| Walmart Family Mobile Cellular Phone Service |
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As an IT and technology company we like to be early adopters of new and innovative products and services revolving around our industry. And like most individuals and businesses alike, cellular service is one the the most crucial aspects of our day to day lives. That being said, though their are a plethora of new and innovative gadgets hitting the cellular market, cell phone service pricing is still, in our opinion, way over priced. Was way over priced...
Introducing Walmart Family Mobile. You read that right, Walmart. The super center, all under one roof, rolling back prices everyday giant has entered the cellular market with a Walmart branded cell phone service that, after our initial first hand look, looks to be quite promising. The service actually runs on T-Mobile's network and this may be the only downfall and not a big one at that. Though I have always been a fan of Verizon's network due to it's near perfect call quality and the fact that I can't remember the last time I had a call drop, I can't really complain about T-Mobile's service either. That being said, Verizon is by far the priciest service on the market, and, at least for my family, it was time to change. So the service launched on September 20th and wouldn't you know it, I was first in line (actually, I was the only one in line). I opted for 4 phones, I chose 2 of the Motorola Cliq XT ($250ea), the services only smart phone, and 2 Samsung Highlight's ($150ea), a not so smart but well designed phone with a great interface. I am not going to go into too much detail on the phones themselves as there are plenty of reviews on both. I will however say that the Cliq XT has proven to be an excellent smartphone, running Android, and the Highlight has a great interface with a touchscreen that would be perfect for someone looking for a sleek, well thought out phone with good sound quality without going for or spending the $$ for a true smartphone. One more note on phone pricing... The service currently has 5 phones available starting at $35 and hitting the $250 mark for the Cliq XT. With this service there is no contract and no credit check, but it is not prepaid service. It is in fact a post paid service like all other major services. The only caveat is that you purchase your phone up front rather than paying an inflated service price over the coarse of a 2 year contract. Again, not a real downfall all things considered. As for the service, I am impressed so far. The call quality is great, the data speed is fine at least on the Cliq XT with 3G, and we haven't had a hiccup yet in terms of service. The sign-up process is simple and non-invasive. Most importantly, we will be saving over $800 per year, and that is with the cost of the phones! Some of the highlights include:
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