Posts Tagged ‘hsdpa’

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Dick Tracy’s watch phone becomes a reality

Monday, December 29th, 2008

PD*26000200

LG has brought 1930s cartoon gadgetry to life, with the invention of the LG 3G watch phone that will be shown off at CES next week.

It’s been touted as the world’s first 3G watch phone, not that we’ve seen many plain old watch phones around before.

Known solely as the LG-GD910, it has a 1.43-inch screen with a camera in the front to facilitate its video calling. Yes, that’s right, video calling too.

Besides having 3G on board, it’s also capable of HSDPA speeds to the tune of 7.2Mbps. If that wasn’t enough other features go along the lines of; voice dialling, built-in speech recognition, text to speech, Bluetooth, an MP3 player and a speaker.

All this whilst also being waterproof, what more could anyone want? On yes, it looks like it’s coming to Europe and Japan from LG’s Google translated webpage.

At the end of November we reported upon a Prada Bluetooth watch for use with the LG Prada phone. It was very limited in its features and ties to the actual mobile, which made us write “Only you can’t answer (calls) in true Dick Tracy fashion; when will technology catch up with a 1930s cartoon?”. How irony and technology catches up on itself.

Well, it looks like it’s here. The proof will be in the pudding though, we look forward to hearing all about it from CES or failing that Mobile World Congress in February.

See more from the LG Korean website, via Google’s translator here.

Until then, it looks good, it appears to be genuine and we just hope the future has finally arrived.

Next, flying cars.

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3 launches £9 tariff

Monday, December 22nd, 2008

3

Addressing the economy’s issues and quicker than our own government is the network 3, who has just announced a sub-tenner tariff.

In days that feel like the end of days, it’s always good to see someone’s looking out for the common man, by offering them a great deal.

The deal that comes along in the form of a free 3G phone, 100minutes/texts on any network, 300minutes of calls to fellow 3 users, free voicemail access and also unlimited windows live messenger and Skype usage.

Available from December 23rd, this Mix & Match 100 tariff seems to be the bee’s knees. How does it match up to others around? It doesn’t even have a single competitor out there that we can see.

It’s available both in-store and online, great for avoiding everyone else that’s out shopping at this time of year. And no one likes a crowd, unless you’re a pick pocket.

The way this particular tariff works, is that you can mix and match (hence the name) between 100 minutes and 100 texts, with 1 minute = 1text. Previously their best deal was Mix and Match 300 for £15, with the same mobile phone being thrown in, seen in the Sony Ericsson K660i.

A handset that comes along with a 2MP camera, obviously with 3G with HSDPA and in a choice of silver on black or lime on white – an exclusive colour for 3.

If there’s ever a time for £9 tariff, with a phone like this it’s now. Hurrah for 3!

Isn’t it about time others step up to the plate with their offerings too?

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ZTE unveils U990, world’s first HSDPA TD-SCDMA handset

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

ZTE Corporation, largely know for being one of the leading providers of telecommunication equipments all around the globe today unveiled the U990, the world’s first HSDPA TD-SCDMA mobile handset. Last week, the company was in the news for having sold 100 million handsets. 

The U990, is the successor to the previous two TD-SCDMA handsets by ZTE, the U980 and U981, none of which had HSDPA. The phone is powered by WindowsMobile 6.0 (No, not 6.1) and is the first ZTE phone to feature a Microsoft OS. It features a full touchscreen and claims to have an high-speed transmission rate of 2.8Mbps and integrated EDGE, with seamless transition between the two. There’s also a front facing camera, a Micro-SD card slot and a mini-USB connector. ZTE have also thrown in GPS/AGPS for advanced navigation.

The phone is primarily aimed at the Chinese Mobile Market.

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Next BlackBerry to dump HSDPA for EDGE

Wednesday, August 13th, 2008

Can it be true? After finally getting into gear and making an HSDPA BlackBerry, RIM looks like it’s turning is temporarily turning its back on the speedy 3G in favour of slower EDGE devices

According to IntoMobile, the next addition to the BlackBerry family will be a lower end device called the Javelin, which will borrow from the BlackBerry Bold for good looks and functionality, but will mean a trade down in terms of speed in an effort to cut the final price of the handset.

My initial reaction was bafflement over why RIM would take such a backwards step, but there is a certain logic to the move: if RIM is trying to woo consumers, it makes sense to work on lower end users as well as its natural higher end heartland and presumably, there must be a few lighter data users who still wouldn’t mind having a good looking BlackBerry on their arm.

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3G Apple iPhone is finally here - and with some extras

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

So, the 3G iPhone has finally been confirmed by Steve Jobs last night at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. So what’s the difference between this and its predecessor?

1. It’s got - surprise, surprise - 3G, which Apple is promising will mean connectivity twice as fast as the old EDGE iPhone
2. Built in GPS
3. Extra storage - it will come in 8GB and 16GB versions
4. Included iPhone 2.0 software, including support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to provide over-the-air push email, contact and calendar syncing as well as remote wipe and Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to corporate networks
5. Includes the new App Store natively
6. 10 hours of talk time on 2G, 5 hours on 3G, with up to 5 to 6 hours of web browsing, up to 7 hours for video playback and up to 24 hours for audio playback
7. And perhaps most importantly, it’s at half the price (for US customers at least) - $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB

It seems to me that this version of the iPhone is how the device should have looked at launch - 3G connectivity, downloadable apps, longer battery life and GPS - rather than a second iteration. The only extra feature that will make me consider rushing out to buy the iPhone is that is looks like being cheaper - what do you guys think?

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Oz gets second 42Mbps mobile network

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

What is it about Aussies and the need for speed? A second Australian mobile operator has come out and promised a 42Mbps in the next couple of years. Hot on the heels of incumbent Telstra, Optus has now promised a super speedy mobile network by the middle of 2010.

However, neither Telstra nor Optus has discussed what new applications, if any, will debut on the super-fast network. Still, after all the slow build up in 3G speeds in Europe, it’s good to see a couple of operators not shy about promising tens of megabits.

Currently, Australia is planning a fixed fibre-to-the-node network that will get 12Mbps to 98 percent of the population in the next five years. Meanwhile, Optus is promising to get 42Mbps (admittedly maximum peak downlink) to the same coverage level in less time. This could make Australia one of the few countries where mobile network are faster than fixed in real terms. Wow.

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Posted in Apple, Operators | Comments

T-Mobile USA finally switches on 3G

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

After a bit of rumour mongering, it seems T-Mobile is finally ready to show off its shiny new 3G network, which has now gone live in New York. Only a few years behind the rest of the world, then. There’s no HSDPA handsets available for the network ye either, although T-Mobile is promising they’ll be along soon.

It’s also still got an eye on its wi-fi business: in the press release talking up the 3G network, T-Mobile has promised it won’t get distracted by all this mobile telephony and will keep on adding new hotspots to its wi-fi network across the US.

Its approach to 3G data is a bit of an odd one: the operator said “T-Mobile expects its high-speed data network will be available in those cities where a majority of its subscribers currently use data services”. Surely, turning on 3G is just what’s needed to get more people using data? Holding off from turning on high-speed services doesn’t exactly seem to be the best way to get more T-Mobile customers ready to pay for mobile email and the like.

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O2 gets on mobile broadbandwagon for 20

Friday, April 18th, 2008

O2 has joined the rest of its operator friends in launching a so-called mobile broadband service - or a 3G USB modem to the rest of us. For 20 a month, O2 customers can get 3GB of data allowance and unlimited wi-fi at The Cloud hotspots with a free modem if they sign up to an 18 month contract. There’s also a 20 rolling month-by-month contract on offer, but users will have to pay the 120 for the modem up front.

To start off with, the maximum downlink available for ‘mobile broadband’ will be 1.8Mbps, going up to 3.6Mbps in June this year.

While every operator needs one of these offers in their portfolio and O2’s pricing is pitched spot on, it doesnt look like O2 is just copying its rivals and not doing an altogether great job of it: for mobile broadband speed, Vodafone is faster and 3 is cheaper, so how does O2 intend to make its own offering stand out?

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