T-Mobile Users: AT&T Offering You Up To $450 To Switch

If you are a T-Mobile Windows Phone user, you might want to take a glance at that higher priced competitor, AT&T. Right now, Ma Bell is offering T-Mobile users up to $450 in credits for porting their number over to their network. The credits come in a two part system – $200 for porting your number in and up to $250 for your current device.

I advise you to do the math well before considering this move as most devices are well under the $100 mark in trade-in value and your bill will probably skyrocket over what it was. For example, a fully loaded T-Mobile Simple Choice bill would be $70 for unlimited talk, text and LTE data, plus $25 for a premium handset with nothing down, plus $10 a month for their JUMP upgrade program. This works out to about $130 a month after taxes and fees. AT&T will run you the same for just the service itself. If you have a T-Mobile device you like already, you can simply run the $60 a month 2.5GB data plan and save about 50% over AT&T’s prices.

Overall, I still recommend going to one of the prepaid MVNO’s that will offer you tax free savings of 30-70% depending on your area and carrier. If you must have the AT&T LTE network for coverage reasons, both the AT&T GoPhone plan ($60 a month for 2GB data) and the Net10 - AT&T plans ($45 a month for 2.5GB LTE data) are great options. If you do not have an LTE capable device, Red Pocket Mobile is a great option as well.

Look for something special from T-Mobile next week to combat this move, which is an apparent preemptive strike from AT&T. T-Mobile has been rumored to have a deal to pay off your termination fee with the trade in of your old phone – up to a $350 value per line. We will see what happens at CES next week though.

Happy New Year

Another year is in the books and it was a good one for Windows Phone in my book. While the market share is still pretty low on my favorite OS, there were some very important things that began to happen in 2013. The low-cost Lumia’s began to sway some users to the platform. The App gap continued to close. Some top end devices, including and phablet were released. Most of all though, the Microsoft buyout of the Nokia Devices division will give an already brilliant relationship even more leverage going forward.

The lower cost Lumia series phones have really started moving like hotcakes all over the world. As the Lumia 520 and Lumia 521 have shown in the US, a sub $100 handset will sell extremely well – especially without a contract. These two phones can be purchased outright from any number of retailers and activated on their original carrier or any number of cost saving MVNO offerings. That makes the Lumia 520 (AT&T) and the Lumia 521 (T-Mobile) a great addition to anyone;s retail lineup.

Apps like Instagram, Vine, Pandora and Kik Messenger finally found a home with Windows Phone this year. This means that the App gap that is so well known is finally starting to close. Sure, there will be some that haven’t ported in yet, but Microsoft really delivered on their promise of getting the top 10 Apps brought to Windows Phone this year. Hopefully, 2014 will bring a few more to that total.

Nokia took advantage of the new GDR3 update’s ability to run larger format screens about as quickly as one could. The Lumia 1320 and 1520 broke late in 2013. These sister phones offer users a 6” display, a 5MP or 20MP camera and one of the best Windows Phone experiences available today. Even the ‘low cost’ Lumia 1320 is a smoking fast device. The $350 street price on the 1320 just makes me dream they would bring it to the Windows Phone store in the US, but for now you need to pick up the overseas version to get this steal. For those that want it all though, the 1520 has the full 20MP PureView camera, 16GB of internal memory and SD slot that will hold another 64GB should be enough to satisfy just about anyone on the planet. The 1520 can be had for about $650 without contract and $199 with 2 year agreement from AT&T.

Probably the most exciting news of the year was the agreement in principle for Microsoft to acquire Nokia’s devices division. This move should allow Microsoft to develop hardware that is more to ‘their desires’ than to Nokia’s. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, but either way, it will be very exciting to see what the first line of devices looks like for 2014. Hopefully they launch that Zune Phone that every has dreamed of for the last few years. If not, maybe the Xbox Phone or the Microsoft Windows Phone One will join the mix later this year. Until then, I will just sit back and enjoy the ride!

Apps That Windows Phone Is Missing That Really Aren’t Missing

Nothing drives me crazier than strolling through a forum post or a Facebook comment string and seeing the phrase, “Well if Windows Phone had ______ I would switch.” Of course the immediate reaction to this is to say, here visit this link to see _____, but most just laugh and move along. It’s almost like we don’t want someone like that using a Windows Phone because once they find that App, something else will be wrong with it. So, just to bring everyone up to speed on the Apps that everyone wants, but Windows Phone isn’t missing…

Instagram – Yes, the official App is still in beta form. What isn’t said with that is that the beta is one of the most stable Apps I have ever used. Sure, it’s a bit slow and needs some streamlining, but it is there for the taking on almost every Windows Phone 8 device. For those back on 7, I’m sorry – now go ditch that gorgeous hardware and grab a Nokia Lumia 520 or Nokia Lumia 521 and call it good. Of course, here are still two very strong 3rd party Apps for it as well.

Instagram BETA – 6tag – Instance

Pandora – Yep, Pandora snuck through the system months ago. Still most users had no clue that it was out there. Even scarier, the Windows Phone version launched with a no ads bonus for the first few months.

Pandora

Kik Messenger – With all the hubbub about BBM going multiplatform, it’s easy to forget that Kik is one of the most used messaging services on the planet. The good news is that it is on Windows Phone and the new update included some of the features that were lagging severely behind other platforms.

Kik Messenger

Vine – Ok, have to admit here… I don’t get Vine, but most people still don’t know that it’s on Windows Phone. Those little 6 second video clips are just weird, but if that’s your thing, then have at it.

Vine

Google Maps – I’m not sure where Here Maps would fail people, but if you are one of those that just doesn’t do Here, there is Google Maps from Clarity to the rescue. It offers mapping, turn by turn directions and even street view. See, Google doesn’t hate Microsoft that much. Of course now that it’s known that Windows Phone has Google Maps, they will probably start blocking the API that it uses.

Google Maps

Did I miss an App that everyone else is missing? Let me know in the comments below and maybe I’ll just do a full review of it!

Price Drop: Grab A Nokia Lumia 521 For $69.99

In a deal of epic proportions, you can now snag the Nokia Lumia 521 for under $70 at the 4GFastData.com web store. The $69.99 price tag also qualifies for free shipping. This stellar deal won’t last for long so grab it quickly. The Nokia Lumia 521 is compatible with T-Mobile’s network, which makes it a great fit for plans from Spot Mobile or Simple Mobile.

You can get a free SIM card for either of these plans from www.4gfastdata.com. Compatible plans start from $24.99 a month.

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 810
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$40 Unlimited Talk, Text and Data

Get In The Christmas Mood With Nokia MixRadio

If there is something that few people agree on at Christmas time, it is what style of Christmas music to listen to and how early to start playing it. There's no need to fret any longer, Nokia MixRadio is here to save you from a terrible disaster.

MixRadio lets users select from preprogrammed mixes or create ones with their favorite artists, download them and listen to them offline. The process is painless, and the holiday mixes are pretty decent. Oh and did I mention that they are free? Users can download up to 4 mixes at a time without paying a dime.

It isn't all roses with Nokia MixRadio. There is the small issue of the mixes not having much in the way of selection, as some report that after about an hour plus of listening, they start hearing ghr same tunes again. There are also a few bugs, like the "audio drop" that occurs for some. This is where MixRadio is playing along and then suddenly, the audio drops as the song continues to "play".

All in all though, Nokia MixRadio is the perfect addition to your music for the holidays. Commercial free and a great selection content make this a must have App for the season.

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 810
Powered by www.4GFastData.com
$40 Unlimited Talk, Text and Data

Game Review: Frozen Free Fall

The new Disney movie Frozen is a holiday hit in the theaters and now Disney is returning the favor to Windows Phone users with their gem matching classic Frozen Free Fall. I won’t take too much time getting in to the details on the game play as it is a simple jewel matching puzzle challenger, but the graphics are superb and the play moves along great until you start hitting the harder levels that come around level 25 or so.

Frozen Free Fall is free to download and play, but there are some options for in App purchases of power ups. So far, I haven’t needed any to keep going, but if you lose too many times in a row, you will have to take some time off to recharge your hearts (lives) or pay for additional ones.

For what it’s worth, the 74MB download is a decent sized game, but well worth the install room on any device. Download it from the Store today and enjoy a bit of winter magic before the holidays are over.

Simple Mobile Adds LTE For Lumia 925

Back in February of 2013, Solavei announced that LTE was coming soon to their network. Fast forward 10 months and there’s a whole other story coming to pass. Simple Mobile has become the first MVNO to offer full LTE speeds on their $50 and $60 unlimited plans. Not only does this mean that you get better prices with Simple Mobile, you also get higher data tiers and LTE speeds.
In addition to the new LTE speeds, Simple Mobile added a new $25 unlimited talk and text plan to their lineup. Visit www.4gfastdata.com now to get a free Simple Mobile SIM card. That’s right, you can get started with Simple Mobile now and start saving while getting those great LTE speeds your new device needs.