Image Courtesy T-Mobile

Today is a good day for T-Mobile customers. This morning the FCC listed the filing for a $1 billion transfer of Spectrum from AT&T to T-Mobile. This pretty much means to the common consumer that T-Mobile will be getting some more bandwidth to grow their GSM network. If you followed the deal last year, you know that AT&T promised a few billion in cash as well as some spectrum to Deutsche Telekom as payment if the takeover did not occur. As we all know late last year AT&T pulled their bid for the #4 US mobile provider leaving them responsible to pay the German based company reparations for a… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Poor T-Mobile. They are now the only major mobile carrier in the US not carrying the iPhone. With the release of the iPhone 4S, now AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint have the iPhone 4 and 4S. Which leaves T-Mobile as the odd man out.

But T-Mobile is trying to fight back. First, they issued a press release stating that they would love to carry the iPhone, but it is up to Apple. In the same press release, they explain reasons they feel their network is superior. Don’t get me wrong – I really love T-Mobile, as does Francis. Their “4G” network speeds are currently unmatched and very reliable, but Verizon is quickly gaining… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

So the day has finally come where the official announcement has been made for the Samsung Galaxy S II to hit US soil. The press conference is under way right now (Dan is there as I type), and just as we thought details are slim. A 4.5″ SAMOLED+ screen is destined for AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint, while Verizon is holding off for the Samsung Galaxy Prime, or Nexus Prime or whatever they decide to call it. As I watch the blogging commence I noticed while reading over at TmoNews some of the announced features of the new phone. What caught my eye is the promise of the robust Enterprise features that will be included with this phone… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Image courtesy of Droid-Life

What drives me nuts about mobile carriers these days is that I truly believe they are using new technology against us. Maybe you think I’m out of my mind, but it’s really easy to see the common trend happening with 3 of the 4 big carriers in the US. As mobile broadband and equipment evolve, our data plans seem to reverse direction and impose some serious and costly limitations. If I remember correctly in the past before smartphones were big, you could use all the data you wanted. But let’s remember the hardware was not nearly as advanced and you really weren’t streaming anything over a mobile… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

It always pays to shop around, even when buying a carrier-branded phone.

Did you know that the same phones you can buy at the Verizon store are available on Amazon — some at greatly reduced savings from the carrier sites? No kidding — on the Verizon site, the HTC Thunderbolt (a phone I truly enjoyed while reviewing) is available with contract for $249.99.

That price seems fair enough, right? Especially since the full retail says $569.99.

Well guess what? On Amazon… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

(If you aren’t familiar with the ongoing issues Francis has had with his G2X, be sure to see his initial explanation here: Original G2X Screen Bleed Article)

Last week I wrote up a quick post about sending in my G2X to T-Mobile due to excessive screen bleeding issues. After receiving a new phone, returning a phone, and two more chats with T-Mobile representatives I’m sitting here with the same phone I started out with. If you are unaware of the screen bleeding issues check out my post here, or pretty much any G2X forum anywhere on the web and you are bound to see what I’m talking about. After ordering… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

LG recently brought all their IPS goodness to Android with the Introduction of the T-Mobile G2X. Before getting this phone I was happily running a HD2 that still holds a spot on my shelf as my number one backup phone. With more dual core superphones launching by the minute, LG really had not dropped a flagship into the Android Community. The specs on the phone are at  the top of most lists with a 4″ IPS screen, Dual Core Nvidia Tegra, and TMO AWS bands topping 14.1 Mbps. The phone shipped with a *stock version of Android 2.2 with a promise of Gingerbread right around the corner. Months later as problems are popping up left and right… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Image courtesy of T-Mobile

This year has been all about 4G. ’4G’ refers to the newest high-speed data transfer protocol used by cell phone carriers for smartphones. 4G coverage is spotty at best no matter which carrier your contract is with. Every carrier now has some form of 4G, and as we all know some are (for now) much better than others. The debate of ‘true’ 4G and LTE has been the talk of many flame wars but quite frankly it doesn’t matter to me what my carrier calls it as long as my speeds are fast.

T-mobile announced in a press event on Monday night that they are going hot with HSPA+ in… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

T-Mobile just announced a very sweet Android phone that has features that are making a few of us here at Gear Diary stand up and take notice. What makes it such an attractive phone? Read on for details.

The T-Mobile G2x (by LG), not to be confused with the T-Mobile G2 (which has a hardware keyboard), is definitely an interesting handset. Some of the key features that Francis and I find interesting include:

• Two Processors – NVIDIA Tegra 2 Dual-Core 1 Ghz processor
• Two Cameras – an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and autofocus, and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera
• Support for T-Mobile

(Image courtesy of T-Mobile)

T-Mobile keeps on reminding us rabidly loyal fans why we love their network so much. In addition to announcing the T-Mobile G2x with Google, they announced a partnership with Audi, but most importantly, they are further enhancing their 4G infrastructure, as they said they would.

T-Mobile announced that they are planning on doubling their 4G HSPA+ network to theoretical download speeds of 42 Mbps! I can tell you that with my T-Mobile G2, I regularly get over 8 – 10 Mbps. And T-Mobile announced new devices today which will be able to take advantage of the upgrade to their network.

Customers lucky enough to live in… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Image courtesy of T-Mobile

Sometimes the best things in life really are free. T-Mobile has a promotion running on February 11th and 12th that is one of the best I’ve seen yet from a mobile provider. Sign up for a 2 year agreement, or add a line, and get ANY smartphone in the T-Mobile lineup for free. TmoNews has a screen snap of the rebate form showing a few handsets that will cost you a little up front, but will be refunded in some form or fashion. It’s a great way to get your guy or girl a brand new Smartphone for absolutely nothing, and show your level of commitment by having a joint plan together… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Very exciting tablet details coming from T-Mobile at CES!

Phillip Humm, T-Mobile CEO & president and CEO and Dr. JS Park, president and CEO of LG introduced the G-Slate from LG & T-Mobile.

T-Mobile has fastest data in top 10 markets according to Nielsen.

900K 4G devices sold.

T-Mobile is focused on affordable smartphones and tablets, aggressive plans and pricing, and rich and compelling services. Aggressive 4G data plans starting at $10/month.

Data traffic on their network doubles every 12 months.

Neville Ray, T-Mobile CTO, said that their network is 160% larger than Verizon’s new 4G, and 40% more major metro… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

This looks pretty spectacular …  Today LG and T-Mobile announced a new tablet, the Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) powered T-Mobile G-Slate, which will be “the companies’ first 4G tablet in the United States powered by the latest version of Android.

Suddenly my brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab feels all old and out of date!  We’re attending an LG event tonight, so I’ll keep an eye out for any new tablets (or other cool mobile devices) they might be showing …

To tether or not to tether, what to do? There has been a long-standing debate and rather good argument over whether tethering your phone is legal, ethical, or financially worth it. Most platforms today have programs available that allow you to tether a wired or wireless device to you phone without buying another data plan. Most wireless carriers do offer tethering at an additional cost, but even then they limit you data speed and connection options. These days almost everyone that has a phone capable of tethering and has an additional device or two that could benefit from sharing their 3G/4G data cellular data.

So the big question is if you cheating your carrier by… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

One of my biggest gripes with cellphone service is that when I’m at home, I have no signal. I have no home phone, so I completely rely on my cellphone when anyone is trying to reach me, and there is nothing worse than paying for big dollar data plan while not having a good connection at your home. Often times city-dwellers have prime coverage for voice and data speeds, especially when thy have HSPA+, 4G, or WiMax in their area. T-Mobile is in the middle of a Top Secret beta test project to greatly enhance 3G data speeds in the homes to specific signal “challenged” customers. An XDA member known as “junkdruggler” placed a service call… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...