Supposedly, all 3G-capable phones, Rev 0. and Rev A. will now require a minimum $9.99 data plan which includes 25MB (and also includes mobile email). The 75MB plan is reportedly going away to be replaced with a $29.99 unlimited option (including mobile email). The only exception to the rule are the PTT phones.

UPDATE: Added photo confirming this, but the required data plan only applies to “3G Multimedia devices,” apparently.

Some of you might be privy to a little bit of confidential BGR info, but for those of you who are not: I went to Chicago recently. In a car. Besides me harboring a hate for the entire of state of Pennsylvania, (because it’s ridiculously long to drive through) the trip was quite successful. One of the main reasons why I didn’t mind being in a car seven times longer than being in a plane was because I was blessed by two MiFi units; a Verizon Wireless unit and a Sprint unit. Plus, what better way to really test out two mostly identical devices on two completely different networks when you’re covering around 1700 miles round trip. I didn’t do a really vigorous string of tests or anything near our much-loved BGR Carrier Wars series. Instead I used one unit exclusively on the way to Chicago from New York City and the other unit on the way back. Here’s what I found…

The first MiFi I used was the Verizon Wireless unit. We all know how good Verizon’s reputation in the data department is and I had high hopes for this little bad boy. Before we get into how it fared, let’s look at the physical unit itself. It’s definitely smaller than you’d imagine if you have never seen or held one before, and Verizon opted to go with a glossy black top plastic piece with a soft touch rubberized finish on the underside. While this obviously goes well with Verizon’s black, red, and white color scheme, the review unit was scratch city already when I received it. Will this affect the device’s performance? Absolutely not, but I’m not terribly sure high gloss black plastic was the best of ideas as far as exteriors go. On the underside of the Verizon unit is a nice little sticker that will give you the pre-set passcode for the wireless network it transmits.

This is helpful so you can get going immediately when you purchase the unit instead of fumbling for the user manual or frantically calling that bastard salesperson that sold you the device. What’s really fantastic about the MiFi in general is that you get access to a router configuration page just as you would on your Linksys, Belkin, or whatever brand router you use at home or at the office. On that page you can customize just about anything including presents for different network modes (temporary hotspot, secure, open, etc.), port forwarding, MAC filtering, power and standby settings and a bunch more. You’ll see that Verizon and Sprint have different network configuration pages and we’ll go over both of them a little further down.

Here’s Verizon’s wireless configuration page and you’ll notice it looks just like their horribly-designed and crafted VZAccess Manager apps. But, Verizon isn’t about sparkle, they’re about substance and their configuration page (and arguably VZAccess Manager software) is extremely simple and quick to navigate and setup. After renaming the wireless network to something a little more clean (Verizon MiFi — original, I know) and setting a new Wi-Fi passkey, I was ready to go.

Immediately 5 bars of glorious mobile Wi-Fi appeared on my MacBook Pro. I entered the passkey and was off and running. After knocking through some work over IM, in the web browser, and in Outlook, I decided I’d start to speed test the Verizon MiFi. The highest speed I saw was around 950kbps and the lowest was around 780kbps (in Rev. A coverage areas). I think I completed one speed test over 1X and that was about 120kbps.

You can see a shot of one speed test I did that yielded 802kbps down and 557kbps up. Not bad at all if you need to have data access while on the move and definitely in line with Verizon’s other data products like USB sticks or ExpressCards.

Both MiFi units support high level security including WPA2-PSK and WEP Wi-Fi networks.

As far as Sprint’s unit goes, the finish is quite different on the top part of the casing. There’s a brushed aluminum texture which is glossed over with a clear coat that really doesn’t show scratches. Major bonus. Besides just looking lighter and being less scratch-prone, the Sprint MiFi externally is basically the same exact hardware as the Verizon device. Sprint doesn’t have a sticker on the underside of the unit with a default passkey for the Wi-Fi network, but since this review unit came with an open Wi-Fi network it wasn’t an issue I had to deal with. Bets are that it would be on the box or in some sort of included paperwork…

After selecting and configuring the Wi-Fi network to my liking (again, Sprint MiFi2200 — totally brilliant, right?) I was a happy camper on I-80 East. For some reason, and this might not actually be the case with every unit, I noticed the range of Wi-Fi signal to be a little worse on the Sprint MiFi than on the Verizon MiFi. I had read about this somewhere and it mentioned that since the Sprint unit was part metal compared to all plastic the Wi-Fi range suffered a bit. That’s obviously not true as the Sprint unit is not any part metal, so I’m not sure what exactly the reason for that was or if maybe the unit I was testing was a little broken in. Just think about how many Wi-Fi clients had been using that MiFi before me. Yikes.

While both units are pretty much identical when you get down to the nitty gritty, Sprint’s MiFi offers the ability to use the built-in GPS. This is really cool if you don’t have a GPS-enabled mobile phone and could possibly be a life-saver in some situations. You have the option of searching directly from the router configuration page using your GPS location, and displaying the coordinates of where you are, among other things. Very nice and very cool. As far as the look and feel of the configuration page goes, Sprint’s was really clean and had a bit more polish, shall we say, over the Verizon page. There was also an option in the power preferences to have the MiFi enter standby mode when plugged into a charger which the Verizon page didn’t have.

Not too surprisingly, speeds were a bit better on Sprint’s unit. We’d say an average of around a 150kbps difference even though there’s about a 300kbps difference from the speed tests we took photos of. The trade off is that Sprint’s coverage was not as good as Verizon’s and many times the Verizon unit would be in a Rev. A coverage area when the Sprint unit would only be chugging on 1X. Battery life was the same on both units at around 4 and a half hours of straight usage which actually ended up lasting throughout maybe half the day when going about the city on and off.

Both MiFi devices can support up to 5 wireless clients each simultaneously which is an incredible feat for a device so small and compact. You can also connect your MiFi via a microUSB cable to your computer and tether it while also charging the unit. The downside here, though, is that once the unit is connected to a computer over USB, routing data over Wi-Fi is not possible. Obviously if the unit is plugged into a microUSB wall charger you’re free to charge and surf without a hitch. Both units got mildly warm with strenuous usage, nothing alarming or even concerning. While I’m not daring enough to keep a MiFi in my pocket, when left in my backpack it turned out to be an awesome traveling companion, gladly picking up the slack from AT&T’s horrendous Chicago coverage.

As you can see from the review, both units are pretty much identical at the end of the day. Little minor exterior differences and even smaller hardware differences (I actually believe they are identical, just Verizon doesn’t enable the GPS function that Sprint does), it’s pretty tough to immediately call one a winner. I wish I could be more clear and really recommend one over the other — Sprint’s was a little bit faster in places, Verizon’s had better coverage and was a tad more reliable — but it’s really personal preference. I’ve been a Bell Atlantic customer and now a Verizon customer for a very long time and like their coverage. After I ship back the Verizon unit, I’ll be purchasing a Verizon MiFi for my personal use, but that’s not to say I wouldn’t be happy with a Sprint one.

Both devices retail for $99 with a 2-year agreement with qualifying monthly data plan.

It’s here, mobile fans. The moment you’ve been waiting for. The results you’ve been itching for. The numbers you’ve been clamoring for. The… Ok, you get the idea. Last week we asked Sprint subscribers to test their 3G handset speeds and show us what their carrier of choice is made of. Well the results are in and they might just surprise you. So how does the nation’s number three carrier stack up against the big boys? Hit the jump to find out.

As we’re sure you’ll recall, so far AT&T is sitting pretty with an average download speed of 933kbps and Verizon came in a bit lower at 701kbps according to our readers. Now, people, it’s Sprint’s turn. With subscribers still fleeing at a shockingly alarming rate, one might be lead to believe the carrier’s network just isn’t up to par. Well, if our Sprint-subscribed readers are any indication, that couldn’t be any further from the truth:

• Average download speed, EV-DO Rev. A: 1361kbps
• Median download speed, EV-DO Rev. A: 1310kbps
• Average upload speed, EV-DO Rev. A: 267kbps
• Median upload speed, EV-DO Rev. A: 245kbps

Wow. Sprint’s average EV-DO Rev. A download speed bested AT&T by a huge margin — 428kbps — and it nearly doubled Verizon’s showing amongst our readers. Upload speeds fell right between the two aforementioned carriers, besting AT&T’s pathetic 180kbps but falling well short of Verizon’s 322kbps. There was far less data where upload speeds are concerned however, as less than half of readers who provided valid data included upload speeds in their reports. Why? We have no idea.

As with each of the last two carriers whose 3G speeds we polled, we shaved the top and bottom five results, then 10, and took a look at the numbers once again:

• Average download speed, top and bottom five results discarded: 1345kbps
• Average download speed, top and bottom 10 results discarded: 1333kbps

Quite clearly, Sprint’s numbers were impressively consistent — shaving the top and bottom 10 still left us with a downlink average only 28kbps lower than the raw average.

Last but not least, our old school EV-DO Rev. 0-loving Sprinters:

• Average download speed, EV-DO Rev. 0: 466kbps
• Median download speed, EV-DO Rev. 0: 326kbps
• Average upload speed, EV-DO Rev. 0: 97kbps
• Median upload speed, EV-DO Rev. 0: 76kbps

So, Rev. 0 was quite a bit slower than Verizon’s Rev. 0 numbers so if you’re on Sprint with an older 3G handset, it might be time to think about upgrading and taking advantage of that blistering Rev. A speed showcased by our readers.

That wraps up this installment of the carrier comparison you love to hate and hate to love. How did Sprint do? Were you expecting big numbers from Old Yeller or did the results blow your mind? Let us know in the comments section and get ready for the next and final segment of Carrier Wars.

For those interested, here is the supporting data for Rev. A and here is Rev. 0.

Disclaimer: The results of these tests are not collected in a controlled environment and therefore should not be considered to represent a concrete indication of the above carrier’s 3G network speeds and/or performance in general. These results merely provide the average 3G network speeds of the above carrier as experienced by those readers who perform speed tests and share their results. Stop whining.

Welcome back to Carrier Wars, the ongoing feature where we ask our readers to post their 3G speed test results, we collect the data and dish the outcome, and then a bunch of people whine about said outcome in the comments section. So far we have AT&T clocked in with raw averages of 933kbps down/180kbps up and Verizon Wireless on the books with raw averages of 701kbps down/322kbps up. Next up to bat: Sprint. While Verizon and AT&T bicker about who has the nation’s “fastest” or “most reliable” 3G network, Sprint is apparently flying under the radar by advertising “America’s most dependable 3G network”. Well Sprint fans, it’s time for you to break out those 3G handsets and latch on to Sprint’s uber-dependable network — we want your speed test results.

Please post your test results in the comments section of this post and you get extra points for linking a screenshot. We only care about 3G and we absolutely must know what handset you’re using; again, this is to separate EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. 0. So what are you waiting for Sprinters? Get moving!

Note: Don’t forget guys, we want phone model, average download speed AND average upload speed! If you’re wondering how to perform a speed test on your phone, check the first few comments below for links to various options.

Well folks, the numbers are in. Last week we asked Verizon Wireless subscribers to break out their favorite EV-DO handsets and see how Big Red’s 3G network stacks up against the competition. So far we’ve only covered one of the big US carriers, AT&T, so Verizon represents our second of four. Despite terrible results in some regions, AT&T’s 3G network set the bar pretty high with a raw average of 933kbps on the downlink side — yeah, we were shocked also — but clocked an atrocious 180kbps raw uplink average. So, how did VZW stack up against AT&T? You’ll just have to hit the jump to find out.

The results below are as of 11am Eastern this morning so tests posted in the comments after that point in time are not accounted for. Also, most readers complied with our request to specify which handset they were using to perform their speed tests. Some however, did not. We specifically asked for this info in order to separate EV-DO Rev. A phones from older, slower EV-DO Rev. 0 phones. Apropos, any results that did not have a handset model listed and weren’t obviously Rev. A (pretty easy to tell as Rev. 0 upload speeds have a ceiling just north of 150kbps) were omitted. We also omitted results that only listed max speeds, since they mean absolutely nothing. Ok, here goes:

• Average download speed, EV-DO Rev. A: 701kbps
• Median download speed, EV-DO Rev. A: 440kbps
• Average upload speed, EV-DO Rev. A: 322kbps
• Median upload speed, EV-DO Rev. A: 286kbps

As you can see Verizon came in well short of AT&T on the download side, averaging 232kbps slower than its GSM rival. In other words, according to the results posted by our readers across the country, AT&T’s network is a whopping 33 percent faster than Verizon’s on the downlink side. The median download speed was also significantly lower than AT&T’s; 440kbps compared to 840kbps. The tide takes a sharp turn where upload speeds are concerned however, as Verizon’s raw average of 322kbps trumps AT&T by 142kbps, or a massive 79 percent.

As with AT&T, the numbers were a bit skewed by tall peaks and deep valleys. As such, we trimmed the downlink data just like we did with AT&T’s numbers and — again to our surprise — VZW’s results were affected even more than the AT&T results:

• Average EV-DO Rev. A download speed, top and bottom five results discarded: 629kbps
• Average EV-DO Rev. A download speed, top and bottom 10 results discarded: 583kbps

Bottom line: If you gobble up a lot of data as most smartphone users do, Verizon is definitely not the quickest draw in the West. If uploading and sharing video, images, etc is your thing however, Verizon’s EV-DO Rev. A-capable handsets wipe the floor with AT&T. Granted, an average speed of 322kbps is still pretty pathetic but it’s nowhere near as pathetic as AT&T’s average of 180kbps.

For those of you still holding on to the past and rocking EV-DO Rev. 0 phones, here’s how your gray-haired handsets fared amongst our readers:

• Average download speed, EV-DO Rev. 0: 548kbps
• Median download speed, EV-DO Rev. 0: 569kbps
• Average upload speed, EV-DO Rev. 0: 60kbps
• Median upload speed, EV-DO Rev. 0: 55kbps

Rev. 0 handsets on VZW apparently aren’t too shabby on the download side but as expected, upload speeds are a total disaster. We only saw results from 28 Rev. 0 users however, so take these numbers with a grain of salt.

Well there you have it people — did Verizon come in where you thought it would? Surprised? Shocked? Indifferent? Sound off in the comments section below and stay tuned for the next installation of Carrier Wars.

For those who want to play with the numbers, here is the data for Rev. A and here is the data for Rev. 0. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: The results of these tests are not collected in a controlled environment and therefore should not be considered to represent a concrete indication of the above carrier’s 3G network speeds and/or performance in general. These results merely provide the average 3G network speeds of the above carrier as experienced by those readers who perform speed tests and share their results. Stop whining.

It looks like Nokia has something pretty interesting planned for the US market as an FCC filing has revealed a mysterious dual-sliding CDMA handset. Featuring what appears to be a 3 megapixel camera on the rear in addition to a microSD slot and 3.5mm headphones, the device supports EV-DO Rev. A connectivity along with Bluetooth 2.0 (with A2DP) and an FM transmitter. No word yet on whether or not this will be an S40 or S60 handset, but it does seem to have some of the physical hallmarks of an Nseries device. Unthinkable as it may be, we could be looking at the first Verizon-exclusive (or Sprint-exclusive?) Nseries handset. As with all things shrouded in secrecy, we’ll do our best to figure out just what this thing is all about. Hit the jump for two more images.

[Via Phone Scoop]

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That’s right people, it’s getting closer. We can almost taste it now in fact. The CDMA answer to the BlackBerry Bold 9000 and Curve 8900 has just popped up in a new round of live shots, this time a bit more clear than the last round. We also get a pretty clear glimpse of the back this time around, which could be a good thing or a bad thing. Apparently the faux leather on the Bold battery cover isn’t polarizing enough so RIM decided to up the ante. Yikes. What do you guys think — love it, hate it or who cares just give me a sexy new CDMA BlackBerry already?! Hit the jump for the shot of the back.

Thanks, Will!

[Via CrackBerry]

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Well there you have it folks — live photos of the BlackBerry 9630 Niagara have surfaced on the internet and it looks exactly as it did when we first scooped it way back when in May of last year. Believed to be a World Edition device that is jam packed with GSM/GPRS/EDGE/HSPA and CDMA 1xRTT/EV-DO Rev. A radios, the Niagara is also purported to feature GPS, 3.2 megapixel camera. Sadly, it appears that Wi-Fi has been dropped from the menu, quite possibly at the request of Verizon. Of course, all of this goodness can’t go around town naked, so RIM slapped it into a pretty little Frankenstein of a body that blends the amazing keypad of the Bold, the display and the menu buttons of the Curve 8900 and the silhouette of the Storm. Pretty, no?

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We showed you some spy shots and leaked both the release date and the pricing – now it is time to put an end to these pre-launch rumors and let Verizon have its turn. On Tuesday, Verizon Wireless officially announced the Samsung Omnia. Confirming what we had already leaked, the Samsung Omnia will be available online and via telesales starting on November 26th and will make its in-store debut on December 8th. The Omnia will retail for $249 after a $70 MIR with a 2-year contract. Hit the jump for a quick rundown of the specs.

Verizon Wireless Samsung Omnia specs:

• CDMA 800/1900 with 1xRTT/1xEV-DO rev.0/1xEV-DO rev.A
• 3.2″ touchscreen with 240 x 400 resolution
• 128 MB RAM / 256 MB ROM
• 5MP camera camera and camcorder with flash and zoom
• GPS with VZ Navigator capability
• Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 8GB built-in memory with microSD/microSDHC expansion
• TV Out
• FM Radio with RDS
• DivX/XviD playback
• Opera 9.5
• Access to VZAppZone – downloadable games, ringtones, wallpapers and more
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional with TouchWiz
• Dimensions: 4.41” (l) x 2.24” (w) x 0.52” (d) with standard battery
• Weight: approximately 4.34 ounces
• Usage time: up to 346 minutes with standard battery
• Standby time: up to 464 hours with standard battery

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