Comments on: 4G iPhone sleeve offers 1GB of free data per month

By: manicbassman

manicbassman — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:36:00 +0000

well, there’s nothing magic about this that stops it from being available for Android phones bar the connector issue and the fact that Android phones come in a myriad of form factors…

By: Red Garner

Red Garner — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:20:00 +0000

Thats not true. Verizon offers 4g LTE service for a handful of android phones and portable wifi hotspots. On my HTC thunderbolt i get between 20 and 30 mbps in Philly and NY. Even in some less popular 4g markets like Allentown and Scranton i get 10+ mbps.

By: just_a_user

just_a_user — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:53:00 +0000

Might be slower when its in wide use.

By: Wisconsin Platt

Wisconsin Platt — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:53:00 +0000

Those of us in the states have to settle for 4G that is really just a rebranded 3G + some enhancements. In fact, a couple of IOS updates ago, my 3G connection on my iPhone 4S suddenly became a 4G connection even though the only change I can see is it says 4G instead of 3G up on the status bar. :(

By: pajp

pajp — Fri, 11 May 2012 04:23:00 +0000

6 Mbps doesn’t really sound like 4G. Here in Finland people are complaining that the 3rd gen iPad didn’t get the “real” 4G but I still regularly get 17-20 Mbps. My 3G Nokia N9 gets 4-6 Mbps.

By: Dennis Chi

Dennis Chi — Fri, 11 May 2012 03:06:00 +0000

Engadget is reporting that the service is backed by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom. If it’s legit, that’s amazing.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/10/skype-co-founders-latest-company-signs-deal-with-lightsquared/

By: Nathan

Nathan — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:49:00 +0000

/rant

So no actual description of the subscription terms (monthly fees, cellular data add-ons, taxes, etc. etc. etc. – and no, telling BB or some random tech blog about it does NOT count) on the site beyond a boilerplate weasel-clause TOS and privacy policy. And the pre-order service check asks me for not only my name, email address and zip code, but my home address as well? If they need to be that specific, if only PART of a single zip code may be covered, I have doubts. Sometimes I even leave my house with my mobile phone. Strange but true.

So, yeah. Not hardly fishy at all. What next? “Please provide a credit card number, so we can verify… Things. Yeah. Technical things.” Pro-tip, guys. If you’re offering an apparently-too-good-to-be-true service, and you’re actually legit, try not doing everything possible to make yourself look like a phishing scheme. And maybe, you know, describe your service beyond a few nebulous bullet points. We shouldn’t have to go to a random tech news website to figure out how you work.

/rant off

By: miasm

miasm — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:06:00 +0000

72 ping!
Disgraceful.

By: Nylund

Nylund — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:44:00 +0000

From an article I saw, it says it “will tap into Clearwire’s WiMax network.” It says that’s only available in 72 markets right now. One can check one’s address here:

http://www.freedompop.com/preorder.htm

The article also says it only guarantees 500 mb of free data, with some vague statement about ways to get it up to 1 gig.

By: ludwigk

ludwigk — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:59:00 +0000

Are you missing a /s tag? The FreedomPOP is a 4G cell receiver that acts as a wifi hotspot. So the phone HAS to be on wifi to use the FreedomPOP.

Of course, I have no idea what a “free” 4G network is. If there is such a thing, why do wireless plans cost so much?

By: thievedrelic231

thievedrelic231 — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:51:00 +0000

Does this mean that those dastardly *hem* jailbreakers on T-mobile and other non-ATT-3G-frequency networks can finally utilize the full throttle of their phones’ data capabilities?

By: Joshua Ochs

Joshua Ochs — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:43:00 +0000

Exactly – “too good to be true” is involuntarily springing to mind.

By: Chrs

Chrs — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:01:00 +0000

Just 30% more expensive for the hardware than established devices that just provide power (assuming Morphie is standard), plus a gig of free WiFi data and minimal overage fees…

I’d love it if there is some explanation, but how is this a logical business model?