She’s the T-Mobile Girl, a.k.a. Carly Foulkes, and last time you saw her she was dressed in pink and using a cheerful approach to sell the carrier’s services. The darker image in the new ad spots–dubbed the “alter ego” campaign—are part of T-Mobile’s effort to rebrand itself as more “edgy” and in the process attract more customers.

T-Mobile wants to make a point about 4G speeds. In a hotly contested battle, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile are wooing new customers with the promise of data speeds around 5-20Mbps or higher. Yet, claiming to offer 4G and delivering that speed are different things. No carrier has consistently provided super-fast speeds in every town, especially if you connect in a busy area or far from the tower. We know this to be true from the hotly contested debates on our forums.

But, as to marketing specifically, how do you think T-Mobile is doing? Do you like the new look, or would you rather Carly went back to her spring pink dress?

Just remember that HSPA+42 devices ( HTC Amaze 4G and Samsung Galaxy S II) will require a 5 GB data plan. Other than that, you are in the clear for your brand new 4G devices.

Go ahead and check out the press release and T-Mobile’s website for more details. You may want to take advantage of this deal, whether it is for a Valentine’s Day gift or not.

* This explains the “huge” line i saw at the mall today around t-mobiles kiosk.

Are you an AT&T user that still has unlimited data? Well AT&T started a new thing today (at least it was confirmed today) that you will start to be throttled as you use their data to its max. AT&T has a few users that max out their data and although they say it is only the top 5% of their users we want you to know that  AT&T will be slower than normal!

This is all supposed to start October 1st. It will be based on how much data you use – and if you are in the top 5% then you will be throttled. AT&T never does tell us though how much it will take to get to the top 5%. This is said though that it will be users that stream music and videos to their devices, as well as gaming. You can look at the full press release at the bottom of the article, but I want to point out the nice little tidbit at the end that says they still need T-Mobile to solve it’s spectrum and network crunch.

Source: PhoneDog

An Update for Our Smartphone Customers With Unlimited Data
Plans

Dallas, Texas, July 29, 2011

Like other wireless
companies, we’re taking steps to manage exploding demand for mobile data.  Many
experts agree the country is facing a serious wireless spectrum crunch.  We’re
responding on many levels, including investing billions in our wireless network
this year and working to acquire additional network capacity.  We’re also taking
additional, more immediate measures to help address network
congestion.

One new measure is a step that may reduce the data throughput
speed experienced by a very small minority of smartphone customers who are on
unlimited plans – those whose extraordinary level of data usage puts them in the
top 5 percent of our heaviest data users in a billing period.  In fact, these
customers on average use 12 times more data than the average of all other
smartphone data customers.  This step will not apply to our 15 million
smartphone customers on a tiered data plan or the vast majority of smartphone
customers who still have unlimited data plans.

Starting October 1,
smartphone customers with unlimited data plans may experience reduced speeds
once their usage in a billing cycle reaches the level that puts them among the
top 5 percent of heaviest data users.  These customers can still use unlimited
data and their speeds will be restored with the start of the next billing
cycle.  Before you are affected, we will provide multiple notices, including a
grace period.

This change will never impact the vast majority of our
customers, and is designed to create a better service experience for
all.

The amount of data usage of our top 5 percent of heaviest users
varies from month to month, based on the usage of others and the ever-increasing
demand for mobile broadband services.  To rank among the top 5 percent, you have
to use an extraordinary amount of data in a single billing period.

There
will be no changes for the vast majority of customers.  It’s not how much time
you spend using your device, it’s what you do with it.  You can send or receive
thousands of emails, surf thousands of Web pages and watch hours of streaming
video every month and not be in the top 5 percent of data
users.

Typically what puts someone in the top 5 percent is streaming very
large amounts of video and music daily over the wireless network, not Wi-Fi.
Streaming video apps, remote web camera apps, sending large data files (like
video) and some online gaming are examples of applications that can use data
quickly.  Using Wi-Fi doesn’t create wireless network congestion or count toward
your wireless data usage.  AT&T smartphone customers have unlimited access
to our entire Wi-Fi network, with more than 26,000 hotspots, at no additional
cost.  They can also use Wi-Fi at home and in the office.

The bottom line
is our customers have options. They can choose to stay on their unlimited plans
and use unlimited amounts of data, but may experience reduced speeds at some
point if they are an extraordinarily heavy data user. If speed is more
important, they may wish to switch to a tiered usage plan, where customers can
pay for more data if they need it and will not see reduced speeds.

But
even as we pursue this additional measure, it will not solve our spectrum
shortage and network capacity issues.  Nothing short of completing the T-Mobile
merger will provide additional spectrum capacity to address these near term
challenges.

AT&T very own customers have been suing the company for what appears to be their way of showing how disapproved they are about the T-Mobile take over. They say they are suing to voice that this merger will hurt consumers by squashing the competition.

A New York law firm, Bursor & Fisher, filed a 236 page document requesting arbitration for 11 of its clients, alleging the proposed $39 million merger violates the Clayton Antitrust Act. The firm has also created a website for more people to sign up to get into the action….All at the cost of AT&T…

Attorney Scott Bursor says nearly 50 people and counting are interesting in pursuing arbitration in this legal matter.

“We’ve spent months compiling evidence of how this merger will cause higher prices and worse service,” Bursor said, outlining the case. “We’ve hired experts who are prepared to testify at arbitration hearings across the country. And we are prepared to file hundreds of arbitration cases, any one of which could stop this merger.”

Now you may remember AT&T won a Supreme Court case in April that ruled consumers cannot bring a class-action suit against AT&T, upholding the wireless carrier’s attempt to prevent such suits in its customers contracts. But customers can (and are) still requesting arbitration, according to the courts.

AT&T must still pay for each arbitration dispute a customer files against it, and up to $10,000 if the arbitrator find in favor of the plaintiff. In other words if (and that is a big IF) Bursor & Fisher win their filings, AT&T must make a sizable contribution to all consumers involved in arbitration against it.

So with that my AT&T loving PPCGs, will you too file suit and show your outcry about the merger? This could make things heat up for AT&T and if enough people sign and win maybe make AT&T think twice about the merger and the costs associated with it. Will you sign it – tell us below!

Source: Mobiledia

So I have not wrote about the Sprint and AT&T merger in a couple weeks – but lets be clear – it is still in the heat of all things cell phone. Yesterday Sprint told the FCC that AT&T can expand without buying T-Mobile in a move that I would say is bold at the least. They [Sprint] claim that AT&T could see a 600% increase in network and save themselves a bunch of money because it would cost less to revamp then buy.

“AT&T could increase its network capacity by more than 600 percent by 2015 without subjecting the country to the anti-competitive and anti-consumer harms associated with its proposed takeover of T-Mobile,’ says SVP for Government Affairs Vonya B McCann. “This capacity increase could more than meet AT&T’s projected data service demand growth through and beyond 2015 for a fraction of the cost of its proposed $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile.”

“AT&T has not, and cannot, demonstrate that its proposed takeover of T-Mobile is in the public interest,” insists Sprint

Sprint has been the most vocal of all the carriers in the USA about this merger. Sprint claims that it would stifle innovation, and cause prices to rise as AT&T (and Verizon) play games with each other. Remember that if this goes through that AT&T and Verizon would own about 80% of all customers in the nation. Leaving Sprint in a distant 3rd for the major carriers.

An AT&T spokesman responded by criticizing Sprint’s transfer of its network management to Ericsson (ERICb.ST). “A company that has outsourced the management of its own network shouldn’t be giving advice to others.”

So what do you say PPCGeeks – what do you want Verizon & AT&T&T? Does this even really matter in the bigger picture? Tell us below. I for one say it should not go through, as I see my chocies of carriers drop and my prices rise – I ask myself if cell phones are even worth it at a high price.

source: dslreports and BGR

According to a report from T- Mobile, they will be expanding their 4G HSPA+ network to 47 new cities across the US. This brings the list of current markets to 102 after they added 50 more markets back in May. That’s a fairly impressive number and to deploy that many more at one time, seems like a lot. It appears like T-Mobile really wants to be the GSM contender that keeps up with Verizon’s latest efforts to supply the nation with global 4G coverage.

The fact that their new HSPA+ markets are capable of 42Mbps, it seems a shame that the only device capable of using that speed so far, is the Rocket 3.0. But we have all seen the goodies that are coming down the pipes for T-Mobile, in the not too distant future.

Thinking further, maybe Verizon could actually learn a little here and see the other angle in which a company can approach a nationwide upgrade. Maybe having the network in place and ready, and then releasing the devices, isn’t such a bad way to go after all. I know it’s discouraging for me to own a 4G device, and live where it isn’t available yet. Good thing I make trips to the city and airports enough to make some use of it.

Anyhow, here is the list of cities being added:
• Akron, Ohio
• Albuquerque, N.M
• Allentown-Bethlehem, Penn
• Brownsville, Texas
• Cape Coral, Fla
• Canton, Ohio
• Charleston-North Charleston, S.C
• Cleveland, Ohio
• Colorado Springs, Colo
• Columbia, S.C
• Columbus, Ohio
• Corpus Christi, Texas
• Fayetteville, N.C
• Florence, S.C
• Fresno, Calif
• Harrisburg-Carlisle, Penn
• Hickory-Lenoir-Morgantown, N.C
• Killeen, Texas
• Lakeland, Fla
• Lancaster, Penn
• Las Cruces, N.M
• Madera, Calif
• McAllen, Texas
• Merced, Calif
• Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, S.C
• Napa, Calif
• Palm Bay, Fla
• Palm Coast, Fla
• Panama City, Fla
• Pueblo, Colo
• Reading, Penn
• Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif
• Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• San Antonio, Texas
• San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif
• Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, Calif
• Santa Fe, N.M
• Sarasota, Fla
• Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Penn
• Sebastian, Fla
• State College, Penn
• Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va
• Wilmington, N.C
• Visalia-Porterville, Calif
• Waco, Texas
• York-Hanover, Penn

***UPDATE
Apparently the carrier issued an erroneous statement that it would be launching dual-carrier HSPA+ in 47 markets, and later issued a correction stating the expansion would only cover 41 new markets.

T-Mobile decided to delay the launch of dual-carrier HSPA+ in Pennsylvania, which was the cause for the change in number of markets being deployed.

Six markets in the state, Allentown-Bethlehem, Harrisburg-Carlisle, Lancaster, Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, State College and York-Hanover, were dropped from T-Mobile’s first list of dual-carrier HSPA+ markets set to go live today. The only city from the state that remains on the list is Reading, Penn.
This brings the total number of markets launched to 96, not 102 as previously stated.
Just wanted to bring you up to date on the changes.

Is your city on the map?
Will they remain a threat to Big Red?
What do you think?

source: tmonews

Well, it appears that T-Mobile is making a nice attempt at welcoming new customers this Father’s Day week. Many of you already know that the HTC Sensation 4G has arrived at T-Mobile. Well it appears they wanna give it to you for $50 less for signing on with a new contract. On top of this, they are having a Father’s Day giveaway, where they announced on Facebook and Twitter that they would giveaway 10 of the HTC Sensation 4G handsets.

Early today, some TmoNews readers reportedly found the code on T-Mobile’s Sensation 4G page. This offer is only good for for new T-Mobile customers. But if you were already looking to jump to T-Mobile, or recently moved to where they become the best option, this should be great news.
Use coupon code “SENSATION50″ at checkout to get your new Sensation 4G for a very acceptable $149.99. Bringing the cost to almost exactly the same as Wal-Mart’s in-store pricing of $148.88.

T-Mobile seems to have no shortage of HTC love lately.
Is this the device you’ve been waiting for?
Will this offer be enough to get you to jump carriers? Or consider it?
Did anyone take advantage of this offer and wanna share their experience?
Let me know thoughts.

source: tmonews

Many have heard about the ATT and T-Mobile merger and the debate around it. Well it seems all this dispute has brought on new action from the FCC. They are now hitting up the other carriers for their opinions on the deal. Before we get to the details, let’s look at what has already happened briefly.

Sprint Nextel, along with thousands of consumers, had filed requests for the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to block AT&T’s proposed acquisition of rival mobile carrier T-Mobile USA. The $39 billion acquisition would create a “Twin Bell duopoly,” giving AT&T and Verizon Communications a combined 82% of the mobile market in the country, Sprint said Tuesday. Approval of the acquisition would take the U.S. mobile market back to the 1980s, when only two carriers had mobile licenses in each area, Sprint said in its 377-page filing.

The FCC’s spectrum auctions that took place in the 1990s,”gave rise to Sprint, T-Mobile, and other wireless carriers, and ushered in an era of competition and growth that has greatly benefited consumers,” Sprint’s representatives wrote. “Wireless competition has sparked a technological revolution in broadband data services, applications and devices. The proposed transaction would turn back the clock on competition and innovation and bring this era of unprecedented wireless expansion and technological innovation to an abrupt, but avoidable, halt.”

The FCC has received more than 10,000 comments about the proposed merger, with many mobile customers submitting one-page form letters from media reform group Free Press in opposition to the deal. Sprint has opposed the deal since the companies first announced it back in March. The deal would merge the second largest mobile carrier in the U.S. with the fourth largest, creating a new leader.

AT&T has argued that it needs T-Mobile’s spectrum to keep up with growing demand for mobile broadband service. Sprint disputed that argument, saying AT&T already controls the most spectrum of any U.S. mobile carrier. AT&T is the “industry laggard” in deploying next-generation mobile broadband, a Sprint source was quoted saying.

These ongoing arguments have led to The FCC sending out a request to carriers asking them for information to help its investigation into the AT&T and T-Mobile deal. Verizon, Sprint, and regional carriers, such as Cellular South and US Cellular were all asked to provide responses to the proposed deal. Each got the same nine questions regarding coverage, cell site ownership, expansion, relationships with AT&T, their future spectrum plans, billing, and competitive reports. The carriers have been given a June 20th deadline, to get their responses filed.

source
FCC Questionnaire (PDF)

What are your thoughts on the merger?
How do you feel about the fact that the FCC is finally looking into it more?
Let me know your thoughts on all of this below.

The HTC HD7 is a Windows Phone 7 handset designed to bring what you care about, to one central place. The most noticeable feature about this device is the large 4.3” display screen. The capacitive touchscreen display, which is the largest screen on a Windows Phone 7 device, is great for viewing movies, pictures, TV or videos on the go. The HD7 also comes equipped with a kickstand for easy, hands-free viewing.

The HTC HD7 runs on a 1GHz Snapdragon Processor, which enables robust multimedia and gaming experiences. You will be able to watch movies through the Netflix app, game on the go with Xbox Live or tune into T-Mobile TV with pretty good speeds. Other ways of staying connected is with the People Hub, a Windows Phone feature that lets you easily stay in touch with friends and family. The HD7 is all about bringing together what you care about most. With a customizable start screen, you can pin people, apps, playlists, and other favorites to the main page so they are always at your fingertips.

Some other well known features for the HTC HD7 include a 5MP camera with dual LED flash and automatic zoom for taking sharper pictures, Micorosoft Office Mobile for taking your work with you on the go, video capture/playback for capturing those special moments and GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities.
The HD7 is pretty much a redesigned HD2 with a Windows Operating System, instead of Android. It has that same 4.3-inch blueprint that HTC has been focused on with the HD2 and EVO 4G.

The first question you may want to ask yourself is whether or not you want to be aboard the WP7 gravy train.
Is the HD7 still current enough to make this a tempting deal?
Will the upcoming Mango update be enough of a refresh to make this device stay relevant for a while longer?

HTC HD7 (T-Mobile)
Known Specs:
• Windows Phone 7 OS
• Large 4.3″ Capacitive Touch display
• 5MP Camera with Dual LED Flash
• 1GHz Snapdragon Processor
• 720p HD Video Capture
• Kickstand for ultimate viewing experience
• Netflix Movie App
• Xbox LIVE
• Microsoft Office Mobile
• View/edit Word, Excel, PowerPoint
• GPS, Bluetooth, Wifi
• 3.5 mm Headset and MicroUSB Data/charging port

source

Known specs:
• 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor
• Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) with HTC Sense 3.0
• 4.3 inch qHD display (540×960 pixels)
• 14.4 Mbps HSPA+ speed (no 21.1 or 42.2 support)
• 768 MB RAM and 1GB internal storage
• microSD card slot with 8GB included card
• 8 megapixel camera with 1080p support
• Front facing VGA camera for video chat
• 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth 3.0
• 1520 mAh battery
• Dimensions of 126.1 x 65.4 x 11.3 mm and 148 grams

source

Starting tomorrow T-Mobile customers will have access to a new feature that will allow Wi-Fi calling capable devices to make and receive phone calls for free. These calls will not use your calling minutes.  In other words, they will be unlimited calls and that’s very exciting news!!

Rumor is that the qualifying customers will receive a text message when the feature is available and you can then add it to your plan via the web or by calling customer care. The best part about this news is not only that it’s free but also that those of you on the  Even More, Even More Plus and 4G Do More rate plans can get the free unlimited Wi-Fi calling too!

Isn’t this great news for those of you who currently are cutting into your minutes when you are making Wi-Fi phone calls? This will stop that from happening so you can spare those minutes for other purposes now. If this excites you and you will be taking advantage of the feature, let us know what you think! Leave your comments in the box below.

Source: Android Police via Tmo News

Google has been sued successfully and lost for use of Linux on it’s server platform.  Although this may not be a huge loss to Google financially, this issue could extend to the Android platform. Bedrock Computer Technology has also sued AOL, Yahoo and Amazon to name a few.

Will companies like Bedrock Computer Technologies impede the growth of Linux?

What do you Geek-A-Holics think?
Get your Geek Freak on and let us know.

Source: Intomobile & BBC

There’s been some rumors about some new unlimited plans coming from T-Mobile, and now they’re official. There’s two options available. One is for $59.99 if you pay month-to-month with no contract (Even More Plus customers). It will be $79.99/month with a contract (Even More customers), which includes handset upgrades which is making it more expensive. While they use the term “unlimited”, its not truly unlimited. For data, you will get uncapped speeds up to 2Gb, then your bandwidth will be throttled at an unspecified rate.

Do you think this will force other carriers into switching up their plans? Is this enough to get you to change carriers?

Source: TMoNews

This looks to be one beast of a phone, that’s for sure. HTC recently announced the specs of its HTC Sensation (aka Pyramid), and T-Mobile announced that it will be releasing it this summer with its 4G HSPA+ network. It featuers a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 768Mb of RAM, 1Gb of ROM, Bluetooth 3.0, a 4.3″ qHD (540×960) Super LCD display (with Gorilla Glass), dual cameras, and an aluminum unibody chasis. The rear camera is also 8MP capable of 1080p Full HD video recording with stereo sound. It also comes complete with Gingerbread and the latest version of HTC’s Sense.

I don’t know about you guys, but I would love to have this phone and I hope it comes to other carriers. T-Mobile seems to be stepping up their game with great devices, let’s hope other carriers will keep up.

(Click for larger images)

Source: AndroidCentral

We heard rumors of this plan back in February but nothing ever happened. Finally, the documents have leaked confirming details on the new Truly Unlimited Data + Talk + Text plan T-Mobile will be offering for a limited time only, starting April 13, 2011. Keep in mind this is only an individual line promotion can only be paired with an Even More account. Those of you with T-Mobile should know those terms. Rumor is the existing $79.99 1500 minute Talk + Text + Web plan will be grandfathered as of April 12th.

Were not sure what the hold up is on the release of the plans but there is a catch. If you see in the image below where it says Data Feature $20.00 for 2GB Unlimited Data. Yes, this $20.00 is already included in the $79.99 price we mentioned above. Keep in mind though, after the first 2GB’s of data speeds are throttled your bill cycle resets. There will be continued connection to the web, but data speeds will be reduced for the remainder of the cycle.

Does this excite you geeks? Let us know what you think. We will keep our eyes open for more details.

Source: TmoNews

There are many GEEKsters out there looking for some numbers from MS to help them make a decision on their next smartphone. Judging by some of the numbers released by MS, things are moving in the right direction. The number of developers downloading the needed tools to develop apps are great considering this is a new platform.

What’s very interesting is the number of apps MS has released does not include the lite versions, ebooks, wallpaper and the apps that have multiple languages count as 1. We all know that the Android and Apple market counts each one of these apps as a seperate app.

Last year many were calling WP7 the new Kin. The numbers are proving many of the nay sayers very wrong.

What do you GEEKmeisters think about this development?
What will the other platform fans say?
Inquiring GEEKS want to know..

Read more here: Intomobile

UPDATE: We got rid of the file cuz’ it didn’t record properly, we apologize for this folks and next weeks show should be better!

The PPCGP, All the Mobile News You’ll Ever Need!

Be sure to follow us on twitter!

Host: Laos101 AKA Joshua Sherman

Guests: Our Newsies!

Topics:

AT&T may buy T-Mobile!!!!

LG Quantum – Analysis and comparing to the Arrive!

Thunderbolts, and more!

and much MUCH more! Listen in!

Microsoft has finally started rolling out the NoDo update after quite a few delays. The latest Windows Phone 7 device (HTC Arrive) has this update and seems to work well. The NoDo update has other functionality updates also, including apps search on the device, performance improvements, Wi-Fi functionality and Outlook e-mail client.

The update is still missing the highly sought after Multi-tasking feature. This function should be added when Microsoft rolls out Mango. Take a look at the video of the copy and paste feature below.

Read the article for more information on the update and let us know what you think. Have you been impressed with the update? Did you expect to see more or are you happy with the update? Leave your comments in the box below.

Source: PCWorld

UPDATE: Verizon Wireless has stated they have no comment on this occasion as of yet.

That’s right folks – it’s official.

According to a report from MSNBC, AT&T and Deutsch Telekom, parent company of their USA-based endeavor better known as T-Mobile, have agreed to sell off the venture for a whopping $39 Billion. With a ‘B’. This will not only hand over the entire major GSM market to AT&T in a mini-monopoly, but also make the carrier the largest in the USA by a large margin.

We’re going to contact our folks over at AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint. Whomever respond, we’ll throw in here as a rebuttal! We are just as worried and excited as the rest of our community to find out what this means next!

Source: MSNBC, with thanks to Itster!

T-Mobile rumors of the Nokia C7, aka “Tiger” have been correct as we see the device was just added to Nokia’s inventory list. Nokia has hopes of winning over Android users who have service with T-Mobile.  They haven’t forgotten about Windows Phone 7 users though so don’t worry. They are focused on both platforms evenly.

The screenshot below proves it all:

Specifications:

• 8MP camera with HD video capturing
• 3.5 inch screen – Resolution: 16:9 nHD (640 x 360 pixels) AMOLED
• 8 gigs internal memory (expandable to 32 gigs)
• Capacitive touch screen
• Orientation sensor (Accelerometer)
• Compass (Magnetometer)
• Proximity sensor
• Ambient light detector
• 3 customizable home screens
• BL-5K 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery

The image above shows only one color for now, Frosty Metal, but in other countries it’s available in Charcoal black and Mahogany brown. Maybe we will see more options closer to release time. Find all the specifications here. Do you have T-Mobile? Are you considering one of these? Let us know what you think in the comment boxes below.

Source: T-MO News