Google launches Project Fi wireless service in partnership with Sprint and T-Mobile in the US

After being rumored since past few months, Google has officially launched its Project Fi MVNO to offer “fast and easy wireless experience” at affordable prices to users. For this, Google has partnered with two of the largest carriers in the US, Sprint and T-Mobile.

Project Fi will use networks of these two mobile carriers as well as Wi-Fi wherever available and provide the fastest possible network access to its subscribers at any given moment. Over a million public and private Wi-Fi hotspots have been identified by Google as being “fast and reliable” and all signals transmitted over Wi-Fi will be encrypted.

The Project Fi service will dynamically and seamlessly switch subscribers between LTE networks of carriers and Wi-Fi networks. The phone numbers of Project Fi subscribers will be stored on cloud enabling them to use their number on any device (phone, tablet or laptop) supporting Google Hangouts.

Project Fi will initially be available only on Nexus 6 built by Motorola as it supports the new technology needed for the service. If the area where you live has the Project Fi coverage, you can request for an invitation to join the service at fi.google.com.

If you want to buy Nexus 6 for Project Fi, you can buy it from Google while signing up. You can choose any one of the “Midnight Blue” Nexus 6 – 32GB costing $649 or 64GB costing $699, plus taxes. You can pay the price all at once or in 24 installments.

You get a basic plan for $20 covering talking, texting, Wi-Fi tethering and coverage in over 120 countries. In addition, you have to pay $10 flat for every 1GB of data which means $20 for 2GB data plan and $30 for a 3GB one. You will also get full credit for data which you have left unused meaning you have to pay only for whatever data you use.

So are you interested in subscribing to Project Fi? Make sure your area has the network coverage and request for an invite. You will hear from Google within the next 30 days. Since this is an early access program, the number of invites is limited.

Project Fi Coverage in the US:

Google launches Project Fi wireless service in partnership with Sprint and T-Mobile in the US

Google sign deal a reseller contract with Sprint

Google was in negotiation with two company for becoming a reseller carriers’ including Sprint and T-Mobile USA. However, Businessweek reported that Google has signed the deal with the company’s SoftBank CEO

Google and the familiar persons are not said anything about the financial terms but it can be measured that it will be like other MVNO contracts. However, Google mentioned to provide $2 per-GB of data to pay a wholesale rate.

Google is trying to measure the control and continuity of the consumers experience on basis of the deal. However, the wholesale rate can be accurate and seems to be great. Moreover, it can create an open war between T-Mobile and Sprint on the wholesale market.

In the agreement, Google has added selling some own smartphones like Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 tablet in the market. Moreover, Google has provided a good consumer experience including Google Fiber and various Wi-Fi hotspot deals. Google may not announce the deal officially. However, they are planning to offer more services in 2015 and it’s just the beginning step for the company.

Google sign deal a reseller contract with Sprint

Samsung Galaxy Core Prime Model SM-G360P gets FCC certified

Although Samsung plans to reduce the number of its smartphone models, there are still a few in the pipeline. After announcing the Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime a couple of months back, we had another selfie-centric phone, the Galaxy Core Prime passing through TENNA last month. It was also listed for pre-order by Indian online retailer Flipkart.

We now have the Galaxy Core Prime getting FCC certification in the US. This is an entry-level CDMA smartphone with model no. SM-G360P, headed to US carriers. The FCC label of the handset carries the customer service no. of Boost Mobile indicating that the device will probably be launched by this operator. However, the Galaxy Core Prime model SM-G360P may well be heading to Sprint as the handset supports LTE bands 25, 26 and 41 which are compatible with the Sprint network.

The specs of model SM-G360P passing through FCC are somewhat different from the specs of Galaxy Core Prime leaked via Flipkart earlier, so this may be a variant of that phone. This model has a 4.5” LCD display with a resolution of 480 x 800, 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor with 32-bit and 64-bit support, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal expandable memory, a 5MP rear camera, a 2MP front-facing camera and a 2,000mAh battery. The handset runs Android 4.4.4 KitKat coupled with Samsung’s own TouchWiz.

The new Samsung Galaxy Core Prime could be a good buy in the affordable segment. Indian variant of the device is priced at about $140 but its pricing in the US is not known. Since the handset has been certified by FCC, its official announcement is expected soon.

Check out the images:

Via PhoneArena

Samsung Galaxy Core Prime Model SM-G360P gets FCC certified

An Introduction To The Apple iPad Air 2 8MP Camera"s New Features

When you want to capture a moment in a photograph all you need is a good camera at arms reach. These days most phones and tablets come with their own cameras but quality really matters. A blurry or dark picture is often unusable when taken with a poor quality camera. A lot of people use phones and tablets to take pictures these days and this is where Apple really shines.

Apple phones and tablets are best known for their excellent cameras. When a camera isn’t  around, you can take good quality pictures with your Apple tablet. Apple is bringing a few new features to its ultra slim tablet with iPad Air 2 this year.

New features include the ability to shoot 1080p video with stereo sound. Slow motion pictures can be recorded at 120-fps and time-lapse pictures can be recorded as well. Panoramas of up to 43 megapixels can now be captured with this new camera. Other new features are Auto HDR, self-timer, and manual exposure control.

The iPad Air 2 now comes with an 8MP iSight camera. Compared to last year, the iPad Air 2 gets 66% more pixels. The pixel size for this camera is a tiny 1.12 microns. The aperture size of the camera is F2.4.

The SoC that processes these digital images is Apple’s own A8X. The iPad Air 2 can now detect faces much better and from a longer distance. This helps focus the image and identify faces in the picture. The new camera also comes with better noise reduction for clearer photographs.

So there you have it. The Apple iPad Air 2 camera is a pretty decent camera for a tablet. What would you do with the slow-motion or time-lapse feature? Please tell us in the comments section below.

An Introduction To The Apple iPad Air 2 8MP Camera"s New Features

How LG G3 Will Look For US Carriers

The Android Phone LG G3 by LG Electronics has gained positive reviews since the time of its launch. Being the successor of G2 which was launched back in 2013, it contains many similar features along with better design.

It is reported that Sprint and T-Mobile have announced that they are on their way for launching LG G3 which we can expect to arrive in next few weeks. However, Verizon and AT&T have not released any information yet regarding the arrival of the Phone. Although we don’t know about the release date of these two carriers, we clearly know how LG G3 will look on all these carriers.

You might think the LG G3 variant will look same for all the carries but that is not the case with Verizon. While the rest of the variants are in same color with plain grayish look, Verizon comes with a fine black cover that makes it shine out among the four. So if you want LG G3 and you are on Verizon then you will be fine with a good looking phone but you might not be fine with the logos.

Verizon has put their logos on the phone in front and back. While Verizon has gone with all logos, Sprint variant doesn’t have any Sprint logo on it. You will find the Sprint apps in the phone but the lack of Sprint’s logo displays the carrier’s choice of not doing extensive marketing for them. AT&T and T-Mobile variants also come with their logos.

Since the launch of T-Mobile and Sprint variants is expected to be in coming weeks, we can assume that Verizon and AT&T variants will be launched soon after them.

How LG G3 Will Look For US Carriers

Sprint launches the Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport with Heart Rate Sensor

Sprint and Samsung have announced the exclusive Galaxy S5 Sport. The smartphone is essentially Sprint’s version of AT&T’s Galaxy S5 Active(introduced last month) and will be released on July 25.The Galaxy S5 Sport has physical Android buttons on the front, like the S5 Active, but comes with an entirely updated design for its back cover. The textured body appears more rugged than that of the Galaxy S5, but isn’t quite up to the standards of the S5 Active.

Sprint hosted an event on June 23 at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago where CEO Dan Hesse announced the Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport.

“We continually innovate to provide our customers with new products that can improve their lives. Previously, Sprint brought together Harman Kardon, HTC and Spotify to redefine how music should sound on the modern smartphone. Today, Sprint joins leading innovators in Samsung, Under Armour and MapMyFitness to drive technology advances for fitness, health and wellness.” said Dan Hesse, Sprint Chief Executive Officer.

The Sprint Samsung Galaxy Sport features a 5.1-inch 1920 x 1080 Full HD Super AMOLED display,the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset with 2.5 GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, and the heart rate monitor on the back. The Galaxy S5 Sport boasts a 16-megapixel rear camera with LED flash that supports recording 4K video and a 2-megapixel front-facing snapper for selfiies and video chat.

The Galaxy S5 Sport is having 16 GB of internal storage and a microSD expansion slot that will support up to 128 GB microSD cards. All the usual connectivity options are in there, including 4G LTE (with support for Sprint Spark), Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, and GPS. The smartphone has a 2800 mAh battery and it runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat.

Galaxy S5 Sport comes with IP67 rating for dust and water resistance. It can withstand being submerged in up to 1m of water for upto 30 minutes.It will be available in Electric Blue and Cherry Red color variants.

Sprint is offering the Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport online and in retail stores beginning July 25 with a limited time offer to get $50 off a Gear Fit. It will be available for $0 upfront (plus tax) followed by 24 monthly payments of $27.09 on EasyPay.Sprint conveniently neglected to mention on-contract pricing, but it’s probably going to be $200.

The Galaxy S5 Sport is the launch device for Sprint’s new Fit Live health monitoring initiative, which will bring you a year of MapMyFitness MVP for free. It brings custom audio coaching and training plans on top of the usual working stats. And you also get three or six months of Spotify Workout Premium for absolutely nothing, depending on which Sprint plan you choose.

 

 

Sprint launches the Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport with Heart Rate Sensor