muvemusic
Latest
Cricket's Muve Music 4.0 moves music onto internal storage, sports redesigned look
It seems like a common sense Muve (sorry, we couldn't resist), but with this latest service redesign, Cricket's letting smartphone users store their Muve Music tracks internally. The storage swap isn't as simple as it sounds and applies only to handsets with more than 4GB of internal storage. For less robust handsets, any SD card will do, which is a break from Cricket's former practice of requiring a specific Muve-compatible SD card. In addition to getting a UI facelift, Muve Music 4.0 will now also let users play songs as they download, access menu options from a newly added sidebar and discover music through curated mix playlists. In case you want in on this version bump, you'll need one of a few select Samsung devices offered by Cricket (i.e., GS III, GS4, Galaxy Discover and Admire 2), although the carrier's planning to preload the service on all future Android devices. Or, if you already have an active Spotify premium account, then there's nothing to see here, folks. Just keep it Muve-ing (apologies, once again).
Mobile Miscellany: week of February 25th, 2013
If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week brought news of a new direction for Muve Music, the arrival of a budget smartphone at Sprint and a whole lotta LTE expansion. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of February 25th, 2013.
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?
RadioShack No Contract Wireless rate plans leak, $60 will get you everything
We're just about a week out from the rumored launch of RadioShack's Cricket-based No Contract Wireless plans, and more details are beginning to trickle out about the prepaid service. Specifically, we've just received information concerning how much The Shack intends to charge on a monthly basis, and it's just about what you'd expect: you can choose between featurephone and smartphone options, with the former hooking you up with unlimited messaging and your choice of 300 minutes for $25 or 1,000 minutes for $35. As for the smartphone plans, you'll get unlimited voice, messaging and Muve Music downloads on both selections; the $50 option will get you one gigabyte of 3G data (before throttling ensues), while $60 bestows you with 2.5GB data and mobile hotspot use, Visual Voicemail access, unlimited international text and all-you-can-eat directory assistance. As a comparison, Cricket's $35 featurephone plan will give you unlimited voice and SMS, compared to 1,000 minutes and unlimited SMS / MMS / 1X data on The Shack. The carrier's basic smartphone option is $55 and offers unlimited voice, messaging and 3G data (throttled at 2.5GB); this may seem like the better deal -- unless you're interested in using Muve Music. Since you have to pay an extra $10 to add the unlimited music service into the mix on Cricket, you'll see a monthly savings of $5 if you waltz into The Shack for the top-tiered plan. We're still waiting for RadioShack to come clean and acknowledge the existence of the NoContract service, but we'll continue to reveal more details as they come down the pipeline. Check out the featurephone rate plans after the break. [Thanks, Anonymous!]
Cricket ships Huawei Ascend Q, offers Android chatting for $140 prepaid
Huawei had said it would deliver the Ascend Q in August, and it didn't waste a moment -- Cricket is selling the Android 2.3 messager as of today for $140 on its prepaid smartphone plans. While the OS, 800MHz processor, 3.2-inch display and fixed-focus 3.2-megapixel camera won't knock any socks off, we found the Ascend Q a solid phone for compulsive chatters when we tried it last month. There's also a 4GB microSD card in the box to get the ball rolling. One minor surprise: Muve Music is getting a minor boost through DTS audio processing that reportedly fills out the sound. As long as there's no expectations of a media extravaganza, Huawei's new hardware could be one of the better bargains in Cricket's stable.
Mobile Miscellany: week of May 14th, 2012
Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, Verizon Wireless brought its LTE service to 28 new markets and expanded its reach in 11 additional areas. We also saw Straight Talk introduce the Samsung Galaxy Proclaim, and it appears that Rogers will soon offer the HTC One S. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of May 14th, 2012.
Huawei Mercury for Cricket gains unlimited Muve Music service, challenges aural appetites
Consider it a bit of a rebirth. Cricket's premiere smartphone, the Huawei Mercury -- known elsewhere as the Honor -- has just taken on a new life as a member of the carrier's Muve Music lineup. Beginning today, current owners may add the unlimited music subscription service to their phone via an over-the-air download. The requisite Muve Music plan is available for $65/month, which is a $10 premium over the carrier's traditional no-contract Android offering. The service comes with unlimited music downloads, ringtones and ringback tones, along with unlimited calling, messaging and 1GB of mobile data. For a quick refresh on the Mercury itself, the phone retails for $230 without contract, and highlights include a 1.4GHz processor, a 4-inch, 854 x 480 TFT-LCD display, an 8MP rear camera -- and now, an endless supply of tunes. Ready to rock out? You'll find the full PR after the break.
Cricket unveils ZTE Chorus, its third Muve Music smartphone
We're not saying much, but a little bird told us about this travesty months and months ago. Now, it seems that Cricket is ready to act on its plans, and well, here's the ZTE Chorus. It's certainly a handsome device, but sadly, there's not a whole lot going on underneath the hood. It combines a 3.2-inch 400 x 240 (WQVGA) resistive touch display with a 600MHz CPU, a 2 megapixel camera and a 1000mAh battery. Seeking redemption, the Chorus is the third smartphone in Cricket's stable to offer Muve Music access, and its $40 price tag (after some hefty rebates) is nothing to sneeze at, but really, even without contract, don't saddle yourselves down with this one, folks. The Samsung Vitality is a much better device, costs only two Jacksons more, and is free of all that self-loathing buyer's remorse. Yes, we hear the chorus, but why not travel to the beat of a different drum? If you haven't been fully dissuaded, you'll find the complete PR after the break.
Cricket takes a great leap forward, expands footprint with a little help from retail friends
After inking a wholesale spectrum agreement with Sprint last year, Leap's going for broke and rolling its "value-driven" Cricket service out nationwide on September 25th. The expansion includes a sprinkling of Walmart stores, Dollar General and even cable-shopping channel HSN, but the majority of its new reach will come from a partnership with Best Buy. In addition to offering monthly plans for dumb and smartphones alike, the operator's also serving up specific Muve Music service packages to play nice with three upcoming handsets. Along with the Samsung Vitality and ZTE Chorus (both to be available before the holidays), Cricket's introducing its first ZTE smartphone -- the Score. Don't go looking for high-end specs here, as the 3.5-inch Android device runs Gingerbread atop a 600MHz processor and includes a 3.2 megapixel camera. Feature phone users will also get a couple of new options to choose, with the Huawei Pillar and Samsung Chrono offered on the provider's PAYGo service. If you're in the mood to dig through PR spiel, skip past the break for a trio of pressers.
Cricket intros the Samsung Vitality, the first Android to offer Muve Music
If executed properly, Muve Music could be a pretty nifty idea. But up until now, the all-you-can download music service from Cricket Wireless has been offered on the Samsung Suede featurephone... and that's it. Fortunately, the Samsung Vitality will come to the rescue as the prepaid carrier's first smartphone to provide the beats. We've seen this device before as the Admire, which runs on Android 2.3, has a 3.5-inch HVGA (480 x 320) display and is powered by an 800MHz CPU. The phone also includes a 3.2 megapixel cam, 1,600mAh battery and a 4GB microSD card. It may not sound all that tempting, but the price could turn a few heads: the Vitality will be available for $200 -- that's sans contract, folks -- and requires a $65 plan which will hook you up with unlimited data, voice and music. Sounds like this Muve Music feature has sprung back to life. Follow the break for the full press release.
Samsung Vitality with Muve Music serenades itself to Cricket
If you remember the Samsung Admire at MetroPCS, then the manufacturer's Vitality handset will look mighty familiar. It's coming to Cricket and will join the Suede (a feature phone) as the network's only smartphone with Muve Music. Like the Admire, it features an 800MHz CPU, 3.5-inch HVGA touchscreen, a 3.2MP camera and runs stock Gingerbread. While its price and release date remain elusive, we're told the requisite plan will ring in at $65 per month -- a spendy leap for the network that goes chirp in the night. Perhaps that's the rub when you combine an Android plan with unlimited song downloads, ringtones and ringback tones. Hey, nobody ever said it'd be cheap to be law-abiding. [Thanks, Daone]
