Google wants to show carriers how to get it right. Photo: Google

After finally lifting the lid on its new Apple Pay competitor this morning, Google confirmed plans to take on carriers as well. The search giant will launch its own wireless service within the coming months, but it will serve only as a proof of concept to “show what’s possible.”

Meet HTC’s first budget-friendly LTE smartphone. Photo: HTC.

Cricket Wireless has announced that it will start selling HTC’s latest premium budget-friendly smartphone from Friday, September 19, on any of its no-contract, prepaid plans for just $149.99 upfront.

Image: Mike Mozart/Flickr

GameStop has formed a new partnership with Cricket Wireless that will see it selling smartphones in its more than 2,800 stores across the United States. Customers will be able to trade in their old phone, games consoles, and other electrical goods and put the credit towards the purchase of a new handset from Cricket.

Earlier this week, Google rolled out an update for its Google Search app that brought a new detailed layout for Google Now cards and the ability to toggle the “Ok Google” hotword detection.

Turns out, the update includes a lot of other goodies as well as revealed by the official change-log posted by Google today.

Today, Kyocera, the popular Japanese electronics manufacturer, announced that its latest budget-friendly waterproof mid-range smartphone, the Hydro Plus, is now available to purchase from Cricket Wireless off contract for just $139.