The Sony Xperia ZL has been available from the Sony website since March, but if you have been waiting for their Xperia Z, then your day has come. The handset is now available through the US Sony Store.

The device is available unlocked, in black, white, and purple colors, with a price tag of $630. But, it will only work on AT&T’s HSPA+ network, there is no LTE.

Fortunately, Sony has decided to ask the same price for its Xperia ZL. So for $630 (down from $760), you can choose the ZL with LTE and the same hardware as the Xperia Z, though no water-resistivity. Or you can simply wait for an official LTE version to launch on AT&T, although there is no certainty about that happening. There have also been rumors and leaks about the Z heading to T-Mobile.

So, are you going for one of the Xperia phones? Or are you interested in the S4’s extra power under the hood? Maybe our comparison will help you to make a decision.

[Source]

The post Sony Xperia Z Now Available In The US appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

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.

[Source]

The post Rogers Launches LTE Max, Also Adds Several New LTE Markets appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Rumors are already there about an upcoming Nexus 5 from Google, but it appears like there’s more in store for the existing Nexus 4 handset. According to SIDHTech, Google has plans to announce an updated version of its Nexus 4 smartphone at Google I/O next month.

The search giant will introduce the Nexus 4 with 32GB of storage and LTE support, things that customers have wanted in the Nexus 4 after it was released last year. And apparently the device is coming with compatibility for CDMA, so could be launched on Sprint and Verizon in the US.

The Nexus 4 coming in May instead of the Nexus 5 won’t be a surprise since the latter was only launched in November. It would be too soon if a successor arrives in the coming month. Also this wouldn’t be the first time that Google comes out with an updated version of a Nexus product. You might remember the Nexus 7 update that came out last October. But Nexus 5 is expected to come out this year itself, most probably in November.

And Google is also expected to unveil Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie at the May conference.

Are you interested in a 32GB Nexus 4? Let us know in the comments below.

[Source]

The post Google 32GB Nexus 4 With LTE Might Arrive In May appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Tired of being handcuffed by contracts of your wireless carriers? Maybe you can try T-Mobile. The carrier has become the first of the big four US carriers to do away with service contracts. T-Mobile is stopping cellphone subsidies, and users can now buy smartphones at full prize or pay in installments or bring their own handset and just pay for the plan in a month-to-month basis.

You can choose a plan with unlimited texting and voice, and 500MB of data at just $50 per month. If you want 2GB more data just pay an additional $10 a month. You can add up to 12 GB, $10 for each additional 2 GB. Or you can get unlimited high-speed data for $20 a month.

So, are you interested in T-Mobile’s new offer? Some are already talking about using the AT&T iPhone on T-Mobile’s network. But those who are on Straight Talk which allows you to pay just $45 per month for unlimited text/voice and 2GB of data won’t find T-Mobile’s new package interesting.

As for more info about their plans, we will have to wait for things to get official at their “Uncarrier” event, at which the carrier is also expected to release their version of the BlackBerry Z10 and announce the launch of their LTE in the US, although we are hearing reports that the service is already available in some cities.

[Source]

The post T-Mobile Drops Cellphone Contracts appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Let’s start out with some of the basics. According to the rumors circulating around the Internet, the Galaxy S4 Mini will follow in the footsteps of the S3 Mini that came before it. The idea is that it’ll take many of the design cues and features from its larger 5-inch Galaxy S 4 cousin and shrink them down to a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED form factor. It’s not the same resolution, of course, getting bumped down to just 540 x 960 pixels. It’ll have either a dual core or a quad core processor and will ship with Android 4.2.2.

The main thing that will determine whether it has dual core or quad core is likely the presence of LTE. And that’s where the four versions will come into play. There will be an LTE model of the Galaxy S4 Mini that’ll likely get the dual core chip. Then, there’s an HSPA+ model that probably gets the quad core chip. Third, there’s a version designed specifically for the Chinese market and the fourth will be a dual-sim model.

The expectation is that the Galaxy S4 Mini, possibly in all four of its incarnations, will be launching in June or July of this year.

[Source]

The post Four Versions of Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini Due This Summer? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

You may be able to connect with your car in a lot of ways such as making hands-free calls, and many cars out there are able to connect with their manufacturers wirelessly when there is a need, but AT&T and GM want to take connectivity to a new level. The two companies have announced a partnership that will bring the AT&T LTE network to the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac car models meant to go on sale in 2014 in the US and Canada.

As you might know, GM already provides customers with the service of OnStar for security alerts, directions and much more. The future LTE cars will have all those abilities along with more high tech features.

AT&T’s connectivity will be used for a variety of services including diagnostics, infotainment, and their main focus will be safety. We can think about a thousand things such as advanced voice recognition tech for better hands free abilities, or content streaming from services like Netflix, or maybe better communications between cars to avoid accidents, and so on.

All these new features will certainly help sell more cars which is good for GM. Just in case you are thinking about what’s in it for the wireless carrier, AT&T needs to spread their services beyond handsets for growing on the market where most people already own smartphones.

So, are you looking forward to an AT&T connected car? Or do you think that GM should have made a deal with Verizon or another carrier instead?

[Source]

The post AT&T And GM Coming Together To Give You LTE Cars appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Qualcomm has been getting more attention in the mobile space of late, but NVIDIA appears to have an answer. Say hello to the NVIDIA Phoenix powered by the Tegra 4i, the chip that combines LTE with quad core.

But the high end 5-inch handset, which boasts a 1080p display and a 13 megapixel cam, you see above, is not for sale. It’s just a reference device meant to end up at the labs of various manufacturers who can develop their own smartphones with NVIDIA’s new tech inside. NVIDIA’s ultimate aim is to build “mainstream superphones”, devices having today’s highest specs with tomorrow’s mid range price tags.

The Phoenix is a reasonably powerful device, even if it is nowhere nearly as powerful as the NVidia Tegra 4 processor, it is still a reasonable step up from the Tegra 3.  According to available info, we can expect devices with the new tech to hit the market in less than a year. We will keep you updated, but in the meantime check out 4i’s graphics performance in the video below:

So what do you think, impressed by the performance of the NVIDIA Tegra 4i or not?

The post NVIDIA Tegra 4i Phoenix Reference Phone (Video) appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Sprint has also started to roll out more 4G LTE coverage in other cities across the United States too, including New York City and Washington, DC, as well as some parts of the state of New York, plus select cities in Florida like Jacksonville, Miami and Tampa. The San Francisco coverage has been spotty at best, so hopefully this added rollout will help. That said, Sprint isn’t ready for a full commercial launch until they can get “a density of sites to indicate that our customers should consistently have a great 4G LTE experience,” according to company spokesperson Kelly Schlageter.

You can check the Sprint website directly for coverage maps to see if you’ve got any 4G LTE happening in your area. As this coverage expands, the secondary hope is that FreedomPop–which uses the Sprint network–can make the leap from WiMAX to LTE too. Sprint has indicated that it is slightly behind its original goal of “near nationwide” LTE by the end of 2013, but they should have coverage for 250 million Americans by early next year.

[Source]

The post Sprint 4G LTE Coverage Expands in SF, New York, DC and Florida appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The LG Nexus 4 is now starting to receive an update to Android 4.2.2, after first being spotted on the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 10 and Nexus 7. The latest version addresses the bug issues with Bluetooth audio streaming and provides small UI tweaks, but at the same time it also kills off LTE.

That’s right, if you were one of the lucky few that lived in an area that supported the limited LTE frequencies given off by the Nexus 4, you will be disappointed (though probably not surprised) to know that the latest update patches that capability up.

If you really want to keep your Nexus 4 LTE going, you will likely have to wait around for third party ROMs that re-add LTE to later versions of Android like 4.2.2. Still, for most Nexus 4 users, this probably isn’t a real concern. For those that own the Nexus 4, does the LTE “fix” affect you or not?

[ source ]

The post LG Nexus 4 Starts to Receive Android 4.2.2, Removes Unofficial LTE Support appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

We previously reported that the LG Nexus 4 was able to connect to LTE networks in Canada with a simple tweak that works with a dormant LTE chip inside of the phone’s hardware. Unfortunately, Canada was about the only place that the Nexus 4 would work for LTE.

The good news is that it is now possible to use LTE through band 4 on a few select AT&T markets out there. More specifically, it seems that users in Athens, Charlotte, Chicago, College Station, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Raleigh and San Juan all are lucky enough to get support for LTE through the tweak.

The bad news? Even though AT&T owns band 4 spectrum in these areas, it doesn’t mean they are actively deploying it. Additionally, the XDA user who discovered the tweak necessary to make it work hasn’t released the details on how to perform the changes just yet. The XDA user is known as checkitonetime and is reporting speeds of 29.80 up, 10.75 down.

The big takeaway here is that a hacker/modder with enough time and patience can accomplish just about anything. Should you be excited if you are in one of the cities? Honestly, I wouldn’t put too much hope into getting LTE service working. Just because some have accomplished it, doesn’t mean it will work for you.

[ source ]

The post A few very lucky AT&T users can get LTE connectivity for the LG Nexus 4 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.