carrier
US Cellular to launch a LTE smartphone and tablet next year
For subscribers on US Cellular, you guys are probably aware of the carrier’s plans to introduce an LTE network in the first quarter of 2012. Well the good news is that unlike other LTE carriers who mainly launch LTE mobile hotspots or laptop dongles, US Cellular will be making their LTE splash with a smartphone and tablet.
No word on what smartphone/tablet we will be seeing, but according to US Cellular, the carrier will be working together with a single hardware manufacturer for both the devices and LTE will be used for data. Voice over LTE will come in 2013 at the earliest according to the company.
It looks like the folks over at Verizon have stepped up to the plate by offering a brand new tablet for the masses which will follow up from their 2013 offering, which was the 7” Ellipsis. This time around, the tablet on offering would be known as the Ellipsis 10, and based on the name alone, it is rather obvious that this is a 10” device.
It will run on Android 5.1 Lollipop however, so forget about Marshmallow at the moment. It will also be accompanied by the likes of 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, where it sports a 5MP camera at the back, with a 2MP front-facing shooter, a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, “angular firing stereo speakers”, 16GB of internal memory, 4G LTE connectivity and a beefy 9,100 mAh battery. It will retail for $199.99 a pop with a new two-year contract, or you can pick it up or $299.99 all-in. [Press Release]
Now here is a handset from the folks over at ZTE which intends to provide a sense of continuity, although this time around you will not be able to pick up the Zmax 2 from T-Mobile, as ZTE has decided on AT&T to be their US partner and mobile carrier for their latest phone. In fact, this device falls under the mid-range segment of things, where it will just cost $149.99 unlocked, now how about that for affordability?
That kind of pricing would see you end up with a 5.5” 720p touchscreen display, an 8MP camera with LED flash at the back, a 2MP front-facing shooter, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable memory, a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 4G LTE connectivity, Dolby Digital Plus Audio, and a 3,000 mAh removable battery, and Android 5.1 Lollipop as the mobile operating system of choice. [Press Release]
Patience is a virtue, or so it seems. If you have been rocking with T-Mobile all this while, and are in possession of the HTC One M9, then you would be pleased to know that this particular handset is starting to receive the Android 5.1 Lollipop update. Better late than never, especially when you take into consideration how the unlocked HTC One M9, its developer edition, and the AT&T model has already picked up this update.
The update will come in the form of build 2.7.531.6 via Over The Air (OTA), and it will be a rather hefty 833MB download, which means you would be better off connected to a fast Wi-Fi network to get the job done as opposed to relying on your data. If you haven’t yet received Android 5.1 Lollipop, just head on to the About > Software updates menu from time to time until you pick up the download prompt.