Samsung’s Galaxy Note II U.S. launch event is scheduled to take place in NYC tomorrow night, and so we’re starting to see more carriers out its availability. We’ve seen leaks suggesting T-Mobile will launch the Note II that same day, and Sprint has announced availability for the 25th, however, AT&T won’t be launching it until Nov. 9th. Official word from Ma Bell prices the device at $299.99 with a 2-year contract and a launch date of Novemeber 9th. All you eager beavers will have the opportunity to pre-order starting October 25.

AT&T has announced pricing and availability for the LG Optimus G, their first ever LTE quad-core smartphone. The LG Optimus G is set to hit stores on November 2 for $199.99 (2-year contract), however, those of you who hate having to go out can pre-order one starting tomorrow. This marks LG’s attempt for a big comeback in the smartphone arena and we’re dying to see how the Optimus G stacks up.

The first time you purchase your first LTE-capable smartphone, the biggest shocker of the device isn’t how wicked fast LTE download speeds are, it’s how sinisterly expensive it is to pay for all that super-fast LTE data. Just like 3G data plans, LTE is expensive. In fact, according to to the GSM Association, Americans are being charged too much for LTE data.

SoftBank will combine with Sprint to become one of the world’s largest carriers.

SoftBank, Japan’s third-largest carrier, has this morning announced that it will acquire Sprint in a deal worth $20.1 billion. The company will purchase $8 billion in newly-issues shares from Sprint, in addition to $12.1 billion in existing shares — giving it a 70% stake overall.

SoftBank sees Sprint deal as the fastest route into the U.S.

Japan’s third-largest carrier is reportedly in talks to buy control of Sprint, according to two people familiar with the matter. SoftBank wants to snap up two-thirds of the company with a stake worth “more than” 1.5 trillion yen ($19 billion), and it’s also eyeing Sprint’s partner, Clearwire, too.