pcs

T-Mobile, MetroPCS are now one

T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS have made it official and joined forces as one company.

Known as T-Mobile US as of Wednesday, the new combined company will bring together the networks, subscribers, and other assets. The newly united carriers together hold around 43 million subscribers as of March 31.

T-Mobile US's total coverage reaches around 301 million people. A full 228 million have access to 4G, while 200 million are expected to be covered by 4G LTE by the end of the year.

Had they united last year, the combined company's revenues would have reached $24.8 billion. Management … Read more

Android notebooks? Yep, Intel says, and they'll only cost $200

Notebook prices should soon hit $200, but most of those will be Android-based devices, not Windows 8, an Intel executive said.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini last week said touchscreen PCs could debut at prices as low as $200 in the coming months. At the time, he didn't specify what operating system those products would run.

But Dadi Perlmutter, Intel executive vice president and chief product officer, told CNET on Wednesday that notebooks priced at the $200 level will predominantly be Android products running on Intel's Atom mobile processor. Whether Windows 8 PCs hit that price largely depends on … Read more

MetroPCS shareholders approve T-Mobile merger

T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS can become one now that the merger deal has received the thumbs-up from MetroPCs shareholders.

MetroPCS shareholder approval, announced Wednesday, was the final step needed after the deal received approval from the boards of MetroPCS and T-Mobile USA parent Deutsche Telekom, as well as legal nods from the Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Justice Department.

The deal is now expected to close by May 1 at which time the new combined company will officially launch, according to Deutsche Telekom.

"This is a major step for Deutsche Telekom," Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann said … Read more

Dell confirms Blackstone drops takeover bid amid PC slump

Blackstone Group has withdrawn its proposal to buy Dell for $25 billion, citing the weak PC maker and poor financial results, Dell confirmed today.

The private equity firm last month launched a bid for the computer maker to rival a $24.4 billion buyout offer from Silver Lake and Michael Dell. However, since that time, the troubles facing Dell have become more clear, causing Blackstone to drop its bid. News of the withdrawal was originally reported Thursday by some outlets.

Blackstone noted in a letter to Dell's special committee that a "unprecedented 14 percent market decline in PC volume … Read more

Get an HP quad-core desktop for $399.99

Message received loud and clear: You folks still love desktops! I'll definitely add more to the rotation as I find them. In fact, yesterday's deal was so popular it sold out, so I'm following up with another today.

Available until midnight (ET), and while supplies last, Sellout.Woot has the refurbished HP Pavilion P7-1447C quad-core desktop for $399.99, plus $5 for shipping.

That's a full $200 less than yesterday's Dell. So, how do the two systems compare? This one's a refurb, so it has only a 90-day warranty. I've had extremely good … Read more

Huawei Premia 4G review: Great price, lousy battery life

An inexpensive off-contract Android phone is hard to find, and for $99 after a $50 mail-in rebate, MetroPCS' Huawei Premia 4G has a particularly attractive price tag for a 4G Android 4.0 phone.

There are some very decent features for the price point, including a 5-megapixel camera with flash, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor.

Yet, something has to give, and in this case it's the phone's battery life, and to a lesser extent, its voice quality. MetroPCS' 4G LTE network, while steady in my tests, also produces speeds you'd … Read more

MetroPCS urges investors to vote for latest T-Mobile deal

MetroPCS is asking its stockholders to give the thumbs-up to the latest buyout bid from T-Mobile USA parent Deutsche Telekom.

Following months of talks with MetroPCS, Deutsche Telekom finally sweetened its buyout offer Thursday, prompting the board of MetroPCS to amend its terms for the proposed merger.

Amid some concerns over the deal, Deutsche Telekom reduced the amount of debt the combined company would take on from $15 billion to $11.2 billion. The interest on the debt will also be lowered by 50 basis points, allowing the combined company to more easily pay it back.

To address fears that … Read more

Tablet sales will climb to $64B this year, ABI says

The tablet market should post strong growth this year, ABI Research said, as the traditional computing market slumps.

The tech research firm expects tablet sales to climb 28 percent this year to $64 billion. In terms of shipments, ABI projected a jump of 38 percent to 150 million in 2013.

"The convenience and mobility benefits afforded by tablet computers are showing no signs of slowing interest after record unit shipments and revenues were reported by device vendors in 2012," ABI said.

The tablet growth rate contrasts sharply with the traditional computing market, though PC shipments should still be … Read more

Deutsche Telekom offers 'best and final offer' to MetroPCS

Major MetroPCS shareholders that have urged their fellow owners to scuttle the merger deal in the works with T-Mobile might have been heard by Deutsche Telekom after all.

Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile's parent company, announced today that it has slightly modified the merger agreement between T-Mobile and MetroPCS to make it more amenable to the latter's shareholders. The new terms will see Deutsche Telekom reduce the amount of debt the combined company would take on from $15 billion to $11.2 billion. The carrier will also reduce the interest on those loans by 50 basis points, to make it … Read more