Tag: AT&T

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Habitat for Humanity and AT&T Digitial Life Revitalize U.S. Communities

AT&T Digital Life Helps Revitalize Atlanta with Habitat for HumaKicking off at an event on April 10th, AT&T Digital Life employees will work alongside a Habitat for Humanity homeowner family to build a new home in Atlanta.

As part of a $150,000 donation from Digital Life, this will be the first of several future events in cities like LA, New York, and Seattle as part of a community revitalization collaboration with Habitat.

“We’re all about giving homeowners peace of mind. As a result, we’re compelled to work with Habitat for Humanity to help those who need the security that owning a home can provide,” said Kevin
Petersen, senior vice president, Digital Life, Inc. “Giving back through home builds across the country and in our hometown of Atlanta feels right.”

Full PR below for more info on the partnership.

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Select AT&T Phones Now Supporting Google Wallet Tap & Pay, But Is It Too Late For NFC?

Google wallet on ATT LG G2The saga of mobile payments continues.

I woke up this morning to find my LG G2 had an update ready to install. I couldn’t find any changelog for what was being updated or what bug fixes were included, but I went ahead and ran it. Immediately following the procedure my phone had a new notification from Google Wallet.

Tap & Pay functionality is now supported on my LG G2.

Google tried to shake up mobile payments almost two years ago introducing the idea of NFC backed mobile payments. The first devices supporting it were the Nexus line, for me personally, the Nexus 7 tablet. I tried it out exactly once, as trying to pay at CVS with a mini-tablet tethered to my phone’s data connection was cumbersome to say the least.

Since then we’ve seen something of a feud over mobile transactions between Google and various carriers. Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T worked together on creating the ISIS platform, which is slowly starting to find support on the phones sold by those companies. Over this time period they largely blocked any momentum for Tap & Pay by banning Google Wallet on the devices they sold.

Is it too late for NFC?

Almost two years where consumers could have been getting used to the idea and building an infrastructure were essentially lost.

Recently it was announced that Best Buy and 7-Eleven would be getting rid of their NFC supported mobile payment machines. Credit card terminals which are more expensive to install, require more cashier training, and often can result in higher fees from banks.

More competition in this space is looming  from the Merchant Consumer Exchange. Like Best Buy and 7-Eleven, other companies such as Target, CVS, and Sears are a part of the MCX and are considering their own payment protocol based on barcodes like the ones used at Starbucks. A system like this could gain traction quickly as NFC payments require a special radio which the iPhone lacks, but barcodes only need to display on your screen.

The knowledge of this outside competition might be just the pressure needed to ease some of the entrenched cold war between Google and the carriers, but their squabble has cost them a considerable lead.

Are you currently using an NFC payment system like ISIS or Wallet? Are you more likely to try one in the future? Leave us a comment below!

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AT&T Bringing Android 4.4.2 KitKat to HTC One Mini

htc one mini kitkat update somegadgetguyThis update could be interesting. HTC delivered a nicely styled phone with the HTC One Mini, but in reviewing it I was concerned with some sluggish UI responses and sub-par camera performance.

Google focused KitKat on improving hardware optimization for lower powered handsets. Cheap Android phone manufacturers would often turn to Gingerbread (Android 2.3), so Google is making efforts to polish up the experience for entry level handsets. As the HTC One Mini was last years mid-range entry, it stands to reason that it too might get a nice little performance boost.

The One Mini wasn’t a terrifically popular phone, so it’s really nice to see HTC continuing to support customers here even if the update has been a bit delayed. I’m updating my One Mini now to take it for a second test drive!

Hit the jump for the full changelog of additional updates and improvements. Continue reading “AT&T Bringing Android 4.4.2 KitKat to HTC One Mini”

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Long Term Review: The LG G Flex on AT&T!

This thing is a beast. An absolute monster.

We’ve played with a few large screened phones here, most recently the Lumia 1520, and while I’m still not a huge fan of the phablet, LG has shown they can refine their phone experience and bring a few new tricks to the table. Let’s take a look at their G Flex on AT&T!

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March Madness Anywhere You Want With the U-Verse App!

image (1)Here’s the dilemma. You’re a college basketball fiend, but you still have to occasionally leave the glow of your awesome TV to do things like go to work, or socialize with the non-college-basketball-fiend friends of yours. Sure you could just track your bracket via some website, but what’s the fun in that? If you’re an AT&T U-Verse subscriber, you could just watch every single game from anywhere you can utilize a data connection…

uverse busI had the opportunity to jump on the U-Verse Bus to try out the service, and aside from a few hiccups in areas of LA where no carrier gets good service, it worked fairly well. A fun example of how we could stream the first day games on the go. I say fun, but it was actually torturous, as my precious Buckeyes were upset in the very first round. My billion dollar bracket hopes down the drain from the very first game.

imageWe had the service hooked up to the Bus’ TV via a Samsung Galaxy Tab, and throughout most of LA and the Valley, we were watching live college hoops in full HD. We’d catch moments of Netflix style down-sampling, but on the whole it was pleasantly stable, and we had full access to all of the info services found on the traditional TV app. We could fire up the bracket to see wins and losses, or while watching a game get expanded coverage pop-up video style.

So while my team is already out of the race, if you’re still going strong on your bracket, the U-Verse app is a handy way to keep up in real time. Full press release below.

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AT&T Begins Pre-Orders for Galaxy S5 and Gear Smartwatch March 21st

glam_gear-2-fit-galaxy-s5-blackSamsung’s newest Galaxy phone is one of the first out of the gate this year, and AT&T is on top of pre-orders!

Starting tomorrow, March 21st you can snag a spot in line for what’s sure to be one of the hottest phones of the year. The GS5 features a 5.1″ 1080p display, Qualcomm 800 series chipset, a new 16MP camera, a larger 2800mAh battery, and a few new tricks like a fingerprint scanner and a heart rate monitor.

The 16GB model will set you back $199 on a two year agreement, or you can drop $650 to buy it out right.

We also have official pricing from AT&T on the family of Gear smartwatches. The Gear 2 will drop for $299, the Gear Neo and Gear Fit  $199.  Those shopping a Gear alongside the purchase of a Galaxy S5 will also receive $50 off their smartwatch.

AT&T expects the GS5 and various Gears to start shipping in early April. Hit the full press release below!

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AT&T Offers 1 Year Free U-Verse to Qualifying California Businesses

ATT logoIf any market can use a little more broadband competition it’s… well… pretty much the entire country, but if you’re running a small business in California, and you meet the requirements, AT&T might be able to take a chunk off of your yearly expenses.

If you’re an AT&T wireless customer on a Mobile Share plan, you can add a year of U-Verse business broadband with a $35 a month credit. Starting off with the 6Mbps plan, which you essentially get for free, you can climb up to a 45Mbps plan for only $60 a month.

Really the only hitch will be if your business resides in a U-Verse area. Hit the press release below for the full scoop on plans and details.

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Microsoft Surface 2 LTE Officially Announced for AT&T

***UPDATE***

Confirmed from NVIDIA PR, the Surface 2 will continue to use a Tegra 4 chipset paired with the NVIDIA i500 LTE modem.

***Original Article***

microsoft surface 2 LTE on ATT

No big surprise that this guy is on the way, but Microsoft officially took the wraps off of the long rumored Surface 2 tablet with LTE. We now have pricing and availability info.

Headed for AT&T’s LTE network, the Surface 2 LTE is pretty much the same beast we’ve come to know over the last several months, only now you’ll have broadband data anywhere you have 4G reception. It’ll be available starting tomorrow, and will retail for $679. This $230 premium over the base model also includes twice the storage (64GB).  What isn’t explicitly mentioned however, is if Microsoft will be sticking with the Tegra 4 chipset, or the more common Qualcomm 800 which is also utilized in the LTE enabled Nokia Lumia 2520.

Always exciting seeing a few more premium tablet offerings with LTE. Microsoft’s full press release is below.

Related:
Nokia Lumia 2520 vs Microsoft Surface 2

Continue reading “Microsoft Surface 2 LTE Officially Announced for AT&T”

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