T-Mobile announces HD voice, will release a new edition of the Galaxy S3 with dormant LTE radios for now
T-Mobile held its CES press conference last night and revealed some very good network-related news. We all know its LTE rollout will begin this year, but details were scarce. We weren’t even sure which devices would be coming to take advantage of the new speedy network, but T-Mobile put the first of those questions to rest by announcing that the Samsung Galaxy S3 would get a relaunch sometime soon.
The new SKU will apparently launch before the network goes live with the LTE radios disabled, but once the towers are up and delivering the juice T-Mobile will issue a software upgrade to enable them. Those who bought the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 may not need a new phone, though, as that phone did come with the dormant LTE radios during its first run. We imagine T-Mobile will issue a similar software upgrade for it.
In related news, T-Mobile has announced its HD Voice service will launch today, delivering crystal clear calls between compatible parties. The catch is that both participants must have an HD Voice device in order for it work, and those include the Samsung Galaxy S3, HTC One S and the Nokia Astound.
In addition to that, T-Mobile announced a $4 billion plan for enhancing its network for hundreds of millions of people. The company will launch 4G (HSPA+ for now, we presume) on the 1900MHz spectrum soon, and has added new coverage to metro markets of Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego and Virginia Beach. 46 metro cities in all will get the enhancements, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and more.
Finally, T-Mobile announced unlimited nationwide 4G would be available with no annual contract starting today. It’s always a good sign when a carrier adds unlimited data services instead of going the popular route of trying to kill it wherever it can. Oh, and T-Mobile and Major League Baseball have entered a partnership to make T-Mobile the official wireless partner of America’s favorite pastime, so don’t be surprised to see quite a few Carly ads between innings.