If you tend to play on the magenta network, a leaked document out of T-Mobile may require your attention.

According to TmoNews, the carrier will impose new rules for domestic data roaming on April 5. Instead of the unlimited data goodness you’ve likely grown accustomed to, the carrier will cut you off after you burn through an allotted amount of data. Here’s how it’ll work:

Domestic data roaming will not be subject to data speed reduction. The allotment will be reset with each bill cycle. After the allotment is reached, the customer will no longer have data roaming access until they return to the T-Mobile network or connect via Wi-Fi if they have a Wi-Fi capable device.

Truth be told, a good deal of you won’t notice the difference at all. The same system is in use across most of the wireless industry and T-Mo claims it will “help T-Mobile reduce data roaming costs in order to continue providing the most competitive pricing options.”

International voice and data roaming will be left alone, as will domestic voice roaming.

Shortly before the AT&T/T-Mobile merger came to its ignominious end, Dish Network CEO Joseph Clayton casually expressed his interest in a partnership with T-Mobile as a means of bringing wireless voice service to Dish customers.

Those plans may not pan out if AT&T has anything to do with it. A new report from Bloomberg indicates that AT&T is apparently so hard up for additional spectrum that they’re considering shelling out “the highest premium in more than a decade” to acquire the satellite TV provider and their spectrum holdings.

Clayton, ever the opportunist, seemed receptive to the possibility of at acquisition — he noted last week in an interview with Bloomberg West that the company is “open to all possible options.”

“We could be acquired, or we could be the acquirer,” he added.

Clayton’s original vision was to create a “national wireless network” comprised of video, voice, and data services. To that end, Clayton made it known that he would consider a partnership with companies like T-Mobile or Sprint to make it happen. They would get Dish’s spectrum holdings, and Dish would get their expertise in managing voice networks.

It’s questionable whether Dish would ever be able to offer those services if AT&T indeed acquires the company, as it would pose a credible threat to AT&T’s own portfolio of network services. Still, it seems clear that AT&T needs Dish more than Dish needs AT&T at this point.

Clayton seemed more than happy to forge partnerships with the smaller carriers in order make his network vision a reality, but without T-Mobile’s network support, AT&T may be facing a bumpy road when it comes to the rollout of their LTE network. It certainly doesn’t help that AT&T has to yield a portion of their spectrum holdings to Deutsche Telekom as a result of their very-public break up.

Meanwhile, rival Verizon’s LTE network continues to expand (albeit with a few hiccups), and Sprint is also preparing to light up their own around June of this year. Competition will only get stiffer for AT&T in the coming months, and it will take some bold moves for them to stay ahead of the curve. While not the most likely bedfellows, a Dish acquisition could nevertheless be just what the doctor ordered.

Just two years ago, everyone at CES was asking one question: Where are all the Android phones?

If anybody asked that same question this year, they’d be met with blank stares and guffaws. This show has been jammed with Android phone after Android phone since before it even officially started.

The latest one off the line is T-Mobile’s Galaxy S Blaze 4G (bit of a mouthful, eh?), which is the third device to play friendly with T-mobiles 42Mbps HSPA+ network — which, by the way, just saw a bunch of expansion.

Alas, while it’s nearly 3 pages long, T-Mobile’s announcement of the Blaze 4G is pretty light on details. So far, the only things we really know about it are that it’s 42Mbps HSPA+ compatible, that it has a dualcore 1.5Ghz Snapdragon CPU packed inside, and that it’s shipping “later this year”. No price, no specific launch date, and a bunch of specs left mysterious for now.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network saw a bit of expansion, with the 42Mbps network rolling out in 12 new markets and their slightly less speedy 21Mbps network finding its way to 9 new spots. Alas, the announcement also fails to mention.. which regions these are. We’ll update this post as soon as we find out.

T-Mobile also mentioned that they expect to receive AWS spectrum in 128 markets as a result of their deal with AT&T falling through.

Update! Just heard back from T-Mobile. While they couldn’t share any more details on the Blaze 4G specs, they outlined which regions saw expensions.

The New HSPA+ Markets:

21Mbps
Jackson, TN
Longview, TX
Lubbock, TX
Michigan City, IN
Midland, TX
Modesto, CA
Shreveport, LA
Stockton, CA
Tyler, TX

42Mbps
Beaumont, TX
Longview, TX
Michigan City, IN
Midland, TX
Modesto, CA
Mount Vernon, WA
Naples, FL
Punta Gorda, FL
Sandusky, OH
Shreveport, LA
Stockton, CA
Tyler, TX

With the AT&T-T-Mobile merger officially dead, Sprint is taking a moment to reflect on their own wisdom in opposing it from the beginning.

A press release lauds the retraction of the bid as “the right decision,” says that success would have meant “an undeniable duopoly,” and commends the DoJ and FCC for a job well done. Very effusive, as they have every reason to be.

After all, what they have have indeed been saying since the beginning — the duopoly, job losses, and so on — was in all likelihood true. And while it would have been bad for consumers, it might have been fatal to Sprint. Competing against one hundred-million-subscriber carrier is hard enough; competing against two would have made things intolerable. A couple years in such harsh environment might have relegated them to the dungeon occupied by local and specialty carriers.

Now, not only do they not have to deal with that duopoly, but AT&T will be shelling out billions and their long-term plans will be interrupted. Sprint, on the other hand, has been positioning itself based on the assumption that the merger would not go through, and they will emerge from this with their reputation as a customer-driven company intact and shinier than ever.

We heard earlier today that AT&T and T-Mobile couldn’t find buyers for assets that could help make their merger a reality, but now there’s no need to worry about it: AT&T has just announced that the deal is officially dead.

In a recent release (reproduced in full below), AT&T lays the blame on the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice and states that the actions of two governmental bodies “do not change the realities of the U.S. wireless industry.”

They go on to say the the merger would have been an interim solution to the spectrum allocation issue that plagues the industry, and that without the merger, “customers will be harmed and needed investment will be stifled.” Harsh words from AT&T, and ones that may not be true if the contents of an FCC staff report are to be believed.

Released shortly after AT&T and T-Mobile withdrew their merger application, the staff report called into question the claims that the merger “would serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity.” In their investigation, the FCC determined among other things that approving the merger would drastically reduce competition and investment in the wireless space, contrary to AT&T’s claims of jobs and mobile broadband for all.

As far as the FCC is concerned, today’s is a big win for consumers and a big blow to AT&T. And I mean a big blow — with the merger in ruins, AT&T must shell out $4 billion to T-Mobile USA parent company Deutsche Telekom in the form of money and spectrum access. What’s more, the death of the merger will also see AT&T and T-Mobile entering into a roaming agreement, the fruits of which we may have already started to see.

So, after all those months of legal maneuvering, the case has finally come to a close. While AT&T couldn’t close the deal, other companies are already looking to get cozy with T-Mobile: satellite television provider Dish was eyeing up smaller carrier recently, and company CEO Joseph Clayton mentioned he was open to a network partnership with the magenta-hued carrier.

Developing…

The Samsung Galaxy S II is a very special phone. Even though it’s been on the market for quite some time now, it’s still one of the more beastly competitors on Android-flavored shelves.

Of course, it’s always had the price tag to prove it, going for between $230 and $250 just about everywhere. But T-Mobile has a pretty sweet deal going on a white Samsung Galaxy S II for this weekend only, and it could save you up to $130.

The white Galaxy S II hasn’t been available for that long, so if the new new thing is all that matters to you then fear not. The deal is only available online, so don’t go traipsing into a T-Mobile asking for your $99 Samsung Galaxy S II. After a $50 mail-in rebate and a signature on the dotted line of a two-year contract, T-Mobile is slashing $130 off one of the most popular phones of the year.

I have yet to see such a great deal on the GS II, so if you’re into white phones and are ready to sign your soul over to T-Mobile (possibly, again), head over to T-Mo’s web site and get the ball rolling.

[via Unwired View]

Nokia will be officially pulling back the curtains later on tonight, but the cat’s out of the bag: the company’s first U.S. Windows Phone is the Lumia 710, which will debut on T-Mobile with a $50 price tag on January 11.

Sure, it isn’t as svelte or as colorful as its brother the Lumia 800, but the Mango-powered 710 does share the same internals. The Lumia 710 sports a 1.4 GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage — nothing that sounds super-impressive, but we’ve seen before that Mango doesn’t need the latest and greatest hardware in order to run like butter.

The Lumia’s 3.7-inch ClearBack LCD display and the 5-megapixel rear-mounted camera aren’t too shabby either, and the customers can pick up the entire package in black or white. We’ve seen the 710 sport some funky-colored backplates in the past too, so I wouldn’t expect the chromatically choosy to suffer without some color for long.

With the 710, Nokia and T-Mobile have set their sights on first-time smartphone owners (a Nokia data sheet calls them “smartphone intenders”), and T-Mobile customers could do far worse for $50. Going after beginner smartphone users is a solid strategy for Nokia (and Microsoft by extension) — if they can get first-timers hooked on the simple, elegant functionality that Windows Phone is known for, they may be able to lock down those users for the long haul.

It looks like AT&T and T-Mobile aren’t the only ones preparing for all contingencies: Dish Network CEO Joseph Clayton said in an interview with Bloomberg that if the pending merger were to fail, he would consider striking up a partnership with T-Mobile.

Strange move, no? Not necessarily — Dish Network picked up some wireless spectrum on the cheap when they acquired DBSD and Terrestar, both of whom had filed for bankruptcy. Instead of flipping their spectrum for some easy revenue, Clayton says that the company has bigger plans for it.

“We want to use it to create a national wireless network, video, voice and data. We’ve got expertise in satellite-TV, and we will in satellite broadband. The voice part, we’ll need some help with.”

That’s where T-Mobile comes in. Dish would get T-Mobile’s expertise in providing voice services while T-Mobile’s network gets a kick in the pants thanks to Dish’s spectrum holdings. A move like that could definitely give T-Mobile a bit more clout when stacked up to the rest of their national rivals, though how much the balance of power would shift is questionable.

Ever the schemer, Clayton seems to have a plan for every possibility. The company can approach T-Mobile regarding a formal partnership if the AT&T merger doesn’t pan out, but Dish will also be there to snatch up network assets that AT&T and T-Mobile may have to divest in order to get the FCC’s blessing. And, failing that, Clayton is also considering Sprint as a potential network partner.

It wouldn’t be the first time a television service provider has expressed an interest in scooping up assets from a mobile operator — Comcast and Time Warner Cable were eyeing Clearwire up as recently as this past August, though Sprint’s recent sign of commitment to its ailing network partner may have put an end to that.

When AT&T and T-Mobile decided to regroup and withdraw their merger application a few weeks back, I’m not sure they expected it to backfire the way it just has. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Justice is looking to postpone (or possibly withdraw) its antitrust case because the original merger application was summarily yanked off the FCC’s table.

So what does that mean for the deal? Nothing good.

Ever since the U.S. Department of Justice filed their lawsuit, AT&T and T-Mobile have vocally maintained that a speedy trial would have to be the way to go — any legal foot-dragging would supposedly lessen the value of the merger. Judge Ellen Huvelle decided months ago that the antitrust trial would begin in February 2012, which neither party had qualms with, but the new request could mean that AT&T and T-Mobile will be locked up in these legal proceedings for even longer than they had hoped.

It’s also worth mentioning that Judge Huvelle isn’t terribly thrilled with AT&T and T-Mobile’s application withdrawal. She’s now reconsidering the speed of the trial, and is also frustrated by the possibility that the two companies could work up a new deal for the FCC’s approval. Let’s hope that isn’t what’s going on, since it would have made the last few months a huge waste of time.

The longer this whole process takes, the greater the chance that something else goes wrong. And let’s not forget the small (but non-zero) chance that T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom could pull the kill-switch and bail out entirely if the merger’s prospects look grim enough. AT&T is also preparing for the worst: they’ve set aside $4 billion just in case they need to fulfill their compensatory obligations if the deal falls apart.

If the request is approved, the two companies have a choice to make — press on in hopes that the FCC is a little more benevolent this time around, or call it quits and go home. It’s a tough call, but we’ll just have to see what AT&T and T-Mobile come up with.

Yesterday something strange happened. YouMail, a visual voicemail app with millions of downloads, was pulled from the Android Market. Confused, YouMail reached out to Google about what the dealio was, only to hear that T-Mobile had requested that the app be pulled. T-Mobile complained to Google of “adverse network disruption,” which was blamed squarely on YouMail.

According to YouMail’s blog post, the company hadn’t heard anything from T-Mobile concerning the issue. But GigaOm is reporting that they’ve received a statement from T-Mobile that paints a different picture.

We reached out to YouMail in early November and asked them to address issues with their application that were negatively impacting our customers’ experience. We’re in contact with YouMail and they are working to resolve these issues. Once they do, we’ll be glad to once again support their application.

So here we are in the midst of a lovely little “he said, she said” argument. The good news is T-Mo and YouMail are already in talks according to the pink carrier so this should be resolved soon. We’ll keep you in the loop once we know more.

T-Mobile is unveiling a promotion with mobile payments company Square this week. Basically, T-Mobile is offering its business users an upgrade plan where they can get a 4G Pro smartphone, and an unlimited data, talk and text plan for $69.99 with a two-year contract extension.

But along with all of the above, T-Mobile is chipping in a free Square mobile payments credit card reader with a 4G smartphone upgrade. This appears to be the first promotion of Square by a carrier, which should provide nice publicity for the mobile payments startup.

Square first got a major promotion earlier this year when Apple began selling the mobile payments readers in its retail locations and e-commerce site. Now, Square is sold at 9,000 retail locations, which include Apple, Best Buy, Radio Shack, Target and Wal-Mart.

A few weeks ago, Square, which is processing $11 million in payments per day, launched its own marketing campaign to encourage existing users to give their favorite entrepreneur or small business owner a mobile payments device as a holiday gift.

So remember that staff report the FCC released a few days ago? It was basically a novella-length rant on how horrible the AT&T/T-Mobile merger would be, and how many of AT&T’s arguments were flawed. Releasing the document in the first place was a bit unorthodox, as AT&T had withdrawn its application before the FCC had opened the report up to the public.

The FCC offered up reasons for releasing it though, transparency being the most important one. Still, AT&T is seriously displeased with the alleged one-sidedness of the report, and has released its own lengthy response to the report’s findings:

We expected that the AT&T-T-Mobile transaction would receive careful, considered, and fair analysis. Unfortunately, the preliminary FCC Staff Analysis offers none of that. The document is so obviously one-sided that any fair-minded person reading it is left with the clear impression that it is an advocacy piece, and not a considered analysis.

In our view, the report raises questions as to whether its authors were predisposed. The report cherry-picks facts to support its views, and ignores facts that don’t. Where facts were lacking, the report speculates, with no basis, and then treats its own speculations as if they were fact. This is clearly not the fair and objective analysis to which any party is entitled, and which we have every right to expect.

All any company can properly ask when they present a matter to the government is a fair hearing and objective treatment based on factual findings. The FCC’s report makes clear that neither occurred on our merger, at least within the pages of this report. This has not been our past experience with the agency, which lets us hope for and expect better in the future.

AT&T then goes on to re-argue each of its original points that the FCC had so summarily shot down, including LTE expansion to 97 percent of Americans, job creation vs. job losses, and competition. According to AT&T, the report’s conclusion that AT&T will build out its LTE network to cover 97 percent of the U.S. population with or without the merger is false.

The report says this will occur because AT&T will be forced to do so by competition, despite documents and sworn declarations by AT&T to the contrary. To argue this, the report apparently assumes a high enough level of competition exists in rural areas to compel billions of dollars in investment. Yet the report elsewhere argues that the level of wireless competition in more populated areas of America is so fragile that the merger must be disallowed. At the very least, these conclusions show a logical inconsistency.

The blue carrier even brings up President Obama’s 2011 State of the Union Address, where he called deployment of mobile broadband to 98 percent of Americans an imperative. “It appears the FCC did not inform the President that in their view this was not a needed or worthy objective because it was apparently going to happen anyway,” said Jim Cicconi, AT&T senior executive VP of external & legislative affairs. Not the most pointed argument I’ve seen, but hey! Why not stir the pot?

AT&T also takes issue with the fact that the FCC has totally shot down its job creation claims. The report states that since AT&T will deploy its LTE network to 97 percent of the population anyway (with or without T-Mobile), it will yield no new jobs.

Yet, just two weeks ago the FCC announced that its new $4.5 billion broadband fund, which will help to deploy wireline broadband to a much smaller number of Americans–7 million– over the same time period, will create “approximately 500,000 jobs and $50 billion in economic growth over this period.” This notion — that government spending on broadband deployment creates jobs and economic growth, but private investment does not—makes no sense. Conversely, if the FCC had applied to its own broadband fund the same analysis it used for our merger-related investments, the result would be similar—zero new broadband, zero jobs, zero growth.

What’s interesting is that AT&T has plans to try, try again to acquire T-Mobile. Still, it sees no harm in basically waging war against the FCC over this report. The FCC itself has said that report is meant to be an informal analysis of the deal, yet releasing it certainly hurts AT&T’s future hopes of buying T-Mobile. Either way, calling out FCC officials as being questionably “predisposed” against the merger is a serious accusation, and one that’s not likely going to go over well in the FCC offices.

In the wake of withdrawing its application to acquire T-Mobile, AT&T has hit yet another obstacle otherwise known as the FCC. See, before AT&T pulled its application, the FCC had big plans to put the deal before an administrative law judge, effectively prolonging the process and magnifying the details of the merger. As part of those big plans, the FCC had compiled an 109-page report with their findings during the review process. AT&T had expected this massive report to stay under the rug since it had withdrawn its application, but the FCC feels it “furthers transparency.”

And what, might you ask, is in this staff report?

Really, really bad news for AT&T. From the FCC’s official release:

The draft hearing designation order concluded, based on the staff’s analysis, that the record overall does not support a finding that the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger would serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity and that the record presents a number of substantial and material questions of fact.

But wait, there’s more:

In the report, the staff finds that the transaction, which would result in the top two wireless providers having a market share of approximately 75 percent, would substantially lessen competition and its accompanying innovation, investment, and consumer price and service benefits, thus undermining key goals of the Communications Act. Indeed, the staff notes that the unprecedented increase in market concentration that would result from this merger triggers the Commission’s screening tests for possible anti-competitive effects in a large number of local wireless markets.

In other words, the report stands behind the claim that this deal will cause a very real duopoly, or at the very least, force the FCC to investigate. But the blue carrier still has a few tricks up its sleeve, right? Two of AT&T’s biggest talking points during this persuasion have been job creation and the acquisition of much-needed spectrum. The FCC staff report had this to say on the matter:

The staff also explains that the economic and engineering models on which the Applicants (AT&T/DT AG/T-Mobile) rely to show consumer benefits are, in the staff’s assessment, unreliable and, at a minimum, raise substantial and material questions of fact. The staff additionally identifies internal AT&T documents and consistent historical practices that contradict AT&T’s claim that merging with T-Mobile is essential for AT&T to build out its LTE network to 97 percent of Americans. The staff finds the Applicants’ assertions that the transaction would create jobs in the United States to be inconsistent with AT&T’s internal analyses and record statements concerning cost reductions from the merger. The staff also finds that there are serious questions whether the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile would cause other public harms that are not offset by the claimed benefits.

Sentence by sentence, the FCC has whittled AT&T’s argument down to a tooth pick. And it seems like releasing this report falls into a bit of a grey area (now that AT&T’s withdrawn its application), which is even more unfortunate for AT&T. The FCC gives some justification for releasing the report, stating that it would be “unfair to the parties and participants” who’ve been working on this deal, and noting that AT&T is still planning on moving forward with this merger, according to its own statement.

AT&T had no idea that the FCC would release this report, and has said the following:

The FCC has recognized that it is required by its own rules to dismiss our merger application. This makes all the more troubling their decision to nonetheless release a preliminary staff report on the merger. This report is not an order of the FCC and has never been voted on. It is simply a staff draft that raises questions of fact that were to be addressed in an administrative hearing, a hearing which will not now take place. It has no force or effect under law, which raises questions as to why the FCC would choose to release it. The draft report has also not been made available to AT&T prior to today, so we have had no opportunity to address or rebut its claims, which makes its release all the more improper.

Last week, we got an invite for a mysterious Google press event that’s being held in Los Angeles this Wednesday. The event didn’t give any details as to what we could expect, but it’s widely believed to feature the launch of an improved version of Google Music. And the invitation also contained another clue: an image of a warehouse that includes a small T-Mobile sign, among other things.

Now we’ve just received a second invitation — this time to “Experience The World of T-Mobile & Google”, complete with guest appearances by several big-name music artists: Drake, Maroon 5, Busta Rhymes, Dirty South, and R3HAB. This is obviously the after-party (it starts at 9PM, while the other invite is for 2PM). But the fact that T-Mobile is featured so prominently seems to indicate that it will play a major part in the news earlier in the day as well.

The other clue from the original invite: the event is going to be livestreamed via the Android YouTube Channel, which isn’t surprising given that tight Google Music integration is a key feature on Android. But perhaps T-Mobile has some more Android-related news on the way as well. A T-Mobile version of the Galaxy Nexus seems like a strong candidate.

We knew it was coming. First J&R prematurely listed the tab for pre-order, and then Samsung came out with an official announcement, which leads us to today: T-Mobile has finally confirmed availability and pricing for the dual-core Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus.

In need of a refresher? No problem.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is one of T-Mobile’s many 4G-enabled tablets, meaning it runs on T-Mo’s HSPA+ network. The slate is powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb, and packs 16GB of internal memory (expandable with up to a 32GB memory card). The 7-inch WVGA display sports a 1024×600 resolution — not quite on par with the GalTab 7.7, but respectable nonetheless. You’ll find a 3-megapixel rear camera capable of video capture in 720p and 1080p playback, along with a 2-megapixel front-facing shooter for video chat.

All in all, the .76lb tab is a pretty sweet little 7-incher. But the 7-inch category is lighting up, with offerings from Barnes & Noble and Amazon. The question is whether or not T-Mo’s HSPA+ network can pull people away from the lighter experiences being offered by these book sellers. Especially since these devices’ price tags are so similar.

If interested, you can pick up a Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus at T-Mobile for $249.99 with a two-year agreement and a $50 mail-in rebate. Slates hit shelves November 16.

If you are of the opinion that two screens are better than one, I come bearing good news. LG’s new DoublePlay smartphone has today been made available at T-Mobile.

We first got a peek at the device back in June, though we were pretty uncertain on details at that point. Then a leaked T-Mo roadmap shed some light, which leads us to today’s official launch. The LG DoublePlay’s claim to fame are its dual screens — one 3.5-inch primary screen, with a 2-inch secondary screen landing square in the middle of its split QWERTY keyboard.

The screens can work in tandem on a single task, or can be used separately to, say, update your Facebook and send a text at the same time. The DoublePlay touts a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread. You’ll find a 5-megapixel camera on the back, equipped with LED flash, auto focus, and the ability to capture 720p video. Unfortunately, there’s no front-facing cam for the DoublePlay, so hopefully multi-tasking is more important to potential buyers than video chat.

LG understands that not everyone enjoys QWERTY keyboards, and has preloaded the Swype application along with T-Mobile’s Group Text and Cloud Text services.

We originally thought the DoublePlay would go for $149 on-contract (courtesy of that leaked roadmap), but it would seem that the phone gods are in a good mood today. The LG DoublePlay will retail for $99 on a new two-year contract, and is ready to be picked up at a T-Mobile store today.

I’m no proponent of cheap phones (after a few years of monthly dues, that money you save up front is a drop in the bucket) — but if you insist, T-Mobile’s got a new one for you. They’ve just announced the Exhibit 4G II, a mid-range Android handset that’ll set you back just $30 with contract — or, if you’re looking to steer clear of commitments, a still rather-wallet-friendly $200.

While no powerhouse, the specs don’t fall too short for the price. Hell — a year ago, these would’ve been edging toward top tier. The Exhibit 4G II has a 3.7″ display (800×480), with a 1Ghz Snapdragon CPU tucked inside. It’s got a 3 megapixel camera on the back, and a camera of unspecified resolution (presumably VGA) around front. It’s all powered by Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) for now, with no word on whether or not they’ll ever bump it up to the just announced Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

The Exhibit 4G II will hit the shelves on November 2nd, though Walmart has a few days of exclusivity beginning on October 27th.

If you’ve had your eye on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 or Huawei’s new Springboard tablet, the sign-up pages for both devices have just popped up on T-Mobile’s site. On November 7, you’ll be able to pick up a new Springboard tab for no more than $200. We’re still unclear on exact pricing, but TmoNews seems to think it’ll go for $179.99 with a two-year contract. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, on the other hand, will be available on November 2 along with a number of other handsets.

As far as GalTab pricing goes, things are still a mystery. The Wifi-only editions are priced between $499 and $599, so a two-year agreement could bring that down to around $299 or $399. But we’ll have to wait for official word to be sure.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 sports a 10.1-inch 1280×800 WXGA LCD display, a 3-megapixel rear camera ready for 720p video capture and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat. The slate runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb over a 1GHz dual-core processor in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB memory options.

The Springboard tablet from Huawei is a little 7-inch tab with Android 3.2 Honeycomb running the show. Under the hood, you’ll find a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, along with a 5-megapixel rear camera (720p video capture) on the back and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing shooter for video chat. Both slates support Adobe Flash.

If you’re looking for more information on either slate, head here for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and here for the T-Mobile Springboard.

Calling all T-Mobile Windows Phone fans — you can finally put your aging HD7s out to pasture. T-Mobile has just announced that the Mango-powered HTC Radar will officially debut on November 2, and it’ll cost you just a hair under $100 after a $50 mail-in rebate.

The Radar is the first new Windows Phone to hit T-Mobile since the platform went live late last year, but it doesn’t look like much of an improvement on paper. It sports a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, 512MB of RAM, a 5MP rear camera — nothing that will make your socks roll up and down, but it’s reportedly more than enough for Mango to strut its stuff.

People used to the HD7′s big display may feel a little constrained working with the Radar’s 3.8-inch WVGA SLCD display, but they may just have to get used to it. T-Mobile hasn’t hinted at any more Windows Phones coming down the pipeline anytime soon, so fans of devices like the HTC Titan may have to turn elsewhere for their big-screen fix.

T-Mobile is getting geared up for the holidays in a big way, and the Radar is only one part of the puzzle. If a leaked roadmap is to be believed, T-Mobile has 5 more phones waiting in the wings for a simultaneous launch on November 2nd, so new and current customers may soon find themselves awash in choices.

While the dual-screen Kyocera Echo didn’t do much to tickle my fancy, a couple dual-screen devices on their way to market, including the Sony S2 tablet, show much more promise. As far as handsets go, T-Mobile just announced the Android-powered LG DoublePlay (codenamed Flip II) smartphone — a split-keybord QWERTY slider with not one, but two, capacitive touch screens.

T-Mobile is calling the DoublePlay the “ultimate multi-tasking tool,” as the dual-screens will allow users do two things at once, such as surf the web on the main screen and update their Facebook on the smaller screen. The screens can also be used in tandem, though I’m unsure how something like a web page, for example, would look across one 3.5-inch screen and one 2-inch screen.

Other specs include a 1GHz Snapdragon processor powering Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, auto focus, and 720p video capture, along with access to T-Mobile’s Group Text and Cloud Text services. If the split QWERTY keyboard isn’t your style, the phone also comes pre-loaded with Swype for easier text input.

T-Mobile and LG were unclear about pricing and availability, but according to a leaked T-Mobile roadmap, you can probably expect to see the truffle-colored LG DoublePlay on November 2 for $149 on-contract.