June 30 - 1:35pm EDT   After today's earlier news of the BlackBerry Tour smartphone coming to Verizon, two more sources have reported the device will soon be offered at another US provider, Alltel, as well as Canada's Bell. While no specifics are known about the Alltel release other than the photos that reveal Alltel branding on the phone, the Bell release of the new BlackBerry has been supported with more specific pricing details. [full story]

June 11 - 12:00pm EDT   Alltel this morning picked up the LG Tritan. Also known as the AX840, the handset has a T-Mobile G1-like design with a 3-inch touchscreen display that slides out to reveal the QWERTY keyboard for messaging. Although not a smartphone, it still has 3G over EVDO Revision A as well as a 3-megapixel camera and true GPS for use with Alltel's Navigator app. [full story]

June 4 - 11:55am EDT   Alltel Wireless has announced that it will soon offer one-year service contracts for new or renewing subscribers in certain areas. The company claims the phone prices will remain level with the two-year pricing. If true, the carrier would diverge from many of its peers that typically place considerably higher price tags on handsets that are acquired with a shorter contract. [full story]

May 28 - 11:15am EDT   A federal District of Washington court yesterday rejected (PDF) objections to a class action lawsuit that accuses the carrier of abusive behavior in transition customers to its service. The plaintiffs can now bring their complaints, which center on what they claim are unfair practices in moving customers to its network in 2004 when it was still called Cingular; those from the then-smaller, separate AT&T were allegedly not only pulled off a network that was "dismantled" in favor of a poorer Cingular network but were forced to move to more expensive cellphone plans, replace phones and to pay early termination fees if they didn't want to remain on the network. [full story]

May 22 - 2:20pm EDT   Cricket gained one of its highest-end phones yet today with the addition of the Motorola QA4 Evoke to its roster. It becomes the unlimited-only carrier's first capacitive touchscreen phone and, like the stock model, has a gesture-driven interface that lets users swipe between home screens that control apps, calling, music and other features. A 2-megapixel camera, GPS and a microSDHC slot round out the device. [full story]

May 8 - 4:45pm EDT   (Update at end with official information) AT&T is nearing buying up most of the markets Verizon has to shed from Alltel as part of its buyout, purported sources said on Friday. Of the 24 areas that won't be rolled into Verizon's network, AT&T is believed to be buying 18 and would leave the remaining six for smaller carriers as well as private equity firms. It's not known how close a deal may be. [full story]

May 1 - 4:55pm EDT   Verizon has asked the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau for a 60-day extension to complete divesting the markets it currently shares with Alltel, with which it recently merged. The wireless provider is citing the poor state of the economy as one reason for the request, as well as the sheer size of its assets, with each marketing area containing about 200 pages worth of assets that need to be auctioned off. When the Verizon merger with Alltel was approved, it was under the condition that it divests from 105 markets where Verizon and Alltel services overlap. [full story]

April 23 - 3:05pm EDT   Alltel Wireless on Thursday announced it will soon be offering the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 smartphone on its network. The clamshell handset has a dual LCD display, with the larger, internal display's resolution set at 240x320 pixels. Once opened up, the familiar design remains with a SureType keyboard and access to driving directions and other mapping over GPS, which replaces the Wi-Fi from the Pearl Flip 8220 on T-Mobile. [full story]

April 16 - 5:00pm EDT   Alltel Wireless on Thursday announced it is now offering the new Motorola Evoke QA4 touchscreen handset that was released and tested at the recent CTIA Wireless show. The slider handset has a 2.8-inch capacitive touch display that hides a 12-button keypad and is a first for Motorola. The phone also has a 2-megapixel camera and a GPS receiver that can be used with the Alltel Navigation service. The provider's TV on Demand service can also be accessed from the Evoke QA4. [full story]

March 31 - 8:00pm EDT   Samsung's Finesse handset is now available for purchase on the MetroPCS website. The smartphone is the carrier's second-most expensive handset behind the BlackBerry Curve 8330 in red and is basically a re-branded version of the Samsung Delve offered by Alltel. While it resembles the Instinct, it lacks the touch buttons for call and menu functions. [full story]

March 27 - 3:10pm EDT   First spotted last winter, Motorola's Hint QA30 slider phone with a full QWERTY keyboard is due to be offered exclusively in Canada by provider Bell Mobility starting on April 9th, says a Thursday MobileSyrup note. Pricing will be nearly $330 CAD (about $266) for the handset without a contract, or $280 ($226), $180 ($145) and $130 ($105) when purchased with 1-year, 2-year and 3-year contracts, respectively. [full story]

March 18 - 4:55pm EDT   The call quality among various wireless voice network providers has held steady over the last 18 months while the gap between the best performing networks and the worst is disappearing, says a recent JD Power and Associates report, though Verizon is still at the top of the list. On average, its customers have reported just 15 problems per 100 (PP100) calls as related to voice quality, the ability to make connections and the number of drops. [full story]

March 17 - 12:05pm EDT   Carrier Alltel Wireless has adopted a new Motorola phone for sale, the VE465. Though not intended as a high-end device, the phone does sport RAZR-like styling in a clamshell design, and EVDO support for faster downloads through the likes of Alltel's Music Connect service. Bluetooth A2DP support is built-in as well, along with GPS navigation. [full story]

March 12 - 11:55pm EDT   Alltel is set to release the LG Banter, a slider handset that appears to offer the same features as the Rumor 2 but with slightly reworked cosmetics. The messaging phone offers a QWERTY keyboard, but with an additional fourth row of keys. Other specs include a two-inch screen, 1.3-megapixel camera, microSD card slot and interchangeable face and back plates. [full story]

March 5 - 10:50am EST   Alltel today claimed a small victory on Thursday with the official launch of its version of the Palm Treo Pro. Beating the Sprint edition by over a week, Alltel's model is now the first Windows Mobile device to use Internet Explorer Mobile 6 and should provide much more representative views of websites, including through Flash and Silverlight support. The carrier doesn't mention any network-specific features, however, beyond supporting faster 3G over EVDO Revision A. [full story]