HoFo Blog

From The Web:

Limited edition Xiaomi 12T Pro brings contemporary art look inspired by sculptural objects

Android 13 now arriving on Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3; expands to Fold 4 and Flip 4 in US

Google Pixel 7 vs. Pixel 6a

Workers are protesting in China’s vast ‘iPhone city’

Here’s how to access free data while travelling to the U.S.

From The Forums:

Thanksgiving 2022

How to add new device to TF account without activating?

Will an unlocked TracFone work in Cuba

How can I set up a paygo expiry reminder?

Activating Straight Talk iPhone

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Amazon (Canada) goes live with ‘Early Black Friday’ tech deals

Amazon's Fitbit Black Friday wearable tech deals are go

Best Black Friday smartwatch and fitness tracker deals of 2022

This $28 Black Friday deal on the Amazfit Band 5 is perfect for outrunning holiday stress

Apple AirPods Pro 2 review

From The Forums:

How do you keep a spare TF activated?

What does "add a line" mean?

What's cheapest way to extend my Tracfone service for 1 year?

Trial/Test eSIM plan with phone number

US Mobile new plans

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

It’s not just you, Fitbit is partially down with sync and data issues

More and more people are using ‘Samsung’ as their password

Rogers-Shaw deal: Merger will hurt low-income Canadians the most, tribunal hears

CRTC chair Ian Scott says Canada needs more wireless competition

4 Million Canadians Ready to Upgrade to 5G Shows Survey

From The Forums:

Unlocking new refurb Tracfone active after 60 days

Cheapest esim plan for calls/text/data

Trac phones

T-Mobile $20 Per Month Data Plan For Businesses

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Top 10 trending phones of week 46

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE gets One UI 5.0 update, Tab S6 Lite receives Android 12L

The best cheap Motorola phones in 2022

Mint Mobile is giving away up to 6 months of free service for Black Friday

Freedom Mobile Black Friday Plan 2022: $40/30GB Unlimited Data Plan

From The Forums:

Difficulty getting Google Pixel phones onto TracFone

Getting a new phone - any good deals to add service?

iPhone 11 Charging Question

Good cheap phones during Black Fri sales?

Network Pass and previous customers

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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It's time for a new thread of the week, our way of recognizing forum members for promoting valuable discussion here.

Every weekday yours truly posts a morning briefing, including the most popular forum threads—that is, the posts with the most replies—for the previous 24 hour period. For reference, here are the briefings for the past seven days:

Your Morning Briefing for Monday, November 14th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, November 15th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, November 16th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, November 17th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, November 18th, 2022

Remember that the Monday briefing includes forum posts from the prior Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so all weekend posts are similarly eligible.

In each briefing, forum posts are ranked by the number of replies (from highest to lowest). That's subject to change, of course, so I did a quick recount of replies for all forum posts in the briefings above. With 19 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

Orbic Journey V (RC2200L)

Congrats to Slepy for starting our one hundred and forty-ninth thread of the week! As a small token of our appreciation, please enjoy a monthlong Premium Membership on us. Benefits include ad-free browsing, increased private message count, access to a subscriber-only forum, extra attachment space, a referral/affiliate signature link, the ability to post referrals, and a custom avatar and user title!

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Samsung Galaxy A52 gets Android 13 and One UI 5

Here’s every smartphone confirmed to use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip

iPhone 14 Pro's A16 Bionic Outperforms Latest Snapdragon 8 Chip Coming to Android Phones Later This Year

Flashback: the Nokia X series or how the Android dream turned into a short snooze

Nokia X30 5G review: a pure view of mediocrity

From The Forums:

Roaming in the Cayman Islands

HSN problems

Those in CA with a problem with TMobile...

Joining a group plan

Verizon: C-Band Will Be Ubiquitous

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 unveiled: faster, more efficient, with ray tracing and Wi-Fi 7

T-Mobile's upgraded Ultra Capacity 5G network is now nationwide

These Pixel Fold renders are almost as sensational as the phone's rumored launch price

Details on the next Pixel phones are already leaking

Motorola US launches Black Friday deals with discounts on Razr, Edge and G Stylus phones

From The Forums:

LG G8 (Verizon unlocked) question LTE band

Who can find cellular operator with mcc: 310 (USA) mnc: 991 ?

AT&T adds "5G+" mid-band to online coverage map tool

Roaming in Canada

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

The best smartwatches for Android users

The Garmin Bounce is an LTE smartwatch to help parents track their kids

Google rolling out first Pixel Watch app update with Fitbit upgrades

Garmin Venu Sq 2 review: Squaring up to Apple

Motorola Moto Watch 70 listed on Best Buy Canada

From The Forums:

T-Mobile Launches Mid-Band Standalone 5G "Nationwide"

Unable to add active line to existing account today.

Text messages do not immediately appear.

"Black Friday: Save up to 50% off a Red Pocket Mobile Annual Plan"

Mysterious auto-refill that I never opted for

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Google will improve location tracking disclosures and controls as it settles US privacy investigation

Apple Is Tracking You Even When Its Own Privacy Settings Say It’s Not, New Research Says

Telus tried to ‘kill, slow and shape’ $26-billion Rogers-Shaw deal, board presentation shows

Distributel proposed to buy Freedom Mobile, but its offers were ignored

The embarrassing days of Android brands caught tweeting from iPhones are coming to an end

From The Forums:

Is This an Example of Data Deprioritization?

Can't activate on TF website today

Is my Phone unlocked?

iPhone ReFurb Order Status

Red Pocket Verizon superior to US Mobile (in certain areas) ?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Top 10 trending phones of week 45

Samsung US early Black Friday deals include discounted foldables, Galaxy S models and Tab S8 slates

How to set up eSIM on a new iPhone

Best Black Friday audio deals of 2022: Earbuds, headphones, and speakers

This week in Canadian telecom: Rogers-Shaw hearing

From The Forums:

Orbic Journey V (RC2200L)

Who should I trust here - sickw or Tracfone?

New Messages app for Android with chat features

Price Change?

iphone 14

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

It's time for a new thread of the week, our way of recognizing forum members for promoting valuable discussion here.

Every weekday yours truly posts a morning briefing, including the most popular forum threads—that is, the posts with the most replies—for the previous 24 hour period. For reference, here are the briefings for the past seven days:

Your Morning Briefing for Monday, November 7th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, November 8th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, November 9th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, November 10th, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, November 11th, 2022

Remember that the Monday briefing includes forum posts from the prior Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so all weekend posts are similarly eligible.

In each briefing, forum posts are ranked by the number of replies (from highest to lowest). That's subject to change, of course, so I did a quick recount of replies for all forum posts in the briefings above. With 29 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

AT&T Vs. Verizon Coverage

Congrats once again to Jim1348 for starting our one hundred and forty-eighth thread of the week! As a small token of our appreciation, please enjoy a monthlong Premium Membership on us. Benefits include ad-free browsing, increased private message count, access to a subscriber-only forum, extra attachment space, a referral/affiliate signature link, the ability to post referrals, and a custom avatar and user title!

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

From The Web:

Flashback: a look back at Intel-powered smartphones and tablets

Qualcomm confirms Samsung Galaxy S23 series will use only Snapdragon chipsets

Here's every Samsung device that will get 4 Android OS upgrades

Google Store Black Friday 2022 deals start next week: $499 Pixel 7 and $749 Pixel 7 Pro

Social Media Is Dead

From The Forums:

Spin the wheel miracle

Cheapest 2GB plan for Security Camera?

Do TracFones Roam? - Revisited

T-Mobile joins AT&T in fiber fever

S7: Keeps connecting to wrong wifi even after i hit Forget

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

You Can Now Download iOS 16.1.1 and iPadOS 16.1.1 for iPhone and iPad

Apple limits AirDrop in China after its use in protests

TikTok is "unacceptable security risk" and should be removed from app stores, says FCC

Rogers issued $150 million in credits for July outage, Q3 results confirm

Foldable iPhone is now a reality thanks to a year-long DIY project

From The Forums:

Spring Travels to Europe, Help Please?

Tracfone Current Web Site - Awful - Nightmare - Too Complicated

Boost Mobile AT&T Network RCS Support?

Is there any way to enlarge the font for the time? iPhone SE 2020

TCL A3 Phone - Camera Issue

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Fitbit Sense 2 review: No longer makes sense

Garmin’s Instinct Crossover is a rugged smartwatch with analog hands

The best rugged Android phones in 2022

Galaxy S23 series is coming in the first week of February, Korean media says

At least 16 thousand people are still using Pebble smartwatches

From The Forums:

Best 4G or 5G Ethernet Router for GUDP Plan

Revive inactive phone number using rewards

Suggestions To Fix "Not Registered On Network" Error

Q Link Lifeline Service

Getting A New AT&T SIM Card

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Google Pixel Watch could get its first discount as soon as Black Friday

Samsung halts Galaxy Watch 4 update following bricking reports

Samsung November 2022 update rolling out for these Galaxy devices

November security patch hits Pixel 4a and newer

Apple Preparing iOS 16.1.1 as Widespread Wi-Fi Bug Persists

From The Forums:

TF getting aggressive

USMobile...What happened?

T-mobile network pass on TracFone esim

Looking for new phone

HSN Price Guarantee on TF phones?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Worker exodus from world’s largest iPhone factory hits Apple supply chain

The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max will come with ‘longer wait times’ due to factory lockdown

This week in Canadian telecom: tis the season for quarterly reports

Weekly deals: the best smartphone deals from the US, the UK and Germany

Top 10 trending phones of week 44

From The Forums:

AT&T Vs. Verizon Coverage

New company: Mobile X

USMobile experience

How is it that your cellphone "wakes up" when it is moved?

Moto G Stylus 2021 stylus question

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

It's time for a new thread of the week, our way of recognizing forum members for promoting valuable discussion here.

Every weekday yours truly posts a morning briefing, including the most popular forum threads—that is, the posts with the most replies—for the previous 24 hour period. For reference, here are the briefings for the past seven days:

Your Morning Briefing for Monday, October 31st, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, November 1st, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, November 3rd, 2022
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, November 4th, 2022

Remember that the Monday briefing includes forum posts from the prior Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so all weekend posts are similarly eligible.

In each briefing, forum posts are ranked by the number of replies (from highest to lowest). That's subject to change, of course, so I did a quick recount of replies for all forum posts in the briefings above. With 14 replies each as of this posting the two most popular threads started last week are:

Loyalty Reward Points disappeared
T‑Mobile Delivers Industry‑Leading Customer and Cash Flow Growth in Q3 2022 and Raises 2022 Guidance

Congrats to PaulCrawhorne and trees12 for starting our one hundred and forty-seventh threads of the week! As a small token of our appreciation, please enjoy a monthlong Premium Membership on us. Benefits include ad-free browsing, increased private message count, access to a subscriber-only forum, extra attachment space, a referral/affiliate signature link, the ability to post referrals, and a custom avatar and user title!

---------
Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

From The Web:

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2022: deals, news, and more

Hands-on: T-Mobile’s new suitcase packs a wireless charging pocket behind its vibrant looks

Sir Jony Ive Talks ‘Life After Apple’

RIP Google Hangouts, Google’s last, best chance to compete with iMessage

Before Elon Musk destroys Twitter, here are 7 of his other failures

From The Forums:

In Future Would Verizon (& ATT&T & T-Mo) Be Better Off Just Densifying Instead Of Buying Spectrum?

Is the 24 month loyalty bonus the last one?

Does Verizon use Charter/Spectrum band 48 licenses in some markets?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

This is how Android 13 works on a 2016 Pixel phone

Google Pixel Watch review

Google revives Pebble smartwatch app with support for Pixel 7 in fresh update

Inside a Chinese iPhone Plant, Foxconn Grapples With Covid Chaos

From The Forums:

Visible compatibility checker

Been out of the loop awhile...how to ensure BYOP will work with the new network requiring VoLTE?

T-Mobile Will Force A New $35 Activation Fee On Nearly Every Transaction

Verizon gradually culls some TracFone prepaid brands

Upgrade to Android 12?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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