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Could the new T-Mobile myTouch Get 4G Branding?

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T-Mobile-myTouchHD-Froyo-official

When T-Mobile first announced their HSPA+ network they would only go so far as to say that it offered “near 4G” speeds. Fast-forward a few months and the latest news is indicating the company indeed will start marketing their speedier network as 4G. So when the newest phone in the T-Mobile myTouch lineup was announced, it was interesting to note that the company did not give the name a suffix as expected. No, they didn’t call it the myTouch HD, but they didn’t say that it would be called the myTouch either. Rather, they simply announced a new myTouch phone.

Now reports are coming in suggesting that the new 4G branding of TMo’s HSPA+ network may find its way to the latest handset. Rumor has it that the new phone will launch as the T-Mobile myTouch 4G. Not a bad angle considering the popularity of the Sprint Epic 4G and EVO 4G and the immediate association those names have with high-end, high-quality Android devices. Still, T-Mobile is yet to confirm the name either way. Not bad if you ask me, but what do you all think?

[via TalkAndroid]

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52 Comments

  1. Given that at least at the moment 4G on sprint and Verizon isn’t any faster then HSPA+, I think this is more then fair. I think you actually have burst rates at the LTE maximum to claim it’s better.

  2. They need to just go ahead and release it already.

  3. I think it’s smart. Nobody wants to hear that it runs on HSPA+, the average buyer doesn’t know what the hell that is. Tell them it’s 4G (Because as of right now it’s faster than Sprint 4G) tell them it runs on Android, and tell them they can video chat with that mofo. Between this, the G2, and the Vibrant, T-Mobile has really stepped their phone game up.

  4. False Advertising to say the least….

  5. At home, I have full “4G” coverage from Sprint and full HSPA+ coverage from T-Mobile. My CLEAR connection never gets more than 2-3 Mbps, usually less. My T-Mobile G2, on the other hand, will get 4-5 Mbps, if not more. I think T-Mobile has every right to call it 4G at this point. I know it’s not technically 4G, but neither is Sprint’s. Right now, “3G” is used as a technical standard, “4G” is just used as marketing.

  6. Mytouch Plus would be a better name if you ask me. Plus for hspa+

  7. The naming scheme from a marketing standpoint has become disconnected from the technical standards, so I say why not? myTouch 4G FTW.

  8. the iPhone 4G doesn’t run on a 4G network. (I know it stands for 4th gen) but still, a name is a name. and when you think about the mytouch line, you have the mytouch 3G, mytouch 3G 1.2, mytouch slide, and now the mytouch (4G) so its technically the 4th gen mytouch if you wanna bullshit your way to having a reason to say 4G :)

  9. Reminds me of video game console wars back in the day.

    32-bit vs. 16-bit vs. 64-bit.

    Bits was a huge deal. Was the 32x 32bit or not (who cares it sucked).

    Was the atari jaguar 64-bit or not (in my opinion yes but it had a bad hardware memory bug in the cache and terrible development tools).

    Both got huge flack. I some point nobody will care about 3g, 4g, 5g or 6g. They will care about performance and price. If T-mobile covers your area, they have both.

  10. My co-worker with a Droid X on Verizon was clearly embarassed when we were side-by-side searching for the same thing in Android Market. My Tmob Nexus one was at least twice as fast, and I understand the N1 can do upto 7.2 HSPA (but still only show 3G). I am in a HSPA area and we were both standing at the window of a Highrise. Granted, his X is not 4G, but man, it looks like HSPA is a sizable speed boost. Just like processors, you have to ditch the claims and simply judge on performance.

  11. Ur kidding me right? This phone is called 4G because its techincally 4th generation but it then again isnt because the 3.5mm one doesnt count as a mytouch line and besides this phone has been branded with “4G” with the same as the G2 having a 4G network… who ever made this post just please read you type… this was posted on tmonews already and somewhat clarified

  12. Why not. If the slow sprint calls theirs as 4G and the faster tmobile can’t call theirs as 4G, then it will be unfair..
    .
    @TERRAN
    There’s no such thing as iPhone 4G

  13. @Terran I call bs ..its just a gimmick don’t help perpetuate tmo copycat marketing schemes.

  14. It’s faster than Sprint’a 4G…they should call it the MyTouch 5G

  15. Maybe this is also related / move to Sprint execs leaving Clear’s board and being replaced by others they are choosing & TMO was said / rumored to be investing in Clear…

    P.S. Some Sprint 4G phones are getting 7mb/sec, even engadget has a snapshot of it, so speeds will vary, same can be said about TMO and since their coverage are not available everywhere and definitely less coverage than Sprint’s 4G markets right now…then you have wimax2 which was showcased in Japan by Samsung going to 100mb/sec, this can go on and on and on…whatever, it should be MyTouch 3.5G lol j/k ladies :-P

    Check out the 4G official / unofficial coverage kids…
    http://www.sensorly.com/Map/4G/USA/Sprint/wimax-sp

  16. That depends, what are the odds that once this phone is released that the HSPA+ speeds won’t compare to Wimax or LTE speeds. If it doesn’t compare anymore, what are the odds that they’ll get busted for misleading advertising?

    If those odds are high, don’t. If the odds are low, go for it.

  17. just because t-mobile has better 4g,it was still copied from sprint.sprint thought of 4G before people thought that 3g was the shizz.sprint is the original and it can only get better.the my touch phones were never good with too start with,sure,they are made by HTC,the best but the give t-mobile the worst,they give sprint the best,then verison,AT&T,then t-mobile!

  18. I hate that it’s misleading people, and playing on people’s misunderstanding of things, but that’s marketing for you. HSPA+ is not 4G by the standard. Neither is Sprint’s WiMAX, nor Verizon’s LTE – they lack the dedicated bandwidth of true 4G (1 Gbit stationary, 100 mbit moving). Hilariously, even Verizon’s 3G service and Sprint’s 3G service technically isn’t 3G – it’s 2.75G, as the 3G spec mandates SIMULTANEOUS voice + data usage capabilities, something that their networks don’t offer. So, if Verizon and Sprint are capable of lying about their whole lack of 3G entirely, but claim they have a nation-wide 3G network, I see no reason why T-Mobile is obligated to not consider HDPA+ to be 4G, too.

    The whole marketing thing pisses me off, as there isn’t a single telecom company that has what they claim they have right now. Just like how Verizon’s corrupted “Android” with their “Droid” campaigns (My Nexus One isn’t a Droid, but everybody says “Oh, it’s one of those Droid phones”.), I guess “standards” mean nothing any more. Maybe I can get rich by offering 5G cell service with no technical merit, either.

  19. Not sure what to think if they do call it the My touch 4G. Mostly because it will still be on HSPA+ 3G. Yes, its a really fast 3G that has a theoretical high of 14.4 downstream vs. Sprints Wimax theoretical of 12 downstream (I’ve seen the EVO hit 12.26mbps), but its still only 3G technology.

    In the end its their choice so I’m not gonna lose sleep. I kind of had the feeling TMobile would be ashamed to flaunt its 3G for exactly what it is but thats what everyone does I guess. Hype up their product. Every does it and it can be annoying but what can we do?

  20. @PhaseBurn agreed

  21. @SAVV
    I’m thinking of 5G and 6G.. so now I’m the original.

  22. Since the g1 T-mobile is ways playing plating catch up with android. So, is this new mytouch yet another “catch up” phone or does it have something other phones don’t? I’m ready to upgrade from my nexus but I haven’t found a single thing the mytouch has over the nexus. Maybe the mytouch has actual 800×480 resolution as opposed to the n1’s ALLEGED 800×480 which is really 6yy x 3yy?

  23. you can name a phone whatever you want, its only a name, its not a claim. i have the g2 (a 3g/hspa+ phone) but i dont even have 3G in my rural area. its only misleading if u assume on what their intentions are.

  24. Folks,
    Tmobile HSPA+ is significantly better than Sprint’s 4G network as I just switched from Sprint to Tmobile. I am getting up to 6mbps on G2 compared to no more than 2-3mbps on Sprint. I feel it is more than fair to market this phone as 4g phone.

  25. @Davis better wait till Q2 of 2011 if you want something “astonishingly better than your Nexus”, because there isnt anything on any carrier that can make that claim right now.
    In fact I’d wager to say it’ll be the Nexus Two from Google that will be able to make that claim before anyone else.

    Quoting Andy Rubin : “Making unlocked phones available in the U.S. is still a possibility. Whether that’s simply acquired only online or through traditional retail channels – that’s what got canceled. So we have to decide how to make unlocked phones available in the U.S.”

    To read the whole story :

    http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2370464,00.asp

  26. MyTouch PLUS!!! Whoever said this is amazing!!!

  27. @ Eazail70x7 isnt sprint 4G theoretical 10 mpbs not 12 get the facts straight. and Tmo is upping theirs up to 41 mpbs soon.

  28. Tmo introduced the first Android phone. Sprint got on board with Android bout a year later-I’m sorry, but who is copying whom?? I’ve been annoyed by Sprint lying by claiming 4g from the beginning-but those lies sold their service, It’s reputable that tmo didn’t stoop to that level until now, but at the end of the day, you gotta run your business.

  29. forgive my miss conception about the iphone being called the 4g. i dont give a shit enough about the iphone to actually look up the proper name to see its only the iphone 4. my bad.

  30. not to mention my brain shuts off at 12am, and i made that post at 3am

  31. MyTouch Plus is rather retarded name if you ask me.

  32. I think its more than fair to call HSPA+ 4G. I mean, current 3rd Generation networks are called 3G and HSPA+ is supposed to be so much faster at “near 4G speeds (i.e WiMax/LTE)” what’s false about calling it 4G? It’d be TMO’s 4th Generation of mobile network right? So it sounds fair to me. They’re not claiming it to be WiMax and they’re not claiming it to be LTE so its not a false advertisement because I dont think there is anything that legally says 4G HAS to be LTE or WiMax.

    On another note, HSPA+ is pretty snappy in my experience. While it may or may not be faster than LTE or WiMax, its definately faster than what I felt on my G1 and more than fast enough to do everything I need to do on a mobile phone. I used my G1 to tether my laptop and played online games, download, stream movies, etc with little problem. I only imagine HSPA+ to make that easier.

  33. fuck all of you guys!!you all need to fuck off and die!!you guys are all losers!!!i am 32 years old and i don’t have a job because i live at home with my mom,but i still have better things to do than just sit her all day and talk about phones!!android sucks dick!!!apple is wayy better!!YOU GUYS ARE LOSERS!!!

  34. be quiet KDroidX!!!

  35. people keep repeating that tmobile hspa+ is faster than sprint’s wimax. that is NOT the case. first thing to know is that this debate should not be based on personal experience, because we know how inconsistant and patchy data networks are. one guys can get 0 bars with wimax and full strength signal with hspa+, so then he is gonna write “wimax is actually edge speed and tmobile is 5g”. the way this matter is calculated is by what are the highest speeds that each network is clocked at. i personally was able to reach wimax download speeds of 10-12 mbps many times. as well as 5-6 and 1-3. it all depends on location, time of the day etc. the point is that whether a company uses 3g or 4g branding is not up to personal experience. it should be based on the avarage and the highest possible download speeds. we all know that hspa+ can’t reach more than 7-8 mbps, so therefore tmobile should NOT use 4g branding cause its misleading. Real branding for hspa+ should be 3.5g.

  36. @ matej, HSPA+ can do up to 21 mps, so Wimax is not faster. Do your homework before commenting foolishly, sweetie.

  37. When did I phone 4g come out? O wait it didn’t! Lol. Tmobile FTW

  38. @mateja Wrong you are so wrong it can only reach 7.2 on phones who are not hspa+ compatible kinda like using a non-4g phone on sprint but guess what you do not get any boost in speed from 4G with a non-4G phone from spring while you do with a non hspa+ phone on T-mobile see the the hspa+ is just a software update on the towers so when its down the old 3G most not all (all androids) get a boost I have gotten up to around 8 mpbs on my vibrant but where I live is not fully upgraded yet but once I have a hspa+ phone I would be able to get up to 14 mpbs so get your facts straight use google on your android phone and search the info before you talk ;)

  39. Sprints 4g is faster than tmobiles 3g or 3.5g whatever you wanna call it. tmobiles 3g network is like swiss cheese full of holes and slow edge speeds they need to expand there coverage before they even think about speeds. Sprint has way more 3g coverage and faster 4g speeds. The g2 has slow hspa+ speeds and has been smoked by the nexus one, my touch and the g1 in the same spot on the same bs network! Stop buying into tmo marketing bs and riding tmo nut sack they are only getting decent speeds because they have a small number of users and data caps like a mfker. Look at tmo prepaid plans… 50$ for 1gb rape! Tmo is a joke and they don’t have 4g

  40. I liked the “HD” naming, or ANY naming that differentiates it from the original myTouch. A new model needs its own name to set it apart, like the myTouch w/3.5mm (added the 3.5mm jack and more RAM), or the myTouch Slide (upped specs, addition of QWERTY). Whether it be the myTouch HD, the myTouch 4G, the myTouch4, or anything, I think it’s gonna need its own name.

  41. @Garet

    I’ve seen it posted in some places that the peak down stream for Wimax was 12mbps, thats why I said 12. And Here is proof that you can hit over 12mbps on Sprint’s phones:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gier-Ba1CTA

    I also checked sprint’s site and it says that peak download speeds are, “More than 10 Mbps”. Not sure what that means but just thought I’d add it.

    On my Epic I hit 8mbps once on my front door

  42. Forgot to add that wimax can be upgraded to wimax 2 which has a peak speed of 1gbps down stream and 100mbps real world speed

  43. Seems Sprint lovers are more offended by the bare facts, lol-suck on its teet, you uninformed sprint retardos (yes, it needed a govt bailout)

  44. Still fail to realize tmobile sucks. I know your jealo hyus because Sprint has 4g and tmobile doesnt g2 was failure and so is there wanna be 3g network

  45. The anti-TMO idiot above, is just that, an idiot. Whatever keeps you warm at night, moron.

  46. Yes, since the G2 was not a failure nor their 3G and especially, not HSPA+. I love my Evo but I have to give credit to T-Mobile as my friends G2 consistently loads faster. I’ve noticed that even with his previous myTouch Slide, for crying out loud. Vibrant is cool too.

  47. Why not just get it over with and call it the “Super duper my phone fucks your phone in the ass with no lube and then blasts on your mom’s face” phone. I mean seriously, what is with these stupid names for these phones lately??? They keep coming out with more and more ridiculous names every day. Vibrant, Captivate, Envy, Droid, Evo, etc… I hate iPhones, but you know what, at least they have a simple, consistent, easy to identify naming convention. What ever happened to just giving a damn phone a model number and calling it a day. I’d honestly be more interested in buying an i9000 or T959 over a Vibrant. The names are just cheesey, senseless, bullshit made up by some marketing douche monger with nothing better to do.

  48. Thank you, Contrass : )

  49. Fuck it. if it is faster than Sprint’s 4G, might as well call it 5G. Who cares if it is false advertising.

  50. Wow, well truth be told, Sprint does NOT have 4G, and it tops off at 14.9 mbps at peek. now T-Mobiles network isn’t 4G ether but the HSPA+ network does hit 24 mbps. now that’s at its peek. I’ve done testing on networks in buffalo, NY, harrisburg, PA, NY, NY and here in New Orleans, LA. truth be told T-Mobile is the best in network speed, phone selection, customer satisfaction and the fact that they have simcard technology witch allows you to talk, text with pictures and web browse at the same time. Sorry, but that’s something you can’t do with Verizon or Sprint since they don’t have that technology. now its just a reminder that the best phone that was out on the market was the nexus 1 and that was design for T-Mobile, the first Android device was called the G1 and that was also for T-Mobile. we all have to be real with ourselves and except that tho T-Mobile doesn’t market the way Sprint does, T-Mobile does this for a reason. the number one reason is because this company is a company for families and a company that swamps the network with lots of people and high end devices will always experience bad everything. I myself love T-Mobile and I will never leave them. they respect me as a customer and that’s what counts. also, AT&T, don’t think you are out of this one, lol. speed tests have shown T-Mobiles network to be 36% FASTER in some metropolitan areas. Anyway this concludes my two cents in it. questions of any kind please email me at [email protected]

  51. @ Garet, dude you are so wrong. Were do you get this info? Samsung vibrant isn’t even a HSPA+ device. You will never and i mean never reach 14mb speeds on your device. Lol. The only 4G phones are the G2 AND MYTOUCH 4G. Or better known as the HSPA+ network on T-Mobile. Trust me if you have any questions I can answer them. This is what i do. [email protected]

  52. for whomever called the i phone 4g is retarded its the i phone 4 so idiots would not think it had 4 g capabilities i phone 4 due to its the 4th phone when att releses lte trust me apple will call the new i phonne the i phone 4g

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