Android and Me

Cricket launches LG Optimus C, shows off 2 new Androids, gears up for 4G LTE
Motorola is still committed to Android, also making their own web-based OS
Samsung updates Kies in anticipation of Android 2.3 for Galaxy S phones

Cricket launches LG Optimus C, shows off 2 new Androids, gears up for 4G LTE

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 12:22 PM PDT

Now that T-Mobile is going away, I wanted to focus on some of the value carriers that are beginning to embrace Android. Cricket Wireless started offering their first Android phone last August and soon their lineup will grow to five handsets. This bargain carrier operates the seventh largest network in the US with coverage in all 50 states and offers no-contract, flat-rate plans. Could Cricket be your next carrier? Read on after the jump to see what they are up to.

LG Optimus C

This week Cricket started selling the LG Optimus C for $129 after a $50 mail in rebate. The Optimus C is one of the cheapest Android phones around, but it is also one of my favorite entry-level models. Virgin Mobile has been selling the same phone since last month and it has been so popular that it sold out everywhere.

Cricket’s Android plans start at $55 per month, but that includes unlimited everything and there is no contract to sign. We would like to see some lower tiered plans for Android (like Virgin’s $25 per month), but it still beats the unlimited offerings of all the post-paid carriers.

Huawei Ascend 2 and Samsung Indulge

Samsung Indulge via Engadget.

Most of Cricket’s Android phones have been on the low-end, but that is about to change soon. This week at CTIA, Cricket showed off their version of the Samsung Indulge which features a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor. It is similar to a Galaxy S in terms of specs, but it features a smaller non-AMOLED 3.5 inch display. MetroPCS recently started selling a 4G version of the phone for $399, but Cricket’s model will only be 3G so it should be priced lower.

Cricket is also planning a sequel to the Huawei Ascend that they launched back in October. The Huawei Ascend 2 will feature an upgraded 800 MHz CPU and 5 megapixel camera, plus Cricket is promising to debut the device at a sub-$150 price like the original.

For more information on Cricket’s upcoming phones, check out the hands-on report from Chris Ziegler over at Engadget.

4G Roaming Agreement with LightSquared

Finally Cricket announced they had signed a 4G roaming agreement with LightSquared, who is launching their LTE network in the second half of 2011. Cricket plans to deploy its own LTE networks over the next few years, but it will use LightSquared to supplement its coverage.

LightSquared will have their LTE network up and running in limited markets this year and it will cover at least 100 million Americans by December 31, 2012; 145 million by the end of 2013; and 260 million by the end of 2015.

Cricket will start LTE trials in the second half of 2011, followed by some LTE “hotspot” networks in early 2012, and full LTE market launches in the second half of 2012.

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Motorola is still committed to Android, also making their own web-based OS

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 11:06 AM PDT

Last year we reported that Motorola might be working on their own operating system when they acquired mobile platform company Azingo and now new reports confirm this is still their strategy. Thomas Claburn of InformationWeek reports that Motorola has gone on a hiring spree and picked up a number of experienced web engineers from Adobe and Apple in an effort to develop their own web-based operating system.

Jonathan Goldberg, an analyst with Deutsche Bank in San Francisco, also reported the same thing. In a phone interview with InformationWeek he said, “I know they’re working on it. I think the company recognizes that they need to differentiate and they need options, just in case. Nobody wants to rely on a single supplier.”

When asked to comment, Motorola did not deny the accusations. Their response was, “Motorola Mobility is committed to Android as an operating system.”

An unnamed person familiar with Motorola’s plans said, “Google is shooting itself in the foot.” Motorola has “concerns about Android fragmentation, product differentiation, and issues related to Google’s support for its partners.”

This news should come with little surprise as Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha previously hinted that he wanted to create his own operating system. In a Q1 2010 earnings call he said, “I've always felt that owning your OS is important, provided you have an ecosystem, you have all the services and you have an ability and the scale to execute on keeping that OS at the leading edge. And I continue to believe that at some point, if we have all of those attributes, that owning our own OS will be a very important thing.”

Just as Motorola is dual-sourcing their components from different hardware vendors, Motorola wants to have a second OS strategy just in case Android does not go the way they want.

Google and Motorola continue to remain close partners, so I don’t think we should have any fear that Motorola will abandon Android, but it is something to keep an eye on.

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Samsung updates Kies in anticipation of Android 2.3 for Galaxy S phones

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 10:35 AM PDT

Update: A representative of Samsung has informed me that this Facebook page is not an official Samsung account. Any U.S. Galaxy S news will be posted on the official Samsung Facebook page.

The race to Android 2.3 updates is on. Yesterday several users started reporting that Samsung was rolling out a new version of Kies, the desktop software used to update Galaxy S phones. We were wondering what the latest release was for and it appears this update is laying the groundwork for Android 2.3 updates of the Galaxy S.

In a Facebook posting Samsung said, “You need this update to be able to get the 2.3.2 update to your Samsung Galaxy S, Vibrant, Fascinate. 2.3.2 will be worldwide but carriers will be delayed.”

Samsung previously said on their Romanian Facebook page that the Android 2.3 update would be out by the end of March. That has yet to occur, but it looks like things are on schedule now that the new Kies is out.

Just as we saw with the Android 2.2 updates, the international versions of the Galaxy S should be updated long before the US versions of the phone. The delays might have been the carriers fault, but Samsung took a real beating since they arrived so long after the competition.

Hopefully this time around Samsung will work more closely with the US carriers to ensure their phones are updated in a timely manner.

[Thanks Anil for the tip]

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