Virgin

Sprint subsidiaries Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile finally joined the LTE wave today by acquiring their first devices compatible with Sprint's growing network. Though both carriers carry WiMax handsets, Sprint began phasing out that network in favor of LTE last year.

Virgin's Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE is another member of the company's ever-expanding Galaxy family. Its feature set shows that Virgin continues to up the ante on its smartphone lineup.

Running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, it has a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a 5-megapixel camera with HD video capture, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, … Read more

Virgin Mobile today announced that the Kyocera Brio has joined the family of devices offered under the payLo umbrella.

Priced at $39.99, the handset is aimed at those with very basic mobile needs, mainly talking and texting.

The Brio, first released on Sprint, has a 2.2-inch QVGA display, a QWERTY keyboard, and a 1.3-megapixel camera. There's also a microSD memory card slot for expandable storage.

On the smarter side of things, the phone offers Bluetooth 2.0, mobile web, email, and a few basic applications.

Virgin Mobile, one of Sprint's prepaid arms, offers the Kyocera … Read more

"Talk is cheap," except when it really isn't.

U.S. media conglomerate Liberty Global announced last night that it would acquire Virgin Media [PDF] for $23.3 billion, a figure that will likely send shivers down the spine of media rival News Corp. chief executive Rupert Murdoch.

The announcement came just hours after Dell, with the help of Silver Lake and Microsoft, paid more than $24 billion to pull out of the stock market.

Following the handshake on the deal, Liberty Global is already touting the deal as the creation of the "world's … Read more

While it's true that Lady Gaga wants your bad romance, prepaid carrier Virgin Mobile really wants you to check out its Galaxy S2 4G instead.

That's why it has teamed up with Samsung to promote the device while sponsoring Mother Monster herself as she goes on tour across the U.S.

Hitting the Pacific Northwest first with stops in Washington and Oregon, the tour made its way to the Bay Area last night in San Jose, Calif.

Two Virgin Mobile kiosks or "activation sites" were set up so fans could take photos of themselves, many of … Read more

Just in time for the holidays, not to mention Black Friday, Virgin Mobile announced today that it'll be offering a number of its devices at lower prices.

Starting tomorrow and lasting through Cyber Monday, its $199.99 Samsung Galaxy Reverb will go on sale for $99.99.

The day after, the HTC Evo V 4G will go from $299 to $199.

Other offers include the Samsung Galaxy S II 4G, which has been on sale since Monday. It comes with a $70 price break, at $299.99.

In addition, the carrier's unlimited data and messaging monthly plan, called … Read more

It's hard to reconcile my "cheapskate" title with my iPhone ownership. I do write about the latter for a living, so it's a legitimate expense, but, man, do I hate being locked into a two-year contract at around $80 per month.

I'm stuck with that for now, but you've got options if you want an iPhone on the cheap(ish). For a limited time, and only in stores, RadioShack has the prepaid, no-contract Virgin Mobile iPhone 4S (8GB) for $349.99, or the 16GB iPhone 4S for $449.99. Sales tax applies in both … Read more

Top carriers such as Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are losing sales of prepaid smartphones to the likes of Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, and MetroPCS, according to an NPD report out today.

Third-quarter prepaid smartphone sales for the smaller carriers rose 23 percent over the prior quarter. But sales among the tier-one carriers dropped by 12 percent over the same period. Why? The smaller players won over customers by offering lower prices and a larger selection of prepaid phones, NPD said.

In the third quarter, 70 percent of smartphone buyers who bought their phones through a prepaid carrier had … Read more

Better late than never, right?

Virgin Mobile today announced that it will soon add the Samsung Galaxy S2 4G to its smartphone roster. Priced at $369.99, the top-selling handset of yesterday joins the no-contract carrier on November 15.

Lest you think that is a lot of money to part with, consider that Boost charges the same for its version of the Galaxy S2. Also, T-Mobile and Sprint are asking $499 for their models if you don't sign a contract. … Read more

Two years is a long time. In that amount of time you can finish a master's degree or, uh...raise a baby into a 2-year-old child. OK, that latter example wasn't the most illustrative, but what I'm trying to say is that for some mobile phone users out there, two years is too long to be locked down in a carrier agreement. That's why I've gathered a few top-notch, recently released phones on prepaid carriers that are ideal for those who want to be contract-free.

Samsung Galaxy Reverb (Virgin Mobile), September 2012 Though it doesn'… Read more