Category: Articles

Posted on

Verizon Shows Off HTC One M8 for Windows in Teaser Video

The phone is real. The phone looks good. The name is still kinda dumb.

Sorry Big Red, I just can’t bring myself to call this “The HTC One M8 for Windows”. I mean “HTC One M8” is already clunky enough, but “For Windows”? FOR Windows??? It makes the phone sound like an accessory FOR a Windows PC. Even “With Windows” sounds better. From here on out I will now be referring to HTC phones as the M8 and W8. No more “One” this and “For” that.

That said, the W8 looks like a great crossover to the Microsoft side of the fence. HTC’s build quality is second to none, and the changes made to the Windows Phone OS (allowing manufacturers to more easily swap over Android hardware) appear to be working.

Plus, many of the apps developed by HTC already have that modern minimalist look, which should help them blend in with Live Tiles. Blinkfeed for example already looks like a Metro app.

Lastly, it’s just nice to see another company giving Nokia a little competition in this space as we wait to see if Microsoft and Samsung will ever settle their licensing squabbling.

We’re you considering switching to a Windows Phone? Does an HTC W8 sweeten the deal for you? Drop us a comment! And catch Verizon’s teaser vid below.

Posted on

AT&T Gigabit U-Verse Now Live in Dallas, Texas – Coming Soon to Surrounding Cities

DFW_localIt’s slow going, but more cities and communities are starting to receive faster fiber based broadband. AT&T announced improvements to the areas around Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.

Gigabit data is now available to residents and businesses in Highland Park and University Park. The rest of the area will have access to 100Mbps data rates, but those residents and businesses should have access to gigabit by the end of 2014.

Pricing for gigabit data starts at $120 month, and AT&T expects to spread this service throughout North Texas over the next several years, as part of a larger initiative which should see improved broadband service to several other large cities throughout the South East.

You can read Big Blue’s full press release below.

Continue reading “AT&T Gigabit U-Verse Now Live in Dallas, Texas – Coming Soon to Surrounding Cities”

Posted on

Verizon Wireless Offers Up Extra 1GB on More Everything Plans (Limited Time)

Verizon-logoIf you’re shopping Big Red, or looking to re-up your plan (and you’re not on “unlimited” data), VZW has a limited time offer which might be a smart buy for you.

For a limited time, if you sign up for a More Everything plan with at least one gigabyte of monthly data, you’ll receive one extra gigabyte of data per month free for two years.  A single line plan with one gig of data will run you $80 a month.

More Everything plans come with unlimited talk and international text, Hotspot, 25GB of Cloud Storage, NFL Mobile app, and a few other nice features.

You can read Verizon’s full press release below.

Continue reading “Verizon Wireless Offers Up Extra 1GB on More Everything Plans (Limited Time)”

Posted on

Windows Phone 8.1 Pushing to AT&T Lumia 1020 Smartphones

Still the best camera on any smartphone to date, and if you’re on Big Blue you’ll probably find a nice little surprise in your system settings. The official WP8.1 + Nokia Cyan update should be ready for you to download and install!

Following the 1520, 925, and 520 this update offers up all the fun goodies we’ve been playing with like Cortana, the new Word Flow Keyboard, and new homescreen customization options for Live Tiles. You can see our in depth review of WP8.1 below, with AT&T’s full press release below that.

Continue reading “Windows Phone 8.1 Pushing to AT&T Lumia 1020 Smartphones”

Posted on

Nokia Confirms Lumia Cyan Updates for Developer Devices Coming Soon

We’ve been posting about Lumias receiving the official updates to Windows Phone 8.1. While Microsoft is in charge of the overall OS, there are a lot of tweaks, updates, and drivers which come from Nokia. Those updates are named by color, and the most recent is “Cyan”, which along with performance improvements and bug fixes, brings a few fun features to the camera.

Those of us on the bleeding edge however have been running the Developer Preview of WP 8.1, and unfortunately the first round of Cyan updates has not been compatible with the official update. The only workaround has been to wipe the phone running DevPre, roll back to the old version of Windows Phone 8, then re-install the new WP8.1+Cyan. In updating my Lumia 1520, the whole process took a little over two hours.

Nokia’s Developer team on Twitter recently announced however that they are working on fixes so folks with proper Developer Devices wont be forced into this OS dance.

Unfortunately this isn’t directly addressing the number of developers running DevPre on non-Developer Variations of phones, or any consumers who were running DevPre on their own phones.

With these updates rolling out for Developer Variations however, we can hope that all folks running DevPre will soon receive official Cyan support. Otherwise a wipe and reinstall is the only way to go…

Posted on

Friday Fun: Bill Gates Takes Ice Bucket Challenge to the Next Level!

You can always count on Gates to take it up a notch!

Bill Gates accepts Mark Zuckerberg’s ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and nominates Elon Musk, Ryan Seacrest and Chris Anderson from TED to participate and raise awareness for ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Posted on

Lenovo Sees Growth in Smartphones and Tablets, Leads PC Sales for Fifth Consecutive Quarter

lenovo-logo-1Everything’s coming up Lenovo!

The company announced their first quarter results for 2014, and the numbers are looking pretty rosy. Tablet sales are up 67% over last year, smartphones were up 39%, and Lenovo became the number one smartphone manufacturer in China.

PC shipments were up 15%, though it’s unclear what Lenovo is classifying as a PC and what they’re badging a tablet these days, as the company has led the charge on blurring the line between Windows 8 laptops and tablets. This is the fifth consecutive quarter Lenovo has led the market in PC sales, but for the first time in company history, they sold more phones than computers.

At a time where other established companies are struggling, Lenovo also saw a 13% gross profit increase over this time last year. Moving into next quarter, Lenovo believes they’ll continue to improve those numbers with their acquisitions of Motorola and IBM x86.

Full financial statement below.

Continue reading “Lenovo Sees Growth in Smartphones and Tablets, Leads PC Sales for Fifth Consecutive Quarter”

Posted on

T-Mobile Offers up $3 a Month “Pay As You Go” Phone Plan

T-Mobile LogoT-Mobile has been finding a lot of success at being a market disruptor, recently unseating Sprint and moving into third place among the largest USA carriers.

Their new tactic courts entry-level and pre-pay customers with a new Pay as You Go Plan. The plan starts off with a monthly minimum charge of $3, and it’s entirely usage based. Calls are $0.10 per minute, as are texts, which means you’d receive 30 minutes a month if you didn’t want to pay any more than the minimum. Data is purchased in daily or weekly passes. $5 for one day and 500MB of LTE, $10 for 7 days and 1GB.

It’s an interesting solution which looks to be targeting the business models offered up by companies like Ting and FreedomPop, low cost MVNO’s basing pricing on usage.

T-Mo’s full PR is below with more details.  Continue reading “T-Mobile Offers up $3 a Month “Pay As You Go” Phone Plan”

Proudly powered by WordPress