Rather than a Nexus 5 is there a chance that Google releases a new version of the Nexus 4 this summer? According to a new rumor that is making the rounds and appearing in our inbox far too often, this is the word on the dark, back alley, make-sure-you-have-a-tight-grip-on-your-purse, streets. The rumor is this – Google is going to release a new variant of the Nexus 4 with both CDMA and LTE radios inside, along with 32GB of storage. It’ll be unveiled at Google I/O in May. So, what do we think? 

Verizon dropped a “save the date” into our inbox this afternoon, asking that we reserve some time on May 22 at CTIA for a “special announcement” from COO Marni Walden. We were actually planning on skipping CTIA this year as the wireless tech conference has become a waste of time over the last two years, but this certainly means we’ll be in attendance. The question is, “What kind of announcement are they going to make?”

The Facebook announcements continue on this morning with HTC and AT&T partnering up to release the first Facebook-focused phone, the HTC First. It’s available April 12 (same day as Facebook Home) for $99.99 on contract at AT&T. You can pre-order today if you’d like. Oh, it has LTE as well. The device sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 dual-core processor, 4.3″ 720p display, 5MP rear camera, 1GB RAM, and runs Android 4.1.

Remember how surprised we were to see the Nexus 4 attaching itself to random 4G LTE networks (AWS band) shortly after release in places like Canada? And how we were simultaneously holding out hope that T-Mobile would launch their AWS LTE network so that we wouldn’t miss out on all the fun? Well, before that ever happened, Google updated the device to Android 4.2.2 and essentially killed off those chances. But, thankfully for us, there is still hope now that T-Mobile has officially launched their AWS LTE network in seven cities. 

Over the last couple of years, the DL community has made it clear that they love themselves some 4G LTE. Since Verizon was first to the plate and has seemingly rounded the bases at an unstoppable pace, you have also made it clear that they are the carrier for you. But now that others – T-Mobile in particular for today’s poll – have joined the game, would you ever switch or are you comfortable in your Big Red briefs?

T-Mobile only announced seven markets today, but they hope to have 200 million people covered by the end of the year. I argued earlier that their focus should be their network rather than this “UNcarrier” schtick, so hopefully they stick to that.

But just because they have LTE, are you willing to give their low prices a shot? If not, feel free to tell us why.

 Loading ...

T-Mobile is trying to shake up the entire wireless industry this month by taking the “Un-carrier” approach to wireless service. Gone are the two-year contracts and 23-month phone upgrade cycles – in are the month-to-month plans with the option to upgrade to the newest phones whenever you please at the lowest prices. They are also shunning tiered data plans (sort of), spouting off colorful commentary to their competitors, and claiming to have cancelled their membership to the “out-of-touch wireless club,” a direct reference to the “Big 4″ U.S. carriers grouping that includes Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. It’s a lot of marketing speak and posturing, but is it even the right approach? 

According to Verizon CTO Nicola Palmer, the company will finally start to utilize the AWS LTE spectrum they own before the end of the year. They currently only have 700MHz spectrum (band 13) in play, but as they continue to build that out, with hopes of covering 90% of the country by the end of the year, they’ll start their growth strategy which includes AWS (band 4). 

Speaking at the Deutsche Bank 2013 Media, Internet & Telecom Conference, Verizon  CFO Fran “ShamWow” Shammo brought to life the idea that his company will likely start to sell VoLTE devices by the end of this year or early 2014 and that they will help lower subsidies in phones. With VoLTE (voice-over LTE), there isn’t a need for a CDMA modem inside the device because voice and data are both done over LTE, so the prices of phones would essentially drop and become more affordable to consumers.