SoftBank has been in talks with Sprint to acquire the US carrier with an offer of $20.1 billion. That deal would close on July 1, but it won’t happen if Sprint accepts Dish’s counter offer of $25.5 billion. And now we have a war of words between the two bidders.

Both SoftBank and Dish have created their own websites regarding the merger, while the Japanese carrier funded a study to question the claimed benefits of a Dish acquisition of Sprint.

Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen earlier said, “Sprint shareholders will benefit from a higher price with more cash while also creating the opportunity to participate more meaningfully in a combined Dish/Sprint with a significantly enhanced strategic position and substantial synergies that are not attainable through the pending SoftBank proposal“.

But these benefits are “unsubstantiated and unrealistic“, according to the SoftBank-funded study. Industry expert Scott C. Chandler writes, “Dish’s $37 billion estimate of the NPV (net present value) of total synergies created in the proposed Dish/Sprint merger is unusually high and there are multiple reasons to believe that Dish’s projections are neither achievable nor credible“. He is also pointing to the fact that Dish and Sprint are “two dissimilar companies” operating in “different sectors“, which would make the claimed synergies hard to achieve.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, who is to meet with Sprint’s major shareholders this week, earlier said that his company’s experience with TD-LTE would help improve Sprint’s LTE efforts in the US. He has also referred to Dish’s bid as “incomplete and illusory“.

Ergen slammed back: “We are an American company and the modernization of Sprint’s network will have to be done from the US. You have to climb the towers here, and you’ll have to have U.S. employees who speak English. Operations command control will be in America. That’s good for jobs“.

Regarding SoftBank’s study, Dish says, “The study was paid for by SoftBank and lacks the credibility that comes from third-party objectivity. We remain confident Sprint shareholders are going to accept the offer from the company that brings the most to the table, including the best price and strategic plan going forward. Dish is offering more money, greater synergies, and we’re bringing over $10 billion of spectrum“.

Meanwhile, regarding another bid, we reported earlier about Verizon’s plans to buy out Vodafone with a $100 billion bid to take full control over Big Red. But it appears like that bid could reach up to $130 billion.

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Rogers is promising “the fastest speeds in Canada” with the launch of their new LTE Max. Beyond just a marketing term, the improved LTE tech is available across two high-frequency bands – AWS (1700/2100Mhz) and 2600Mhz. And they have also announced the expansion of LTE to new markets:

• Chatham
• Milton
• Sarnia
• Woodstock
• Orangeville
• St. Catharines, which also includes Fort Erie, Port Colborne, Welland and Pelham;
• GTA North expansion, which also includes King City & Bradford
• GTA West expansion, which also includes Georgetown & Halton Hills
• Kentville
• Brantford
• Collingwood
• GTA Northeast Expansion, which also includes Stouffville & East Gwillimbury
• Oshawa Expansion, which also includes Clarington
• Lloydminster

With LTE Max, Rogers says that they are offering theoretical network speeds of 150 Mbps. But typical speeds are expected to fall within 12-25Mbps, although speeds closer to 50Mbps on 20 MHz cells have been reported.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 and the BlackBerry Q10 will provide support for LTE Max, and more devices are expected to arrive in the coming months.

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While you could use a set of headphones for some personal aural entertainment, why not share you wonderful music library with the world by using the Scosche boomBOTTLE rugged portable Bluetooth speaker instead? As its name implies, the speaker is effectively shaped like a water bottle and it is designed to fit perfectly in the water bottle cage on your bike. I’m not really sure where you would put your water then–maybe you’d need a camelback or something–but there you have it.

Of course, the rugged speaker doesn’t have to go in the bottle cage on your bike. It can be more versatile than that, taking your tunes wherever life’s adventures may take you. They say it’s well suited for camping, hiking, and otherwise enjoying outdoor activities. There’s a non-slip surface and, even if you drop it, there’s a shock-absorbing exterior, as well as a weatherproof design to handle whatever nature throws at you.

As far as tech specs, you can expect 10 hours of continuous playback on a single charge via its pair of 3W speaker drivers, passive subwoofer, and pair of omnidirecitonal diffusers. There’s also a mic in there for Bluetooth handsfree calls. The grey Scosche boomBOTTLE is shipping now for $149.95 with blue, pink, yellow and green versions slated for next month.

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“It’s a no-brainer” according to an ad by Virgin Mobile to promote their campaign that is aimed at T-Mobile prepaid customers. The Sprint-owned MVNO is offering $100 in unlimited-plan credit to customers willing to switch their phone number from T-Mobile to Virgin Mobile.

As you can see below, the numbers are certainly attractive. If you make a switch before May 31^st you will save a total of $334 in two years and that includes the $100 credit. There is a $55 per month plan for unlimited data (3G speed after 2.5GB, while T-Mobile offers 2G after that limit), messaging and talk service.

That plan costs $5 less than what T-Mobile is currently asking for its monthly package, but don’t forget the speed difference between Virgin Mobile’s EV-DO / WiMAX service and T-Mobile’s speedier HSPA+ / LTE.

Check out the creepy ad below, completely if possible, and tell us what you think about it. And are you planning to make that switch?

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The post Virgin Mobile Trying To Attract T-Mobile Customers With $100 Prepaid Credit Offer And A Creepy Ad appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

There are a couple of pretty huge differences, though. First, instead of the tiny Photon 4G, you’ll need to invest in the $89 Hub Burst, a unit that combines a router and modem in one. It plugs into the wall like how most routers would, but you don’t need to run a cable into it. Instead, the Hub Burst connects to the same WiMAX network as its mobile counterpart. In this way, you are best advised to put the Hub Burst as close to a window as possible.

Second, while the mobile plans provide you with 500MB of free data each month, the home plan will give you 1GB of free data for free. That’s a nice little top-up, but realize that 1GB won’t go that far with your regular home web traffic unless you’re really light with your usage. Thankfully, they offer pretty great upgrade plans too, starting at $10 a month for a 10GB cap. You can also pay for faster speeds, bumping up from the complimentary 1.5Mbps to get a much better 8Mbps at $19 a month.

Check the FreedomPop home Internet page to see if you have service in your area. They’re not going to have LTE up and running until at least Q3, so it’s still worthwhile to consider this unit in the meantime. You can always upgrade, after all.

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If you have ever spent any time in a major Chinese city, you would be under the impression that everyone is connected to the Internet in some way or another, whether through mobile phones or Internet cafe’s or home Internet. And you would be right, as the majority of Chinese do have access to Internet, but there is still (a lot) of room for growth.

For 2013, China has pledged to increase home broadband coverage by 70%. The new initiative plans to bring extra connectivity throughout China’s more rural areas and schools, and will see the erection of 180,000 new 3G base stations along with 1.3 million addition Wi-Fi hot-spots.

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FreedomPop has announced that its “social broadband” features are being expanded, making it possible for users to share and to request to use any unused bandwidth through popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter. If you have data that you’re not going to use, you can share that with your friends. If you need additional bandwidth, you can ask your friends if they have any to spare. You might already be familiar with the Freedom Friends referral program too, which was previously giving you an extra 10MB of data when you connect with a friend who is also on FreedomPop. That has now increased to 50MB per referral.

We have also known for some time that the company is expanding beyond the current WiMAX service to start providing Sprint LTE later this year. Now, we’re hearing that they’ll have a new LTE clip that works with the Apple iPad and this will be launching toward the second half of this year. More importantly, this iPad clip can fall back onto Sprint’s 3G network as needed, providing the much needed coverage and reliable service that the WiMAX hasn’t really been able to deliver. The new LTE device will work with the iPad, iPad mini and Samsung Galaxy devices.

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I know what you’re thinking, because it’s probably the same thing I was thinking: that doesn’t look like a regular router at all. Well, truth be told, the D-Link DIR-826L is a little different than conventional wireless routers and it’s on sale right now.

The D-Link DIR-826L is a wireless-N600 dual band gigabit router, but you’ll also notice that it’s called a “cloud” router. That’s because it’s possible for you to monitor your wireless network from anywhere in the world by using the available cloud apps.

As far as the regular router duties go, the D-Link Cloud Router 2000 boasts wireless-N speeds of up to 600Mbps, plus four Gigabit Ethernet ports for wired networking. The coverage is broad, thanks in part to the high-powered amplifier and the setup process is made easy with “a few clicks in your browser or a few taps on your iPad or iPhone.”

The D-Link Cloud Router 2000 (DIR-826L) normally retails for $129.99, but it’s on sale now for $77.73 through Amazon, including that free super saver shipping that we’ve come to expect.

The post D-Link Wireless-N600 Dual Band Gigabit Cloud Router for Nearly Half-Off appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Freedompop has forged a partnership with textPlus, preparing a free voice and text service that will start some time in the first quarter of this year. It will work with the sleeve that they have for the iPod touch and iPhone 4/4S. There is a free option, just like the free 500MB option, as well as stepped up plans that top out at just $15 a month for unlimited texting and 1,000 voice minutes.

“Our partnership with textPlus is another large step forward in offering consumers a true, free alternative to expensive mobile voice and data plans,” said Freedompop CEO Stephen Stokols. “FreedomPop and textPlus represent a new kind of telecom service based on principals established on the web. We are on a clear path to delivering affordable and convenient telecom services to everyone.”

I had a brief chat with Freedompop at CES in Las Vegas and they say that the transition to Sprint 3G/4G will likely happen some time in the third quarter of this year as they start to move away from the Clearwire 4G network. If you’re tired of giant cell phone plans, Freedompop’s “freemium” model sure sounds compelling.

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At first, I thought this special bundle deal was a bit odd, but when you stop to think about it, it really makes a lot of sense. When you’re playing on Xbox Live or PlayStation Network, you want a fast, lag-free online gaming experience. Of course you want to have a great router to go with your new video game!

Up until December 22 (that’s this Saturday), you can save $40 when you buy a Linksys EA6500 wireless router and a select video game at the same time. The Linksys EA6500 is the newest and hottest router in the lineup, offering you super fast dual-band AC connections, along with Gigabit and two USB ports. There’s some great prioritization algorithms in there too that make sure your online videos and video games don’t suffer from lag and stutters.

There aren’t too many games to choose from for this bundle, but the ones that are included are pretty popular this holiday shopping season. You’ve got Call of Duty: Black Ops II on your choice of either the Xbox 360 or the PS3, as well as Halo 4 for the Xbox 360. Black Ops is on sale for $49.99 ($10 off), while Halo is $39.99 ($20 off). The Linksys router is $199, which is $20 off its regular list price too.

Head over to the special deal page on Amazon to take advantage of this bundle deal.

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