T-mobile

File this under surprising but those on T-Mobile US have a little treat waiting for them in the Windows Phone Store: an ad-free version of Words with Friends.

Not only are they getting the game seemingly earlier than anyone else (it’s available right now) this version has no ads within it unlike the version we recently played with on our Lumia 920.

T-Mobile Lumia 810

An interesting leak from Walmart’s inventory system has revealed some upcoming pricing for new Windows Phone 8 devices; what’s more they look fair.

In the single screenshot posted by TmoNews, we can see the HTC 8X is priced at $148.00 on a 2-year contract while the Nokia Lumia 810 is going for a $99.88 price point. We suppose those prices don’t shock us too much, although it’s nice to see the HTC 8X going for $150 as opposed to the more common $199 these days.

Good news for T-Mobile users as you can start to expect the HTC 8X to be available for purchase on Wednesday, November 14th.  That date actually falls in line with things we’ve heard in the past and leaked roadmap via TmoNews only confirms that information.

Unfortunately, no word on when the just announced Nokia Lumia 810 will arrive, but it’s starting to look like it may come after the 14th since it doesn’t yet appear to be scheduled. Plus we still know nothing of the Samsung "Odyssey" either.  Of course, like all dates, pricing and device availability news, we’re sure to find out more in the coming weeks and especially on October 29th.

Source: TmoNews

The Lumia 810 (left) versus Lumia 820 (right)

With the announcement of the T-Mobile Lumia 810 and its slight hardware redesign, a lot of comments seem to have users prefer its look over the Lumia 820—the device it was based off of.

So we put forth the simple question: which do you think looks nicer? And if you don’t know or have no preference, you can say that too.

Poll closes in 48 hours. Head to m.wpcentral.com to vote on your mobile. Poll after the break...

As we expected, T-Mobile today finally announced the Nokia Lumia 810 is coming to the carrier “within the coming weeks” with of course no pricing given, as it expected these days.

The 4.3” device features an OLED WVGA Clear Black display at 800x480 with an 8MP rear as well as a 1.2-megapixel Skype HD certified front-facing camera. In addition, T-Mobile will offer to interchangeable back overs in black or cyan to add some style.

It's an interesting name change from Lumia 820 to 810 but we strongly hinted at this in our editorial last week on the matter of "exclusivity". Here, T-Mobile is claiming exclusive to the Lumia 810.

Read the whole press release after the break…

We know that the HTC 8X Windows Phone is headed to AT&T, T-Mobile and Rogers Canada. We are now learning of additional global carriers and a hint at U.S. pricing.

According to HTC's press release posted on their UK site,

The Windows Phone 8X and 8S by HTC will be available beginning in November. Available through more than 150 carriers in 50+ countries, the Windows Phone 8X or 8S by HTC will be available from the world's top carriers including: United States: AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. Europe: Orange, O2 Telefonica, MTS, Three UK, T-Mobile, and Vodafone Asia-Pacific: Chunghwa Telecom, Optus, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel), Smartone, Telstra and Vodafone Australia.

There wasn't any distinction as to which carrier will be getting which HTC device but it is nice to see Verizon mentioned.  Keep in mind though, we haven't seen confirmation from several of these carriers but the 8X's global availability does look promising.

As to the hint on pricing, the press release notes that U.S. pricing for the 8X will be $199.99* at AT&T and T-Mobile. If this price holds true, it is likely after two-year contractual discounts. 

*Note: It is our understanding that the pricing point for the 8X was released in error and all involved are still scratching their heads on the final pricing point.  It could be more or it could be less.  Once we hear something from the carriers, we'll pass it on.

Source: HTC UK

The Lumia 920 to sport LTE speeds on Orange / T-Mobile UK?

Nokia is reportedly in talks with Everything Everywhere to launch an LTE Windows Phone in the UK, according to the Financial Times. Everything Everywhere is the parent company of both Orange and T-Mobile UK, and has authorisation from UK communications regulator Ofcom to begin using its 1800 MHz spectrum to offer LTE and WiMAX services.

This will bring increased network capabilities to customers of both UK carriers, though which Nokia Windows Phone will be featured to launch on upgraded networks is unknown. Other UK carriers who desire to build up LTE / 4G networks will have to wait until next year, including the likes of Vodafone, O2 and Three. We’re likely to see Apple take advantage of new network speeds with the next iPhone.

One of the “forgotten” phones on T-Mobile seems to have been the awesome and site favorite HTC Radar. We say that only because it has yet to receive the 8773 ‘Tango’ update like a lot of other Windows Phone, including its non-branded international counterpart.

We’ve now had two reports coming in noting that replacement phones for the Radar have ‘Tango’ in ROM:

• OS version: 7.10.8773.98
• Firmware revision number:1750.0602.40602.531

There’s no word of course when or if T-Mobile will push out the update for the rest of you who still have working Radars but we think it’s a positive sign that fresh-from-the-factory versions are coming with a T-mo approved new ROM.

Although Tango is a minor update, it does feature such things as multiple MMS messaging and other minor improvements to the user experience in addition to the optimized new firmware from HTC to fix any other performance issue that may be nagging users.

We checked our Zune Desktop and did not notice any awaiting updates (even when we “forced” it using the Wi-Fi trick) so don’t get too excited yet. We’ll try to find out more though so keep your fingers crossed in the meantime. Thanks, Andre for the photo and ICMIAMI05, for the info

Update: As pointed out in comments, these could be Nokia's Asha phones (305 and 306) which are just hitting the market. The smaller battery and dual-SIMs give credence to that notion, although Nokia often recycles a lot, including battery types to reduce costs.

Despite Windows Phone 7.x devices looking all but DOA for new launches, a few phones have popped up on the FCC that has caught our attention. At this point, we can’t really believe that (a) these are still WP7.x devices or (b) they will launch anytime soon. That means we may be looking at some Windows Phone 8 devices or these are formalities for other reasons (lots of phones get FCC certs without ever being picked up).

First up is of course Nokia (you can read about ZTE’s phone here). They have two devices, RM-844 and RM-852, which are making their way through the FCC. Both devices look to be the same model but RM-852 appears to be destined for Canada with dual-SIMs while RM-844 looks to be for, wait for it, T-Mobile. We're assuming they are Windows Phones due to Nokia's commitment to the platform but there's nothing conclusive in the documents.

The reason we’re looking at T-Mobile of course is due to the bands being tested: GSM 850 / WCDMA 850, GSM 1900 / WCDMA 1900,  WCDMA 1700 / LTE 1700.  Let’s step back a bit: AT&T uses the 700 MHz band for its LTE service while T-Mobile will be using 1700/2100 band for its 4G LTE network which is not due to until 2013.  T-Mobile also uses 850 and 1900 MHz bands. [Note: these still could be used by AT&T though, so it's a bit confusing with so little to worth with]

That’s not a slam dunk of a prediction but if T-Mobile wants to come out with a new Windows Phone 8 Nokia device in late 2012 (when WP8 is expected to launch), it makes sense to have it "LTE-ready" even if that network will still be in its infancy. Then again, we could be reading too deeply into things here but we think that’s a safe bet for now.

We shouldn’t be too surprised though if T-Mobile is going to aggressively push a Nokia 4G LTE Windows Phone, after all they have to compete against AT&T some way and with Verizon on board with WP8, it will be an interesting fall for new devices. Windows Phone 8 is expected to have HD displays (720x1280), dual-cores CPUs, NFC, expandable SD storage and other tidbits which should make them highly desirable for consumers.

Did we miss anything in the FCC docs? Let us know in comments…

Source: FCC (RM544, RM-852); via Engadget