Cricket

Has the iPhone lost its cool factor?

commentary Let's face it: the iPhone just isn't cool anymore.

It's sad, but true that there's a reverse correlation between availability and coolness. The harder it is to obtain something, the more highly coveted it is.

Apple's decision to offer the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 to prepaid wireless provider Cricket may have tipped the scales away from the cool end. With Cricket in the fold, the iPhone is virtually everywhere (T-Mobile, sadly, is still left outside looking in), hitting a critical mass of availability. The iPhone has gone from a gadget of the tech … Read more

Apple iPhone enters prepaid world with Cricket

Apple's iPhone will make the leap to the prepaid world through Leap Wireless's Cricket wireless service.

The regional prepaid carrier plans to sell the iPhone on June 22, although its no-contract plans means a higher upfront cost. The 16GB iPhone 4S will cost $499.99, while the 8GB iPhone 4 will cost $399.99.

The iPhone moving to Cricket marks the continued expansion of the availability of Apple's blockbuster device, highlighting the company's push to get the device in as many hands as possible. The iPhone is an unusual device to hit the prepaid world, since … Read more

Cricket shifts full throttle with high-end Android phones, LTE

NEW ORLEANS--Cricket subscribers have spoken -- they want more premium phones -- and now the prepaid carrier is ready to deliver.

Cricket customers are beginning to care much more about technical specifications like larger screens, faster processors, and better cameras. Significant sales of the Huawei Mercury, which leaped to an more than10 percent adoption rate in the course of two weeks, proves it.… Read more

T-Mobile reportedly in talks to buy MetroPCS

T-Mobile USA may be going from acquisition target to acquirer.

T-Mobile made a splash when it agreed to be bought by AT&T more than a year ago. Now, it may want to make a splash of its own, with parent company Deutsche Telekom weighing the acquisition of MetroPCS, according to Bloomberg.

Deutsche Telekom could merge MetroPCS and T-Mobile under a single entity, or it might sell off the business entirely, an option that has long been proposed for the U.S. carrier that's been steadily losing customers, according to Bloomberg.

T-Moblie and MetroPCS declined to comment.

The … Read more

Cricket targets Target with Muve Music phones

What's that sound you hear? It's the tune of Cricket Wireless selling smartphones with all-you-can download music plans from yet another retail giant.

Starting today, nearly 1,600 Target stores will carry the Samsung Vitality and ZTE Score on Cricket's network. Both Android smartphones feature Muve Music, the unlimited music and ringtone download plan that Cricket pioneered in January 2011.… Read more

T-Mobile, Leap swap spectrum

T-Mobile USA and Leap wireless said today they plan on exchanging spectrum in several markets in the U.S. to better improve the potential coverage.

The spectrum swap also includes T-Mobile, Cool Inlet/VS GSM VII PCS, a joint venture in which T-Mobile has a non-controlling majority stake, as well as Savary Island Wireless, which Leap has a non-controlling majority stake in.

The deal is just the latest move by the wireless carriers to improve their various spectrum positions. By realigning their spectrum holdings, the carriers can build a network with better coverage, and potentially, better service. The transaction also … Read more

Huawei Mercury tunes into Cricket's Muve Music service

If you're a Cricket customer who skipped over the Huawei Mercury smartphone because it lacked Muve Music, you'll be happy to know you can hop back to it.

Cricket will soon supply an over-the-air download to upgrade the phone and let in the unlimited music downloads and ringtones on top of the usual unlimited calling, data, and text and multimedia messaging.

The Muve Music plan costs $65 per month, making it the priciest of Cricket's unlimited plans, but also its most comprehensive.

Cricket plans to tap Clearwire's not-yet-existent 4G LTE

Cricket has signed on to use Clearwire's forthcoming 4G LTE network to augment its own next-generation deployment.

Cricket, owned by parent Leap Wireless, and Clearwire said today that they have signed a five-year wholesale deal. While Cricket is building a 4G LTE network across two-thirds of its own territory over the next three years, it will need Clearwire's wider reach and ability to relieve its own traffic load.

Clearwire is in a strong position as the only wholesale partner left in town after the implosion of LightSquared. Clearwire secured financing from Sprint Nextel--its largest customer and investor--and has … Read more

Muve Music dances its way into the Huawei Ascend II

Muve Music, a music service from Cricket Wireless that impressed us so much that it earned a Best of CES nomination last year, is coming to the Huawei Ascend II.

Muve Music lets you search through thousands of artists and albums available on major U.S. record labels. You can download an unlimited number of songs onto your device for playback, and you can make ringtones as well.

The service also includes a DJ feature that lets you listen to ready-made playlists organized by your favorite music genres, Shazam integration, and a social networking arm that let's you "… Read more