T-Mobile To Send Galaxy Tab 7.0 More On November 16

T-Mobile has announced the addition of the new Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus for its portfolio of 4G compatible tablets.

Samsung's new tablet computer, an update of its first 7-inch Galaxy tab, which was released a year ago, has a 7-inch multitouch screen, and packs 1.2 GHz dual core processor, 16 GB of memory internal and microSD card slot supporting up to 32 GB of additional memory.

The Galaxy Tab 7.0 weighs more than three quarters of a pound and is on sale on November 16 for $ 250 after $ 50 mail-in rebate with a two-year contract. But Amazon already sells Samsung tablet by sending one day, but for $ 399.

The Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet comes with Samsung Media Hub for film and TV rentals, and WildTangent, which allows customers to rent or buy games.

Table 7 is related to the recently announced T-Mobile launch pad (see CNET review here), and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and T-Mobile G-slate.

T-Mobile cutting smartphone rates, could undercut Sprint

T-Mobile USA fired a price war salvo Wednesday with lowered rates on a range of smartphone plans that would seem to undercut Sprint Nextel rates.

Comparing the plans of different wireless carriers is always troublesome because they so rarely are designed in the same way. And they never operate on the same networks. But T-Mobile’s latest rates, to take effect Sunday, would seem to challenge Sprint’s standing as the national brand with the least expensive plans.

For instance, for a single line with unlimited talk and text, T-Mobile customers will soon pay $60, compared with the company’s current rate of $80. For a family plan with two phones with unlimited text and talk, you’ll pay $100, compared with $140 now.

By comparison, Sprint charges $100 a month for a smartphone plan with unlimited text, talk and data, or $80 a month for unlimited data and texting with 450 talk minutes.

Still, there are key differences between the plans. Both would give access to the carriers’ 3G and 4G networks. But under the T-Mobile plan, after a smartphone user consumed two gigabytes of data, upload and download speeds would be slowed to 2G speeds (the difference between 256 kilobits a second and 56 kilobits per second). Sprint’s plan doesn’t throttle speeds based on consumption.

The rate change fits neatly with an industry trend that has seen the costs for talk minutes, texts and data continue to drop — just not as fast as consumer demand for them has grown.

T-Mobile to drop prices on smartphone plans

T-Mobile USA is throwing down the gauntlet at Sprint Nextel with its new smartphone price plans.

T-Mobile is set to announce Wednesday that it plans to cut the price of its smartphone plans. Most significantly, its mid-tier plan--which includes unlimited phone calls, text messages, and data--drops by $20 to $59.99 a month. In comparison, Sprint's comparable plan--which includes unlimited data, text, and calls to other cell phones--costs $69.99 a month.

The aggressive pricing illustrates the ultra-competitive environment, particularly for two smaller national carriers. Both companies continue to struggle with adding lucrative contract customers, and have been going after each other with discounts for months. T-Mobile, meanwhile, is trying to remain relevant even as it awaits a takeover by AT&T.

"Our goal is to get the next 100 million Americans on smartphones," said John Clelland, senior vice president of marketing for T-Mobile. "We really do think it's a key that unlocks the next wave of growth."

T-Mobile's unlimited data plans, of course, come with strings. The $59.99 plan allows you to eat up 2 gigabytes of streaming music, videos, e-mails, or uploaded photos. Once past that level, customers will receive a note asking if they want to upgrade their plan. If they choose not to, their connection will be slowed down to 2G speeds, a practice called throttling.

The new plans come after Verizon Wireless made the switch to a tiered data plan model, something rival AT&T did last year. Verizon Wireless' lowest-end plan costs $30 and has its cap at 2 gigabytes.

The allotment is sufficient for most people, with 2 gigabytes affording consumers the ability to stream 70 hours of music or 17 hours of videos each month. Sprint has argued that its data plans are truly unlimited, and don't include overage charges or throttling.

Clelland said that some consumers felt that a truly unlimited plan was too expensive, since many didn't believe they consumed that much data.

"That's why we introduced the notion of tiered high speeds," he said.

For heavier data users, T-Mobile offers a $74.99 plan with an allotment of 5 gigabytes of data before throttling, which is $15 less than before. It also offers a lower-end, data-less plan for $49.99 with unlimited phone calls and text messages. That plan was previously $65. If you choose to pay for the phone through monthly installments, you can sign up for a 200-megabyte data option for $5 a month. Traditional contract customers can get the same option for $10 a month. The plans will be available on July 24.

T-Mobile's plans are available to customers who want to bring their own phone, purchase a phone and pay for it in monthly installments, or buy a subsidized handset in exchange for a contract.