Exactly when T-Mobile USA will begin to offer the Lumia 925 is unclear. Nokia has said that the smartphone will begin to roll out in June, though that’s for Europe and China. The US release is due sometime after that; T-Mobile says it will detail exact dates and pricing soon.

Whenever it lands, it will have LTE 4G on the carrier’s fledgling network, along with the 8.7-megapixel PureView camera which Nokia is so proud of. There’s also a 4.5-inch OLED display and optional wireless charging with a clip-on back cover.

The camera may use the same sensor as in the Lumia 920 and Lumia 928, but it’s paired with a new lens assembly on the Lumia 925. That has a sixth lens component – glass, rather than the plastic of the other five parts – which Nokia says is good for better sharpness and brightness.

That then spreads the remainder of the cost of the smartphone out, over the length of the 24-month agreement. You’ll be looking at $5 extra on your bill each month for the privilege, though at least you’re paying no more than you would if you spent the money upfront. T-Mobile will offer the payment plan option from May 22.

As for the Lumia 521 itself, unsurprisingly it’s a variant on the Lumia 520 we reviewed last month, complete with a 5-megapixel camera, 4-inch touchscreen, and support for 720p HD video recording. However, it will gain WiFi Calling in T-Mobile’s version, though that won’t be enabled until a firmware update is ready from May 20.

Those who pick up the phone early, at a Microsoft Retail Store or Walmart, will have to wait for that update to be pushed out to their phone before they can make WiFi calls. That’ll be installed OTA, however, rather than demanding the Lumia 521 be plugged into a computer.

Despite that drop, the short-term view of the operational cash, more specifically referred to as the EBITDA, was good, with last quarter’s numbers coming in above the last quarter of 2012 by 12.4-percent. The company also saw growth in its Business to Business segment, with the first quarter of the year ending at 6.7 million, an increase over the first quarter of 2012 by 7-percent.

As far as the results from the carrier’s Uncarrier advertisements and plans, the results seem to be good, with the carrier scoring its first increase of branded customers out of over a dozen quarters. The carrier says that it now has 34 million customers, of which that number represent an increase of 579,000 over 2012′s last quarter.

Said the carrier’s President and CEO John Legere: “Our first quarter operating metrics and financial results are showing positive impact from the changes we began making in the fourth quarter. Branded customer net additions turned positive for the first time since the first quarter of 2009 and our postpaid business has demonstrated significant improvement. We ended the quarter with strong operational momentum, which is continuing into the second quarter…”

[via T-Mobile]

However, it’s the potential for industry-disrupting price plans and off-contract service that CEO John Leger believes will really help the carrier stand apart. “Together, as America’s Un-carrier, we’ll continue our legacy of marketplace innovation by tearing up the old playbook and rewriting the rules of wireless to benefit consumers” he said today.

The deal is expected to also save both carriers money, with a potential saving of $6-7bn; there’s also the potential for pushing the MetroPCS brand into more areas, taking advantage of T-Mobile’s spectrum. MetroPCS’ shareholders approved the deal late last month.

While T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS may now be living happily under the same roof, for subscribers there won’t be much in the way of difference based on what they see on their phone screen, at least. The two brands will be operated separately, though eventually shift to a common network infrastructure, and sharing support.

T-Mobile is selling the phone for a down payment of $149, but you’ll eventually be paying full price for it, as you’ll be paying 24 payments of $20 per month. This is for the 16GB model in either black or white, and there’s no word on a 32GB model just yet, although it may just be a matter of time before we see it appear.

If you’re looking to get the new phone in-store, you’ll have to wait just a few more days, as T-Mobile won’t have the GALAXY S 4 in physical stores until May 1. Then again you probably won’t see your newly-ordered GALAXY S 4 unit arrive on your doorstep until that time, so either method won’t have you owning the device sooner.

The GALAXY S 4 is Samsung’s successor to the Galaxy S III, and it boasts a 5-inch 1080p display and rocks a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor clocked at 1.9GHz in the US version. It also sports 2GB of RAM and has a 13MP camera. It’s arguably the company’s best phone yet, and you can learn more about it in our full review.

The issue at play is that T-Mobile makes claims that seem to be contradicted by the fine-print in its uncarrier plans, which are promised to have no restrictions and yearly contracts. Such is the case with plans that aren’t accompanied by a cell phone, but not with plans where the customer gets a phone, which they are required to keep under T-Mobile service for two years or pay the device’s full retail price upon dropping the service.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said of the matter: “In our view, those advertisements were quite deceptive.” And one of the attorney’s working the investigation, Paula Sellis, expounded on that, saying: “You had to dig very deeply to understand what the terms of the program were, and you had to put two and two together.” T-Mobile doesn’t agree with their conclusion, as you might expect, but has agreed to change its advertisements and to offer customers a refund.

Says T-Mobile:

As America’s Un-carrier, our goal is to increase transparency with our customers, unleashing them from restrictive long-term service contracts — this kind of simple, straightforward approach is core to the new company we are building. While we believe our advertising was truthful and appropriate, we voluntarily agreed to this arrangement with the Washington AG in this spirit

According to Tech Hive, no customers complained about T-Mobile’s claims and services, with the investigation being prompted by the advertisements the carrier put out. For its part, T-Mobile has to pay $26,046 in costs and fees, has agreed to make its consequences of cancellation, true costs, and terms more clear, and to train its staff within the next 21 days to provide this information. Those who subscribed to one of the uncarrier’s plans by today are eligible for a full refund upon service cancellation.

[via Tech Hive]

Both Reuters and Bloomberg have reported that MetroPCS shareholders have come around and approved the merger with T-Mobile, although it’s unknown what the reasoning behind the change of heart was, considering that these same shareholders were mostly against the merger earlier on in the acquisition.

The merger was announced back in October last year, and it has gone through several stages of approval, with the US Department of Justice slapping the approval stamp on, and the FCC putting their gold sticker on the merger a few days later. Finally, it came down to the shareholders of MetroPCS, and with that approval, MetroPCS will officially be T-Mobile’s.

The merger will give T-Mobile the opportunity to spread its LTE network to more locations throughout the US. Currently, seven markets in the US are equipped with T-Mobile’s 4G LTE, but they expect to cover 100 million by mid-year, and 200 million by the end of 2013, which seems like a Herculean task, but the carrier seems confident in their efforts.

The handset will be available in both 32GB and 64GB flavors on AT&T, with Ma Bell being the exclusive carrier for the 64GB version, which means that if you’re hankering for as much storage space as you can get, AT&T seems like your only option at that point, but we can’t imagine 32GB not being enough for the everyman.

For now, you can only grab the glacier silver version of the HTC One, with a black model coming in the next few weeks, which AT&T will also have available in a 64GB flavor. If you decide to go with T-Mobile, you might be pleased to know that you’ll be treated with a free car dock, which is only for a limited time, so be sure to get there soon if you want it.

The HTC One will cost $199.99 and $299.99 for the 32GB and 64GB versions, respectively. T-Mobile users can expect a down-payment of $99.99 with another 24 monthly payments of $20. If it’s the unlocked or developer edition of the new device that you’re looking for, those have been delayed. The exact ship date isn’t known, but it’s said to be toward the end of the month.

[via Android Community]

The T-Mobile variant of the iPhone 5 is quite a unique version, meaning that it’ll support HD Voice, making T-Mobile the only carrier to offer the iPhone 5 with that feature for now. However, the phone won’t support WiFi calling on T-Mobile’s network, which could definitely be a deal-breaker for some.

Just the other day, T-Mobile pushed out an update for its iPhone 5 before it was even released. The update addresses battery life issues, as well as officially enables the carrier’s new LTE network, which is now live in seven markets in the US. Of course, that’s not a lot of coverage, but T-Mobile says they’re planning on covering 200 million people by the end of the year.

If the iPhone 5 doesn’t tickle your fancy, T-Mobile also offers the older iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S for a bit cheaper. You can grab the iPhone 4 for just $15 down, while the iPhone 4S will be priced at $70 down. Of course, you can pay full price for the three phones up front, with the iPhone 5 starting at only $579. Either way, though, you’ll be paying full prices for the phones no matter how you look at it, so choose your payment plan wisely.

The trade-in special will begin at T-Mobile stores April 12, which is this upcoming Friday. Only so-called well-qualified customers will be able to take advantage of the special, and will need to trade in either an iPhone 4 or a 4S. In return, the iPhone 5 will be priced at $0 upfront plus the monthly service fee.

The special is in conjunction with a Simple Choice Plan. If your iPhone 4 or 4S is in good condition, you could receive credit on top of the iPhone 5 up to $120, which T-Mobile says can be used towards monthly payments, towards an existing bill with the carrier, or to buy accessories from the company. The plan starts at $50 per month, and offers unlimited talk/text and 500MB of data. Another $10 will get you 2GB of additional data, while an extra $20 will get you unlimited data.

T-Mobile’s Chief Marketing Officer Mike Sievert said: “Our message to iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 customers is simple: bring in your device and trade up to iPhone 5 on T-Mobile. We’re making it incredibly attractive to buy an iPhone 5 by pairing an un-beatable upfront price and trade-in offer with Simple Choice, the most hassle-free and affordable rate plan in wireless.”

[via T-Mobile]

So what kind of specs can you expect with the Nokia Lumia 521? Well it has a 4-inch 800 x 480 resolution super sensitive display, meaning it can still read your touch inputs even if you’re wearing gloves. It has a 1GHz dual-core procesor, 8GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot for expandable storage, 512MB RAM, 5MP rear-facing camera capable of shooting 720p video, and of course it’ll run on the Windows Phone 8 OS.

We’re still unsure what colors the Nokia Lumia 521 will come in, but hopefully we get the yellow, blue, white, and red color options we saw at Mobile World Congress this year. A few downsides to this device include its lack of 4G-LTE capabilities, as well as its lack of flash on its rear-facing camera. Nonetheless, for a low-priced device, it still performs really well on the Windows Phone 8 platform.

T-Mobile states that it will release pricing for the device at a later date, however, at Mobile World Congress, we learned that the device will be available in the United States for under $200 off contract, meaning you could be seeing a $0 required down payment for the device, and monthly payments of $8-$9 for the device for 24 months. T-Mobile will offer the device at Walmart, Microsoft, and T-Mobile retail stores. Be sure to check out our hands-on review of the Nokia Lumia 520 here.

The prepaid carrier has a large comparison chart set up on its website, showing the benefits of switching from T-Mobile to its own service. This includes several listed reasons, including undercutting T-Mobile’s Unlimited monthly plan pricing by $5 and faster reduced speeds when users hit their 2.5GB data limit. It is also specifically hocking its Samsung GALAXY S 2 handset.

Both T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile offer the Samsung GALAXY S 2, with the latter offering it for $299.99 on a prepaid plan over the $400+ charged by T-Mobile. Tallying this all up, users who elect to switch from T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile’s chart shows the 2-year cost coming in at $1,320 versus the slightly higher $1,440 – not a huge difference, but noteworthy.

The chart doesn’t make it easy to determine whether that final price is after taking the rebate, or is in addition to it. It does, however, tally it all up to a total savings of $334 over the course of those two years, with that working out to $120 in savings plus the additional $100 rebate and the $114 lower price on for the S 2. If you already have a Galaxy handset and you’re a happy T-Mobile user, that price may not be much incentive to switch, but if you’re in the market for a new carrier, Virgin Mobile will welcome you with open arms.

[via Electronista]

T-Mobile confirmed that it would be carrying the HTC One during an event last month to announce its new UNcarrier mobile plans. Along with the iPhone 5 and the Samsung GALAXY S 4, the HTC One will join T-Mobile’s arsenal of mobile devices being offered in stores. The GALAXY S 4 is scheduled to arrive on T-Mobile on May 1, so the HTC One will beat Samsung’s new device to the punch.

While Best Buy’s listing for the T-Mobile version says the phone will sell for $249 after a two-year contract, T-Mobile will sell the phone at $99 down, with two years worth of monthly payments to pay off the full $699 price of the phone. For those looking to do the smaller down payment, it may be a good idea to head straight for a T-Mobile store if you’re in the market for an HTC One.

However, T-Mobile has yet to make an official announcement of the release date of the HTC One, so while Best Buy says that the phone will become available on April 19, we can’t be 100% sure that it will actually happen. However, a release date that’s right on the same path as AT&T seems very believable, we’ll ultimately have to wait for T-Mobile’s word before making the official call.

As expected, T-Mobile updated their support forums to address the software update, and it lists a roll-out date of April 5, so unlocked GSM iPhone 5 users should be receiving the OTA update at some point today. On top of the previously-mentioned updates, other features like improved Personal Hotspot settings, improved MMS settings, and HD Voice are also included.

It seems that T-Mobile is anticipating a lot of iPhone 5 users to switch over to the carrier after announcing new plans that start at only $50 per month. This gives customers unlimited minutes and text messages, as well as 500MB of data, which is usually enough for just the everyday user, while 2GB more will cost only $10 per month.

Of course, LTE is a hot topic, but T-Mobile users will only have it a select number of areas around the country. However, T-Mobile plans to cover 200 million people with LTE by the end of the year. And while the T-Mobile iPhone 5 will support HD Voice, it won’t support WiFi calling, something that could be a major blow for some users.

T-Mobile announced availability of the iPhone 5 during the carrier’s “UNcarrier” event late last month. T-Mobile emphasized that it wanted to shake up the wireless industry with all-new plans that no other carrier is offering. It’s quite a bold move on their part, but CEO John Legere seems confident that customers will love it.

The T-Mobile iPhone 5 is practically the same model that’s on other carriers, save for a few changes with the wireless chip and support for different bands and spectrums. However, AT&T iPhone 5 models will work on T-Mobile if the phone itself is unlocked. For the cheapskates, T-Mobile also offers the older iPhone 4S, which only costs $69.99 down, as well as the iPhone 4, which costs $14.99. These older devices, however, are only available in select locations.

The iPhone 5 comes with 4G LTE, so T-Mobile customers will be able to take advantage of faster speeds, but the carrier only has LTE available in a handful of cities, but they’re adamant about expanding their LTE network and say that it will cover 200 million people by the end of the year. Here’s hoping that they can get it done.

That fact taken into account with the fact that T-Mobile has seven live LTE markets makes a new rumor going around pretty easy to swallow. According to a couple of screenshots that have turned up online, T-Mobile is set to rollout a carrier update that will enable LTE connectivity on the unlocked iPhone 5 devices on its network. Apparently, in service areas where T-Mobile has LTE networks the only thing needed to enable access by the iPhone 5 is a carrier .ipcc update.

The screenshot appears to be taken from T-Mobile’s internal computer system shows that the update will be coming on April 5. April 5 is this Friday for those not close to a calendar and the image claims that the update will be rolled out OTA to all iPhone 5 devices on the T-Mobile network. IPhone users will want to be sure that they have updated their operating system.

The carrier update will reportedly only be rolled out to iPhones running iOS 6.1.x or higher. T-Mobile plans to launch its own iPhone 5 on April 12. In addition to enabling LTE, the update will also bring visual voicemail, MMS settings, and network/device optimizations that T-Mobile customers using the iPhone 5 don’t have right now.

[via TMonews]

HD Voice, also known as wideband audio, involves squeezing more frequency data into each call, pushing the limits closer to what the human ear can actually hear. In a regular voice call, that might be as little as 300 Hz to 3.4 kHz (the human voice, meanwhile, can range from 80 Hz to 14 kHz); however, HD Voice extends that to somewhere in the region of 300 Hz to 3.4 kHz.

The end result is a more realistic, natural sounding voice call, though it takes its toll on bandwidth. AT&T’s plan is to use VoLTE to address that, taking advantage of the thick data pipe 4G allows to easily accommodate the better quality calls.

However, that means VoLTE has to be up and running before AT&T can think about switching HD Voice on, something the carrier has in mind for later in the year. It will also explore LTE Advanced, which can deliver more bandwidth, among other things, by aggregating channels.

News that AT&T is to hop on board the HD Voice train is likely to come as a disappointment to T-Mobile USA, which cited the technology as one of its differentiators after confirming it was finally going to offer the iPhone 5 from early April.

According to the original rumor, the carrier would be laying off over 100 individuals in its marketing group, and that others would be on the chopping block as well. This number was fairly spot on, with Seattle Times reporting that 100 people in marketing were let go, in addition to between 200 and 300 individuals from the operations group. The layoffs went all the way up to senior vice presidents.

Said T-Mobile in a statement: “We are making some operational changes to better align our business with our new strategy and position T-Mobile for growth. This affects a small number of employees relative to the overall size of the business, and while we don’t take these actions lightly, these adjustments to how we invest in the business will enable us to better focus our resources as we implement this strategy.”

One employee who was let go spoke with the Seattle Times, stating that employees knew the layoffs were underway because HR reserved conference rooms, and those affected were notified to meet with their supervisor. The employee went on to state that the layoffs were handled in an unprofessional manner, with employees being told that they had 30 minutes to hand in their badge and leave.

[via Seattle Times]

If you’re jailbroken and want to make your AT&T iPhone 5 compatible with T-Mobile’s LTE network, there’s a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to do that without messing up your jailbreak status. All it takes is adding a repository to Cydia, installing a patch, and editing a bit of text. There’s 15 steps in total, which can seem daunting, but take it one step at a time and you should be fine.

However, do this at your own risk. If you’re jailbroken, then you probably will be familiar with the process, but it’s a bit more complicated than most jailbreak tweaks. As in, it’s not as simple as downloading a Cydia tweak and installing it. You’ll have to open up iFile and dig deep into the phone’s file system to edit some text files.

We wouldn’t be surprised if a handful of AT&T users switched over to T-Mobile and brought along their iPhone 5, so this tweak will definitely be of use to all those jailbreakers out there. T-Mobile’s plans are something we’ve never seen before in a major carrier, so while it is a bold move for the company, it may catch on quickly.

First off, T-Mobile sent actor and comedian Jason Jones out to Times Square in New York City to ask passers-by whether they would rather sign a two-year contract with a mobile carrier or get a root canal. In typical fashion with any advertisement, many of the people surveyed said they’d rather get a root canal.

Jones even points out how most mobile carriers are symbolically slapping around their customers, and Jones was kind enough to demonstrate such slapping by annoyingly hitting people in the face with his microphone. Either way, the lesson of the story is that most people seem to favor physical pain over paying a monthly fee for 24 months for mobile service. Who would have thought?

The other advertisement is set in the wild west, with a group of cowboys about to take over a small town, but one cowboy (representing T-Mobile) decides enough is enough and trades in his brown cowboy hat for a T-Mobile-colored pink hat and then sets off into the sunset. It’s quite an odd advertisement, but we think T-Mobile gets its point across in a straightforward manner. Do you think Verizon and AT&T are scared yet?

The Samsung GALAXY S 4 has yet to get an official release date from any of the major carriers in the US, until now. T-Mobile announced that the new smartphone will be hitting T-Mobile sometime in early May, with CEO Legere saying sometime around May 1. There doesn’t seem to be a solid release date, but early May looks to be a good guess at this point.

Legere mentioned May 1, but it’s possible that the official launch date could be moved back a couple of days, which is probably why he added the “about” to his statement. Either way, this gives us a good idea on when other major carriers may launch the GALAXY S 4. We have yet to hear from Verizon or AT&T about their plans on when to launch the new device.

With the HTC One delayed, it’ll be a photo finish as to what device will launch first: the GALAXY S 4 or the HTC One. The HTC One has been pushed back to a late April release, which barely beats out the proposed May 1 release date of T-Mobile’s GALAXY S 4. Naturally, the first phone to release usually gets the spotlight, so it’ll essentially be a race to see who gets to the line first.

We’ve already seen what LTE devices will be available on T-Mobile, but those devices are pretty much useless without the LTE network to go along with it. Of course, only seven markets in the US is nothing close to what Verizon and AT&T currently have, but if T-Mobile’s goal of 200 million people by the end of the year is met, the competition between the three of these carriers could heat up quick.

Earlier, it was said that T-Mobile’s LTE was detected in eight cities before the launch, including Denver, New Orleans, San Diego, New York, and Seattle, for which these cities weren’t officially announced by T-Mobile today. These cities may be markets that will see the flip being switched shortly, but T-Mobile didn’t include these cities in their announcement during today’s event.

However, before the official launch of the LTE, many T-Mobile users reported being able to access LTE in several cities such as Phoenix, Houston, and San Jose, which wasn’t all too surprising, considering that T-Mobile most likely wanted these areas live with LTE as the carrier made the announcement.

The GALAXY S 4 is the newest smartphone to be announced, and T-Mobile will have it available starting in May, with CEO Legere mentioning “about May 1.” However, pricing hasn’t been announced yet. The BlackBerry Z10, on the other hand, is available starting today. It’ll cost you a total of $531, but it’ll be split up over 24 months with $18 payments per month, and a $99 down payment at the start.

The HTC One will also be hitting T-Mobile “later this spring.” The carrier hasn’t announced pricing or availability, though. The HTC One was announced last month, and it pretty much stunned us with its 4.7-inch 1080p display and the new “UltraPixel” camera technology, not to mention its beautiful metal design.

The Samsung Galaxy Note II is already available on T-Mobile, but customers can update the device via an over-the-air update to enable the LTE chip for the network. If you don’t yet have a Galaxy Note II, you can grab one for $29 down, and $16 monthly payments for 24 months. As for T-Mobile’s new hotspot, the Sonic 2.0 Mobile HotSpot LTE supports up to eight devices and is available for $29 down with 24 monthly payments of $5. The device is available now.

T-Mobile announced a new “Simple Choice” plan, which was revealed a couple days ago. The plan starts at $50 per month for 500MB of data, and customers can add a second line for $30 per month, with each additional line only costing $10 per month. You can bump up the data to 2GB for an extra $10 per month per line, and unlimited LTE is only $20 more per month per line. Plus, there are no contracts, making T-Mobile the first major carrier in the US to get rid of such a thing.

The carrier also announce that their new LTE service is launching today in seven major metropolitan areas. These markets include Baltimore, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Jose, and Washington DC. T-Mobile expects its 4G LTE network to reach 100 million Americans by mid-2013, and 200 million people by the end of 2013, which is certainly a bold step for the company.

As for the LTE devices that you’ll be able to grab from T-Mobile, they announced that the Samsung GALAXY S 4, Galaxy Note II, BlackBerry Z10, HTC One, and the iPhone 5. The company also outed the Sonic 2.0 Mobile HotSpot LTE, giving laptops and other non-LTE device the ability to access the carrier’s LTE network quickly and easily.

According to Engadget, several T-Mobile users have reported that they’re able to access T-Mobile’s LTE network in Phoenix, Arizona and San Jose, California. We already knew that San Jose was a city hosting T-Mobile LTE, but Phoenix is a new market that looks to be getting the LTE treatment from T-Mobile.

Some users are also reporting that the LTE is live in Houston, Texas, which would bump up the number of cities that we currently know will have T-Mobile LTE up to 10 (11 if you count the spotty coverage in Oakland, California). We should be from T-Mobile officially later on today when they’ll be hosting an event where the company is rumored to be launching several new items.

Most recently, T-Mobile is said to be introducing the iPhone officially to their network, as well as officially launching their LTE network, which the company announced would launch before the end of the month, so today seems like a viable day to do such things. Other than that, several other phones may come to T-Mobile, including the new LG Optimus G Pro and the BlackBerry Z10.

[via Engadget]

OpenSignal, a crowd-sourced Android app for identifying wireless coverage, is reporting that eight cities in the US are equipped with T-Mobile’s LTE network: Denver, Las Vegas, Kansas City, New Orleans, New York, San Diego, San Jose, and Seattle, as well as a few spots in Oakland near San Francisco. Furthermore, OpenSignal suggests that T-Mobile will be offering LTE versions of the Samsung Galaxy S III and GALAXY S 4 at some point.

From the looks of it, T-Mobile isn’t hitting all the big cities at first, but they are tackling a few large markets, including New York. Usually when carriers first roll out their LTE network, they test it out on smaller markets before rolling it out to larger cities, but it seems T-Mobile is going all-in the first time around.

However, speed tests seem pretty comparable to what we’re used to. OpenSignal reports averaging around 25 Mbps download speeds and 8 Mbps upload speed, with a 40ms ping on average. T-Mobile would be the last major carrier to launch LTE in the US, but it said that they would be covering 100 million people by the middle of this year, and 200 million by the end of 2013, which seems like an ambitious goal.

[via PC Mag]

This information comes from SecurityWeek, which interviewed the two researchers – Jethro Beekman and Christopher Thompson – about their discovery. When Android handsets utilize Wi-Fi Calling, they fail to properly validate the security certificate for the server, which leaves them open to MiTM (man-in-the-middle) attacks. This vulnerability was discovered by reverse engineering the T-Mobile feature.

Says the researchers, T-Mobile uses regular VoIP for Wi-Fi Calling instead of a connection that encrypted, something that aids in its vulnerability. An attacker can take advantage of the victim if he is using the same wifi network the call is being placed over, intercepting calls and doing with them as he pleases. Mention was also given of the possibilty for setting up a malcious network to get callers to connect and use it.

Said the researchers: “Without this proper verification, hackers could have created a fake certificate and pretend to be the T-Mobile server. This would have allowed attackers to listen to and modify traffic between a phone and the server, letting them intercept and decrypt voice calls and text messages sent over Wi-Fi Calling.”

Update: T-Mobile has rolled out a fix to all devices that corrects the issue.

[via Security Week]

T-Mobile had stated it has slated the launch of its 4G network for the end of this month, making the March 26 event a perfect time to announce it. To go along with the faster network, the carrier will offer Blackberry’s Z10 and the Galaxy Note II as its first handsets that support 4G, which will service about 100 million subscribers by summer time.

The plans are fairly economical, with a $50 option getting users unlimited minutes and texting, as well as a paltry 500MB of data. Forking out another $20 will get you unlimited data as well, or subscribers can get 2GB of data for a flat rate of $10. Theres also a family plan that starts at $80 for two lines.

We’ll likely hear an announcement about the availability of the iPhone from T-Mobile during the event, as well. Finally, another recent T-Mobile happening we’re likely to hear about is its merge with MetroPCS, which was just recently announced as getting a thumbs up from the FCC last week.

[via Android Community]

The carrier’s first two LTE devices will be the new BlackBerry Z10 and the Samsung Galaxy Note II. T-Mobile says its 4G LTE network will cover around 100 million people by the middle of this year, while they plan to cover a total of 200 million people by the end of the year. Verizon already covers over 275 million and counting, so we’ll see how long T-Mobile takes to catch up.

As for speeds of T-Mobile’s new LTE, some folks have already gotten a taste of what it’s like, and they seem rather respectable as far as what we’ve seen. Laptop Mag saw speeds has high as 58 Mbps on the download stream and 25 Mbps on the upload stream. However, with more people accessing the network, you probably won’t see those kinds of speeds on a daily basis.

While T-Mobile’s LTE network may not be up to snuff with Verizon’s or AT&T‘s as far as coverage goes, T-Mobile users will have a slight advantage. While Verizon’s phones use two chips in order to support both 3G and 4G LTE, T-Mobile devices only use one chip for HSPA+42 and LTE support, which can save tremendously on battery life.

[via Laptop Mag]

Those who purchase on Monday could then receive their BlackBerry Z10 by Friday of next week. This is similar to what the sources had to say about AT&T and the Z10, which is set for March 22 for consumers, not just business customers, according to sources. If that proves true, there’s a chance consumers will see wider availability of the Z10 to non-business customers via T-Mobile later this month after the launch for business customers, although nothing specific was stated by the carrier.

The BlackBerry Z10 has been available to European consumers for a while now, but has been delayed in the United States due to longer testing periods required by carriers. The US is a big market for the company formerly known as RIM, which announced BlackBerry 10 and the handset back in January, a platform and device the company hopes will help it regain market share.

The BlackBerry Z10 features a 4.2-inch 1280 x 720 LCD display, as well as a rear 8-megapixel camera with an LED flash and a front 2-megapixel camera. Inside, users will find a Qualcomm MSM8960 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage space. There’s a microSD slot for additional memory expansion for up to 32GB. Connectivity is comprised of quad-band UMTS/HSPA+ and GMS/EDGE, LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, and Wi-Fi a/b/g/n. You can check out our full review of the Z10 here.

[via Reuters]

The sources are said to be from within the company, and say that T-Mobile employees know about the upcoming layoffs. The cuts could affect over 100 people in the carrier’s marketing group, among others, and is said to be slated for Thursday (tomorrow). Not surprisingly, T-Mobile hasn’t said anything on the matter, and declined offering a comment.

The layoffs will happen at the company’s headquarters in Bellevue, which has more or less been shielded from the layoffs that the carrier had issued over the past months. In 2012, in excess of 4,200 jobs were terminated, most of which (3300) were in the company’s call centers. Word was that T-Mobile would refill those numbers with new employees for its Business Sales department.

Many have feared that the T-Mobile/MetroPCS merger would result in massive job losses, a concern to such a degree that the FCC was asked by both Congress and the Communications Workers of America to put in blocks on the acquisition that would preserve jobs. T-Mobile hasn’t been doing fantastic financially, having suffered a 5-percent drop in sales in its fourth quarter over the same quarter the year previously.

[via Seattle Times]

Now that the Department of Justice is out of the way, the acquisition deal now needs to make its way through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Committee on Foreign Investment, and MetroPCS shareholders, who are scheduled to vote on the merger on April 12, as previously reported a couple days ago.

MetroPCS is obviously encouraging shareholders to vote yes, and they say that voting for the merger has the same effect as voting against it. T-Mobile says that if shareholders vote against the merger, “there is no assurance that MetroPCS will be able to deliver the same or better stockholder value.”

Executive boards at both carriers have already approved the merger, and T-Mobile aims to migrate all MetroPCS customers over to T-Mobile’s system by 2015. T-Mobile is the US’s 4th-largest carrier, with MetroPCS being the 5th largest. While the merger may not put T-Mobile in third place, it certainly give the carrier quite a boost that it’s been wanting.

[via eWeek]

TmoNews got their hands on some proofs that have already been sent to T-Mobile for approval, and the site claims that we could see the ads in newspaper as early as today, but there’s no word as to what newspaper the ads will show up in. However, we’re guessing that they’ll make an appearance in the same ones that AT&T used for their ads, including The New York Times and USA Today.

TmoNews also says that the marketing team behind these new ads is the team responsible for recent T-Mobile commercials, including the helicopter promotional ad that recently aired. As for the newspaper ads themselves, there are three total from the looks of it, and each say something different, including, “If AT&T thought our network wasn’t great, why did they try to buy it?”

Other phrases that T-Mobile uses in the ads include, “What keeps AT&T up at night? Apparently us.” and “Can you see the beads of sweat in this ad?”. Then below each clever phrase, T-Mobile addresses AT&T’s recent newspaper ad against the company, and notes that “someone is obviously worried.” Obviously, things are getting feisty between the two carriers, and we’re pretty excited to grab our pale of popcorn and watch this all play out.

[via TmoNews]

The MetroPCS/T-Mobile merger has been negatively perceived by many of MetroPCS’s shareholders. They believe that the merger will only land them more in debt, and that there isn’t enough value in it for MetroPCS. P. Schoenfeld Asset Management, an investment adviser that owns 2% of MetroPCS’s shares, believes that the company should stay a stand-alone company and wait for a better offer to arrive.

Paulson & Co., MetroPCS’s biggest shareholder with 8.7% of the company’s shares, stated that it’s going to withhold its vote until it sees the final proxy statement, which will be submitted by MetroPCS at the meeting. Paulson & Co. also echoes the concerns of P. Schoenfeld Asset Management, and says that the merger would result in too high of a debt for MetroPCS, and that the company should explore alternative options.

T-Mobile is gunning for this merger with MetroPCS because doing so will help it expand its 4G LTE network. This would also make them the best, cost-friendly service providers in America, with both companies offering unlimited 4G data, and T-Mobile soon to be offering contract-less service plans like MetroPCS. The two companies will continue to operate as separate entities, but they will combine to make a fierce, value-oriented competitor to the other 3 major carriers.

[via MetroPCS]

The advertisement goes after T-Mobile, and it explains “the truth about T-Mobile’s network.” AT&T claims that T-Mobile customers experience double the dropped calls, double the number of failed calls, and 50% slower download speeds compared to AT&T’s own network. As a response to the ad, T-Mobile Chief Marketing Officer Mike Sievert said, “Wow. Looks like we struck a chord.”

Of course, T-Mobile has gone after AT&T before, so this could be regarded as a fair fight, since AT&T seems to just merely be dishing it right back. T-Mobile CEO John Legere shared some fighting words at CES back in January about AT&T, and it just seems that AT&T is glad to return the favor to the Deutsche Telekom-owned company.

However, it seems that T-Mobile is taking the attack ad very lightly, as it should. Sievert said that “AT&T doth protest too much. Glad they’re spending their money to print our name.” Of course, whether or not AT&T’s claims about T-Mobile’s network are true, I’m sure T-Mobile users are pretty excited about the cheaper bill they get every month, but everyone has their preferences, of course.

[via Bloomberg]

We don’t know a lot about the hardware inside the smartphone at this time, but there were some rumors of a Nokia smartphone of the same name that made the rounds in 2012. Rumors at the time claimed that the Flame was a low-end device. A low-end device from Nokia would make sense considering the company has a difficult time competing in the high-end of the smartphone market.

Other specifications for the Flame that were tipped in the rumors last year included a four-inch screen, 512 MB of RAM, and a 1 GHz dual-core processor. The device was also said to include a five-megapixel camera and have 4 GB of internal storage. The smartphone is supposed to have a microSD card slot for expanding storage.

Considering that none of those features are particularly appealing, the expectation is that this will be a very inexpensive device. While there is no indication of price, if this low-end device could be offered for free or at a very low price it could win some users to the Windows Phone 8 platform. It might also make for an interesting pre-paid smartphone.

[via Tmonews]

“Where we have two EE stores in very close proximity to each other – in some places they are just a door away – we have decided to consolidate” an EE spokesperson confirmed. “This makes commercial sense and will also help us manage the high levels of demand in our stores and improve the customer experience.”

EE – also known as Everything Everywhere – is the combined brand of T-Mobile UK and Orange, which began back in 2009. However, it was only late last year that physical stores lost their individual branding and were brought in line with the EE scheme; ironically, EE refurbished all its stores first and then apparently decided on which to close.

Staff in the affected stores are, for the most part, expected to be transferred to other nearby EE locations. Subscribers of the two networks began sharing each others’ airwaves back in 2010, but only new EE subscribers get LTE service.

Google added a new page for the Nexus 7, specifically for the new T-mobile version. It’s the same 32GB unlocked version as before, but this time it comes with a T-Mobile SIM card. So, just as with the AT&T version, you can now open up your tablet the minute you get it and connect right away to T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network.

Sadly, though, a 32GB version is only available for those wanting a T-Mobile variant, but we’re hoping a 16GB version will come to T-Mobile eventually. Google has a special relationship with the carrier, offering the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 only on T-Mobile, so we wouldn’t be surprised if the company brought more versions of their products to the carrier.

In related news, T-Mobile announced today that the Nexus 4 will be more widely available in its larger retail stores across the US, and the device will eventually reach all of the carrier’s retail stores in the coming weeks. Furthermore, the Nexus 4 will become available once again from T-Mobile’s website starting January 23.

[via Phone Scoop]

“We’re hopeful its going to be a good device,” Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said at CES this week, Reuters reports. “We’ll carry it.”

AT&T, meanwhile, were slightly more cagey, though did indicate that BlackBerry 10 would be offered if only to keep them competitive among upgraders. “It’s logical to expect our current [BlackBerry] customers will have the best BlackBerry devices to choose from in the future” CMO David Christopher suggested.

As for T-Mobile USA, CEO John Legere was the most enthusiastic of the three. “We’re extremely optimistic that it’s going to be a successful product” the chief exec insisted, saying that “our business customers are extremely interested in it.”

The announcement follows similar votes of confidence in BlackBerry 10 by all of the key UK carriers last month, including confirmation that 4G models would be broadly available.

The phone features a 3.2 MP camera, microSD memory card expansion and a full, physical QWERTY keyboard. RIM will launch on January 23, just seven days before the company unveils its first BlackBerry 10 phones. Pre-sales for the Curve 9315 begin on January 16, and the phone will be priced at $49 on top of a 20-month Equipment Installment Plan for $10 per month.

In case you were curious, the Curve 9315 runs off of BlackBerry 7.1 and includes 3G connectivity as well as a built-in FM radio. The phone itself isn’t anything new, since it looks like a classic BlackBerry device, but either way, those on T-Mobile wanting to get a cheap BlackBerry device now have a reason to do so.

RIM is set to launch BlackBerry 10 on January 30, and have a handful of devices ready to unleash. We’ve already taken a peek at some of the handsets thanks to a few leaked shots, so we already have an idea of what to expect, but nonetheless, we’ll be excited to see what RIM’s new operating system has to offer.