MetroPCS has officially launched Long Term Evolution Service in Las Vegas, making it the first commercial LTE deployment in the U.S. In addition to the LTE 4G network launch, MetroPCS has also announced that availability of the Samsung Craft, the first LTE phone. The Craft, which was announced earlier this year, is available in the Las Vegas area, as well as from MetroPCS' web site for $299 after rebate. The Craft has dual-mode CDMA/LTE radios, in addition to Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth. It has a 3.3-inch AMOLED display and runs BREW with Samsung's TouchWiz user interface overlay. The Craft is a slider with a full QWERTY keyboard for messaging and it also has a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash and video capture. According to MetroPCS, service plans for its LTE network will cost $55 or $60 (which includes taxes and fees) and are available with no contract. MetroPCS has added a list of cities that will have LTE coverage "soon." They are Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Sacramento and San Francisco. MetroPCS has included a host of information on its LTE launch site, providing details about the Samsung Craft LTE phone, video-on-demand services, music-on-demand services, and more. MetroPCS notes that the Craft does not use a SIM card (as Verizon's LTE devices will). Rather, it uses a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC), which tells the network that the phone is allowed to access it. MetroPCS notes that once a UICC card is placed into a phone, it can only be used in that device and not transferred to others. MetroPCS also notes that a microSD card will have to be inserted into the Craft in order for users to access and use the Music Player application. Users who purchase the Craft will have access to MetroPCS' 3G network across the U.S. and MetroPCS' LTE network when in one of the 14 initial launch cities. MetroPCS didn't specify what sort of download/upload speeds users can expect with its LTE network.

Source: Phonescoop