 5, iPad mini or any other LTE-enabled device with AT&T will be happy to hear that the carrier has activated the popular 4G service in several new markets across the United States today.

If you have an AT&T-flavored LTE device, and live in one of the following areas, you'll definitely want to check to see if you're now aboard what PC Mag calls the fastest Long Term Evolution network in the US...

AT&T installing solar-powered charging stations around New York

This is quite interesting. It appears that AT&T has begun installing charging stations in parks throughout New York to help keep smartphones and other mobile devices up and running. The stations are solar-powered and capable of charging a wide range of gadgets.

The carrier says that the new Street Charge project was born out of its work during the recovery from Superstorm Sandy. After the hurricane ripped through most of the eastern US, AT&T setup charging stations in the blacked out areas. And now it's expanding on the idea...

New nationwide test shows AT&T LTE network is fastest, Verizon is most reliable

Here in the US, we're fortunate to have a wide selection of wireless providers with LTE networks. Where many countries have none, or just one, all four of our top carriers, and several regional carriers have deployed the technology nationwide.

But with choice comes decisions—you have to decide which LTE provider to go with. Luckily, the folks over at PC Mag have driven over 20,000 miles across the United States testing the country's top four carriers to help you make that decision...

Sprint launches LTE in 22 new markets, expands in others

Sprint customers with an iPhone 5 or other LTE device will be happy to hear that the carrier has launched its next-gen 4G service in 22 new markets today, and has expanded its coverage in several areas.

Today's new cities include Miami, Florida; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Napa, California. And between the roll out and the aforementioned expansion, Sprint's LTE network now covers 110 US markets...

Google reveals plans to bring internet to the masses using balloons

Google's 'X' division has gained a reputation for making the seemingly impossible, possible. The not-so-secret lab is responsible for churning out a number of innovative projects, including self-driving cars and more recently, Google Glass.

Yesterday, the search giant unveiled X's next 'moonshot' venture called Project Loon. The idea behind Loon is to let loose a ring of balloons, outfitted with cellphone tower-like tech, in the sky in an effort to provide internet to the masses...

AT&T’s GoPhone prepaid sevice now available on 4G LTE and HSPA+

GoPhone, a prepaid wireless service from U.S. carrier AT&T, used to be a 3G-only affair. But not anymore.

Just like clockwork, the carrier Friday announced that GoPhone customers can now enjoy fast data speeds not only on its third-generation HSPA+ network (unfairly billed as 4G), but also on the fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network.

Compared to 3G, 4G LTE offers ten times higher data throughput. The telco also added Samsung's Galaxy Express to its GoPhone device portfolio and said folks can also bring their own HSPA+ or LTE smartphone...

AT&T LTE gets turned on in a bunch of new markets

U.S. wireless carrier yesterday turned on its fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network in several new market whilst expanding coverage in others.

AT&T's speedy LTE network is now available in major new markets across Illinois, New York and Southern New Jersey Shore Points.

Expanded LTE coverage is now available in the states of North Carolina, Minnesota, Ohio, South Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania and more. Go past the fold for the full list of LTE additions...

Hacked T-Mobile carrier update brings HD Voice to the iPhone 4S

Folks with an iPhone on T-Mobile might be interested to hear that there's a new hacked carrier update available that promises a number of enhancements. It was created by the same folks who brought you hacks for Sprint, Verizon and AT&T.

This time around, the developers say that the modded update is good for more than just speed improvements. For iPhone 5 users, it adds a 4G toggle so you can switch it off to conserve battery life. And for 4S users, it adds HD Voice support...

AT&T pushes upgrade waiting period back to 24 months

When Verizon makes a major plan or policy change, AT&T is typically right behind it. And vice versa. It happened with share everything plans, and the phasing out of unlimited data. There's like an unwritten rule or something.

So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that just two months after Verizon took away its 20-month upgrades, AT&T has followed suit. Folks on two-year contracts will now have to wait the full 24 months before upgrading...

It turns out Apple isn’t throttling data speeds on iPhones and iPads

Yesterday, a report surfaced claiming that Apple was intentionally throttling data speeds on iOS devices. It was written by the developer behind the recent flurry of hacked carrier updates, with plenty of evidence, so it's not surprising that it gained some traction.

But the folks over at AnandTech have done some further investigating, and according to their findings, neither Apple nor the accused carriers are arbitrarily capping the data speed of iPhones and cellular-capable iPads...

Is Apple throttling data speeds on iPhones and iPads for carriers?

iPhone 4s

Joseph Brown, the guy behind the recent string of hacked carrier updates, has posted a rather interesting report this morning on why he thinks the hacks have been so successful. And the reason may just surprise you.

As it turns out, Brown has discovered that Apple is working with wireless carriers to implement coding in iOS to purposely slow down or limit the data speeds a device can achieve. And yes, he has the proof to back it up...