Tag: T-Mobile

T-Mobile has announced a pretty significant change to their consumer offerings starting January 22nd.  On that Monday, the US carrier will only offer their ONE plan.  That’s it.  Literally one plan.  They have also made some pretty major teaks to the plan which will get consumers attention.  First, all of the taxes, fees and charges are included in the advertised price.  So if you have one line for $70 on the plan, you pay $70.  It includes all the additional fees.  If you have a four line ONE account, you pay $160 per month ($40 per line) and that’s it.  It is a nice departure from other carriers where the base price of the package isn’t necessarily what it costs you each month.

What’s also interesting is the new “kickback” that T-Mobile is offering.  If you use less than 2GB of data in a month, the carrier will credit you $10 on your next bill.  This is for every line on your account too, not just the master number.  This is strikingly similar to how Project Fi handles unused data.

Good news again today regarding Android Nougat.  T-Mobile has released the Nougat update to the HTC 10 for customers with that device on their network.  The update comes 6 weeks after the release of the update for the unlocked version of the phone which is a fair amount of time given T-Mobile has a good reputation on getting updates out to their customers.  If you have the HTC 10, you are looking for software update 2.37.531.5.  It should be hitting devices over the next few days via an OTA update.

Because this update is going from Marshmallow to Nougat, the update is hefty.  It comes in at just over 1GB so you will want to make sure you are on Wi-Fi to download it.  Once it is downloaded, you will need about 30 minutes to complete the upgrade process.

With the Android Security Update for November expected to be released later today, it looks like T-Mobile is already getting it out to their customers.  If you have a Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge on the carrier, there is an update out for you that brings the security patch up to this month.  T-Mobile has always been one of the better carriers when it comes to updates but with Samsung in particular, the manufacture has been slow to get updates out to carriers.  With the Galaxy S7 lineup, this seems to have changed as updates are coming at a far more consistent increment and much sooner after they are released from Google.

If you are one of the few hundred thousand globally who have not turned in your Galaxy Note7, your world is going to get a bit more difficult starting this past weekend.  First, here in the United States, T-Mobile is pushing out an update to devices on their network that restrict the battery charging to a maximum of 60% of total capacity.  The goal, of course, is to not overcharge the device’s battery which is the source of problems for the phone.  Add to that, the icon for the battery on the Home screen will be turned gray and you will be getting regular reminders (translation:  they are going to pester the hell out of you) to return you phone.  The idea from T-Mobile (with Samsung’s backing) is to make it so painful to use that you turn in the phone.   But, if you are in New Zealand, things just got really difficult for you.

There appears to be light at the end of the nightmare tunnel for Samsung.  T-Mobile announced yesterday that they, along with Sprint and Verizon, will resume sales of the Galaxy Note7 on Wednesday, October 5th here in the United States.  The resumption of sales ends a painful few months for the Korean manufacture who had to recall millions of Note7’s globally due to faulty batteries.  The new units have a completely new battery from a complete different manufacture.

Sprint and Verizon announced last Friday that they would be resuming sales of the device in their stores and online.  T-Mobile will be doing the same and they represent the first GSM carrier here in the United States to resumes sales.

AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon have all issued statements regarding the Galaxy Note 7 recall and what their customers can do who have the devices.  Overall they are trying to work with their customers as quickly and as effeciently as possible.  T-Mobile and Verizon have already indicated that customers with Note 7’s can return them for a full refund without any restocking fees while AT&T will clarify what their customers can do later today and Sprint is offering “similar” device exchanges for customers.   Here are the details from each carrier:

AT&T

Samsung has notified us that they have identified a battery cell issue in certain Galaxy Note7s. They have asked all retailers, including AT&T, to stop selling the device. We are in the process of determining the exchange process for our customers and how they can replace their current Note7 as quickly as possible. We will have more information later today.

Sprint

Sprint has suspended sales of Samsung Galaxy Note7 immediately following Samsung’s announcement to discontinue sales of the device globally.

We are working closely with Samsung to ensure those customers who already have purchased the device are taken care of. For those customers that previously purchased the Note 7 we will offer them a similar device until the issue is resolved. Customers should go to a nearby Sprint store to exchange their Note 7 device.