Lollipop update arriving on the Sprint Galaxy Note 4 and T-Mobile Galaxy Note 3

Android Lollipop might only be on 3.3% of devices, but that number should be increasing every day. Earlier today we told you about Lollipop rolling out to the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in India. Now we’re seeing some more Samsung + Lollipop love here in the U.S. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 for Sprint and Note 3 for T-Mobile are receiving Lollipop right now.

This information comes straight from Samsung and Sprint themselves. Over on the FAQ for the Tmo Note 3 on Samsung’s site you can see “Android 5.0″ started rolling out on March 4th. On Sprint’s website you can see the same update started rolling out on March 5th.

Samsung also lists “Wi-Fi calling experience, Resolved Wi-Fi calling one way audi, and Resolved IPv6 email setup” in the changelog. The update should be rolling out now, but don’t expect every device to get it today. Check out what TouchWiz looks like on Android 5.0 in our hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy S6. Welcome to Lollipop Land!

Cyanogen debuts new video series to highlight Cyanogen OS’s best features

Wondering why everyone goes so crazy over CyanogenMod / Cyanogen OS but not willing to flash it for yourself? Perhaps the company’s latest video series is what you need. They’re calling it Cyanogen Bites, a series of short video highlights showing you the best features of the custom Android-based OS.

The first one is all about the app themer which lets you customize how individual app looks instead of having to use the same theme for the entire OS. Cool stuff, that, and you can really only get it if you use CyanogenMod. We’ll be on the lookout for more of these as time rolls on, for sure.

[via Cyanogen]

‘Friends with Moto’ program gets new deep discounts on the Moto X, Moto 360, and more

In January Motorola kicked off a program that allowed Motorola employees to gives discounts to their friends and family. You could get off a Moto X, or a Moto G for just 9. Today Motorola has announced some new and improved deals for the program. Here’s what you can get:

Moto 360 – 20% off
Leather bands (including new cognac) – 9.99
Metal bands (including new mono-link) – 9.99
Champagne gold finish (including slim band) – 3.99

Nexus 6 – up to 26% off
Choose midnight blue or cloud white
32gb – 9
64gb – 9

Moto X – up to 28% off
Design your own – starting at 9.99 (0 off any configuration)

Moto G 3G – 16% off
Black or white – 0

In order to grab these deals you’ll need to head on over to this link and fill out the form. You’ll need the name of a Motorola employee to fully fill out the form and be eligible for a coupon. It’s cool that Motorola is allowing employees to offer discounts to their friends and family members. Programs like this are what build loyalty among consumers. Will you be trying to get in on this deal?

[via Google+]

Sprint offering to pay ALL fees for you to switch to their network

Sprint’s giving folks a very good reason to consider switching to their network with their latest offer. They’re willing to pay any and every expense associated with leaving your carrier before fulfilling your commitments, whether that’s paying the ETF on a two-year contract or paying for the rest of your payment plan on a financed phone.

Here’s how it works:

• Bring your number from any other carrier with an early termination fee or phone installment plan balance.


• Activate a device on Sprint Easy Pay, iPhone for Life Plan, Sprint Lease or pay full retail price with a new line of service.


• Complete an online registration www.sprint.com/joinsprint and upload a bill that shows applicable charges for reimbursement within 60 days of activation.


• Customers are required to turn in competitor phones (in good working condition) tied to the bill they submitted. Sprint will provide a pre-paid kit to make this easy.

And that’s it. Sprint says they’ll hook you up no matter how much you owe, so if you’re only two payments into that Samsung Galaxy Note 4 they’ll pay it off for you no problem.

That’s a hard offer to turn down if you’re looking for a new wireless home, but you’ll have to evaluate Sprint’s network in your area, their service plans and other factors to see if the carrier is a good long-term solution for you. Be sure to do the proper research before you jump to make any big moves.

[via Sprint]

 

Go on, celebrate: the Comcast + Time Warner Cable merger is officially dead

Concerns about monopolies, net neutrality and competition be damned: Time Warner and Comcast will no longer attempt to close a deal that would merge the two cable giants under Comcast’s banner. The internal desire — according to the two companies, anyway — was to bring more of their “great” product to more people in more cities. Says Comcast CEO and Chairman Brian L. Roberts:

Today, we move on. Of course, we would have liked to bring our great products to new cities, but we structured this deal so that if the government didn’t agree, we could walk away.

Comcast NBCUniversal is a unique company with strong momentum. Throughout this entire process, our employees have kept their eye on the ball and we have had fantastic operating results. I want to thank them and the employees of Time Warner Cable for their tireless efforts.

But it didn’t take long for red flags to pop up all over the place. The department of justice was the biggest opponent from the get-go, and much like AT&T’s proposed buyout of T-Mobile it was hard for them to believe that this merger could do anything good for the state of the US cable and broadband market.

The landscape of competition in said market is already severely flawed, with many areas only able to choose between just one or two services. Yours truly literally had no choice other than Time Warner Cable up until a few years ago when AT&T finally rolled out DSL. You’ll find similar situations in many areas of the country where Time Warner, Cox and Comcast enjoy the fruits of being the only cable provider in town for miles on end.

Thankfully the powers that be which blocked this deal realized that this monopoly would hurt an already lopsided industry. If not for the likes of Google Fiber and Verizon FiOS, we might not have seen these companies scrambling to upgrade their customers to Gigabit speeds.

Take Time Warner Cable, for instance. They kept their Charlotte, North Carolina customers on 50 megabit packages for years at what most of them would consider “fair” prices, but it only took them weeks to upgrade those customers to 300 megabit packages after they heard Google Fiber was on the way. Comcast did the same in Atlanta, Georgia when Google confirmed plans to expand to that particular market.

It’s clear these companies weren’t (and likely still aren’t) willing to do anything to improve service and value for their customers unless they had true competition. Allowing them to merge would have done nothing to change that (and would most likely have worsened the situation beyond repair). Good on everyone to see fit to block the deal and nip it in the bud in this instance just as they did to protect the spirit of competition in the wireless industry.

[via Comcast]

HTC One M9 and Samsung Galaxy S6 retail prices leaked in contest rules

Samsung, HTC and the carriers likely won’t be ready to announce pricing details for their latest smartphones until they’re nearly ready to be sold, but a couple of early contests have given us an idea of their suggested retail costs ahead of time.

HTC’s contest rules for the HTC One M9 reveals that the device’s estimated retail value is 9.99. This is less than what Best Buy was listing the device for ahead of its official unveiling, but Best Buy has been known to mark prices up in order to promote customers to buy on-contract or financing instead.

T-Mobile’s contest rules for the Samsung Galaxy S6 reveals similar information, with Sammy’s latest handset said to cost 9.99 once it’s made available.

It’s important to remember that estimated retail values and minimum suggested retail prices are only baseline figures, and that actual price tags will most certainly vary from carrier to carrier and retailer to retailer. Still, it’s nice to get an accurate idea of how much you’ll need to save ahead of time in case you’re planning to buy one of these things at full cost. Do these prices look fair to you?

[via BGR]

T-Mobile’s latest Uncarrier promises: all promo plans permanent, prices never hike, & they pay all fees to switch

T-Mobile was in New York today to announce some exciting new changes for those who choose to use their service. The eye-opener most of you will care for: the un-contract. It’s what John Legere called his company’s commitment to never raise the price of the rate plan you happen to be on (though you shouldn’t rule out the possibility for them to lower it).

But even that isn’t the most exciting thing about this “contract.” The company also promised to make all promotional plans permanent, meaning if you happened to switch to T-Mobile for an unbelievable deal that wouldn’t last forever, that is now reversed.  It does last forever (or as long as you want it to, anyway).

This means that awesome 4 lines for 0 plan that gave each line 2.5GB of data won’t be downgraded to 1GB of data after a couple of years — you’ll always have 2.5GB per line, and it’ll always be 0 as long as you don’t switch plans.

Another big piece of news: T-Mobile is taking Sprint’s cue by not only promising to pay your way out of a contract should you decide to leave, but also to pay for any device payment plans you may still have to take care of as a result. They’ll pay up to 0 per line for up to 10 lines, which should be more than enough wiggle room for you to migrate to Magenta’s network without having to pay your old carriers a dime.

Legere also touched on unlimited data, and while he didn’t have some earth shattering announcement to make in that regard, he did promise that they wouldn’t change their stance, prices or availability of it for at least the next two years. It’s not all that comforting to know that T-Mobile isn’t committed to unlimited data forever, but at least they’re committed long enough to keep sweat off our foreheads. Let us know if any of this will convince you to switch on over (or if this makes you happy that you’re with T-Mobile if you already have).