Carriers

By now the Verizon iPhone is well-steeped in a potent mystique brewed of anticipation for an additional carrier on one hand and a bitter distaste for AT&T's coverage shortfalls on the other. Tomorrow, the once-fabled Verizon-powered iPhone will land in the hands of existing Verizon subscribers before opening up to new customers next week.

As wildly as the American populace has envisioned Verizon's iPhone to cure all mobile ills, there's still plenty that Verizon's iPhone 4 lacks on its newfound carrier.

1. 4G Verizon launched its 4G LTE network this past December, but the … Read more

Just a couple of days ago, we reported that the HTC Inspire 4G for AT&T would launch on February 13. Aside from being the carrier's first 4G smartphone, it's also the first device to feature AT&T's Mobile Hotspot application. No pricing information was available for the service at first, but we have it now.

AT&T announced today that the feature will cost $45 per month for 4GB of data when bundled with the Data Pro data plan, which is required on all smartphones. Broken down, the Data Pro data plan costs $… Read more

If you use your phone primarily for making calls, you might not need unlimited text and data services. If so, you might be the sort of customer who would buy Virgin Mobile's latest handset, the Kyocera S2100, recently launched under its cheaper PayLo prepaid service. The S2100 is as basic as it gets, with only a VGA camera and Bluetooth, though it does allow limited Web and e-mail functionality with Yahoo Mail, Gmail, AOL, and Windows Live mail access.

The Virgin Mobile PayLo plan lets you have 1,500 anytime minutes, 500 messages, and 10MB Web access for $30. … Read more

After two years of lightly treading in the Android waters, AT&T is finally ready to start swimming for the deep end of the pool. And almost as if it were pure coincidence, the carrier's broader ambitions come into light as it prepares to lose exclusivity of the iPhone.

Looking ahead, AT&T has plenty of Android on the roadmap for 2011, confirmed by a recently leaked internal document. The details uncovered by Phandroid indicate that the carrier plans to offer at least 12 new devices in the coming year, including a pair of exclusive smartphones.

Looking at AT&T's current lineup of Android phones, it's hard to get very excited. Sure, the Captivate is a great device, but it doesn't stand out from the other Galaxy S models of its time. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is fantastic hardware, but it's hindered by the outdated software. The rest of the roster is a lesson in smartphone mediocrity with assorted handsets from HTC and Motorola.

The near future looks to take sharp turn for the positive, however, with three new phones deserving of your attention.… Read more

Verizon Wireless today rolled out an update to its Samsung Continuum Android smartphone. It's not an OS upgrade, but you do get an impressive array of feature improvements and interface tweaks. We'll let Verizon's official list (PDF) speak for itself, so check it out below. As with other over-the-air updates, it will go out to users in stages. But if you'd rather not wait, you can initiate (PDF) the update yourself from your handset's Settings menu.

Reply/Forward Visual Voice Mail audio files as attachments using a variety of e-mail providers.

Improved Visual Voice Mail … Read more

Samsung's Galaxy Tab is now selling from T-Mobile for a new low of $249 after a $50 rebate. The only catch? You'll still have to opt for a two-year contract.

The price of the Galaxy Tab through T-Mobile is a significant drop from the $399 it originally cost when it made its debut in November. But the data plan will still set subscribers back $24.99 a month for 200MB worth of access and $39.99 for 5GB.

Samsung's 7-inch Tab is being offered by all of the core U.S. carriers, including T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, … Read more

On Call runs every two weeks, alternating between answering reader questions and discussing hot topics in the cell phone world.

Two weeks ago, Verizon Wireless finally unveiled its long-rumored iPhone. The announcement, which came only days after Big Red staged a big presence at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, put an end to not only years of speculation, but also AT&T's exclusive hold on Apple's device.

Judging from my e-mail inbox, CNET readers are pretty excited about the Verizon iPhone, which is why I wanted to dedicate this edition of On Call to your questions. CNET … Read more

As anyone who has bought one can tell you, the cost of a smartphone is more than just the initial price of the device. You also have monthly payments to deal with, for voice minutes, text messages, and of course, data. You can choose to either be frugal if you can squeak on by with the bare minimum or you can go for the pricier package if you want unlimited everything.

In light of recent changes to smartphone data plans and in anticipation of potential new 4G plans, we've compiled and calculated the cheapest and most-expensive pricing plans below … Read more

Hot on the heels of its recent $10 increase for smartphone data plans, Sprint has announced another change, this time to its Premier loyalty program.

The Premier program is eligible to any customer who's been around for at least 10 years or who pays at least $69.99 a month for an individual plan and at least $99.99 a month for a family plan. One of the most lauded benefits of being in this program is the ability to upgrade a handset at the fully subsidized price after only 12 months under contract. Other benefits include discounts on … Read more