Vik

Samsung Launches the Galaxy S5 Broadband LTE-A: First Snapdragon 805 Phone, First 20nm Modem
  • Comments are Closed

Samsung Launches the Galaxy S5 Broadband LTE-A: First Snapdragon 805 Phone, First 20nm Modem

While this launch is Korea-only, Samsung recently announced a new version of their Galaxy S5 smartphone, dubbed the Galaxy S5 Broadband LTE-A. Naming aside, this makes this phone the first to launch with APQ8084 and MDM9x35. For those unfamiliar with Snapdragon 805 and MDM9x35, this means that the CPUs are now Krait 450 instead of Krait 400, and the GPU is now Adreno 420 instead of Adreno 330. While the CPU revisions are minor, the GPU is fast enough to have the same level of performance at 1440p as an Adreno 330 at 1080p. The MDM9x35 modem also means that category 6 LTE is supported for speeds of up to 300 Mbps. The MDM9x35 is also the first 20nm SOC part shipping from TSMC, which bodes well for 20nm SoCs in the near future.

Qualcomm also notes that this phone integrates the WTR3925 transceiver, so carrier aggregation is done on a single chip instead of the WTR1625L/WFR1620 dual-chip solution that was previously needed. Samsung also integrated a QHD (2560×1440) OLED display into this model at the same 5.1″ display size. The only other difference is that the phone now has 3GB RAM instead of the 2GB present in the international model. Otherwise, the rest of the phone is identical to the international Galaxy S5. It’s curious to note that Samsung has chosen to use the 2.5 GHz bin of the APQ8084 line rather than the highest 2.7 GHz bin, although the reasons behind this decision aren’t quite clear yet.

T-Mobile Unveils Unlimited Music Streaming and unRadio
  • Comments are Closed

T-Mobile Unveils Unlimited Music Streaming and unRadio

T-Mobile has been a significant disruptor in the US operator business as of late with John Legere at the helm. Previously, they’ve gotten rid of contracts, introduced free global roaming, six month upgrade plans, and now, unlimited music streaming for Simple Choice customers. This means that services like iHeartRadio, Pandora, Rhapsody, iTunes, Slacker Radio, and Spotify no longer count against the data cap that is in place. This is in addition to T-Mobile endorsed music services such as Samsung’s Milk Music and Beatport from SFX. T-Mobile is also offering the ability to vote for additional music services at www.t-mobilemusicfreedom.com.

In addition to unlimited music streaming, T-Mobile is announcing their own music streaming service called unRadio by partnering with Rhapsody. This is an internet radio service that allows unlimited skipping, no ads, custom radio stations, and the ability to save songs to listen to later, even without a data connection. T-Mobile is also advertising the ability to stream from thousands of terrestrial radio stations. Finally, unRadio will come with its own TrackMatch feature that can identify songs similar to Shazam or SoundHound, and allow you to create a station with that song or save it for later listening. This service will be free for those on Simple Choice plans with unlimited data, and 4 dollars a month for all other T-Mobile US customers.

All of these will definitely require a great deal of backhaul to support massive amounts of music streaming, and T-Mobile seems to be confident that they can pull it off. Judging by their large lead over all the other major national network operators, T-Mobile should have the backhaul to pull it off, especially in markets where they’re deploying 20 MHz LTE.

T-Mobile Unveils Unlimited Music Streaming and unRadio
  • Comments are Closed

T-Mobile Unveils Unlimited Music Streaming and unRadio

T-Mobile has been a significant disruptor in the US operator business as of late with John Legere at the helm. Previously, they’ve gotten rid of contracts, introduced free global roaming, six month upgrade plans, and now, unlimited music streaming for Simple Choice customers. This means that services like iHeartRadio, Pandora, Rhapsody, iTunes, Slacker Radio, and Spotify no longer count against the data cap that is in place. This is in addition to T-Mobile endorsed music services such as Samsung’s Milk Music and Beatport from SFX. T-Mobile is also offering the ability to vote for additional music services at www.t-mobilemusicfreedom.com.

In addition to unlimited music streaming, T-Mobile is announcing their own music streaming service called unRadio by partnering with Rhapsody. This is an internet radio service that allows unlimited skipping, no ads, custom radio stations, and the ability to save songs to listen to later, even without a data connection. T-Mobile is also advertising the ability to stream from thousands of terrestrial radio stations. Finally, unRadio will come with its own TrackMatch feature that can identify songs similar to Shazam or SoundHound, and allow you to create a station with that song or save it for later listening. This service will be free for those on Simple Choice plans with unlimited data, and 4 dollars a month for all other T-Mobile US customers.

All of these will definitely require a great deal of backhaul to support massive amounts of music streaming, and T-Mobile seems to be confident that they can pull it off. Judging by their large lead over all the other major national network operators, T-Mobile should have the backhaul to pull it off, especially in markets where they’re deploying 20 MHz LTE.

T-Mobile Unveils Unlimited Music Streaming and unRadio
  • Comments are Closed

T-Mobile Unveils Unlimited Music Streaming and unRadio

T-Mobile has been a significant disruptor in the US operator business as of late with John Legere at the helm. Previously, they’ve gotten rid of contracts, introduced free global roaming, six month upgrade plans, and now, unlimited music streaming for Simple Choice customers. This means that services like iHeartRadio, Pandora, Rhapsody, iTunes, Slacker Radio, and Spotify no longer count against the data cap that is in place. This is in addition to T-Mobile endorsed music services such as Samsung’s Milk Music and Beatport from SFX. T-Mobile is also offering the ability to vote for additional music services at www.t-mobilemusicfreedom.com.

In addition to unlimited music streaming, T-Mobile is announcing their own music streaming service called unRadio by partnering with Rhapsody. This is an internet radio service that allows unlimited skipping, no ads, custom radio stations, and the ability to save songs to listen to later, even without a data connection. T-Mobile is also advertising the ability to stream from thousands of terrestrial radio stations. Finally, unRadio will come with its own TrackMatch feature that can identify songs similar to Shazam or SoundHound, and allow you to create a station with that song or save it for later listening. This service will be free for those on Simple Choice plans with unlimited data, and 4 dollars a month for all other T-Mobile US customers.

All of these will definitely require a great deal of backhaul to support massive amounts of music streaming, and T-Mobile seems to be confident that they can pull it off. Judging by their large lead over all the other major national network operators, T-Mobile should have the backhaul to pull it off, especially in markets where they’re deploying 20 MHz LTE.

T-Mobile Announces Test Drive, A Free Trial for a Week
  • Comments are Closed

T-Mobile Announces Test Drive, A Free Trial for a Week

Today, T-Mobile announced that they have already rolled out wideband LTE to 16 markets and VoLTE to 15 markets, with 100 million people currently covered by the 15 VoLTE markets and plans to expand this coverage nationwide by the end of the year. However, the real news this is their Test Drive program. This means that people can sign up to get an iPhone 5s with unlimited voice, text, and data. This trial period will last a week, with no money down or obligation to stay with T-Mobile once the week is over. In short, it’s possible to try T-Mobile with no strings attached for a week now. The real reason for this is to avoid buyer’s rermorse, with the hope of also attracting more customers to T-Mobile by reducing the inherent risk currently present in the contract system when one switches from one carrier to another. CEO John Legere stated during the presentation that the remorse rate for those purchasing service from a wireless operator is worse than those that purchase a used car. According to T-Mobile, 46% experience regret over their choice of network operator, which is one of the main reasons for this program.

The program starts on June 23rd and the website to sign up for this program is www.t-mobile.com/testdrive/.