T-Mobile

Posted Oct 21, 2008 22:06 UTC (Tue) by rfunk (subscriber, #4054)
In reply to: T-Mobile by linuxrocks123
Parent article: Android source available

Sure, their coverage is fine in a lot of places, mostly in cities. I'm 20 miles outside the city, though right on an interstate.

I checked T-Mobile's coverage map, and their coverage all around where I live (except a nearby town) is at the minimal "1-bar" level. AT&T's coverage is at their "best" level all around here, and Verizon (which I have now) claims the same for an even wider area. Even Sprint, not known for great coverage outside urban areas, claims much better coverage out here than T-Mobile does (though there does seem to be a hole right around my house).

I assume that AT&T doesn't feel the need for a really nice Android phone when they have the iPhone; meanwhile, Verizon wants to exert way too much control, the opposite of the Android ethos. (Plus their wide coverage keeps people coming back all by itself, so they don't feel the need for as much of a competitive edge with their phones.) I imagine Sprint will have an Android phone at some point, but I doubt the top two will go for it.

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T-Mobile

Posted Oct 22, 2008 7:12 UTC (Wed) by drag (guest, #31333) [Link] (5 responses)

AT&T and Tmobile are using GSM networks.

You can use whatever phone you want with those. All you need is to find a GSM phone that can run Android and your set. I don't know if any are out yet, I doubt it, but once they are available then you can go out and do whatever you want.

With GSM your service is bonded with the GSM chip your given. You can purchase a Go-phone, for example, with a pay-as-you-go service contract, pull out the GSM chip, and use that same service with a different phone.

With CDMA networks it's much more difficult since you'd have to register your phone and configure it to work with a specific vendor. You can't just mix and match whatever you want.

The same would be true for the IPhone (being GSM) if Apple were not complete nazis about it and had the DRM'd up the you-know-what. (of course there are hacks, but whatever)

The thing is, of course, the T-Mobile stuff is subsidized by your service contract. So the 'purchase price' of the phone is really the 'down payment' and you pay installments every month for your phone along with your regular phone bill. So it seems the phone is much cheaper then it really is. (for example: the IPhone's price tag is a simple out and out deception)

Now if you pay full retail price for your phone then you can use whatever service contract you want with any GSM provider. There are special cheaper service contracts and bundles that AT&T and friends won't advertise on their websites or tell you about in their stores. They exist, but you have to poke and prod to find out about them.

GSM

Posted Oct 22, 2008 14:24 UTC (Wed) by rfunk (subscriber, #4054) [Link] (3 responses)

Yes I know all that (except the "special cheaper service contracts" part),
but so far the only Android phone (a highly capable one) is available only
with a T-Mobile contract.

GSM

Posted Oct 22, 2008 14:36 UTC (Wed) by drag (guest, #31333) [Link]

Ya. I just like to point that stuff out because people just have the assumption there is a inherent 'lock-in' to US cellular networks that don't quite apply to all carriers and phones.

Personally this is the sort of thing I've been waiting for:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/10/20/intel_shows...

Full screen devices. The controls integrate into the display so it makes it possible for all sorts of stuff, especially games, which is something that is not very good on today's Cell phones compared to special-purpose devices like the PSP or Nintendo DS.

With Intel's commitment to Linux lets hope that those things will be open enough to run generic Linux systems as well as Android.

Actually T-Mobile's CTO said you can just buy it...

Posted Oct 22, 2008 21:08 UTC (Wed) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link] (1 responses)

Here are details. You can just buy it for $399 and go with any carrier.

Don't know how well it'll work on practice...

Actually T-Mobile's CTO said you can just buy it...

Posted Oct 22, 2008 21:32 UTC (Wed) by rfunk (subscriber, #4054) [Link]

Good to know, thanks for the useful link!

T-Mobile

Posted Oct 30, 2008 15:31 UTC (Thu) by kamil (guest, #3802) [Link]

> Now if you pay full retail price for your phone then you can use whatever service contract you want with any GSM provider. There are special cheaper service contracts and bundles that AT&T and friends won't advertise on their websites or tell you about in their stores. They exist, but you have to poke and prod to find out about them.

Sorry for going off-topic, but can you provide more info, or links, about that?

T-Mobile

Posted Oct 22, 2008 8:07 UTC (Wed) by Guhvanoh (subscriber, #4449) [Link]

This just in from the rumour mill. See url:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/20/motorolas-android-slid... http://www.engadget.com/tag/OHA has more links on the this. As for T-Mobile, when I lived in Baltimore, MD their coverage was there but the dropped calls made me drop them. In London, UK I had the same problem. So I dropped them. They were cheaper, but I wasn't paying for dropped calls.