HoFo Blog

From The Web:

Qualcomm unveils new chips for smartphones, smartwatches

Why aren't more manufacturers using Intel in their Android phones?

Telus profit falls on wireless competition, Alberta economy

Software and services are the new wireless contracts

A simpler way to stay in touch: dumbphones tried and tested

From The Forums:

Using Boost iPhone 5s for Cricket?

Will T-Mobile unlock my iPhone?

Sprint Unlock Help iPhone 5s - DSU Process

More than one SIM kit?

Where is Uplink Carrier Aggregation in service? ...

Over the weekend I resurrected my Pebble smartwatch. And now, as you can see here, I'm apparently the owner of a brand-new Pebble Time Steel—if you live in Canada they're currently on sale for $249.99 CAD at Best Buy, less than what I paid for my Kickstarter Pebble Time last summer.

But wait, you say, didn't you swear off Pebble forever last fall? Yup. So are you full of it or what? Probably. If you'll indulge me today I'll revisit those deal-breakers and then explain what brought me back. ...

From The Web:

Exclusive: LG G5 leak reveals Always On display

And the leaks keep coming: here’s another look at the Galaxy S7 Edge

The disappearing act: HTC smartphones removed from Canadian carrier shelves

Walmart Family Mobile adds plan with 10 GB of LTE data, offers 'Data Saver' that mimics Binge On

Umi Touch - a $100 phone you've never heard of, with impressive specs and a massive 4000mAh battery

From The Forums:

Verizon Hall of Shame Poor Coverage Areas

How to cancel AT&T when Unlimited Data price goes up without ETF?

6GB upgraded to Unlimited for FREE!

Will Tracfone triple minutes transfer if I upgrade my phone?

Unable to check data use (Lycamobile data add-on) ...

This morning Howard has invited me along to his 11am appointment at The iPR Group. All I really know about it is that it has something to do with Waze, a popular app for those who commute by car.

Acquired by Google in 2013 and now feeding data into Google Maps, Waze continues to roll along as a standalone app with some unique features. The biggest differentiator is the social aspect—Wazers are encouraged to share real-time traffic info with the app and each other.

And on the subject of sharing, I may have just unlocked the secret to this morning's mystery meeting. According to a new post on Phandroid, Waze is about to get into the ridesharing racket. ...

From The Web:

Apple takes its eye off the ball: Why Apple fans are really coming to hate Apple software

Apple under pressure as lawyers pledge action over 'Error 53' codes

You Can Get 2GB of Free Google Drive Storage Today

HTC celebrates Valentine's Day by knocking 40 percent off the Nexus 9

Massive Telstra outage caused by 'embarrassing human error'

From The Forums:

Ringplus- HTC Desire 626s question

Fastest LTE At Super Bowl 2016!

Your Thoughts on B12 Performance/Rollout

Any opinions on this: Prepaid $30/mo | 5GB LTE | 100min talk | ∞ text

Freedompop increases automatic top-up to $15 ...

I sincerely hope that no one reading this post ever sees this alert bubble. If you do, you're probably going to have to get yourself a new iPhone—because the one you've got has just turned into a brick.

Over the weekend The Guardian reported on "Error 53". In the latest update to iOS 9 Apple has implemented some sort of check for unauthorized hardware repairs. If your phone fails the test it will immediately become inoperable.

Apple says it's a security measure. Others see it as an attack on third-party repair shops. Maybe it's both. ...

From The Web:

Supposed leaked shot of the Galaxy S7 shows curved glass back and nearly-flush camera

OnePlus 2 64GB Price Permanently Settles Down To $349 ($40 Lower), Refunds Will Be Issued For The Past 15 Days

T-Mobile urges FCC to “tread lightly” on video throttling and zero-rating

India Bans Zero Rating As The U.S. Pays The Price For Embracing It

Tim Cook finds himself receiving Twitter snark over motion-blurred Super Bowl photo

From The Forums:

Family plan with strangers

Tracfone Free Upgrade Offer to 3g

Wi-Fi calling live in iOS 9.3 beta 3

New Tmobile store Times square speedtest

Best Super Bowl Commercial? T-Moile! ...

OpenSignal has come out with their latest report on the global state of LTE, using data collected from its Android and iOS apps. I've already published a few data points in the daily news round-ups, like how T-Mobile has the fastest LTE network in the USA and Canadian carrier SaskTel has the third-fastest LTE speeds of any carrier worldwide.

Would you like to know more? I know I would. So let's take a look at the bigger picture. ...

From The Web:

How fingerprint scanners work: optical, capacitive, and ultrasonic variants explained

Evan Blass Posts Alleged Image Of The HTC One M10 Looking A Lot Like The A9

What Neutrality? Verizon Exempts Its Go90 Service From Its Caps

SwiftKey's sale and the unsustainable state of the mobile app market

Creator of BBM out at BlackBerry as company sheds more talent

From The Forums:

Google project Fi anyone?

New tmobile ios app is out!

Ideas for the next UnCarrier move?

T-Mobile's permanent video optimization!!!! Do you read your TOS?

Moto E or Galaxy? ...

Yesterday YouTuber Marques K. Brownlee posted his latest video, positing that tablets are a dying product category. According to MKBHD—backed up by an article I found from the International Business Times—worldwide tablet sales were down 20% in Q3 2015 from the previous year.

An obvious reason for this is that phones have become phablets, so there's less of a need for bigger screens. Another is that tablets aren't so much mobile as they are immobilizing—most tablets end up using an external fixed source for Internet and pretty much every tablet requires you to stop whatever else you're doing and operate it with both hands.

But tablets are far from dead. And I've got proof. ...

From The Web:

Tim Cook says more Apple apps could come to Android

Fossil Q54 Pilot smartwatch review: Modern smarts meet analog style

New Ubuntu Tablet: Everything You Need to Know

Firefox OS 2.6 will be the last version for smartphones

Move to Saskatchewan for the third-fastest LTE in the world

From The Forums:

Verizon band 5 deployment

Band 30 in the Chicagoland area

Are you using Mark the Spot? AT&T's network experince app

Unlock CODE?

Am I roaming? ...

The LG G5 will make its début at Mobile World Congress on February 21st, the same day that Samsung is set to announce its Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. But if the render you see here turns out to be true, then LG's 2016 flagship will have a design unlike anything we've ever seen before.

CNET Korea reports that the G5 will incorporate both a metal body and removable battery with the slide-out drawer that you see here. And that's not all; there are additional rumours of a "magic slot"—a proprietary expansion port to plug in accessories like an external keyboard, VR headset, audio amplifier...?

Okay LG, you've definitely got my attention. ...

From The Web:

India Surpasses USA to Become Second Largest Smartphone Market in World

Japanese Researchers Set 56 Gbps Wireless Data Record

Microsoft’s SwiftKey Buy Is About AI, Not Just Software Keyboards

Mossberg: Apple’s Own Apps Need Work

Acer Predator 8 Gaming Tablet Review: It's Everything That Nobody Wants In A Tablet

From The Forums:

T-Mobile Offers Families Unlimited Data for $150

Sprint has their own version of BingeOn?

Best Cricket smartphone under $200?

Has anyone activated a Moto 2015 x pure on the TF cdma (verizon) network?

Need help understanding some things about BYPO and data ...

First reported as a rumour by Android Central yesterday (since updated) and confirmed by the company itself overnight, popular Android software keyboard SwiftKey (also available for iOS) has been acquired by Microsoft. As of this morning, the app has been uninstalled from all the Android devices I own. Why?

Because Microsoft spies on its users, that's why.

But doesn't every software or services company track its users? Isn't that the deal we've have made, giving up our online habits in return for cool, free stuff? Perhaps, but I submit that Microsoft respects your personal data significantly less than other companies. I'll show you the evidence I've found and let you decide for yourself. ...

From The Web:

Open Signal: T-Mobile Has Fastest 4G Network in U.S.

T-Mobile Releases 30-Second Super Bowl Ad About How Other Carriers Would Butcher Drake's Hotline Bling

Xiaomi: US Mobile not authorized to sell our phones

The fight for a third-best smartphone OS has been lost. By everyone.

Turing Phone drops Android for Sailfish OS… for some reason

From The Forums:

New Activation Site for HSN/QVC/EVINE Tracfone Bundles

Can AT&T get to an All-LTE world?

"Stressed Out: Is Sprint a Ticking Telecom Time Bomb?" - thstreet.com

Wind to Mobilicity Call Quality

Why won't my VZW Moto E activate on Ringplus? ...

Remember Android Silver, the "premium" Android handset program we first heard about back in the spring of 2014? The program that was ultimately scrapped but too late to give us anything other than the decidedly un-Nexus-y Moto Nexus 6 later that year?

This Nexus fan remembers.

Android Silver was never officially confirmed nor denied by Google, of course. But thanks in part to some additional scoops provided to Android Police the rumours first reported by paywalled site The Information came to be accepted as fact. Now, according to that same source, Google is intent on messing with Nexus again. ...

From The Web:

Following Apple’s Move, Samsung Rolls Out Ad Blocking To Android Devices

Apple’s iPad Pro outsells Microsoft Surface tablets in debut quarter

US Mobile is the first carrier to offer Xiaomi and Meizu phones in the United States

Android Pay no Longer Working with Systemless Root

Visit sunny South Korea and get a free Galaxy Note 5 to use while you’re there

From The Forums:

NGN and 3xCA

Walmart sale on the Lumia 640?

MMS not working on HTC One M8

MetroPCS?

Customer service? ...

Anyone waiting for the next iteration of Samsung's non-stylus flagship—and bonus "edge" variant—won't have to wait much longer. The King of Android OEMs will reveal all in a livestreamed event on Sunday, February 21st.

As you'd expect, both press renders and specs for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge have already been leaked. There are actually a lot of familiar things about the new Galaxy flagships, but one for me stands out in particular: a decidedly olde-timey micro-USB charging port, rather than the new USB Type C. ...

One thing a lot of people wish they could get in Canada is Google Voice. Well if your one of those people ...