Tag Archives: T-Mobile

Review: T-Mobile 4G LTE CellSpot

Let’s admit there are no perfect wireless carriers. I love T-Mobile, but wish I had the coverage of Verizon (especially indoors). It’s getting better though with lower band LTE covering more and more of the country, but T-Mobile still has lots of work to do. Thankfully, you can no longer complain about having poor coverage in the most sacred domain within your life, your home.

Continue reading

A journey through phones or how I fell in love with T-Mobile

Full disclosure: I’m a T-Mobile shareholder    . So here’s why:

My first phone was a little Nokia running on Cingular (now AT&T). I was a junior at college (let’s just say this was around 2002) studying telecommunications at Cal Poly Pomona, so it’s appropriate I learned more about the wireless industry’s early efforts at bringing consumer cellular phones to the masses through some actual hands-on experience.

There wasn’t much to this phone, Nokia 3390. I could play Snake, make calls, and text as long as I managed  to keep track of my usage.  Likewise, there wasn’t much I was looking for. Broadband was not an option for me when I came home on weekends to do homework. My dealings with high speed browsing was confined to my wired LAN connection at school.

1722294180_bf7c3cdc59_z

In my mind, Nokias were king of the hill before smart phones became big.

As time went on, I came to expect internet connections wherever I went. I convinced my parents to get cable internet at home and there was no looking back since. Just like my desktop browsing speeds, Cingular (now AT&T) was offering customers a faster mobile experience. And just like the humble days of dial-up service, the wireless industry was tempting to earn more customers through all you can eat service.

Believe it or not, there WAS a time when dial-up services counted bytes too. Can you blame them? They were trying to maintain service levels and also grow. The same happened with the wireless industry except for slightly different reasons.

In the United States, there are 4 major competitors: Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. At some point they all realized they could move from unlimited service pricing into tiered pricing. Pay less for less or more for more. It felt like a horrible step back considering the wireless technology was only getting better. We were getting to a point where cellular speeds were getting faster than the slowest DSL packages available for homes and then this happened.

I was still on AT&T and luckily grandfathered into an unlimited 3G plan. I was a happy camper browsing Facebook and uploading mobile pictures from my phone at the time (some Nokia/Windows Mobile).

I didn’t get my first true smartphone experience until I got an HTC Magic. Luckily, I was evading AT&T’s more expensive unlimited plan by using an unlocked phone from Canada (Rogers). But this was not a sustainable option, especially if i wanted a phone with proper 3G bands that didn’t break the bank (I always calculated the cost of a new phone against the increased data plan premium). I loathed the thought of renewing a contract with AT&T due to all the negative experiences I had trying to finesse the lowest possible phone plan. I was in a family plan with 4 other family members and it was a relatively low cost per phone.

14631675525_c28f87dfac_z

Nexus S (i9020A)

After countless minutes on the phone with AT&T trying to maintain a grandfathered plan, I gave up and went to the next best thing: a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that ran on AT&T’s network for a lower price. At this time I was really only interested in 3G speeds without the worry of hitting a data cap. I was wrong.

This is where the freedom of being off contract came to light. I wanted to stick with AT&T’s network but hated the price it came with. I decided to try T-Mobile’s prepaid plan. By this time I was using an iPhone 4s and ready to try T-Mobile even if it meant I was only able to get 3G service using refarmed PCS band (1900Mhz). They were also late to the LTE game but I had read they were going to roll out 4G service aggressively.

This was it. I learned to fall in love with my carrier again. After coming to terms with my love for iOS, I decided to go for a 5s. While the 5 eventually supported T-Mobile’s AWS LTE, I decide to the 5s would be worth the wait, especially since I would be paying for one at full retail cost (I hate financing).

Months later, I am SO happy with my service. I get great speeds, hotspot ability, wifi calling, international text/data, and HD Voice.

14608672826_3b216f7758_z

Samsung Blaze gave me first taste of really fast HSPA+

The ability to hotspot is a game changer. If you’ve ever been on a vacation, you know one of the worst realities is that not every hotels provides complimentary wifi service. Having hotspot ability included is fantastic because you’re never limited to enjoying fast internet on your phone. You can using your tablet and with decent LTE or HSPA+ service, you can even cast video on a Chromecast.

Last month, I used 13 GB of data. Most of this happened while on vacation in Texas for a week. You can’t even get service like this from AT&T/Verizon for 80 bucks a month.

14629558854_f5aeb3b2de_z

I went back to an HTC because Samsung doesn’t like making metal phones

While Sprint (I also hold a few shares) is also another unlimited carrier, their CDMA phones are not as easy to travel around the world with. They’re also harder to resell after since most of the world doesn’t work with their handsets (in their defense, this is getting better although they still have a wacky policy towards true unlocking where phones are allowed on other domestic carriers). While the international data coverage by T-Mobile is pretty limited in speed (think EDGE), it’s great to be able to text folks back home. I eventually broke down and picked up an all you can eat data prepaid SIM from 3 while in England earlier this year. Of course T-Mobile unlocked my phone prior to the trip, making this a viable option.

But…. it’s not all sunshine and roses though. T-Mobile still has to work on their coverage. If you’re going to Big Bear or driving through any rural area, chances are you’re not getting great speeds or even coverage at all. Even inside buildings T-Mobile struggles to keep up with the big dogs at times. That one drawback SHOULD be getting better with the rollout of 700MHz A-block service. Think Verizon’s building penetration coverage since they also run on 700MHz.

14651594653_4c57752b0f_z

Using an unlocked One X gave me my first taste of LTE on T-Mobile. It had to go due to various frustrations with the software.

If you still aren’t convinced you should follow John Legre. He’s crazy in a good way and I love that he runs T-Mobile.

Why Isn’t Carly Foulkes Verified On Twitter?

Twitter is a fantastic service that lets you follow people and services. It has given people a voice to be heard by anyone. Naturally, being verified is a big deal. It means you’ve arrived. When a person searches for a Justin Bieber or Alec Baldwin, they’re looking for a window into the mind of the same person they see one TV or heard on the radio.

Since anyone can sign up, we have to deal with parody accounts that add noise, making it difficult for the unknowing user to discern which account is truly theirs. Some fake accounts are even able to amass hundreds of thousands of followers. One example is the fake Will Ferrell account (@itsWillyFerrell) . Even the bio reads: “Here to make you laugh! I am not Will Ferrell. Fan/Parody account. No affiliation with actor Will Ferrell”.

When Biz Stone was on Howard Stone, he discussed the process of verification. It became an obsession for staff members who recently signed on. Biz explained that the program is completely human and is determined by various factors such as parody account generation and confirming the celebrity is truly that user (e.g. personal pics).

We all know that I have a thing for Carly Foulkes. Since my first post about her, T-Mobile changed their marketing approach and put her in all black. Perhaps, T-Mobile thought she needed a new look after the acquisition attempt by AT&T was denied. Gone is the girl next door who wears a summer dress and in is the leather-clad version riding on motorcycles like she’s Trinity.

She may have changed in commercials but I’m still following her on Twitter and sometimes I forget that she’s even the T-Mobile girl. Looking at her stream, you’d find tweets about traveling, pictures of her meals, her cat, and commentary about music/shows she’s at. It’s all standard stuff for someone that has access to these things. Occasionally, we’ll see a pic of her in costumes to remind us why she’s relevant.

But let’s get back to the point. She has over 10,000 followers. Surely, they can’t be all personal friends. My guess is that they are other fans of her adorable work. When you search “carly foulkes” on google, her twitter stream is the second link (first is her Wikipedia page). Somehow, the internet has determined she’s who she is and I question why twitter hasn’t confirmed this. We know the tweets are personal based on the content and plethora of self portraits. Does Twitter just have a thing against Canadians? Is it going to take a scandal with her on the cover of US Weekly?

Here are some examples of spoof accounts that might force Twitter to verify @FoulkesCarly:

  • Parody account by another carrier
  • Parody account of someone goofying on T-Mobile commercial scripts
  • A fake account like @Carly_Foulkes, @CarleyFoulkes impersonating her. Her last name already has an “F” and a “K”. Can you imagine if a porn star used a similar name?

If you thought Carly Foulkes wasn’t on the screen enough, we might see even more of her on the screen in the FX series she’s casted, Powers. Until then, we’ll have to watch her career flourish on TV and YouTube pre-rolls, wondering why she still isn’t verified on Twitter.

There’s only one way to know if she’s verified or not: @FoulkesCarly

What Carly Foulkes Might Look Like On Other Carriers

When I  think of T-Mobile, there’s one thing that comes to mind. It’s not the phone or the services. It’s not even a “thing”. It’s Carly Foulkes.

Before Carly Foulkes became the “T-Mobile Girl”, T-Mobile tried to hock it’s product and services using Catherine Zeta Jones. This worked for a bit. I used to go “Hey. It’s Catherine Zeta Jones. I remember her from that one trailer of Entrapment and Zorro and… Um… Oh yeah! She’s with Michael Douglas, right? (Frown on face)”. I also remember going “Yeah. I would totally buy a phone if Catherine Zeta Jones tried pitching me a killer family plan at my doorstep and I don’t even have a family!”. But Catherine Zeta Jones was a familiar face. She brought baggage of her work. The brilliant minds at T-Mobile knew this and decided to show the world a new face: Carly Foulkes.

Carly Foulkes works because she’s fresh. I remember seeing her first commercial (no, I don’t remember the exact product/service) and going “Wow… Who the heck is that?!?”. I instantly googled “new T-Mobile girl” and discovered the name to my newest crush. Adjectives to describe Carly include: slender, brunette, adorable, the girl next door, perky, and Oh! She’s Canadian! Isn’t it great that T-Mobile decided to go beyond the borders of the country it was serving and find such a cutie? For those interested in catching a glimpse of her life behind the scenes, she even uses Twitter (@foulkescarly). Usually sporting white/magenta and heels in TV spots and bus posters, I wonder if Carly Foulkes recognized as often in public if wearing different color schemes.

Let’s imagine what Carly Foulkes would look like different if other carriers had nabbed her first

A&T

I think AT&T would take the hipster approach for Carley Foulkes. We all know AT&T was previously the exclusive carrier for the Apple iPhone which revolutionized the mobile handset industry. Although the exclusive deal is no longer a bragging right, AT&T still champions the iPhone more than any other of its other smartphone handset platforms (Android/Windows). The iPhone is pretty much THE phone to own for high school students, college students, recent graduates, gamers, and professionals that demand connectivity to social networks at all times. This is the kind of customers that can’t remember the last time they talked but texted their bestie while driving through a red light.

Hair: Carly Foulkes would probably trim her hair a bit. The longest it would be would be shoulder length. Carly might even be wearing a bob cut with bangs of course. Her hair would certainly be adorned with some type of accessory like a thin head band or whatever trendy thing the girls wear at Melrose/Silverlake. As far as hair care goes, it doesn’t need to look 100% professional. It will look great despite the fact it took only 5 minutes to brush. It’s even possible Carly Foulkes would be wearing a cabbie hat.

Face: Carly Foulkes would certainly be rocking plastic frame eyeglasses. This is a no-brainer. As far as earrings go, she might be wearing feathery type earrings (Natural of course. No synthetic colors).

Clothes: There are a ton of combinations for Carly Foulkes to chose from. Luckily, none of them have to be blue/orange since she’s going for a hip look. There’s no need to conform to a corporate palette! A cuffed long sleeve plaid top, suspenders, and jeans is one possibility. A different commercial might show Carly Foulkes in a stripped v-neck shirt (the v-neck helps expose a portion of the artistic ink she’s got), skirt, and patterned stockings. Shoes would definitely be wearing flats and never heals.

Other: Carly Foulkes would always enter the commercial on a single speed road bicycle

Verizon

Verizon’s latest marketing campaigns are all about Android. Even though it also carriers the iPhone, Verizon is credited for making “droid” a term people use when they really should be saying “Android”. The commercials are always done in the key of Skynet with red and black. There’s nothing pretty about Verizon’s marketing campaign. In fact, it almost makes me scared that I’ll walk into a store one day and be served by robots instead of humans.

Hair: Carly Foulkes hair would be jet black or bright red. Either way, her hair would be slick (think Trinity from The Matrix).

Face: Pale. Her complexion would be extremely fair to convey she is void of emotion and her transformation to a robot is nearing. Carly Foulkes might also have some optic system on half of her face like a Borg from Star Trek.

Clothes: Her clothes would be tight black vinyl with accents of red. If Verizon decides to embrace the cyborg appeal, she might have a few limbs that are exoskeleton. Her shoes are obviously not modular. They are connected to her single peace armor/suit since all her thoughts are translated into bionic movement via a processing unit within the suit.

Other: If Verizon was smart, Carly Foulkes’ voice should stutter like Max Headroom.

Sprint

Sprint is the unexciting underdog of the four major carriers. It doesn’t really have much personality right? When you think of Sprint, you think of value service. We all hoped the Palm Pre would make a triumphant splash in the mobile handset market but things just didn’t pan out that way. Sprint has definitely become good buddies with Android handset makers, but there isn’t anything distinct about the way they show off products. As such, this becomes the most challenging carrier to work with in this.

Hair: Carly Foulkes’ hair would be normal yet professional. It might be in a bun or ponytail.

Face: Minimal makeup. Foulkes won’t be dolled up, but luckily she doesn’t need any since she’s probably a 10 even in the morning of any remote camping trip. If there’s anything on her lips, it’s just a pinch of lip balm

Clothes: Her clothes aren’t from a thrift shop (AT&T) or made by an engineer (Verizon). They’re bought from a mall or Target. They fit fine and evoke feelings of highly accessible platonic friendship. The colors are safe and inconspicuous. If she’s wearing a skirt/dress, she’ll wear plain stockings to appear professional and non-threatening.