metro

Once a purveyor of simple phones for making calls, MetroPCS over the last few years has worked to expand its handset lineup with fancier models like the Samsung Finesse, the Samsung Code, and the Huawei M750. And on Thursday it gave us another such device when it introduced the Samsung Caliber SCH-r860.

Already available with U.S. Cellular, the Caliber is a touch-screen device with Samsung's TouchWiz interface. Features include 3-megapixel camera, a full HTML Web browser, text and multimedia messaging, e-mail and instant messaging, a digital music player, an external memory card slot, Bluetooth, voice commands, and support … Read more

Here are some deeply perceptive estimations brought to you in the new ad campaign from cell phone service provider MetroPCS: All Indian males work in the tech industry. Unless they are in Bollywood. And all Indian techies are terribly nerdy beings with the dress sense of a dead gardener in his coffin.

Perhaps, you, too, were mesmerized by one of these spots, featuring Ranjit and Chad, two Indian tech experts, during Sunday's Super Bowl. Or perhaps this was merely some kind of local buy, as the so-called "Tech and Talk" campaign has been plaguing my own television … Read more

Apologies for missing this in the pre-Christmas rush, but MetroPCS added the Kyocera Laylo and Domino to its lineup last Wednesday.

The Laylo, aka the Kyocera M1400, launched last April at the CTIA 2009 show. The slider phone has a VGA camera, text and multimedia messaging, Bluetooth, a 500-contact phone book, a speakerphone, a personal organizer, a voice memo recorder, speaker-independent voice recognition, instant messaging, and a WAP browser. It is $99 for the carrier's no-contract service.

The Domino S1310 has a basic candy bar design. Inside you'll find Bluetooth 2.0, a WAP 2.0 browser, support … Read more

MetroPCS and Samsung announced a new basic phone just in time for the holidays. The Samsung Stunt has a simple black-and-blue candy bar design, with features like text and multimedia messaging, Bluetooth, speakerphone, and voice commands. It measures approximately 4.2 inches long by 1.7 inches wide by 0.54 inch thick and weighs about 2.6 ounces. No word on pricing yet, but we'll let you know once we find out.

Huawei is mostly known as a basic handset manufacturer here in the U.S., but the Chinese company has ventured out recently with more advanced devices like the T-Mobile Tap and this Huawei M750 from MetroPCS. The Huawei M750 is a full touch-screen phone with a 1.3-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, a microSD card slot, and a virtual QWERTY keyboard. We don't know too much about the Huawei M750's pricing or availability just yet, so stay tuned for that.

Telecommunications equipment maker Ciena won an auction to acquire a division of Nortel Networks that develops equipment for transmitting data and voice traffic for about $769 million in cash and stock.

Ciena outbid Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture between Nokia of Finland and Siemens of Germany. The auction, which started Friday, was part of Nortel's bankruptcy proceedings, and its goal was to sell Nortel's Metro Ethernet division.

Metro Ethernet is a technology that is used to provide communications companies with more capacity in what is called a backhaul network. This is a part of the network that … Read more

On Monday, MetroPCS introduced its first Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone, the Samsung Code. Though it's not running the latest Windows Mobile 6.5, the Code does give MetroPCS customers another smartphone choice, which is a bit lacking to say the least (the carrier's only other smartphone is the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330).

The Code offers the standard WinMo features, including Outlook synchronization and the Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, as well as 3G support, stereo Bluetooth, and a 2-megapixel camera. It also has a full QWERTY keyboard, up to 32GB expandable memory, and an optional WizPro interface, which … Read more

Motorola is no stranger to MetroPCS and Monday the manufacturer tightened the relationship even further with the new VE440. Positioned as a low-end music phone, the VE440's candy bar design and functional feature set won't amaze you, but it offers a few welcome goodies like stereo Bluetooth and a 3.5mm headset jack.

Besides the music player and the aforementioned features, the VE440 also has a micsoSD card slot (for cards up to 8GB), a 1.3-megapixel camera, a speakerphone, a personal organizer, messaging, a WAP browser, and support for GPS. The CDMA phone is priced at $129, … Read more

German phone giant Deutsche Telekom is looking to jump into the 4G wireless market in the U.S. through partnerships with U.S.-based service providers, according to a report by Bloomberg News.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that Deutsche Telekom is looking to beef up its presence in the U.S. wireless market by investing in Clearwire, a company that is building a 4G wireless network using a technology called WiMax. Sources also told Bloomberg that Deutsche Telekom is also talking to Metro PCS, which recently acquired spectrum to build its 4G wireless network.

Deutsche Telekom already owns T-Mobile USA, the … Read more