Carriers

At the IFA technology trade show in Berlin, Sony pulled the wraps off of three new Android smartphones. Called the Xperia T, Xperia V, and Xperia J, each device will range in capabilities, with the T being top dog and the V and J following behind. … Read more

Huawei is a Chinese smartphone and infrastructure manufacturer with heaps of ambition and just as much to prove.

U.S. executives, speaking at a variety of mobile conferences, have boldly shared Huawei's vision to be a top 5 vendor in three years (they have two more to go to hit that mark). Before that happens, Huawei must also quell the U.S. government's suspicion that the Shenzen company has economic espionage in mind.

Even beyond the pressure to gain the United States' political confidence and enter lucrative business deals, Huawei isn't in any shape yet to win … Read more

Ting, a newish, little-known cell phone carrier, wants to stand out by mixing and matching your cell phone plan. Today the mobile virtual network operator, which rides on Sprint's network, announced plans to let you bring your own Sprint device to the network.

As it stands now, you have to buy one of Ting's 10 compatible handsets from the carrier -- including the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Motorola Photon Q -- but starting sometime in Q4 all that will change. When the bring-your-own plan rolls out, most Sprint phones will also work with Ting, except handset like … Read more

Twice a year, J.D. Power and Associates tests wireless network performance in six regions across the U.S. Once again, Verizon tops the charts.

Released today, J.D. Power's study found that Verizon's network exhibited the fewest dropped calls, audio issues, texting and voice mail failures, connection errors, and slow downloads compared with other major carriers. Big Red bested the competition for the 16th consecutive time in the Northwest region, but also experienced the best network performance in four of the five remaining regions.

For the 14th consecutive report, U.S. Cellular remained sovereign over the North … Read more

Finding a satisfying Android phone on a prepaid carrier is getting easier every day. Case in point, the new LG Motion 4G for MetroPCS. This pint-size $149.99 handset features Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, a 3.5-inch screen, and a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, plus 4G LTE data. … Read more

Though we've already heard that the Apple's next iPhone may land in stores September 21, today more fuel was added to that rumor fire.

Citing a "trusted Verizon employee," TechCrunch reported today that Big Red has imposed a staff vacation blackout from September 21 to 30. The source didn't reveal the reason for the blackout or to which employees it might apply, but an iPhone 5 release is a likely possibility. CNET has reached out to Verizon for comment, and we'll update this update this story with additional information.

A couple of points suggest … Read more

MetroPCS may hand the major carriers some competition, with its new 4G LTE plan for budget-conscious consumers.

Available as a promotion, the carrier's new 4G LTE plan provides unlimited talk, texting, and 4G LTE data for $55 a month for a single line. Families can join in by paying $50 a month for second, third, and fourth lines. Though the deal is being offered as a promotion, the expiration date is open-ended.

MetroPCS President Thomas Keys told CNET that the end of the promotion will depend on the adoption rate by consumers. "We didn't want to set … Read more

If you're thrilled by Sony's Xperia S, then you have another reason to get excited. The company has just revealed plans for an Xperia SL phone, which sees the Xperia S and raises its 1.5GHz CPU up a notch to 1.7GHz. Of course, both phone's processors are last-generation Snapdragon S3 chips, which while technically dual-core, are roundly trounced performance-wise by Qualcomm's current Snapdragon S4 processors. … Read more

A handful of tips and tutorial videos for a Motorola XT926 landed on YouTube this morning only to disappear shortly thereafter. Widely considered to be the Droid Razr HD, the clips were the first semi-official look at Verizon's next Android smartphone.

Those who were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the five videos saw demonstrations of various features such as managing e-mail, Wi-Fi, messaging, and battery life. More tellingly, it also was a chance to peek at Motorola's ROM. As it appears, Verizon's next handset closely resembles the same UI as found on AT&T'… Read more