at&t
AT&T blasted by the Consumer Reports
In the latest edition of the Houston Chronicle, they published the results of a Consumer Reports survey on the services of the major carriers in the country. And according to the results, AT&T pretty much bombed big time. AT&T failed to score above “worse” in all the categories except for texting where they scored one notch above “worse”. Except for US Cellular all the other carriers didn’t even get the coveted “better” rating for any of their services. It sure sounds like some carriers have some shaping up to do. AT&T, unhappy with the published results responded with an email:
“We take this seriously and we continually look for new ways to improve the customer experience. The fact is wireless customers have choices and a record number of them chose AT&T in the third quarter, significantly more than our competitors. Hard data from independent drive tests confirms AT&T has the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network with our nearest competitor 20 percent slower on average nationwide and our largest competitor 60 percent slower on average nationwide. And, our dropped call rate is within 1/10 of a percent – the equivalent of just one call in a thousand – of the industry leader.”
This raises a couple of questions- if AT&T’s service is as great as they claim, then why are consumers so unhappy with them? And with AT&T’s network seeing a significant rise only after the introduction of the iPhone 4 this year, did their network suffer because of the surge of customers? And how accurate is the report? Obviously we won’t take the results as definitive- network coverage and customer service will vary from area to area. The best way to know which carrier is the “best” for you is is to just find out for yourself by using their services. Voice your opinions in the comments- what carrier are you on, and are you happy with what you’re getting?
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]
You can be forgiven for being confused about ASUS’ Zenfone 2 range to date, and here is yet another model that will add to the brouhaha. I am referring to the ASUS Zenfone 2E, where it has just been announced to be an AT&T exclusive, where you can pick one up for just $119.99 without any contract, and it is also offered by the carrier’s GoPhone prepaid brand.
At that price point, you would get a 5” 720p IPS touchscreen display in return, an 8MP camera with LED flash at the back, a 2MP front-facing shooter, a 2,500 mAh battery, a dual-core Intel processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB of internal memory, 4G LTE connectivity, and Android 5.0 Lollipop running underneath Asus’ own ZenUI. Opt from either black or white shades.
If you have been hankering after the LG Watch Urbane for the longest time, while being an AT&T subscriber, then here is good news for you. This particular timepiece can be picked up for $349 a pop from AT&T, where it will arrive in a shade of silver to boot. This timepiece will run on Android Wear and is compatible with any smartphone that has Android 4.3 or higher as the mobile operating system of choice.
It is best to use the LG Watch Urbane within the confines of a Wi-Fi network all the time, along with your smartphone, so that you can keep track of notifications, send messages and make use of your Android Wear compatible apps at all times. Sporting a 1.3” circle P-OLED display, the Watch Urbane comes with replaceable 22mm stitched leather straps for more flexible fashion choices, while the integrated PPG Sensor (average pace, speed, heart rate, and distance) ought to keep fitness buffs happy, with a 410 mAh (non-removable) battery that has an all-day battery life. [Press Release]