legion125

I guess with the failure of the T-Mobile venture, AT&T had to take a hard look at itself an decide to use its abundant supply of spectrum more wisely. http://www.phonearen...network_id27621

I've done the same thing. Although Sprint has been nickel & diming us to death the last year and a half, To get a comparable Verizon plan would cost me $70+ more per month. If I cut the hours to their basic plan with the add-on's I'm in $10-15 more range. Then I take a shower and feel better.

Someone in the wild blue yonder pulled the trigger and ordered those 18,000 iPads. As I speculated, they will be used as "electronic flight bags", so they will have charting and other aeronautical information. Whether in heaven or hell (depending on your view point) Steve Jobs must be smiling. http://www.theverge....ipad-2-contract

If they could, that would be pulling a rabbit out of a hat. There is talk of a swap of spectrum with DoD, but I don't have the specifics or a timeline. The FCC doesn't seem to need to speed this along although it would be helpful for both LS2 and Sprint. I think Sprint was depending on LS2's payments to host its network and build out NV a little more than they let on.

Shot gun

Asus is starting to remind me of HTC except its in the tablet category. Pulling themselves out of nowhere to make a mark in the industry.

I have an upgrade open myself. If the GSlll comes out soon enough I may be tempted.

Road kill

There's big and there's big. I think 4" would be the sweet spot for the majority of people. I myself find 4.3" has worked the best for be. The size of the Epic Touch or GNex works as well. Anything larger that that (depending on the configuration) is getting out of my comfort zone. Nokia just sounds a bit arrogant with what they think you should have. Kinda like Verizon and Apple.

It's Verizon after all. They know whats best for us even if we don't. I like the commie analogy. Perhaps if Huawai wants to really break into the market they should partner with Big Red - The peoples choice!

I think so too. A little earlier than I anticipated, but still in the time frame.

High road

Here's some news. Google's new tablet may be called the Google Play. Although still speculated to be a small tablet, it may have features that place it above an entry level device. production may start in April. Is this what you were thinking a Google tablet should be? 7" or 10"/ High end/mid-level or low end? I'm curious to see what the final design and capabilities will be. http://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-Play-could-that-be-the-name-of-an-upcoming-Google-tablet_id27607 Google Play: could that be the name of an upcoming Google tablet? We’ve already heard whispers about Google being in the process of building the first tablet with its own brand name on it, but now it seems that a streak of domain name registrations might have given away its name. Google Play - that’s what Google might have chosen for the name of a 7-inch tablet that’s allegedly coming up. With a rumored resolution of 1280x800 pixels, the tablet will offer more than entry-level tablets. It’s also very likely to feature the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, it would be a shame if Google released a product with earlier version of Android. Production of the Google Play tablet could start as early as in April 2012. Now, here’s the only clue we have for why Google might have chosen Play as the name. On February 29th, the company registered a bunch of domains via brand protection company MarkMonitor. Check out the list and let us know what you think about it - is that really enough evidence to suggest an upcoming Google Play tablet?

Although an announcement hasn't been set, Sammy's marketing firm is said to be planning an April launch with Europe being the focus. Again this may be a step above a rumor but still no word on when it will hit the U.S. I guess in the smartphone world in Samsung's eyes, we're a 2nd tier launch region. http://www.bgr.com/2012/03/02/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-launch-reportedly-confirmed-for-april/ http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-Galaxy-S-III-allegedly-confirmed-for-April-launch_id27605

Ice cube

I did some checking. Looks like PayPass is a Mastercard venture that allows Visa, Discover and AmEx to piggyback. Now that Walmart & Target are developing there own ecosystem I wonder if there will be system or network sharing?

Ice castles

Hourglass figure

Nothing official, however, it would be dumb IMO to make the 1st gen LTE phones only capable in the 1900 range and 6+ months later turn on the 800 MHz switch and lose capability. It's too easy just to have the chip sets set up for this and make the phone future proof. The 2.5 MHz spectrum is another story.

I like it. Never heard of it, but I like the potential. Still looks like a start up since it doesn't have a large list of phones and $59.00 for the basic treatment. Will have to keep my eye on this one. Good product if you live in Seattle.

Sprint should look at it. If it works as well as expected this modular set up could be cost and labor effective. Music to Sprints ears besides hearing the cash registers ring every time revenue increases.

I agree with this one. When I had my Hero (before I rooted it to CM7) it had I believed Sense 2.0. For me that was just right. It had just enough widgets to keep it interesting although for the Hero, that was still too much for the phone to handle. With Sense 3.0 & 4.0 it became too burdensome. I helped a friend reset his phone who had a newer model on Verizon. The new versions of Sense was just overwhelming and I could see why phones needed so much RAM and became bogged down. I think this is a step in the right direction for HTC. I'll take one for a test ride when the new EVO or One X comes out. Who knows, I may become a fan again. http://www.phonearena.com/news/HTC-admits-Sense-UI-got-cluttered_id27544 HTC admits Sense UI “got cluttered" HTC’s hallmark Sense UI skin has been what seemed to be the secret sauce behing the company’s tremendous growth in early to mid 2011. But later in the year sales came in as the cold shower - suddenly HTC devices sales slumped. With a renewed focus on less but better, HTC made a comeback with the One series. Now, Kouji Kodera, HTC's chief product officer, admits part of the reason could have been Sense. While initially loved for its large clock and simplicity, HTC Sense UI got cluttered over time. "There where too many things in there," Kodera said for Pocket-lint. "Even on the home screen we had four or five icons before consumers got a chance to add things themselves. For the HTC One range we have taken it down to Sense 2.0 again." Now, that’s an interesting admission. We’ve always been hesitant about Android skins as their benefit is often only visual, but comes at the price of performance. Turns out that applies to Sense UI as well, which is definitely one of the heavier skins around. "From the original Sense up to Sense 3.5 we added too many things. The original concept was that it had to be simple and it had to be easy to use and we had that philosophy, but over time it got cluttered. What we've done right now is a good mixture of keeping Sense and Google's Ice Cream Sandwich element in a good balance. We haven't tried to change everything here. We have kept a lot of the ICS element but still added the Sense favour on top of it." HTC announced its HTC One series, led by the One X - an elegant thin device with a huge 4.7-inch display. Then, there’s the slightly affordable HTC One S and the One V aimed at regional US carriers. "These are the key focus products for this year. You will start hearing less from us as we are going to be focusing on less number of products," Kodera concluded. Now, we can only salute HTC for refocusing on quality. Do you think they’ve hit the right balance between quality and quantity with the One series?

Hmmm? Although no big deal, I think it boils down to preference and what you expect from a phone. However, if the iPhone 5 rolls out with a 4" screen this year, especially after the late Steve Jobs (RIP) said a large screen isn't necessary, I wonder if Nokia will eat crow if they eventually have to follow consumer demand and make a larger screen for its devices before sales finally begin to move. We may see something different from them later. http://www.phonearena.com/news/Smartphones-with-big-screens-are-stupid-says-Nokia_id27557 Smartphones with big screens are stupid, says Nokia Is it just us, or is every tech giant out to bash its competitors? First we hadOlympus claiming that the Nokia 808 PureView and its 41-megapixel camera are “utter nonsense”, after which Sony made quad-core smartphones look like pointless battery hogs, and now, we have Nokia saying that phones with big screens are just stupid. Yes, “stupid” was the exact word that Nokia's Niklas Savander used during an interview with Pocket-Lint. He also described the phenomenon of consumers wanting bigger and bigger displays as “monster truck syndrome”, which is a desire that doesn't make sense at all, as people would one day realize. Furthermore, Savander pointed out that instead of just making screens bigger and bigger, companies should focus on creating new technologies. Now, we know that many of you say that having a smartphone with a humongous display, be it for watching photos, videos, or playing games, is simply awesome. And that is indeed true, but other than that, the extra large size of the device takes a huge toll on the device's portability and make it more or less unusable with a single hand. Currently, the Nokia Lumia 900 has the biggest display on any Nokia smartphone measuring at 4.3 inches in diagonal. In comparison, other companies are pushing the boundaries much further with screens of 4.7 inches and above. At the end of the day, we cannot agree that having a smartphone with a big display is stupid. Rather, it is a matter of personal preference. Some people prioritize the rich multimedia experience that a huge screen can deliver, while others prefer smartphones that fit perfectly in smaller palms. What do you, guys, think? What is your preferred display size?

The FCC is proposing some rule changes that could delay DISH's planned network. This could affect the granting of the waivers that DISH is currently pushing for. I wonder if AT&T is behind this? The Death Star was arguing that the FCC should hold DISH to the same standards as LightSquared in making DISH build its network before it was ready. I think this was a ploy to force DISH in a corner and possibly spurring a spectrum sale to AT&T. Now it appears that all the sudden the FCC wants to delay things which could also play into AT&T's hands. Egan says they may not go forward if FCC interference increases it's risk profile. http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/fcc-tackle-mss-spectrum-rules-leading-dish-worry-about-its-network/2012-03-01 FCC to tackle MSS spectrum rules, leading Dish to worry about its network

If you people have a long memory, Donohue was the CEO of Nextel and had experience with dealing with Washington. he was successful in getting spectrum issues resolved so Nextel could operate it's network. What to you think. Could he make things happen? Or is this part of the long goodbye for LightSquared? http://www.fiercewir...spot/2012-03-01 Report: LightSquared eyes former Nextel chief Donahue for CEO spot