RadioShack has just officially announced its new Cricket-powered No Contract Wireless service, which will launch on Wednesday, September 5th — confirming the earlier rumors about RadioShack's wireless plans. RadioShack will launch with two phones: the Huawei Mercury Ice Android 2.3 smartphone for $149.99, and the Huawei Pillar QWERTY feature phone for $39.99. The Mercury Ice is an appropriately low-end smartphone for the price, with a 1.4GHz processor, 4-inch FWVGA display, and Android 2.3. RadioShack says two additional phones will be available by the end of September.
To match the starting line-up of devices, RadioShack's No Contract Wireless plans are also pretty cheap: as rumored, plans start at $25 for feature phones, and $50 for smartphones. All of the plans include unlimited text messaging, caller ID, visual voicemail, and data, though RadioShack indicates that some data will be throttled. The $50 smartphone plan includes unlimited voice calling, and 1GB of "full-speed" 3G data, while the $60 smartphone plan adds tethering and provides 2.5GB of unthrottled data. Both smartphone plans also include Muve Music subscriptions, so it doesn't look like RadioShack has distanced itself much from Cricket's own wireless plans.
Customers can sign up for RadioShack's new No Contract plans starting tomorrow at RadioShack stores in the US.