DALLAS
— Prepaid carrier MetroPCS became the
first carrier in the world to launch a hybrid 3G/4G
handset based on the 4G Long Term Evolution
(LTE) standard with the Las Vegas and Dallas/
Fort Worth launches of the Samsung Craft feature
phone.
The phone, priced at $299 after $50 instant rebate,
is available “while supplies last” through MetroPCS
stores in the metro areas and through the
carrier’s web site.
The LTE network covers most of the carrier’s existing
CDMA 1x EV-DO Rev. 0 footprint in the two
markets, the carrier said. LTE network rollouts in the
remaining MetroPCS markets are planned for later
this year and early 2011, with additional 4G handsets
to come. MetroPCS said it plans to launch
4G service in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, New
York, Sacramento, San Francisco, and most of
Florida.
The Craft feature phone is available with one of
two 4G LTE service plans at $55 and $60, with
the latter including a bundled MetroStudio service.
The service, powered by RealNetworks, delivers
downloads of full-track songs, ringtones and ringback
tones as well as premium on-demand streaming
video from NBC Universal, Black Entertainment
Television (BET) and Univision.
The phone is equipped with 3.3-inch AMOLED
WVGA capacitive touchscreen and slide-from-theside
QWERTY keyboard. Voice calls travel over the
carrier’s 1.9GHz CDMA network, and data travels
over its 1.7/2.1GHz AWS-band network. The phone
does not provide simultaneous 3G voice calls and
4G data sessions, the carrier said.
Other features include Wi-Fi, A/V playback,
upgraded MetroNavigator service that adds voiceactivated
turn-by-turn directions, a 2GB MicroSD
card preloaded with Paramount Pictures’ movie
“Star Trek,” Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface,
a 3.2-megapixel camera with flash and camcorder,
and Bluetooth stereo.
