Samsung Hercules Coming Late September

So the HTC Sensation and T-Mobile G2x just aren’t tickling your fancy, eh? Well, it looks like T-Mobile will have you covered with this one. If you remember correctly, and I’m sure you do, the Samsung Hercules may just be T-Mobile’s version of Galaxy S II, which essentially combines everything you would want in an Android phone into one beast (except stock Android, of course), or maybe just the Infuse 4G (Yawn…). Last we heard, this potentially awesome phone was just receiving its BlueTooth and WiFi wings, and now it looks like it is officially slated for a late September launch. September 26th perhaps? Only time will tell. I know you’ll want to keep your eyes open on this one, blurry cam pictures can’t be too far off now.


Just a reminder on the rumored specs of this phone….

4.5″ 480 x 800 Super AMOLED Plus display
Android 2.3
NFC Support
42Mbps HSPA+ capable (category 24 HSDPA and category 6 HSUPA)
AWS plus 850/1900 MHz…they claim support for AT&T’s 4G will be here if the merger succeeds which interesting considering this phone is scheduled for August and the deal won’t close till next year?
Preliminary measurements of 5.16 x 2.76 x 0.37 inches, resembles the AT&T Infuse 4G
16GB internal ROM, 1GB internal RAM, expandable microSD memory up to 32GB
Qualcomm 1.2GHz dual-core APQ8060 processor??
8 megapixel camera with 1080p video capture and front facing camera for video chat
Micro USB transfer for HDMI

Source: http://www.tmonews.com

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T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide Confirmed For July 27

At the end of July T-Mobile finally made the sliding successor to the MyTouch 3G Slide and MyTouch 4G official and now it has set a release date with the phone due to go on sale July 27. The HTC made handset will offer users a familiar form factor but with some improved internal hardware and a full slideout QWERTY keyboard.

As well as some decent hardware the phone has a camera complete with zero lag shutter allowing for a photographic experience more akin to a dedicated device. In addition to zero lag the camera has a number of other features to improve the experience including a panoramic shot mode and HDR technology that will compensate for high contrast pictures.


This new addition to the MyTouch family features a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 3.7" display and will come with Android 2.3 installed. As well as the 8mp zero lag camera on the rear there's a front-facing VGA camera which will allow for video calling through the Qik application.

The rest of the key specs have yet to be confirmed but there's a rumour the phone is also going to feature 768MB of RAM and an Adreno 220 GPU. Internal memory is an unknown but there's a microSD card slot for a potential 32GB storage.

The phone is due to go on sale July 27 for $199.99 on a two year contract, after a $50 mail-in rebate. For those who want to get in on the action early it will be available for pre-order online early next week on July 19. It looks set to be a sure fire hit as the MyTouch 4G slide is one of the carrier's most popular devices, plus it will have the distinction of being the first dual-core slider available from T-Mobile.

Source: http://www.rethink-wireless.com

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T-Mobile Amps Their “4G” Network To 42Mbps in 56 New Regions

T-Mobile is doubling the speeds of their high-speed data network in 56 new regions, bumping things from a theoretical max of 21 Megabits per second to a theoretical max of 42 Megabits per second. You can find a full list of the new, super-speedy regions down below. All in all, this upgrade brings the number of regions running on T-Mobile’s HSPA+42 network up to 152.

The Bad News: They, uh, don’t actually have any phones compatible with this new, snappier network yet. While T-Mobile plans to launch a HSPA+42 compatible phone by the end of this year, all of the “4G” phones they’ve sold to date can only run on the 21 megabit pipe. They do have a 42Mbps-friendly USB laptop dongle called the Rocket, but hey — this isn’t TechCrunch.com/LaptopDongles.


The new 42 Mbps Regions:

  • Allentown, Pa.
  • Anderson, S.C.
  • Asheville, N.C.
  • Ann Arbor, Mich.
  • Baltimore, Md.
  • Barnstable, Mass.
  • Bellingham, Wash.
  • Bloomington, Ind.
  • Boise, Idaho
  • Boston, Mass.
  • Bremerton, Wash.
  • Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.
  • Brunswick, Ga.
  • Carson City, Nev.
  • Charlotte, N.C.
  • Charlottesville, Va.
  • Chico, Calif.
  • Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
  • Eugene, Ore.
  • Flagstaff, Ariz.
  • Flint, Mich.
  • Greensboro, N.C.
  • Greenville, S.C.
  • Harrisburg, Pa.
  • Hartford, Conn.
  • Indianapolis, Ind.
  • Knoxville, Tenn.
  • Lafayette, Ind.
  • Lancaster, Pa.
  • Laredo, Texas
  • Lynchburg, Va.
  • Manchester, N.H.
  • Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
  • New Haven, Conn.
  • Ogden, Utah
  • Providence; R.I.
  • Provo, Utah
  • Raleigh-Cary, N.C.
  • Redding, Calif.
  • Reno-Sparks, Nev.
  • Richmond, Va.
  • Roanoke, Va.
  • Rockford, Ill.
  • Salem, Ore.
  • Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
  • Spartanburg, S.C.
  • State College, Pa.
  • Tallahassee, Fla.
  • Terre Haute, Ind.
  • Tucson, Ariz.
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Wichita Falls, Texas
  • Winchester, Va.
  • Winston-Salem, N.C.
  • Worcester, Mass.
  • York, Pa.

Source: http://techcrunch.com

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iPhone 5 Likely Coming To Sprint, T-Mobile

Sprint and T-Mobile USA customers may not have to wait that long for a shot at the next iPhone.

That's according to Piper Jaffray analyst Chris Larsen, the latest to weigh in on the mounting speculation that carriers beyond AT&T and Verizon Wireless will get the next iPhone. Last week, Citadel analyst Shing Yin said he believed Apple would begin selling the iPhone for Sprint later this year.

"While we remain uncertain regarding the next-generation iPhone's specs and features, we believe the most noteworthy change could be the device's ability to run on more networks, specifically Sprint and T-Mobile in the U.S," Larsen said in a research note today.


A move to all four national carriers would greatly expand Apple's ability to reach the masses, critical at a time when smartphones running on Google's Android software have overrun the market. Adding Sprint and T-Mobile would increase Apple's addressable market by 30 percent, Larsen said.

The next iPhone is expected to be a universal device. Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said in April that the next iPhone will be a global device, suggesting that Apple will sell one device to both carriers. Larsen said there are few technical hurdles to ensure the phone is compatible with both Sprint and T-Mobile.

The current Verizon iPhone 4 already contains the Qualcomm chip that is compatible with the CDMA network used by both Verizon and Sprint, as well as the GSM network used by AT&T and T-Mobile.

"Our belief is that if Apple is already going through the trouble to make a device that has the ability to work on both major network technologies, why not include all the necessary spectrum bands to make one device work on all carriers," Larsen said.

While T-Mobile customers were likely to eventually get the iPhone by virtue of the carrier's pending deal to be acquired by AT&T, the real winner is Sprint, which would benefit from lower customer turnover and increased growth, Larsen said.

Source: http://news.cnet.com

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Android gives QuickOffice a Chance

It's unlikely you've ever picked up a phone and said, "Hey, this would be great for building spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations!" Yet vendors are developing mobile document viewers and editors in abundance for iPhones, Androids and other smartphones and now tablets as well.


You may not want to write more than a sentence on a phone, but people are increasingly leaving laptops behind when they go on business trips or vacations, packing only a tablet and perhaps a Bluetooth keyboard.

The biggest office software vendor Microsoft doesn't make office software for any of the popular tablets, leaving the innovation to smaller companies. With that in mind, I recently interviewed David Halpin, vice president of engineering at QuickOffice, to get his take on the state of mobile documents.

QuickOffice is one of the most mature and widely used office platforms for smartphones and tablets, having been pre-installed on or downloaded to 375 million devices. The software is a Microsoft Office replacement, displaying and editing word processing documents, spreadsheets and presentations in Microsoft format, while integrating with Google Docs and popular online file-sharing platforms such as DropBox. At $15 a pop, QuickOffice is the most popular fee-based business application in the iPad App Store, ahead of rival Documents To Go, and is the fourth-highest grossing iPad app across all categories.

Why doesn't QuickOffice face any competition from Microsoft? Although Microsoft has built a OneNote application for iPhone and hasn't ruled out bringing the rest of Office to iOS, Halpin believes Microsoft will continue focusing on Windows phones to the exclusion of rival platforms. The only mobile version of the whole Microsoft Office suite is built for Windows Phone 7.

Microsoft dominated the office market by first capturing the desktop OS market, and linking Windows and Office, Halpin notes. By keeping Office on Windows Phone 7 and future Windows tablets, Microsoft can tell enterprises that full Office capabilities including integration with Exchange and SharePoint require Windows phones.

Building Office apps for iOS would be akin to "giving arms to the enemy" in Microsoft's view, Halpin says.

"I don't think it's a technical problem at all" preventing Microsoft from building for iPhone and Android, he says. "I think it's a deliberate decision to stay out of that market."

Microsoft's Office Web Apps can be accessed from any browser, but its functionality is limited on desktop computers and even more limited in a phone browser. Unlike Google Docs, Office Web Apps doesn't allow editing in a phone browser or on the iPad.

Editing Microsoft Office documents on a phone or tablet therefore requires a third-party application, such as QuickOffice. While most users would rather save heavy editing for a desktop or laptop, QuickOffice is used by many, even on phones.

"Even though some people write term papers with QuickOffice on a mobile phone, I'm not sure that's how I would use the application," Halpin says. "We find people who are serious writers, or serious accountants doing pivot tables or massive calculations clearly you can't do those types of things."

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