Author: Clinton

AT&T today has joined the “Let’s upgrade your Galaxy S7” party along with T-Mobile and Verizon, pushing out an update for both the S7 and the S7 Edge.  Unlike the other two carriers however, this update from AT&T does not contain the March Security update for Android.  This update is focused on general performance and security on the devices but it does not contain the March update.  The carrier didn’t give any indication as to when the March update would be seen on their network but given that their main competitors have already rolled it out, the pressure is on.

T-Mobile has announced that customers who want to get the new LG G5 on their network can start ordering it online on March 29th, days ahead of its general availability on April 1st.  Customers can either purchase the phone outright at $629.99 or do a 24 month payment plan which is $26.24 per month.  The announcement means that the carrier will have the phone available for purchase here in the US first amongst the other carriers, something that they have been doing a lot of lately (like on the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge)

Good news for those of you have a Samsung Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge on the T-Mobile network.  The March security update for Android is coming your way starting today via an OTA update.  The update is small, sub-50MB, so it won’t take you long to download it although a restart is required of your phone during the update process.  Once it is completed, you will be on the latest-and-greatest Marshmallow build.  The versions you are looking for is G930TUVS2APB8 for both devices and T-Mobile is saying everyone will have it between now and March 25th.

March 16th marked the six month anniversary of my move from AT&T to Project Fi as my main carrier service.  It is a move that I admit I approached with some trepidation.  I had been with AT&T since 1998 (seriously) and the thought of moving from the albeit expensive known to the inexpensive unknown was a concern.  It was a big change and one I hoped would work out.  It has, in spades.

For those interesting, you can read my original review of the service here on the site.

Not only have I seen a massive reduction in my mobile bill each month, I have also found that Project Fi works well in just about every area I have traveled here in the United States and abroad.  I regularly find that I have a solid, fast data connection when I need it but with Wi-Fi assistant on my side getting me connected up to fast, secure wireless networks, I have found my data consumption has dramatically gone down with no real changes in my usage behavior.  It’s not perfect this Project Fi thing but it is improving constantly and clearly Google feels confident in it given they just eliminated the invite system to get started on it.  I’ve put together some thoughts around the service to help those of you who are considering it.

Google has released an update to the OnHub app for Android that brings you historical data on your network connection testing.  The update you are looking for is version jetstream-BV10057_RC0007 for those keeping score at home & who like Google Version Naming Bingo and it is available now in the Google Play Store.  The OTA is also rolling out so you should have the update soon if not already.

If you read my review of OnHub, you know that you can do some testing of your network connectivity within the app to give you an idea of what your download and uploads speeds are through your ISP.  The idea is to see how close you are getting to what you are paying for through your provider.  This particular part of the app I was critical of in my review because the results were wildly inaccurate.  That, it seems, has been resolved in this update as well.

Whether you like it or not, T-Mobile’s BingeOn service has been a pretty big hit for the carrier.  If you aren’t familiar with it, BingeOn allows customers to stream video and music content on the T-Mobile network without taking a hit to their monthly data allotment.  There has been a lot of digital ink spilled on if the program is good or bad but the bottom line is it works for customers.  One big gap though was YouTube.  Google’s video service was not in BingeOn and there has been a fair amount of tussling between the carrier and Google.  Now, it seems, all is better between the companies as the service has now been added.