T-Mobile intros first 42 Mbps smartphones and hotspot

T-Mobile announced on Monday its first two smartphones capable of fully utilizing the operator’s 42 Mbps mobile broadband network. The carrier’s version of the Samsung Galaxy S II and the HTC Amaze 4G, both Android phones, were introduced at GigaOM’s Mobilize event in San Francisco. A new 42 Mbps MiFi, the T-Mobile Sonic 4G Mobile Hotspot was also launched.

The new devices come at a time when the no. 4 U.S. carrier has spent much of this year upgrading its mobile broadband data network. In 2010, T-Mobile boosted the network to 21 Mbps speeds and wasted little time in doubling the network speeds in 2011 with HSPA+ 42 wireless capability and additional backhaul to cell sites. That’s because the carrier is seeing data consumption double every six months.

The increased speeds are helping to quickly transition T-Mobile customers to smartphones that generate increased data revenues. In a phone conversation with Cole Brodman, T-Mobile’s Chief Marketing Office, he told me that “75 percent of the phones T-Mobile sells this year will be smartphones, and of those, 90 percent are Android.”

Without an Apple iPhone, the Android figure makes sense and the overall percent of smartphones sold is higher than the industry, which is estimated to be around 55 percent of all phones sold in the U.S. this year, according to Chetan Sharma, an independent telecom analyst.

As far as the new phones themselves, the Galaxy S II will look familiar as both Sprint and AT&T have introduced their versions. One immediate difference in T-Mobile’s Galaxy S II, aside from the 42 Mbps radio, is a larger, 4.52-inch Super AMOLED Plus display.

The phone also has NFC capability, although Brodman told me the feature won’t be used at launch. Most other specifications are similar or the same: a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor (from Qualcomm, not Samsung), 16 GB of storage capacity with expansion up to 48 GB, an 8-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front camera and HDMI output.

The new HTC Amaze 4G with Sense 3.0 is also a powerful smartphone, using the same 1.5 GHz dual-core CPU but with a 4.3-inch qHD (960×540 resolution) Super LCD screen. However, the HTC Amaze 4G is positioned as a top-notch camera device with simple sharing on the fast HSPA+ network.

The wide aperture f/2.2 camera — good for low-light conditions — uses an 8-megapixel sensor. A few new scene modes, similar to those found on T-Mobile’s HTC Sensation 4G, are included to enhance the image-taking experience:

The phone also boasts zero-shutter lag, face detection, 1080p HD video capture and a five-image BurstMode. Images can be shared natively to Facebook, Picasa and Flickr.

Those who prefer to use laptops and tablets on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network may be interested in the Sonic 4G Mobile Hotspot. The 3.88 ounce device shares its mobile broadband connection with up to five devices over Wi-Fi and has a 32 GB microSD card slot to save and share data across the personal hotspot network. A small OLED display shows the number of connected devices, signal strength and battery life, which is estimated at 4.5 hours of continuous use.

Both new handsets will be available for online orders starting Oct. 10 with widespread retail availability two days later. T-Mobile’s Samsung Galaxy S II, is priced at $229.99 with contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate, while the HTC Amaze 4G will cost $259.99 with contract and after the same $50 mail-in rebate. T-Mobile hasn’t set a price for the Sonic 4G but expects it to be available in stores before the end of October.

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Will a late Samsung Galaxy S II launch limit U.S. sales?

Samsung’s hottest new smartphone, the Galaxy S II (SGS2), is finally headed to the U.S. market. The handset was introduced last night at a press event, with similar models for three of the four largest carriers in the country: AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. Verizon chose to pass on this particular device, likely because it only offers 4G service on HSPA and WiMAX networks, not LTE, which is what Verizon offers.

The SGS2 has already earned the title of Samsung’s fastest selling smartphone with 5 million sales in its first 85 days of availability in Europe and Asia. I have little doubt that it will continue to sell well in the U.S., but perhaps not as well as it might have sold if it were launched earlier: The next one to three months are going to offer many solid smartphone choices.

I took a very informal poll on Twitter after the Samsung press event last night, and while my sample size is certainly small, there’s a common theme in every single response I received: The window of opportunity for a guaranteed SGS2 sale has closed. Why? People — admittedly, high-end smartphone loving geeks, based on the makeup of my Twitter followers — feel the SGS2 launch is too close to the next iPhone and a new Nexus flagship phone that is expected to highlight the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) version of Android.

Here’s a sampling of the responses:

While it may appear that I’ve culled out responses that only fit my thesis, I didn’t: Not a single responder said they would be buying the SGS2. Does that mean the Galaxy S II won’t sell? Of course not: Given the solid reviews of this phone, it’s a top-notch handset and will surely appeal to many. However, if the phone were launched sooner in the U.S., perhaps to correspond with the European launch, those 5 million sales in 85 days might have easily been 8 to 10 million sales over the same time period.

There’s always a newer, shinier object around the corner when it comes to technology, so even an earlier launched GS2 would have eventually shined less at some point. The problem with a later launch is that the time to wait for the next new piece of technology is close enough that consumers are rethinking their purchase decisions. Had the SGS2 arrived three months ago, I know I would have bought it on the first day of availability. Now there’s simply too many potentially comparable, or perhaps better, choices coming soon. And hardware isn’t the only influence here: After using the iOS 5 beta for several weeks, Apple has addressed some of the reasons I moved to Android in the first place.

Sprint is the first carrier to begin offering Samsung’s new handset, which becomes available on Sept. 16; neither AT&T nor T-Mobile have shared availability, and instead have said the handset will be here in the “coming weeks.” Not long after that time period, it’s a sure bet consumers will also have a new iPhone, possibly a flagship Nexus handset and even a few new Microsoft Windows Phone 7 devices with the impressive Mango software update to choose from.

While it’s difficult to stay ahead of the fast-paced, ever-changing smartphone technology curve — now a 6-9 month cycle — Samsung should have launched the SGS2 sooner, rather than later, in the U.S.

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US DOJ files suit to block AT&T, T-Mobile merger

AT&T is now facing a huge potential roadblock on its proposed merger with T-Mobile: Bloomberg reports the U.S. Department of Justice has filed an anti-trust suit to block the deal. Claiming the merger would “remove a significant competitive force from the market,” the filing suggests the deal would create an anti-competitive environment if allowed to proceed. AT&T has recently taken steps to alleviate such sentiment, saying Tuesday it returned 5,000 onshore customer service jobs from offshore locations as a result of the merger.

T-Mobile stands to gain quite a bit if the deal doesn’t go through. Deutsche Telekom, the parent company of T-Mobile USA, will earn a $3 billion payoff, while T-Mobile USA will receive a small portion of AT&T’s existing wireless spectrum and reduced roaming rates on AT&T’s network.

It will take time before we see the outcome of the just-filed suit, but I can’t help but think back to Om’s thoughts when the proposed merger was announced; they echo the thoughts of the DOJ:

The biggest losers of this deal are going to be the consumers. While AT&T and T-Mobile are going to try to spin it as a good deal to combine wireless spectrum assets, the fact is, T-Mobile USA is now out of the market.

T-Mobile USA has been fairly aggressive in offering cheaper voice and data plans as it has tried to compete with its larger brethren. The competition has kept the prices in the market low enough. This has worked well for U.S. consumers. With the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, the market is now reduced to three national players: AT&T, Verizon and Sprint.  Net-net, U.S. consumers are going to lose.

Handset makers, competitors and Google all have much to lose by the deal as well, but if the $39 billion merger doesn’t go through, it looks like the biggest loser will be AT&T. The carrier will lose cash, spectrum holdings and the ability to add T-Mobile’s unique 1700 MHz frequency to AT&T’s LTE network expansion plans.

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MyTouch 4G Slide impresses as a phone and camera

T-Mobile customers seeking an Android smartphone with keyboard and support for the carrier’s 4G network have a new choice: The myTouch 4G Slide launched on Wednesday for $199 after a two-year contract. In many ways, the smartphone is similar to its predecessor, the myTouch 3G Slide. HTC builds both phones, so that’s not too surprising. But the new model boasts several improvements, such as a faster processor and what T-Mobile calls the “most advanced camera of any smartphone.”

MyTouch 4G Slide Highlights and Specs
3.7″ touchscreen with 800×480 resolution
1.2 GHz dual-core CPU, 1 GB (user accessible) internal memory, microSD slot (8 GB card included)
1080p video recording, 8 megapixel camera, autofocus, dual flash, front-facing camera
Google Android 2.3.4
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, BT 3.0, GPS, Quad-band GSM/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, Tri-band UMTS/HSPA+ (21 Mbps)
2.4″ x 4.8″ x 0.52″, weight of 6.5 ounces

I’ve been using a review unit that T-Mobile loaned me for the past few weeks. Overall, the new myTouch 4G Slide improves upon an already solid design and offers easier-to-use software, plus better overall performance. And while I’ve seen a few cameras on phones that produce better results, images from the myTouch 4G Slide are far and away better than any prior T-Mobile-branded phone I’ve used.

Hardware

This isn’t the thinnest phone on the market, but that’s due to the slide-out QWERTY keypad. It has four rows and is backlit when needed. The slide mechanism is smooth and solid. I like the very light touch of the hardware keyboard, but others I showed the phone to felt it to be “sponge-like” and “soft.” Of course, you can always choose between the two included software keyboards: Swype and a standard keyboard.

The 3.7-inch display uses what I’d call the minimum resolution for a high-end Android phone, 800×840, but the Super LCD screen looks sharp and bright, both indoors and out. Instead of capacitive touch buttons under the display, the phone has physical buttons for home, menu, back and the Genius feature, which is used to place calls, search, send text messages and more through voice commands powered by Nuance. Between the buttons is an optical trackpad. I’m generally not a fan of these, but I like how you can wake the phone with the trackpad button. For a full overview of the hardware, see my recent video look.

Like most currently available smartphones at this price point, the myTouch 4G Slide is powered by a dual-core processor. A 1.2 GHz Qualcomm chip is the main engine, and T-Mobile says the handset has 768 MB of memory to run programs. I recently reviewed the HTC Sensation 4G which has very similar components but the new myTouch feels slightly faster: No matter how many applications I ran, the phone kept up admirably.

Perhaps the biggest hardware upgrade, and the centerpiece of the new phone, is the 8-megapixel camera. HTC isn’t known for using the highest quality camera sensors, but if all of their future phones use this one, that perception will change quickly. I’ll talk more about the camera software later, but the images I captured with the myTouch 4G Slide were impressive. The phone has two LED flashes next to the camera, but in many cases you won’t need them.

The camera uses a wide aperture lens of f/2.2, which brings in more light, even in dim situations. That means better pictures at night and indoors. There is a dedicated hardware button for the camera shutter: Tap to focus if needed, and press to capture an image. Pressing the camera button at any time will quickly fire up the camera software as well.

Another key feature is the 21 Mbps mobile broadband radio that supports T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network. Various speedtests averaged around 6 Mbps download speeds and nearly 2 Mbps back up in my area. I had expected slightly higher speeds, because I live near a network area that now supports 42 Mbps speeds and the phone’s radio should gain some advantage in terms of bandwidth speeds. However, for a phone, I find 6 Mbps more than adequate for most tasks.

The phone runs on a 1520 mAh battery, which will last a day for all but the highest of power users. The only time I could run the phone battery down in a single day was after watching many videos and relying on the device more than my laptop or tablet for email and browsing tasks. As a phone, the new myTouch works well with callers hearing me loudly and clearly, even in a hands-free setting.

Software

T-Mobile is shipping the myTouch 4G Slide with the most recent version of Google’s software: Android 2.3.4. That means unlike many other smartphones, there’s no waiting months and months for the upgrade. I did notice, however, that the phone doesn’t support video calls on Google Talk, which is available for Android 2.3.4. Instead, Qik is pre-loaded for video calling through the front-facing camera.

Instead of the bland look of Android, HTC Sense 3.0 is used, making for a simple but effective user interface. This adds custom HTC widgets, five home screens that float around a 3-D-like carousel, more intuitive interfaces and smart customizations to the standard Android notification system. I’ve been impressed with HTC Sense 3.0 on other devices, and it works just as well on the new myTouch. One feature I really liked in the software, however, is missing on this phone. Called the Active Lockscreen, it allows you to add up to four shortcuts to the lock screen. Dragging any one of these into a ringed area quickly unlocks the phone and opens up the application. I first saw this on the HTC Sensation 4G and wish it was on the myTouch 4G Slide.

While the standard camera software was always adequate on HTC’s phones, the myTouch adds several new functions that take full advantage of the 8-megapixel camera sensor. SweepShot is useful for taking wide panoramic images: Simply press the shutter button one time and then sweep across your image as if you were taking a video. The software processes the image into a wide view. ClearShot HDR snaps several images in a range of exposures to create high-definition-range (HDR) pictures, beautiful for outdoors where the sun can overpower the foreground. And BurstShot takes five images in succession to make sure you capture the picture you want. I found it useful for fast-moving objects.

For those interested in “crapware,” or the software that carriers often pre-load on handsets, T-Mobile seems to be reducing the amount; and the software it does include is fairly useful. KidZone allows for a custom configuration so that kids can’t mess up the apps and widget setup on your handset, for example. Netflix is on the phone for movie and television programming, and the new Zinio Reader app is there for magazines.

Aside from the Wi-Fi calling app — the phone supports voice over Wi-Fi without the use of voice minutes — there’s very little T-Mobile software on the device. Suprisingly, I actually liked the new Name ID service, which is like the old Caller ID of yesteryear. Smartphones can tell you who’s calling if you have the caller as a contact on your phone. But Name ID shows most every other caller name too, which I found helpful when using the phone.

Conclusion

Android fans that crave a keyboard should consider the T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide, but they should test the keypad to see if they like the light touch. The phone offers solid overall performance, and the camera is much improved. At 6.5 ounces, some will find the handset to be bulky or heavy, but that’s often the price one pays for a hardware keyboard. And even those that aren’t fans of HTC’s user interface could be swayed by the new Sense 3.0 software.

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3 reasons the Nexus S is coming to AT&T: N, F and C

Google is bringing the Samsung Nexus S smartphone to AT&T’s network on July 24, for $99 with a two-year contract. Until now, the Google-designed handset was only available in the U.S. for T-Mobile and Sprint. Google says that Best Buy will sell the phone this Sunday, but it can be preordered today at Best Buy’s website and in stores. The Samsung Nexus S doesn’t have the latest and greatest hardware, but it does have several unique features, including support for wireless payments through an integrated near-field communications (NFC) chip.

As the owner of a Google Nexus One handset since launch day, I considered upgrading to the Nexus S when it debuted in December. Google stayed with a 1 GHz single-core processor and 800×480 resolution screen, so I decided to pass. However, Samsung’s Super AMOLED display is a nice upgrade, with bolder, vivid colors and better outdoor viewing. The same screen technology is used on the AT&T Infuse 4G that I recently showed off on video. The Nexus S was also one of the first Android handsets to gain a front-facing camera, which can now be used for Google Talk video chat. And because it’s a Nexus phone, the handset is easier to root and install custom software, plus it should see Android updates faster than other phones.

But I think the real reason for the Nexus S appearing with support for AT&T is the NFC chip inside. In May, Google announced its Wallet service, a method to pay for goods by tapping a smartphone on a payment terminal. NFC payments have long been promised but haven’t yet been delivered in the U.S., and Google Wallet sounds like it has all the right pieces in place. Except there’s currently only one handset on one carrier that supports it, and that carrier is No. 3, Sprint, which has the Nexus S 4G.

At the Wallet launch, Google said it planned to expand support to more phones, and I suspect the Nexus S for AT&T is the next Wallet-capable handset. For $99 on a much larger carrier, Google can increase the Wallet user base much more quickly than it can through Sprint. Of course, releasing an AT&T version of the Nexus S only adds more potential to Google Wallet. But it doesn’t guarantee a large uptake for one key reason: Compared to the latest and greatest handsets with speedy dual-core processors, the Nexus S is already looking long in the tooth.

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