Unboxing the HTC One S for T-Mobile

PCMag.Com - The HTC One S has landed on T-Mobile. We heard a lot about it back at Mobile World Congress, so we could barely wait long enough to take some unboxing photos before firing it up and putting it through its paces.

The first thing you notice when taking the HTC One S out of the box is just how thin and light it is. At just 0.35 inches thick, it’s the thinnest 4G smartphone on T-Mobile. But there’s plenty of power hidden beneath that slim form factor. The One S is powered by a next-generation, dual-core, 1.5-GHz Qualcomm MSM8260A Snapdragon S4 processor, which should allow for breakneck performance. And this is among the few phones available to sport the latest version of Android, 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). You wouldn’t know that immediately, though, because HTC has skinned the OS to look a heck of a lot like it does on just about every other HTC phone. 

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CES 2012: IPhone 5 to Support T-Mobile Network

Forbes - Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 will support T-Mobile’s network, giving the struggling fourth-place carrier an opportunity to gain ground on its competitors.

T-Mobile’s chief technology officer Neville Ray at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week told CNET and several other sources the chipsets in the new iPhone 5 will support the Advanced Wireless Services, or AWS, frequency the carrier uses in its 3G network.

Just because the iPhone 5 is capable of running on T-Mobile, however, doesn’t mean the companies will be able to strike a deal. Apple largely ignored past requests from the carrier to create an AWS-friendly version of the iPhone, and T-Mobile aggressively promotes Android phones it says are as good, or better than, the iPhone.

However, adding the iPhone 5 to its lineup would be a major boost for a network still reeling from its failed merger with AT&T. The company is reforming its business strategy after the lengthy nine-month process resulted in thousands of lost customers due to uncertainty about the carrier’s fate.

In addition to figuring out how to lure returning and new customers, T-Mobile is the only “big four” U.S. carrier that does not offer the highly coveted iPhone due to its HSPA+ network, which Apple’s device does not support.

More than its other challenges, lack of the iPhone is often cited as T-Mobile’s biggest hurdle to overcome, but that obstacle may be temporary.

Acquiring the iPhone is a costly move for a smaller carrier like T-Mobile. The carrier received a hefty $3 billion break-up fee from AT&T, giving it some cash to invest, but third-place rival Sprint will spend $20 billion over the next five years to sell Apple’s top-selling device and create a more data-friendly network.               More

New T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide

CNET - Today, T-Mobile finally put the rumors to rest and officially unveiled the T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide. Expected in July for $199.99 with contract, it's the latest addition to the carrier's line of consumer-friendly Android smartphones, and it's more than just the next-gen version of the MyTouch 3G Slide; T-Mobile is touting the MyTouch 4G Slide as having the most advanced camera of any smartphone out there.

Designed in collaboration with HTC, the smartphone has an 8-megapixel camera with dual LED flash and 1080p HD video capture, which isn't out of the ordinary. What is special, however, are some of the new premium features. This includes a wide aperture lens and a backside-illuminated sensor (BSI). The latter technology is also present on the iPhone 4, and as CNET digital imaging editor Josh Goldman explains here, BSI improves speed and dynamic range and enables better picture quality in low-light conditions. Low-light performance has always been a trouble spot for most camera phones, so we appreciate any kind of help in this area.

T-Mobile also boasts that the MyTouch 4G Slide has zero shutter lag and comes with a dedicated camera button that can activate the camera even when the phone is locked. The camera's software offers an array of editing options and shooting modes, including SweepShot for panoramic pictures, BurstShot for capturing a sequence of photos, and ClearShot HDR.

HDR, which stands for high dynamic range, is a tool that helps capture a more detailed and accurate picture in challenging lighting conditions. With HDR, the camera takes multiple shots of a scene--one overexposed, one underexposed, and one with normal exposure--and combines them into a single image to bring out details that would otherwise be lost in the dark shadows or bright light. Though HDR isn't new and there are multiple third-party apps and post-production software programs available to achieve the same effect, the beauty of it on the MyTouch 4G Slide is that HDR is integrated into the camera app.

Of course, the camera is just one aspect of the smartphone, and it has plenty more to offer. The MyTouch 4G Slide will ship running Android 2.3 Gingerbread with the new HTC Sense 3.0 user experience, though we're told some aspects of Sense will be toned down. It will come preloaded with a few extra apps and services, including the Netflix Android app and the Qik client, so you can make video calls using the front-facing VGA camera.   More