Lauren Goode

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Sony Xperia Z, Nokia Lumia 925 Come to T-Mobile as Carrier Expands LTE Network

The iPhone and Samsung Galaxy smartphones may be best sellers for T-Mobile, but that doesn’t mean the wireless carrier, which has been making bold moves in recent months with its “un-plans,” has forgotten about other device makers.

The Xperia Z, Sony’s new, waterproof, Android-based smartphone, will be available exclusively through T-Mobile starting July 17. The phone will cost $100, with a two-year payment commitment of $20 per month. It has a 5-inch, full HD display, a 13-megapixel camera with an HDR sensor made specifically for smartphone image-capturing, and a 1.5 Ghz quad-core Qualcomm processor.

T-Mobile also said that the Nokia Lumia 925 will be available starting July 17, for $50 down plus the $20-dollar monthly installments. This one’s T-Mobile’s first 4G/LTE Windows Phone. It has a 4.5-inch display, the same quad-core processor and some of Nokia’s “PureView” technology built into its 8.7-megapixel camera.

Last but not least — although tablets make up significantly less of T-Mobile’s business than smartphones — T-Mobile will roll out a software update to the coming weeks to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, making the tablet LTE-compatible.

All three devices, in fact, are 4G/LTE-compatible, and part of T-Mobile’s larger effort to catch up to Verizon and AT&T and build out its high-speed network across the country. Currently, the company’s network is live in 116 metro areas, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago and Boston. Back in June, the company made a big investment — $308 million — to fund the expansion of the network.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said T-Mobile would roll out a new, LTE version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 in the coming weeks. T-Mobile is actually introducing a software update that will make the existing tablet, LTE-compatible.

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Another gadget you don’t really need. Will not work once you get it home. New model out in 4 weeks. Battery life is too short to be of any use.

— From the fact sheet for a fake product entitled Useless Plasticbox 1.2 (an actual empty plastic box) placed in L.A.-area Best Buy stores by an artist called Plastic Jesus