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Posts with tag 3g

Eee PC getting Ggg in September

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 4th 2008 at 1:37AM

Seems that just about anyone inside of Asus is authorized to discuss the Eee PC roadmap judging by the whirlwind of information we always get prior to an official launch. Case in point: an unnamed "company representative" says that a 3G version of the Eee PC will be launching as early as September in Europe. An alternative to the WiMax version already annouced and demonstrated on Sprint's Xohm. The prices for the presumed HSDPA/HSUPA enabled mini-laptops will of course vary depending upon contract. Can't wait? No worries, why not roll your own? Should be a snap now that the Eee is riding that bigger 9-inch chassis.

Everex readying 10.2-inch Cloudbook with 3G WWAN?

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 2nd 2008 at 8:49AM


As we all wait tensely for Everex's Cloudbook MAX to land (and WiMAX to launch in a big way), rumors are swirling that First International Computer (FIC) -- Everex's affiliate and the maker of the Cloudbook -- is preparing a 10.2-inch "Eee PC killer." 'Course, by the time this thing comes out it'll have 27 Eees to kill, but we digress. Early word suggests that the unit will pack a 1,024 x 600 resolution panel, a 1.3-megapixel camera, up to 2GB of RAM, a 4-in-1 multicard reader, ExpressCard slot, 4- or 6-cell battery, 802.11b/g WiFi as well as optional 3G WWAN / WiMAX capabilities. With everyone and their first cousin twice removed getting into this arena, don't be shocked to see this turn up here in a few months.

[Via SlashGear]

Samsung intros the snoozefest J800 Luxe and L700 cellphones

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jun 25th 2008 at 10:25AM


It looks like the folks at Samsung are keeping the fires burning with a batch of new handsets announced at the Singapore Telecommunications Exhibition. First on the block is the 3G, J800 Luxe slider, a mid-range phone with a 2.2-inch 176 x 200 display, two megapixel camera, FM tuner, A2DP support, and a slot for microSD cards. The electronics-maker is also offering the L700, a fairly unexciting candybar with a 2.1-inch screen, HSDPA, a choice of colors (pink, silver, and gold), and pretty much all the other features listed for the previous phone. The most interesting offering from this set is the Symbian-based L870 that we've seen previously, which the company claims is still on target for its August release. No word on pricing or release dates for the two new models, however.

[Thanks, Craig]

CradlePoint CTR500 travel router gets reviewed

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 14th 2008 at 12:24PM


Yeah, travel routers are still a rare breed, but when the entire family (or team, for you suits) needs to hop online in the hotel which conveniently provides absolutely no WiFi, it's a real gem to have around. CradlePoint's recently introduced 3G-ready CTR500 was taken for a test drive over at PC Perspective, and all in all, the unit performed as advertised. For those unfamiliar, it simply enables USB or ExpressCard-based WWAN modems to be connected, and from there, a variety of computers can retrieve WiFi from it. Better still, the unit did equally well when acting as a traditional WLAN router. The only real dig was the $179.99 price tag, which seemed a bit steep for the majority of folks who "probably would not need the functionality it offers." Give the full writeup a look in the read link below.

AT&T launches BlackBerry Bold promotional site

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 12th 2008 at 11:00AM


See that image above? Yeah, that's a sexy new side angle of RIM's BlackBerry Bold, and it's coming to us courtesy of AT&T. Just as Sprint did with its fashionable Instinct, AT&T is launching a promotional site for the forthcoming BlackBerry in order to drum up interest and get you (re)informed. Straight from the carrier's mouth, we've got GPRS / EDGE / UMTS / HSDPA support, integrated WiFi / GPS, 480 x 320 resolution display, a side-loaded memory slot, 1GB of built-in storage, a 624MHz CPU, 128MB of Flash memory, Bluetooth 2.0 with handsfree support and up to 5-hours of GSM talk time (13 days in standby). You'll notice that the operator makes no mention of an exact release date, but we're crossing our fingers and sticking to that leaked July timeframe until we hear otherwise.

[Thanks, Daryl]

AT&T touts 20% boost in 3G data speeds

by Donald Melanson, posted Jun 4th 2008 at 12:40PM

It looks like AT&T is getting a bit more generous these days, with the company now following up its supposed plans to offer free WiFi to LaptopConnect and smartphone users with a promised 20% boost in 3G data speeds. That translates to "typical" downlink speeds of between 700 Kbps and 1.7 Mbps (up from 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps), and uplink speeds of between 500 Kbps and 1.2 Mbps (formerly 500 to 800 Kbps). To get those slightly improved speeds, however, you'll have to use one of the company's aforementioned LaptopConnect cards, and no doubt situate yourself in some prime signal real estate. What's more, AT&T says those speeds are only a taste of things to come, with it promising that peak data speeds will eventually reach 20 Mbps as it switches over to HSPA+ between 2009 and 2010.

[Via Gear Diary]

Vodafone Station brings FMC service to Italy

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 2nd 2008 at 10:15AM

Truth be told, Fixed Mobile Convergence still isn't talked about much (comparatively speaking) 'round these parts. Yeah, we've seen a few FMC routers scattered about, but Vodafone's taking a stand by rolling out its Station in Italy. The box, which was developed in cooperation with Huawei, is an integrated switch / router with ADSL2+, WiFi, UMTS / HSPA (via a removable USB key) and four Ethernet ports. Essentially, it's designed to combine voice with fixed and mobile broadband services, and it enables users to make calls on their handset through a fixed line connection when they're kicking back at home. We're also hearing that the device will eventually make its way to other Vodafone markets, but there's been no word yet on future rollout dates.

[Via GigaOM]

Even more "leaked" 3G iPhone photos make it out

by Nilay Patel, posted May 27th 2008 at 5:35PM


Either Apple's getting leakier or the fakers are getting fake...ier, but the latest round of supposed 3G iPhone pictures is upon us courtesy of Dutch site iPhoneclub.nl and our old friend Mr. Blurrycam, and they're pretty convincing. You'll notice that they show a device almost identical to the one in the last set of images we saw, with a white back and three dots inside the earpiece. Of course, that's not to say some aspiring Photoshoppers haven't just been copying each other, but we're not here to kill your dreams, people. You'll just have to trust your friends for that. Hit the read link for the rest of the pics.

Update: Looks like we killed iPhoneclub's website, check after the break for the other two shots, courtesy of Macfreak.nl.

Continue reading Even more "leaked" 3G iPhone photos make it out

China to issue 3G licenses, calls for Unicom / Netcom merger

by Darren Murph, posted May 25th 2008 at 4:52AM

This just in: don't believe anything you hear regarding an official 3G rollout date in China. After quite a bit of rigmarole, the Chinese government has finally announced that it will issue a trio of 3G licenses. Notably, the announcement comes with a bit of baggage -- it's also calling for a merger between China Unicom and Netcom, two of its four biggest telecommunications providers. Furthermore, it stated that it would call on China Telecom, the nation's largest fixed-line carrier, to "purchase Unicom's CDMA network," all leading to a massive shuffle that should position three of the nation's telecom juggernauts to eventually offer high-speed wireless to a staggering 1.3 billion people. Unfortunately (though not unexpectedly), there's no time frame given for implementation, but some analysts are asserting that "a full launch of 3G services is [still] years away." Baby steps are better than no steps, we reckon.

[Thanks, James]

3G iPhone screen shot faked, but don't worry, we think it's still coming

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 21st 2008 at 5:42PM


After some exhaustive research invested by one iSmashPhone, it seems like that now-infamous "Enable 3G" screen shot supposedly lifted from a recent iPhone firmware 2.0 beta was mocked up. The spirit of the shot mercifully lives on, though, seeing how the existence of the underlying preferences to support the enabling of 3G data has been independently verified in the code -- we just don't know exactly what form that preference is going to take in the user interface. Bottom line: fret not, there's still a 3G iPhone on the way, it's probably going to be here within mere weeks, and odds are you'll be able to control whether high speed is enabled, just like virtually every other 3G phone on the market. So if you're looking for a random reason to crack open a celebratory beer right now, well, there you have it. Drink responsibly.

Cradlepoint announces 3G-ready CTR500 travel router

by Donald Melanson, posted May 15th 2008 at 2:33PM

It's been a while since we've heard anything from the mobile-friendly folks at Cradlepoint, but it looks like they've hit all the right marks with their new 3G-ready CTR500 travel router, which takes all the features of the previous CTR-350 model and adds a few welcome additions. The biggest of those is an ExpressCard slot, which complements the existing USB port to accommodate whatever 3G modem or 3G-capable cellphone you might have. You'll also, of course, get a 10/100 Ethernet port, and full 802.11b/g compliance, along with support for an external 802.11 antenna (sold separately) if you need a bit more range. If that sounds like the upgrade you've been waiting for, you can get your order in now for $180, although the routers apparently won't start shipping until June 1st.

[Via Electronista]

AT&T's 3G comes out on top in speed tests, will only get faster in 2009

by Joshua Topolsky, posted May 15th 2008 at 10:10AM


The folks over at Computerworld just ran the current 3G providers in America through their paces, only to discover that AT&T came out on top in almost every category. Well, it appears the monolithic telco plans to keep its edge (er...) on the competition -- by upping its HSPA service to a whopping 20Mbps come 2009. Our main man Ralph de la Vega said that the process wouldn't require a major overhaul to the provider's infrastructure, and that they're already working on punching up the current 3.6Mbps speeds to 7.2Mbps "in the labs." Apparently, this won't stall plans for forthcoming 4G / 700MHz / LTE service from the company -- it'll just be icing on the cake.

Read - Which 3G network is the best?
Read - AT&T plans 20-megabit 3G by 2009

Newsflash! Firmware 2.0 hints suggest Apple might be working on a 3G iPhone

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 10th 2008 at 8:03PM


You'll never believe this, but it looks like Cupertino might be getting ready to drop a bomb this summer -- a 3G bomb, in fact! The latest beta release of firmware 2.0 for the iPhone has apparently revealed a preference screen that allows users of the new model to disable the 3G radio and fall back to GPRS / EDGE because the faster service "decreases battery life." Gotta pay to play, as they say. The ability to disable 3G service in favor of improved standby performance is a pretty common one in modern phones, so we're not surprised to see it here -- just a little disappointed that Apple hasn't incorporated enough fairy dust to magically make the problem go away.

T-Mobile admits that 3G iPhone will be tested in Austria

by Darren Murph, posted May 6th 2008 at 10:28AM


derStandard, the same publication that announced that the iPhone would be sailing into Austria via T-Mobile is now reporting that the same carrier will be testing the 3G iPhone in the aforesaid country. During a press conference in Vienna, T-Mo Austria reportedly affirmed that a UMTS version of Apple's handset would "soon be available," and that Austria would be the "testing ground" for the new mobile -- not to mention "among the first countries in the world with the UMTS iPhone." Furthermore, bigwigs stated that "more flexible" offers would be made available, but details beyond that were scant.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

T-Mobile clears everything up: 3G rollout (with data) is on in NYC

by Darren Murph, posted May 5th 2008 at 12:00PM


Great news, T-Mobile USA fans -- the roller coaster ride is finally over. After we thought T-Mobile's 3G network was but moments away from launching, we soon found that data may be left out. Oddly enough, a few reports hailing from the Big Apple claimed that data actually was included. At long last, the carrier is coming clean and announcing its official 3G rollout in the States. Unfortunately, the UMTS / HSDPA network is initially launching in New York City alone, but the good news is that data will be included and the operator expects the high-speed data network to "be available in cities where a majority of its subscribers currently use data services" by the year's end. Yeah, it's safe to celebrate now, we promise it's not a(nother) false alarm. Full release posted after the jump.

Continue reading T-Mobile clears everything up: 3G rollout (with data) is on in NYC

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