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Cricket now offers the iPhone with $55 'unlimited' everything plan
Cricket Wireless, the prepaid subsidiary of Leap, has just announced the availability of the iPhone 4 and 4S on its network. When they go on sale June 22nd, a 16GB 4S will set you back $500, while an 8GB 4 clocks in at a slightly more affordable $400. Both are available with Cricket's $55 "unlimited" everything plan, which includes all you can eat talk, text, and data -- provided your idea of "unlimited" data falls within its fair usage policies (in this case, 2.3GB of data). Cricket is hardly alone among America's smaller carriers in offering the iPhone, C-Spire as well as a number of regional carriers all stock Apple's wares. What makes this offering unique, is that Cricket is the first completely prepaid carrier to sell the handset. So, if you want an iPhone, but don't want the contract or the post-paid, usage-based fees? Well then, Cricket might just be your new best friend. Check out the PR after the break and hit up the source for more info.
Cricket looks to enhance LTE rollout plan, strikes five-year deal with Clearwire
It looks as if the Big G's plan to offload its Clearwire stake didn't stop Cricket from striking a deal with the Sprint-born network. The five-year agreement allows the underdog wireless carrier to use Clearwire's LTE Advanced-ready waves to aid with its own rollout, which is expected to be fleshing out over the next "two to three years." Similar to that LightsSquared pact from last year, mum's the word on how much cash was involved in the signing. That said, chances are all you care about is how speedy the 4G browsing will be (and how much you can use before getting throttled).
AT&T's hungry eyes turning toward Leap, Dish or MetroPCS?
Publicly, at least, AT&T is bursting at the seams as it runs out of space to put all of its customers. The failed $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile was all about trying to match (or better) Verizon's reserves of wireless spectrum. Given the FCC's blocking of LightSquared and stymieing of future spectrum auctions for the time being, AT&T needs to make some more acquisitions -- the $1.9 billion purchase of Qualcomm's small slice of the airwaves isn't enough. If the Wall Street Journal is to be believed, there's a whiteboard in Whitacre Tower with Dish, Leap and MetroPCS written all over it. Reportedly, a purchase of Leap is the nearest to fruition, with "under the table" talks already underway. However, the Cricket Wireless operator would only provide a short-term solution to Ma Bell's very long-term woes. The other big target is Dish Network's reserved spectrum, kept back for its own planned broadband network, but if it fails to get Government approval, it might look to offload it. Third on the roster and marked as "highly unlikely" is a purchase of MetroPCS. The carrier was bitterly opposed to the T-Mo merger and pouted at the idea of purchasing some of Big Blue's divested assets, so if those two met around a table, they'd have a lot of awkward apologizing to do. Image courtesy of Fierce Mobile Content
Verizon Wireless and Cricket handshake over spectrum, anticipate FCC nod of approval
Verizon Wireless and Cricket are looking to swap spectrum holdings, according to a recent FCC filing. The proposed license exchange would see VZW's Block A 700MHz holdings in Chicago handed to Cricket for the purpose of LTE service in the second city. Big Red's purported gain has less to do with its burgeoning 4G build out and more to do with increased high-speed wireless coverage, as the bounty of AWS-1 and PCS licenses it might acquire would bolster its extensive nationwide network. The transaction still has to receive FCC approval, but both parties involved appear confident the transfer of radio waves won't raise any red flags for the Commission, nor impact existing subscriber service. That's all she wrote for now, but we'll keep an eagle eye out and update you as this develops. In the meantime, hit up the source below to peruse the application.
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.
iMobileMinutes for Android refills your prepaid's empty tank
For all you free-wheelers who prefer talking without commitment, iMobileMinutes is giving you one less excuse to go running to the gas station when it's time to top up your cellular account -- thanks to a free set of carrier-specific apps in the Android Market that perform the same function with considerably less effort. Now, you can purchase minutes directly (or get the necessary PIN), in the denomination of your choice, all from the comfort of your Google-powered smartphone. If this sounds appealing, there's support for Alltel, AT&T, Cricket, H2O, Simple Mobile, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless, along with Airlink, Airvoice and Net 10. It's certainly a nifty alternative, but if you're not ready to cut ties with your favorite 7-Eleven clerk just yet, there's always Slurpees. Just don't blame us for the brain freeze, okay?
Huawei Glory blazing to Cricket in November, 1.4GHz SoC and Gingerbread under $300
The Samsung Indulge is currently the king at Cricket, but Huawei is vying to steal the prepaid carrier's throne with its Glory. PC Magazine caught a glimpse of a pre-production unit, which features a 1.4GHz MSM8655T Snapdragon SoC -- the same as the upcoming Pre 3, which supports (but may not feature) dual mode GSM / CDMA for world roaming -- a 4-inch 854 x 480 TFT display, and an 8 megapixel AF camera with LED flash. While the manufacturer suggested its smartphone would be dual-core, the single Scorpion CPU associated with this chipset suggests otherwise -- though customers can rightfully expect an Adreno 205 GPU. Rounding out the components, you'll find a beefy 1900mAh battery, EV-DO Rev. A., WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and 2GB of storage (with an available expansion slot). Interestingly, Huawei hints that we'll see a "surprising" multimedia solution that compensates for the lack of HDMI -- anyone care to place bets on MHL or DLNA? The phone will ship in November with Gingerbread (followed by an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich), and is expected to retail for approximately $299. With such lofty components, it's easy to see where Cricket fans will be directing thanks for this holiday feast.
Samsung Indulge moseys to Cricket, $330 price ensures it won't leave your sight
Not to be outdone by MetroPCS, Cricket now offers a Samsung Indulge for its customers who demand a taste of Android's better half. While the $330 price is sure to test the commitment of some, the device stands out among its underpowered Huawei, Sanyo and LG peers -- it's also the only game in Crickettown if you want to combine El Goog's OS with a physical keyboard. Like its MetroPCS counterpart, customers will find a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, a 3.5-inch HVGA LCD display and a 3 megapixel camera -- although unlike the former, Cricket doesn't yet offer LTE service. Taking into consideration this is a zero-commitment affair where $55 a month brings unlimited voice, text and data, it's not a bad proposition -- though, your heart is likely to race if the phone gets dropped. So, if you think you can hold onto this Froyo-filled Sammy, follow the break for the PR.
Cellular South inks deal with LightSquared, gets LTE with stroke of a pen
Cellular South just dropped a nugget, announcing it's hopped aboard with LightSquared to provide nationwide LTE service to its 900,000 subscribers. In turn, the 4G wholesaler promised to bring coverage to rural communities (and offer satellite service for those in really distant locales). Cellular South joins Cricket, Best Buy Connect and SI Wireless as the latest to add LTE coverage the easy way, though they're left waiting for the network to come online sometime in 2012. Meanwhile, LightSquared continues working to resolve those pesky GPS concerns, with a final report due to the FCC on June 15th. PR after the break. [Image courtesy Flickr]
Cricket Wireless launches LG Optimus C for $130 off-contract
Just about every other carrier has its own variant of LG's fast-selling Optimus One smartphone, and you can now even count Cricket Wireless among that group. It recently launched the LG Optimus C, which offers yet another oh-so-slightly-different design along with all the same specs we've seen before -- a capacitive 3.2-inch HVGA display, 3.2 megapixel camera, a 600MHz processor, and Android 2.2 with some minor LG customizations. That may not sound like much, but we've found the other versions of the phone to be surprisingly snappy and solid for such a budget-priced smartphone. That budget pricing of course continues on Cricket, which is offering the phone for just $130 after a $20 web discount and $50 mail-in rebated -- and, yes, that's without a long-term contract, although you will apparently have to sign up for Cricket's $55 a month unlimited Android plan to start with. [Thanks, PHug]
Cricket launches new wireless plan with unlimited music for $55 a month
Stop us if you've heard this one before: a cell phone comes with an unlimited music subscription. Now, flip it on its head and say the cellular carrier was the one offering the all-you-can download audio buffet -- built right into a totally unlimited data, text and voice monthly slate -- and you've basically got the new $55 Muve Music plan from Cricket Wireless. Cricket doesn't have the reach of the big four US carriers and may not even have coverage in your area, but that didn't keep it from tempting Universal, Warner, Sony and EMI from signing over millions of songs. It'll debut on the new Samsung Suede featurephone pictured at right, which comes with a "special" 4GB Sandisk encrypted flash memory card (et tu, slotRadio?) that will likely protect the music from prying pirate claws... at least for the weeks or months it takes the open-source community to rip it a new one. The Suede will reportedly hold about 3,000 songs, which (barring antics) will be irrevocably tied to the phone and only play there, and disappear entirely if users stop paying for the Muve plan. PC Magazine got a brief hands-on with an early version, and says there's a bit of irksome audio compression, but also some Zune-like social networking features, too. The service will debut at CES on January 6th, and spread to other devices and other markets over the course of 2011. PR after the break!
Huawei Ascend is the $150 Android smartphone you might actually want to own
When the Huawei Ascend launches on prepaid carrier Cricket Wireless later this month, it will cost $150. That's not after a rebate or with a two-year agreement, mind you -- for three portraits of Ulysses S. Grant, you actually own the phone. Of course, you always get what you pay for to some degree, and the Ascend certainly isn't a top-tier device -- it's a humble HVGA handset made of cheap plastic that felt like it wouldn't survive a drop. The 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen was dull and actually slightly rough to the touch, and the 3.2 megapixel fixed-focus camera around back doesn't shoot VGA video (just CIF), let alone quality snapshots. Still, it's got physical buttons in all the right places (including a bendy metal Send / Menu / Back / End panel on the bottom) and a surprisingly responsive Android 2.1 UI with a few neat quirks -- like a nine-panel home screen -- so we could honestly see this EV-DO Rev. A handset being a pretty fantastic Android for first-time users. We'd choose it over the Motorola Citrus in a heartbeat, that's for sure, especially when Cricket gets its Sprint roaming agreement in order later this year. Of course, that's assuming the Huawei Ideos doesn't arrive at an even cheaper pricepoint. We've got a brief video of the Ascend after the break, as well as a MiFi-like Huawei device called the Crosswave -- won't you give it a look? %Gallery-104369% Myriam Joire contributed to this report.
Cricket launches Samsung Messager Touch
Ah yes, if you're thinking this is Cricket's newest Samsung launch, you're right. The Samsung Messager Touch (or SCH-r631) is a lower-priced QWERTY slider with a 2.6-inch touchscreen display, a slide-out pad -- pictured oh so lovingly above -- a 2 megapixel camera, and availability in either black or white. The cost? 159 of your hard earned dollars. We've seen a few Messagers pop up in recent memory, but it's nice to see touchscreen added to the mix at a price that while not free, certainly shouldn't stop this from ending up on wishlists this fall. Follow the read links for the fine print and a few more pics.
Cricket starts offering Android-powered Zio for $230
As we discovered back at its CTIA intro earlier this year, Kyocera's (and Sanyo's) Zio isn't the neatest Android phone you've ever seen -- nor the most technically impressive -- but at $230 without a contract after $20 discount, it's pretty hard to argue that you're not getting what you pay for. Regional carrier Cricket had been promising the Zio for some time, and now it's here, just the latest in the company's newfound push into the smartphone space -- a space it's traditionally avoided in the past -- with the recent launch of the Curve 8530 (for the same price as the Zio, coincidentally). Trackballs are officially passé at this point, but considering the budget monthly outlay that Cricket offers, we've no doubt they'll find some takers.
Cricket launches Sanyo Zio by Kyocera
A new device launch never fails to warm the cockles of our hearts, and today's treat comes in the form of the Sanyo Zio by Kyocera on Cricket. We'd heard earlier this year that Cricket was prepping to launch this set in July for 'round about $300 -- and yes they missed that date but they've exchanged tardiness for better pricing, gotta love 'em, right? The Zio ships with a 1GB microSD, features a 3.4-inch touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel cam, WiFi, Bluetooth, and all that running in the land of Android 1.6. Pricing is set at $249 with a $20 online rebate thrown in and of course a bit of fine print requiring you grab the $55 a month Android plan. Sadly, the Zio is listed as backordered on the site so getting one today might be a stretch, but estimated ship date is August 26th, and what's five days between you and your new cell pal? We had a chance to play with the Zio back in March and came away feeling a little underwhelmed, so why not give it a quick read before you dive in? Follow the read link to see the rest of the goodies.
Cricket hires goats to eat blackberries (video)
Yes, you did read that headline right, but it's not quite what you think -- rather than a children's tale of talking crickets and cell phone-eating goats, we're talking about clearing brambles covered with tiny black fruit at the cell towers of Cricket Wireless. The carrier hired a herd of goats to munch away at some troublesome growth at Oregon transceivers just last week, in a trial for a potential contract that could fill goat bellies at dozens of blocked base stations and save thousands of dollars for the company. "I'd rather have my operations team keeping our customers' Blackberries in perfect working order so we've hired the goats to take care of the other blackberries at our cell sites," Cricket's Keith Casey told OregonLive, using a variation on the pun that's no doubt been thrown around Cricket offices for months.
Cricket's TXTM8 is as cute as its name
Looking for something maybe just a little less flashy than Motorola's Hint on Cricket? They've got your back now thanks to the inclusion of the TXTM8 -- pronounced "text mate," we think -- sourced from middleman / distributor / purveyor of fine goods PCD. There's not much to the phone other than its cute little shell and a sliding full QWERTY keyboard, but it does pack a 1.3 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth support, and AWS CDMA (as all Cricket handsets do these days). Interested parties can inquire with the carrier for one of these now, running $139.99 contract-free after discount.[Via Phone Scoop]
Nokia's 3606 flip phone slips onto Cricket Wireless
Nokia's simplistic 3606 has been out and about for awhile now, but it's brand new to Cricket Wireless airwaves. The aforesaid carrier is now offering up the 3606 in branded fashion, bringing along a 1.3 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, music with external control keys, a microSD card slot, 700mAh battery and a 2-inch 220 x 176 internal display. The pain? $139.99 after all applicable discounts.[Via MobileBurn]
Cricket launches first AWS CDMA handset
It doesn't look like much, but it's the innards of UTStarcom's unassuming CDM7126 flip that makes it a superstar. It turns out that this is the very first CDMA phone to launch in the US on AWS bandwidth, meaning that in addition to the typical 850 and 1900MHz support, this one adds in a little extra coverage punch via the new 1700MHz spectrum that T-Mobile is also sharing for its 3G services. We spied the CDM7126 at CES earlier this year -- hence the somewhat unusual picture -- and while we can't find it hiding out on carrier partner Cricket's website, residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma should be able to march into stores as soon as today to pick 'er up. Don't get too excited, though; other than the noteworthy use of AWS, the phone lacks EV-DO and an external display. Yikes![Via Phone Scoop]
Cricket gets Samsung Siren, aka SCH-A870
Cricket Wireless has announced the Samsung Siren as available. With Samsung having such a plethora of handset options available to almost every global wireless carrier these days, this is the first Sammy for Cricket, ever. While the SCH-A870 is nothing to write home about (it's over a year old already), its slick red-and-black (hence, Siren) scheme looks good enough for any Cricket customer's pocket. Standard fare is available here, with Bluetooth, VGA cam (yuck), voice recognition, a 160 x 128 screen rez (double yuck) and VibeTonz all onboard. VibeTonz (we wish we'd see this more, Samsung) lets a customer experience vibration patterns that match an audible ringtone. That feature alone may be a sole reason for some Cricket customers to pick this unit up soon.