The IPhone 4S On AT&T Vs. Sprint Vs. Verizon: Which Network Is Best?

From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

The iPhone 4S went up for pre-order late Thursday night, and for the first time ever the new iPhone will be available on the three largest cell phone networks in America: Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. Perhaps, with these mobile carrier options, you're trying to decide which network to choose for your new Apple phone; the information below should help.

For Talkers: VERIZON and AT&T

Are you a talker? A recent survey suggests that you probably aren't, but if you are a chatty Cathy, the cheapest voice plans for anytime minutes are on Verizon and AT&T. For 450 minutes of talk time, Verizon and AT&T charge $39.99, compared to $69.99 on Sprint. Upping your minutes, you get the same price spreads, with Verizon and AT&T being $30 cheaper than Sprint:

Verizon: $39.99 for 450 minutes, $59.99 for 900 minutes, $69.99 for unlimited minutes
AT&T: $39.99 for 450 minutes, $59.99 for 900 minutes, $69.99 for unlimited minutes
Sprint: $69.99 for 450 minutes, $89.99 for 900 minutes, $99.99 for unlimited minutes

For Data Hogs: SPRINT

With the iPhone 4S, Sprint has famously become the only U.S. mobile carrier to offer unlimited data with Apple's smartphone. While AT&T and Verizon have canceled their unlimited data plans for new customers, Sprint recently announced its plans to keep unlimited data plans even with the iPhone 4S. Savings for those who use a lot of data--people who stream movies on their phones, download and send graphics-heavy web pages or photos, or generally do anything that requires constant web refreshing--could be huge on Sprint:

AT&T Data Plans: 2GB for $24, 4GB for $45, 5GB for $55, 7GB for $75, 10GB for $105, 12GB for $125
Verizon Data Plans: 2GB for $30, 4GB for $50, 5GB for $50, 7GB for $70, 10GB for $80, 12GB for $100
Sprint Data Plans: $10 unlimited

Fastest Network: AT&T

This is surprising, considering that AT&T is consistently ranked as the worst network in most parts of the United States by J.D. Power and Associates. But thanks to a new chipset in the iPhone 4S that only works on AT&T's HSPA+ network, the much-maligned carrier stands poised to have the fastest network of the three iPhone carriers.

Here's the thing: The iPhone 4S chipset, as noted during the Apple media event where the device debuted, can supposedly get close to 4G speeds. But that chipset only works on the HSPA+ network that AT&T has deployed (while its competitors have been building up their 4G networks). According to AT&T, this means wireless speeds that are twice as fast as those on Verizon and Sprint; according to cnet, we should believe this claim when we see it, saying AT&T still has some mechanical work to do before these speeds will be seen by their entire network. It will be interesting to see whether these HSPA+ speed claims hold true and could certainly bolster AT&T's reputation if they do.

Most Reliable 3G Network: AT&T

PCMag did some testing on mobile networks in America earlier this year, and while Verizon's 4G network defeated its competitors nationally, the iPhone 4S is not a 4G LTE device. On 3G networks, AT&T was judged to be the best in terms of "3G Success" (simply, its ability to connect to the Internet where a 3G network is present) edging out Verizon's 3G network and fairly well destroying Sprint's 3G network. Again, if these test results hold up on a national level (and, fair warning, certain cities are notorious for having poor 3G coverage from AT&T), then AT&T could be the most reliable and fastest mobile Internet network for the iPhone 4S.

Text Messaging: Sprint

The release of iMessage for Apple's new iOS 5 means that iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch owners will be able to text each other over 3G or WiFi in real-time for free, a la BlackBerry's popular BBM feature. Using iMessage will eat up data, however, rather than your monthly text messages, which is one reason to search out good text message rates when choosing a network, especially if u r a big-time txtr.

The underdog Sprint once again has the best prices, by a long shot, for text messaging plans. It's almost not even worth comparing, but here it goes:

AT&T: 20 cents per text message, and 30 cents per picture or video message; $20 for unlimited
Verizon: $5 for 250 texts, $10 for 500 texts, $20 for unlimited
Sprint: Free unlimited text messaging with voice plan

Customer Service: Verizon

According to the most recent U.S. Wireless Customer Care Performance study from J.D. Power, published in July 2011, Verizon has the strongest and most highly-rated customer service among full contract U.S. mobile carriers, defeating Sprint and AT&T handily. Verizon received 5 out of 5 "Power Circles," while both Spint and AT&T were awarded 2 each. In the February 2011 survey, Sprint and AT&T received 2 out of 5 Power Circles while Verizon got 4, losing out to T-Mobile; Verizon won the overall customer care survey for all of 2010.

Talk & Surf: AT&T

You may have seen the commercials: AT&T is the only carrier that allows you to talk and surf the web on the iPhone, and the addition of Sprint to the competition does not change that. It is one of the biggest differentiators and advantages over Verizon and Sprint.

Early Termination Fees: AT&T or Sprint, depending

If you decide you don't like the service you're getting with your iPhone, how much will it cost you to jump ship? AT&T and Sprint are the winners here, with:

AT&T is $325 minus $10 for each full month you've had your iPhone.
Verizon is $350 minus $10 for each full month you've had your iPhone.
Sprint is $350 minus $20 for each full month you've had your iPhone after four months.

***

To be very reductive, when it comes to the iPhone 4S, Sprint is the cheapest, AT&T has the best network and Verizon has the best customer care and, statistically, you're probably already on their network, as they have the most customers in the United States by a margin of tens of millions. Which network you choose should largely be decided by what you value in your phone--cost, or service, or reliability, or speed--and all of these carriers have both their pros and their cons for prospective iPhone 4S buyers. There is not one "best" network for the iPhone 4S, and you should be very skeptical of anyone who tells you otherwise.

38 Years Since The First Mobile Phone

The mobile phone has changed the lives of many people over the past 15 years, when it began to be used globally. But, few know that the first prototype was built 38 years ago in New York.
More specifically, the first phone call ​​by a person walking on the streets was made ​​in 1973, in the year when the U.S. Army announced its withdrawal from Vietnam.


On April 3, Martin Cooper, who was then 44 years, used the first prototype mobile phone on the streets of New York. As expected, the reaction of those who saw him with the device in hand was one of total bewilderment, confusion and “gape “.  Cooper is now 82 and he told the Daily Mail publication about how Americans reacted:

“ As I walked down the street while talking on the phone, sophisticated New Yorkers gaped at the sight of someone actually moving around while making a phone call.
I made numerous calls, including one where I crossed the street while talking to a New York radio reporter – probably one of the more dangerous things I have ever done in my life.” 




But it had to pass a while until Mr. Cooper’s vision could have been applied at a global scale. Those where the years when only the rich ones could have phones inside their luxurious cars.
The first mobile phone that Martin Cooper created was weighing approximately 2.5 lbs., something that would now be regarded as a “brick”. Ten years have passed until Motorola managed to commercialize and distribute Dyna-TAC.


DynaTAC 8000X had the following characteristics:

• weighed around 1lb
• the lifespan of the battery in standby was up to 8 hours and 30 minutes of talking time
• took 10 hours for a full charge
• the price was around 3500$
• had a length of 13.5 inchs- had 9 buttons: recall, clear, send, store, function, end, power, lock, volume
• had a basic display and could store up to 30 numbers

T-Mobile 3G Handsets to Be Rendered Obsolete by AT&T Merger

by Kevin Krause From: http://phandroid.com/

In case you have been resting under a rock somewhere, AT&T is in the process of buying out T-Mobile and merging the two companies into a singular (no, not Cingular) wireless conglomerate. As part of the deal, AT&T plans to re-purpose all of TMo’s 3G towers for the roll out of their LTE network,which should cover 95 percent of the country within two year’s time. The catch? Your 3G T-Mobile handset will be obsolete when that time comes, as confirmed by AT&T.

Seeing as how far off the problem is there is no news to share as to whether AT&T plans to compensate TMo subscribers locking into new two-year deals, but if you are a fan of magenta it may be wise to consider shorter-term contract options if you plan on picking up a new handset anytime soon.

[via Gizmodo]

AT&T Acquires T-Mobile, Rockets Up to More Than 130 Million U.S. Users

By David Murphy
From http://www.pcmag.com/

Breaking news in the mobile world: AT&T has acquired competitor T-Mobile, shrinking the "big four" carriers in the U.S. to a mere three. But it's a mighty three. The $39 billion purchase now summons forth the largest combined carrier in the U.S., one which already has its own nickname mere minutes after the transaction was announced: "AT&T-Mobile."

In total, AT&T and T-Mobile's combined operations will carry roughly 130 million users. Or, in layman's terms, a heckuva lot more people than now-second place Verizon and its users numbering in the mid-90 million.

But what does that mean for consumers? According to PCMag.com's Sascha Segan, expect less competition in the mobile market to hit harder on the ol' bank account. Not to mention a greater lack of device diversity as a result of AT&T and T-Mobile creating a combined (and more efficient) product line.

AT&T's paying $25 billion in cash for the acquisition, with the rest of the $39 billion purchase price coming from shares of AT&T common stock. As part of the deal, T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom will gain an eight percent ownership interest in AT&T, and a Deutsche Telekom representative will join AT&T's board of directors.

The also move creates a monopoly on U.S. GSM carriers: There's just one now, AT&T/T-Mobile, to serve as the sole rival against the CDMA networks of competitors Sprint and Verizon. The mash-up between AT&T and T-Mobile—a combination of the worst and second-worst U.S. carriers, as ranked by this year's Consumer Reports customer survey–will mash together their wireless spectrums as well. This should give AT&T a stronger footing to deploy and expand its own 4G LTE network, which the company intends to launch mid-year.

"This transaction represents a major commitment to strengthen and expand critical infrastructure for our nation's future," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO, in today's press release. "It will improve network quality, and it will bring advanced LTE capabilities to more than 294 million people."

According the release, issued today, AT&T needs as much spectrum as it can get its hands on to fuel its growing wireless network. The company claims that its mobile data traffic has grown more than 8,000 percent since 2006, and the company expects its 2015 traffic to be eight to 10 times that of today's values.

"Put another way, all of the mobile traffic volume AT&T carried during 2010 is estimated to be carried in just the first six to seven weeks of 2015," reads the statement.

Doubling off of that, the T-Mobile acquisition comes at a time when AT&T is seeing good subscriber growth—the company announced in January a gain of 2.8 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2010, making for a total count of 8.9 million subscribers gained within the full fiscal year.

T-Mobile, on the other hand, has been bleeding its business as of late. The company lost more than 300,000 contract subscribers in its fourth quarter, down a net of 23,000 customers in total. That's quite a drop compared to the same time period in 2009, when T-Mobile was actually in the black by around 371,000 total customers.

A March report by Bloomberg's Tara Lachapelle and Rita Nazareth indicated that T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom has been shopping around T-Mobile for some time now—especially since the $28.5 billion the company invested in the American carrier has since shed its value by approximately three-fifths. Deutsche Telekom was allegedly in talks with Sprint to pawn off T-Mobile, but whatever deal was possibly in the works clearly didn't come to pass.

But that's not necessarily bad for T-Mobile: Instead of shacking up with the third-place carrier, it's now teamed up with the big dog in the park.

For more information on the transaction, consumers can check out the new AT&T/T-Mobile information site at www.mobilizeeverything.com.

Check Your iPhone 4's Antenna Reception With Field Test Mode In iOS 4.1

From: http://gizmodo.com/

Now you can put your iPhone into field test mode, which will allow to easily and precisely test your cell signal reception quality. You just need to follow these two easy steps:

• First, upgrade your iPhone 4—or any iPhone—to iOS 4.1.
• Dial *3001#12345#* into your phone.

Done. The signal bars will be replaced with a number (like -85). The more negative the number, the worse the signal is. Example: -110 is worse than -85. Once activated, you can switch between signal bars and number by touching on the number.

Try the test mode now. Then use a finger to connect the two metal bands on the lower left corner, over the black plastic strip. That will short-circuit the magical gap and bring the phone's signal down quite significantly.

To get out of the field test mode, just hit the home button. [Thanks KTK1990!]

Send an email to Jesus Diaz, the author of this post, at jesus@gizmodo.com.

4G Goes Live in Sweden and Norway

By Zee

4G network technology has arrived in Oslo and Stockholm thanks to wireless carrier TeliaSonera.

As of Tuesday, people in Norway and Sweden will be able to buy a mobile dongle that supports the long-term evolution (LTE) of 4G.

The technology can deliver speeds of up to 100 megabits per second–ten times faster that its 3G predecessor.

In a press conference in Stockholm on Monday, Karlberg said LTE makes it possible “to do everything that you can do on the fixed network, but on top of that, [the network adds] the mobility dimension”. He said this combination of mobility and fixed-line-quality speeds and bandwidth would allow for “applications that we haven’t seen so far”.

At launch, TeliaSonera’s LTE services cover around 400,000 people in the centres of Stockholm and Oslo. However, the operator said it is adding base stations every day. That aside, users primary frustration will lie in the fact that no handsets can yet use 4G meaning customers will initially only be able to connect via a dongle and a laptop.

Until July 1, consumers keen to try out the technology will receive the modems for free and pay a subscription price of just 4 kronor a month. The price will then will increased to 500 kronor a month.

TeliaSonera said it expected the boost in speed to drive many novel applications including gaming on the move and much greater viewing of video on laptops.

AT&T Changes Tune, Allows VoIP Over Cell Network

Dan Moren, Macworld.com

All engines, full reverse! That's the order AT&T seemed to be giving on Tuesday when it announced that it would be altering its existing policy to allow Internet phone applications such as Skype to place calls over the iPhone's cellular data connection.

Previously Skype and other Voice over IP (VoIP) applications for the iPhone, such as Fring, were relegated to Wi-Fi connections, prompting calls of foul play by consumers who often wanted to take advantage of features like the services' cheaper rates for international calling. An FCC investigation was launched in April at the behest of Internet advocacy group Free Press, shortly after the Skype app was released for the iPhone.

Notably, the ban did not apply to non-iPhone devices on AT&T's network. "Today's decision was made after evaluating our customers' expectations and use of the (iPhone) compared to dozens of others we offer," AT&T Wireless CEO Ralph de la Vega told The Wall Street Journal.

While some alleged that AT&T's desire in keeping Skype off its data network was a way of stifling competition and forcing customers to use the wireless company's international calling options, it's also been suggested that AT&T was worried about the amount of traffic the immensely popular iPhone could bring to bear on its network.

Somewhat coincidentally--if you believe in such things--earlier in the day, Google and Verizon held a joint press conference to announce their new partnership, in which the two companies stressed network openness.

The decision today does not apparently affect other applications that suffer from similar restrictions, such as the iPhone version of SlingPlayer Mobile, which allows users to stream video from their home devices only over Wi-Fi connections. Nor does it affect the contentious Google Voice service, which uses the standard telephone functions of the cellular network to route phone calls to and from users.

Why You Can’t Get a Good Phone With Verizon

• By Priya Ganapati

Why does the U.S. carrier known for the best network have the worst smartphones?

Verizon Wireless gets plaudits for its coverage and call quality, but consistently loses out to AT&T, T-Mobile and even Sprint when it comes to getting the newest high-end handsets.

“They lack the star products that their competitors have,” says Avi Greengart, research director, consumer devices for Current Analysis. “They recognize they don’t have compelling devices right now but feel they can make up for it with network quality.”

Case in point: Last week when Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha proudly showed off the company’s much-talked about first Android phone, the Cliq, he had his arms rather awkwardly around T-Mobile executive Cole Brodman.

“We never considered another carrier for this phone,” Jha told Wired.com.

The Cliq, a coup for T-Mobile, reinforces the new pecking order among wireless carriers. With the iPhone 3G and 3G S, AT&T is now at the top of the pack in its ability to attract new customers willing to switch to the carrier’s network. Sprint and T-Mobile are trying to catch up: Sprint launched the Palm Pre on its network in June and plans to introduce the HTC Hero later this year. And T-Mobile has carved out a niche as an Android specialist with last year’s launch of the first Android phone (the G1), the HTC myTouch earlier this year and now with the Moto Cliq.

As for Verizon? The company has the popular but critically panned BlackBerry Storm and the rather staid and Wi-Fi–less BlackBerry Tour. The carrier known for the best network now has the least attractive lineup of smart phones.

It’s a puzzling situation for Verizon. The wireless carrier has had the most customers of any cellular operator in the country since its 2008 acquisition of Alltel, and it’s widely regarded as having the largest network coverage area. So the fact that it can’t offer its customers better smartphones is a bit of a mystery.

Verizon’s extremely conservative approach to new handsets, the company’s long and rigorous testing procedures, and its emphasis on the network rather than the phone have created a portfolio that’s a complete buzzkill, say experts.

“Verizon doesn’t have too many options,” says Michael Mace, a former executive with Palm and Apple and currently a principal at strategy-and-marketing consulting firm Rubicon Consulting. “They can’t get the iPhone right now, and they can’t take Nokia devices and start promoting them. All they can do all they can do is push the BlackBerry as hard as they can and hope for a new Motorola phone.”

(Nokia largely makes GSM phones, which won’t work on Verizon’s CDMA network, though the Finnish phone manufacturer has created a select few devices to run on the Verizon network.)

Not surprisingly, Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney says the carrier would rather focus on its network than on the gadgets that use it.

“Keep in mind that for Verizon Wireless, it isn’t so much about the device as it is about the delivery,” she says. “We have the nation’s largest 3G network so when we offer devices on our network, customers can be assured that they will deliver as promised.”

It’s pretty clear that Verizon didn’t deliberately choose to be the boring-but-predictable, safe-but-unexciting choice. In some ways, it simply got overtaken by the technology.

Over the last two years, with the launch of the Apple iPhone, the smartphone business changed rapidly. There are conflicting reports on whether Apple ever offered the iPhone to Verizon; Verizon reportedly turned it down.

But with AT&T as the official partner for Apple, the smartphone business took off in a new direction. With its extremely responsive touchscreen, sleek and elegant interface, and full PC-like browsing experience, the iPhone set a new standard. Customers flocked to AT&T, flooding (and sometimes overloading) its network.

Along the way, they left a trail of broken contracts with other carriers. In 2007, when Apple launched the iPhone, 25 percent of iPhone buyers had switched to AT&T from another carrier, according to an estimate from American Technology Research.

Meanwhile, as smaller handset makers scrambled to get competitive devices to market, they came up with some unexpectedly good alternatives — and Verizon lost out there, too. When Palm created the Palm Pre, a device that won praise for its compact hardware design and smart user interface, it offered the device to Sprint. Sprint had been a long-time partner of Palm, sticking with the company through years of increasingly lackluster Treos and the inexpensive but popular Centro, so it’s no surprise that Palm rewarded its partner’s loyalty.

Taiwanese phone maker HTC also grabbed center stage with the first Android phone, the G1. The G1 made its debut on T-Mobile’s network, largely because the carrier is more willing to take risks and experiment with new products than others.

Verizon may have been lulled into a false sense of security because of its relationship with BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion. When RIM created its first touchscreen device, the Storm, it inked an exclusive deal with Verizon. Despite tepid reviews of the Storm, Verizon sold more than a million phones within weeks of its launch.

In June, Verizon, along with Sprint, offered the BlackBerry Tour, a Curve-like phone with QWERTY keyboard, 2.4-inch display, GPS and 3G. A well-designed device, the Tour failed to get smartphone enthusiasts excited because it lacked innovative and surprising new features.

Also, while Verizon had promised an “any apps, any device” open-network program in 2007, it has reworked the idea to include just non-consumer devices such as routers, not consumer handsets. Instead, the company has focused on creating an app store for developers.

Meanwhile, it is trying to win customers through some extremely competitive pricing. Consider the HTC Touch Pro 2 phone, a smartphone running the Windows Mobile operating system and targeted at business users. The device is available after a rebate and on contract with Sprint and T-Mobile for $350. On Verizon it costs $200. Verizon has also been running a ‘buy one, get one free’ promotion for its BlackBerry phones.

“Most of Verizon’s current line up is below $100,” says Greengart. “If you go back a year this was not the case. Lately, Verizon has been very aggressive when it comes to pricing.”

Verizon isn’t willing to concede it may have lost ground to other carriers when it comes to attracting the newest phones. “We have a very robust portfolio of smartphones and will continue to add more in coming months,” says Raney. “We were the first to bring the BlackBerry Storm to market and just recently introduced the HTC Touch Pro 2.”

Though the company won’t talk about the devices it has planned for later this year, it is sure to introduce a successor to the BlackBerry Storm, a touchscreen phone dubbed the Storm 2. Industry watchers also expect Verizon to bag an upcoming Motorola device for its network. “We feel we will remain competitive,” says Raney.

But counting on a new BlackBerry device here or a Motorola phone there may not be enough for Verizon. The company will have to take a different road if it wants to get ahead, says Mace.

Verizon could work on offering attractive nonphone devices that connect to the network such as netbooks and tablets, he says.

“That market is not as developed as smartphones, but it would be an interesting opportunity,” he says. “It will be logical place for them to go.”

Mossberg Confirms, New iPhone Coming Next Week

Reading Walt Mossberg's review of the Palm Pre is amusing, because Mossberg obviously has the next iPhone and can't talk about it. Read between the lines: He's straining to compare the Pre to the un-announced iPhone on his desk. He wants to do it so badly. But he can't, because that would steal Apple's thunder.

When you're suffering from a case of NDA-itis that badly, it's no surprise when things slip out around the edges. In this case, Mossberg confirmed that Apple will indeed release an iPhone next week. And did I mention that he probably has it?

"I'd note that the new iPhone to be unveiled next week will have lots of added features that could alter those calculations," he writes.

Wording is important here. He couches many of his other iPhone predictions in "I expect" or "rumor" language: "I expect to see an iPhone with up to 32 gigabytes of memory, video recording, a higher-resolution camera, a compass, and greater operating speed. Plus, there are persistent rumors that Apple will announce at least one iPhone at a drastically lower price than $199."

But the first sentence is declarative, definitive: that new iPhone is to be unveiled next week. Not "expected to" or "rumored to." We'll be there at the WWDC on Monday morning at 10 AM PT, and we'll be liveblogging.

MetroPCS Introduces BlackBerry w/$50 Unlimited Plan

Talk about declaring a price war: MetroPCS has launched their first BlackBerry Curve 8330 smartphone with an unlimited rate plan. The $50 personal rate plan includes unlimited talk, text, web browsing, MMS and BlackBerry email access through BlackBerry Internet Service, while an extra $10 gets you the BlackBerry Enterprise Server version.

That means it's the first smart phone from the Cricket, Metro, and Boost Mobile unlimited, no-contract group, and the price is fully half of what Sprint is charging for the same thing via their Simply Everything plan—which was a good deal until about 13 seconds ago.

There's always a catch, although this one is geography-related: the MetroPCS Curve is only available in the older 1900 Mhz MetroPCS markets, not the many newer 1700 Mhz markets. That means NYC, Boston, and Philadelphia are out for now. And to be fair, Sprint is throwing in its optional services, like GPS navigation and mobile TV, although you have no choice but to take them.

Regardless, the MetroPCS BlackBerry Curve 8330 will be available at Best Buy stores beginning today in the following areas: Greater Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento. By the end of the month, the phone will also be in MetroPCS stores. Go get 'em. (Release)