Cricket offers prepaid iPhone 4, 4S for $55 a month starting June 22

Cricket Wireless (subsidiary of Leap Wireless) has announced the upcoming availability of the US' first prepaid iPhone. The offer will open on Friday, June 22 and gets you Apple's handset contract free for $55 a month.

Naturally, that also means the devices aren't steeply discounted. You'll have to cough up $400 for an iPhone 4 8GB or $500 for an iPhone 4S 16GB -- far more than signing a two-year contract via major providers, but still a tad cheaper than the full retail price offered by AT&T, Verizon and Sprint (currently $550 and $650).

Cricket's prepaid service offers unlimited voice and text, while data is technically unlimited, but speeds are throttled to 56-100Kb/s if you exceed 2.3GB a month. Based on habits claimed by AT&T and others, only a small percentage of smartphone owners approach such levels, so it shouldn't be a concern for most users.

For the typical user, Cricket's service seems like a great value compared to conventional packages which hit $70 to $80 a month -- especially over the long haul. Cricket says subscribers on major carriers can expect to pay $2,775 over the course of two years, whereas its own customers will pay $1,719 during the same period.

There is at least one tradeoff in the way of coverage as Cricket's network is largely limited to major markets. It covers about 90 million Americans with only 60 million in areas supported by the iPhone (you can view a full list of the launch cities here). That could be a problem if you travel a lot or if you're in the sticks like me.

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Cricket offers prepaid iPhone 4, 4S for $55 a month starting June 22

Cricket Wireless (subsidiary of Leap Wireless) has announced the upcoming availability of the US' first prepaid iPhone. The offer will open on Friday, June 22 and gets you Apple's handset contract free for $55 a month.

Naturally, that also means the devices aren't steeply discounted. You'll have to cough up $400 for an iPhone 4 8GB or $500 for an iPhone 4S 16GB -- far more than signing a two-year contract via major providers, but still a tad cheaper than the full retail price offered by AT&T, Verizon and Sprint (currently $550 and $650).

Cricket's prepaid service offers unlimited voice and text, while data is technically unlimited, but speeds are throttled to 56-100Kb/s if you exceed 2.3GB a month. Based on habits claimed by AT&T and others, only a small percentage of smartphone owners approach such levels, so it shouldn't be a concern for most users.

For the typical user, Cricket's service seems like a great value compared to conventional packages which hit $70 to $80 a month -- especially over the long haul. Cricket says subscribers on major carriers can expect to pay $2,775 over the course of two years, whereas its own customers will pay $1,719 during the same period.

There is at least one tradeoff in the way of coverage as Cricket's network is largely limited to major markets. It covers about 90 million Americans with only 60 million in areas supported by the iPhone (you can view a full list of the launch cities here). That could be a problem if you travel a lot or if you're in the sticks like me.

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Posted in: Cricket,iPhone,month,offers,prepaid,starting

New iPhone rumors: 20% thinner with 4-inch screen and Gorilla Glass 2

The new iPhone is likely still several months away but information pertaining to the next generation Apple handset is already making the rounds. The latest news on the new iPhone / iPhone 5 / whatever you want to call it comes courtesy of iLounge’s Jeremy Horwitz.

The editor claims that Apple has abandoned the long-rumored teardrop design that most thought would be introduced on the iPhone 4S. Instead, we are told to expect another glass-bodied design that’s somewhat similar to what’s already available on the current generation smartphone. Speaking of glass, Apple will be using Gorilla Glass 2 on sections of the phone. This second generation glass is just as strong as the original but in a thinner sheet.

The new iPhone is expected to be longer and thinner than the 4S, measuring in at roughly 125mm by 58.5mm by 7.7mm. These dimensions make the phone about 10mm taller than the 4S and roughly 2mm thinner while the width is largely unchanged. As a result of the increased height, the phone will ship with a 4-inch screen and for the first time since the original iPhone, there will be a new aspect ratio.

The back of the phone will be a departure from the norm as well. iLounge says that Apple will be adding a metal panel to the middle of the back. The panel will be completely flat and made of metal, not ceramic.

The final big change is a new dock connector. This was rumored to be included on the new iPad but that never actually happened. The new connector is said to be slightly larger than the speaker holes on the iPhone 4 and 4S and look more like a small pill with rounded edges. The change will start with the new iPhone and eventually encompass all iOS devices moving forward.

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Posted in: 4inch,Glass,Gorilla,iPhone,rumors,screen,thinner