T-Mobile USA is the last major carrier in this country to nab the iPhone, but we have a feeling it might be one of the most competitive. When Apple's handset hits T-Mo next year, it will be fueled by the company's fresh new 4G LTE network at a time when parent company Deutsche Telekom is doing the once unthinkable by moving away from subsidized handsets, which will produce lower monthly fees for users. Sounds like a win-win for the consumer!
Thursday brought a double whammy of good news for iPhone lovers on T-Mobile's U.S. network. First, parent company Deutsche Telekom announced even more new investments in its network which have led to "an agreement with Apple to bring products to market together in 2013." Short version: T-Mobile USA is getting the next iPhone! And even better, MacRumors is reporting that the carrier plans to break the shackles of traditional subsidized pricing on handsets in favor of lower monthly plan costs. Sure, that may raise the price of your next iPhone, but in the long run it may be cheaper, and allow T-Mo customers to jump from handset to handset whenever the whim strikes them. While AT&T losing their exclusive to Verizon and Sprint in recent years hasn't harmed them, it will be interesting to see what how these changes will affect Ma Bell come next year.
Fire up the Mac App Store, video editors -- Apple pushed out a trio of updates to its post-production software on Thursday, bringing some minor bug fixes to your favorite apps. Final Cut Pro X 10.0.7 restores the "Offset" slider to the Letterbox effect, while fixing issues with single-layer DVDs, third-party effects causing the app to hang during background renders and more. Motion 5.0.6 improves overall stability and performance, specifically addressing an issue where Image Units were removed when a project was saved, as well as issue when working with multiple documents on dual displays. Last but not least there's Compressor 4.0.6, which offers the same overall stability, performance and compatibility improvements while also fixing an issue with uploading clips over 1GB to Vimeo.
Bloomberg reported this week that Blockbuster stores will soon begin selling mobile phones, a move that parent company DISH Network has already rolled out on the company's website. The so-called "Blockbuster Mobile" is planned for roughly 850 retail locations, offering handsets from Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. The move is curious given DISH's interest in wireless spectrum recently purchased and awaiting FCC approval, especially with rumors that the company may attempt to launch its own mobile phone service to compete with the big four U.S. carriers. The once-mighty Blockbuster Video has shed half of the 1,700 retail stores it once hand when DISH acquired the company last year, which at its peak under Viacom operated around 9,000 locations.
Two quick app updates for this fine Friday! First up is iTranslate 6.0, a new version of the popular translation app that brings more than 60 languages into your pocket absolutely free. The new version offers an improved UI and iPhone 5 support, with enhanced state of the art technology to help users speak any language in a second. With all of the money you're saving from the first app, you can put those savings toward SHAPE's IM+ Pro 7.4, which is already discounted for the holidays to a mere $4.99 -- 50 percent off from its usual $9.99 price. If you'll be chatting on Skype, Facebook, Google Talk, Twitter or other services this holiday season, IM+ Pro is the one to beat, and it's even universal for iPad support as well.
Patently Apple is reporting that Apple Inc. has scored two new Registered Trademarks, this time covering the term "Retina" (as in "Retina Display") as well as the company's Game Center icon. The trademarks were granted by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office back on November 27 and finally published this week. The "Retina" trademark was first filed in May, 2011, while the Game Center icon trademark was only filed this past June.
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