| MacUpdate Weekend Sale | :This weekend MacUpdate has slashed prices on Painter 12 and Painter Lite. Painter 12 retails for $429, but has been reduced by 54% to $199. Painter Lite has seen a 58% price cut from $69 to $29. Hurry, because these deals are only available until May 19th 2013. |
Shareholders of MetroPCS have reportedly approved the merger of the carrier with the fourth-largest mobile phone network, the Deutsche Telekom-owned T-Mobile USA. A shareholder vote for the proposal is the last hurdle for the merger to take place, after both the FCC and Department of Justice gave their approval last month with no negative commentary.
Dish Network has announced it wishes to merge with Sprint, at a cost of $25.5 billion. The proposal from the satellite service provider could potentially derail the current attempt by Japanese carrier SoftBank to purchase Sprint, a deal worth around $20 billion that has been in progress since October last year.
Alltel has announced that it is now shipping four Android handsets: LG's Axis, Samsung's Gem, HTC's Merge and Motorola's Milestone X. Both the Merge and Milestone X, which is better known as the Droid X on Verizon, represent the high-end smartphones equipped with Android 2.2. The Gem and Axis arrive as midrange devices, which have been available since the beginning of the year.
Celluar South has announced that it is set to ship HTC's Merge handset preloaded with Amazon's Appstore app. Although the device is already confirmed for a separate launch through Alltel, the Cellular South offering notably represents the first Android device to be paired with Amazon's app portal as a preloaded addition to the basic features.
Alltel confirmed it would become the first carrier to use the HTC Merge and has given out its first launch details. Pre-orders should start March 28 for the Android slider, which will ship for $125 on a contract. Alltel hasn't said whether the phone will come customized for the network.
The HTC Merge has shown up undergoing testing at the FCC. The listing confirms through an owner's manual that the phone is still on track for Verizon. During its initial unveiling, HTC was careful not to reveal carriers other than to promise a North American release.
Despite a number of early rumors tying HTC's Merge handset to Verizon, the device has resurfaced with Alltel branding. Sources have told Droid-Life the smartphone is in the late stages of testing on Alltel's network, with a launch expected in the next month if the trials are completed successfully.
An accessory case for the HTC Merge smartphone that's expected to be released anytime now has been spotted in a store. The soft case is made by Body Glove and its mere existence could indicate that the Android 2.2 handset is very close to a release date. It could also mean that the device has been delayed, as rumored, since it arrived before the phone itself.
