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Cricket adds data to its most affordable smartphone plans
AT&T's low-cost Cricket brand has historically been somewhat stingy with data unless you've bee willing to pay almost as much as you would for a regular AT&T plan, but it's loosening things up a bit on November 5th. The budget carrier is adding more data to its most affordable smartphone plans and increasing the worth of its unlimited service. To begin with, you now get 2GB of full-speed data on a $30 plan (versus just 1GB before), and 5GB of data instead of 4GB on the $40 plan. That may not sound like much if you're used to watching Netflix on your phone, but it promises to make a big difference if you're keeping your costs down -- you don't have to be quite so cautious about sharing a photo or streaming some music.
All the places you can buy the Galaxy S8 and S8+
If you're looking to make sure you're among the first to own Samsung's swanky new Galaxy S8 but don't want to line up outside a store on April 21st, you're in luck. Major and minor carriers alike have announced that they're running pre-order campaigns (with some hefty incentives) starting as early as tomorrow. Here's what each has planned:
Cricket Wireless matches Google with new $30 data plan
While the major American wireless providers have been changing up their price plans and generally shaking things up, low-cost carriers have been taking note. Cricket Wireless is joining the game by introducing a new data plan that gives you unlimited talk, text and 1GB of 4G data before dropping your speeds to 128 kbps.
Cricket Wireless has an unlimited plan for $65 a month
Not be left in the dust by the likes of T-Mobile, Sprint or Verizon when it comes to pre-paid smartphone plans, AT&T is getting aggressive with its Cricket Wireless offering. For $65 a month ($70 if you opt out of auto-pay) you'll get unlimited talk, text and LTE data across North America. That price includes all taxes and fees as well, which should mean no surprises on a monthly basis.
Cricket Wireless gives upgraders three more ways to pay
Cricket Wireless wants you to continue using its prepaid services, even if you can't afford paying up front for the phone you're eyeing. To help, it's offering finance for devices worth $200 or more, including Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S6. There are three plans in total. The first two finance your device (after a standard credit bureau check, that is), with an initial down payment of $20. Tier 1 allows you to pay for your phone within 24 months with zero interest, while tier 2 offers a "six-month deferred interest offer and 29.99% APR for an 18 month term." That means you don't incur interest, but only if you pay within six months
Nokia Lumia 1320 comes to the US through Cricket, sales begin June 13th
It's been so long since Nokia announced the Lumia 1320 that we just sort of assumed it wasn't headed to the US. Heck, even when the 1320 showed up in an FCC filing we weren't convinced -- after all, it was impossible to tell then what carrier would even support the phone. Well, now we know: Cricket Wireless has just announced that it will start selling the 1320 on June 13th, making it the only US operator to offer the 6-inch Windows Phone. If you're not already a Cricket customer, this might not be reason enough to switch; the device's cumbersome size and patchy call quality are already knocks against. But for Cricket customers, at least, this could be interesting: The 1320 is the closest thing the carrier has to a phablet, and it's only the second Windows Phone device on offer (the other is the much-smaller Lumia 520). In any case, if you happen to be a Cricket user who loves WP8 and wants a bigger-screened handset, this will go on sale Friday for $300 $230 after a $50 mail-in rebate. Note: the rebate is only good through July 10th, so if you really want this thing, better get cracking.
iPhone 5s, 5c debuting on prepaid carrier Cricket October 25
It ended up taking almost no time at all for a prepaid wireless carrier to announce that it will begin selling the iPhone 5s and 5c, with Virgin Mobile jumping on the new phones at the beginning of October. Now competitor Cricket Wireless has announced that both of the newest iPhones will be available on the prepaid network starting October 25. Cricket hasn't announced what pricing will be like for the phones. At the present time, they sell the 16 GB iPhone 5 for US$600, the 16 GB iPhone 4S for $500, and the 8 GB iPhone 4 for $400. The company uses an installment plan to sell the phones, with an iPhone 5 going for $25 down and 23 payments of $25 -- similar plans with smaller down and monthly payments are available for the other phones. The Cricket network currently serves 6.2 million customers in the US, offering 4G LTE connectivity in some metropolitan areas. The company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on phone purchases.
Cricket intros $40 per line family plan with unlimited talk, text and data, updates iPhone plans
Cricket's already firmly established itself as one of the more budget-minded carriers in the US, and it's now tweaking some of its plans a bit further in the hopes of attracting more customers. Leading those changes is a new family plan that will give you two lines for $40 apiece per month, each with unlimited talk, texting and data -- the catch, as is becoming increasingly common, is that the data gets throttled to a slower speed after 1GB. On top of that, the carrier has also now brought its iPhone plans in line with its Android offerings, giving folks the same options as that family plan for $50 a month. More demanding users can also opt for 2.5GB of unthrottled data for $60 or 5GB $70, both of which also add unlimited international messaging to the mix.
Leap Wireless struggling to sell off-contract iPhones
Leap Wireless took a gamble when it started offering the iPhone at almost full retail prices in a US market that is dominated by inexpensive phones with high carrier subsidies. This is one bet that may not be paying off for the wireless carrier, says a report in the Wall Street Journal. Leap Wireless, which owns and operates the Cricket brand, confirmed in an annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week that it was struggling to sell the iPhones it had committed to sell. The carrier is offering the latest model iPhone for $449 without a contract, but customers are not buying it. If sales don't improve, Leap could be left holding the bag on $100 million worth of unsold iPhones. Leap is in discussions with Apple and is working to improve marketing efforts to get people to jump on the Cricket/Leap bandwagon. It's not a lack of demand for the iPhone that is hurting Leap. It's the lack of demand for an almost $500 iPhone on a network that doesn't have a robust nationwide presence. At least in the US, customers are accustomed to buying a phone for $200 or less along with a two-year contract. It'll be a difficult task to wean customers off that purchasing model and persuade them to spend more money up front on a phone, especially when the ability to switch carriers at the drop of a hat is not valued in the US.
HTC One SV lands in the US on Cricket Wireless January 16th, $350 off-contract
HTC's mid-range One VX just recently made its debut on AT&T, and we now have some official word on the US debut of its slightly smaller counterpart, the LTE-equipped One SV. It will be available solely on Cricket Wireless starting January 16th, where it will set you back $349.99 off-contract. That will buy you a 4.3-inch WVGA display (of the Super LCD 2 variety), a 1.2GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, front and rear-facing cameras (5 megapixel, f/2.0 and 1.6 megapixel, f/2.2, respectively), a microSD card slot and Android 4.0 with HTC's Sense 4 interface. As you can see, it also comes in a bright Flame red color, which is the only option for the time being.
Cricket brings 4G LTE to Las Vegas, outs new Huawei Boltz modem in celebration
Cricket's parent company, Leap Wireless, announced earlier last week its intentions to start blanketing more customers with LTE service, though it didn't say which markets would be the ones to get the same experience as folks in Tucson, Arizona. Today, however, Cricket's claiming that subscribers in the Las Vegas area can finally get a taste of savory Long Term Evolution, making this the second market where the newfangled network's now present. To go along with this, Cricket has said a revamped, LTE-ready version of that $150 Huawei Boltz modem will be available online and at retail stores around Sin City (and Tucson) for customers eager to try out the new service. No word on when the carrier plans to bring its "true 4G" network elsewhere, but, according to Leap CEO Doug Hutcheson, the idea is to have "approximately 21 million covered POPs by the end of the year." [Image credit: Cricket Wireless Premier Dealer]
Cricket now including Muve Music on all new Android smartphone plans
From today, Cricket is bundling its all-you-can-listen Muve Music service as a standard part of its Android smartphone plans. The offering gives users unlimited text, picture and video messaging, mobile web and a big catalog of banging beats you can pull down to your phone for those impromptu tap dancing sessions. The plans start at $50 a month, and you can access the sonic buffet if you pick up the Huawei Mercury, Ascend Q and Ascend II, HTC One V, Samsung Vitality or the ZTE Chorus. After all, if it's included in the price, you might as well, eh?
HTC One V makes the leap to Cricket's lineup September 2nd for $270
The One line hasn't seen much carrier love lately, but that's all set to change next month. Beginning September 2nd, the littlest member of that smartphone troupe -- the One V -- will be hitting Cricket's lineup at $270, no contract necessary, and notching two milestones in the process. Aside from offering subscribers a belated first taste of Ice Cream Sandwich, the Sense-skinned 3.7-incher's release also counts as HTC's official hardware debut on the network. In case you've forgotten and need a bit of a spec refresher, the odd-lipped Legend throwback bucks the de rigeur multi-core trend for a single 1GHz Snapdragon S3 CPU running Android 4.0, a 5-megapixel rear camera powered by ImageSense tech and, for better or worse, features Beats Audio integration. It's no heavyweight as current smartphones go, but if you're keen to push things forward, this lil' fella packs a considerable punch. Check out the company's official presser after the break.
RadioShack No Contract Wireless may be getting ready to launch September 5th
Evidence of a RadioShack-branded wireless carrier popped up just a few days ago, and now we have word from another tipster that reveals when it may launch. As seen above, the screen reveals a planned launch date of September 5th (a suddenly crowded day on the mobile calendar with the Nokia / Microsoft and Motorola / Verizon events, among others) to debut the Cricket Wireless-powered service, dubbed RadioShack No Contract Wireless. It has, as you may assume from the name, no contracts and claims an exclusive over other Cricket services by sliding an 8GB SD card in along with all Muve Music phones. If the information in the image holds true, we should have all of the details confirmed just three Wednesdays from now. [Thanks, anonymous]
RadioShack Mobile leak suggests Cricket Wireless-based MVNO on the way
Tired, perhaps, of juggling mainstream cellular carriers, RadioShack may be launching its own wireless branding. According to a tip we've received, the Shack is gearing up to launch RadioShack Mobile, a no-contract MVNO based on Cricket Wireless. A pair of leaked screenshots (above and after the break) seem to show a RadioShack Mobile-ready HTC One V listing and a snippet of an accompanying product page that promises low monthly rates without the shackles of a 2-year agreement. The Cricket connection? That can be found under the page's "getting started" section, which lists an activation number that pipes into Cricket's customer service line. Details on pricing and plans are scarce, but we're being told that RadioShack Mobile is expected to mirror Cricket's existing offerings, and may also offer the Huawei Mercury, the Huawei Pillar and a 4.3-inch Android device from Alcatel. We contacted RadioShack for a statement and were told that it couldn't comment on rumors or speculation. [Thanks, Anonymous]
Daily Update for June 25, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Cricket prepaid iPhone sales begin today
Today is the day that prepaid wireless carrier Cricket starts selling the iPhone without a contract. According to a CNET report, customers were lining up to buy the 8 GB iPhone 4 and the 16 GB iPhone 4S which were available for US$399 and $499, respectively. The phones include a $55 monthly plan that gives each customer unlimited calling, unlimited text messaging and 2.3 GB of data. The two iPhones can be purchased online and from company-owned stores and select third-party dealers. [Via Engadget]
Huawei M660 wields portrait keyboard, headed for Cricket Wireless?
After the familiar vertical keyboard structure of a BlackBerry, but with all the Google friendliness and app breadth of an Android phone? Then Huawei may have the answer -- and it looks like it'll land on the US carrier, Cricket. According to leaked photos sent to PhoneArena, the Huawei M660 is modestly equipped with Android 2.3 and a portrait QWERTY keyboard nestled below a 3.2-inch display. Its existence is backed up by a page on the manufacturer's site, pointing to a (now non-existent) user guide that references expandable microSD storage, the possibility that it may arrive as the Ascend Q, and name-drops Cricket in the process. For those with portrait keyboard needs, you can hit up the link below for a few more shots of the device.
Daily Update for May 31, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Cricket Wireless announces availability of iPhone 4, 4S
Cricket Wireless, which is owned by Leap Wireless, has become the first pre-paid US carrier to offer the iPhone. The company is offering contract-free, "unlimited" voice, text and data for US$55 per month. Note that Cricket defines "unlimited" as a "fair usage" policy of 2.3 GB per month. As for up-front cost, Cricket will sell the iPhone 4S for $499.99 (16 GB) and the iPhone 4 for $399.99 (8 GB). You can make a purchase online or at one of 60 US Cricket Wireless retail stores as of June 22. [Via TNW]