DeviceScape’s app for Android gains a new name and additional features: What used to be called DataBooster is now DataSaver. The free software helps users manage their 3G and 4G data usage while making it easier to connect to DeviceScape’s more than 8 million Wi-Fi hotspots. Read more »
In terms of mobile data, our smartphones are far more reliant on Wi-Fi. So why are carriers so single-mindedly focused on acquiring new licensed spectrum and building expensive 3G and 4G networks, when they could implement more Wi-Fi and tap into other sources of unlicensed spectrum? Read more »
The iPhone kicked off the mobile data revolution. The astonishing thing is Apple succeeded where the rest of the wireless industry had failed. Carriers, network vendors, handset makers and OS developers had the same vision as Steve Jobs and Apple. They just failed to execute it. Read more »
Sprint has revealed the official launch date of its new LTE network: July 15. That Sunday it will turn on its new 4G service in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio, promising speeds that far exceed what it can provide over its CDMA networks. Read more »
All’s fair in love and war. Only yesterday T-Mobile was lobbying hard to halt Verizon’s acquisition of the cable operators’ 4G spectrum. Today it’s unopposed to the deal. What changed? T-Mobile and Verizon now plan to swap the same spectrum they’ve been fighting over. Read more »
InterDigital has been shopping its patent portfolio around for while, and on Monday it revealed it had a taker. Intel has scooped up 1700 of its patents for $375 million, bulking up the chipmaker’s intellectual property holdings in the increasingly critical mobile networking sector. Read more »
Verizon recently has aggressively pursued its LTE-connected-car strategy, buying up Hughes Telematics and on Wednesday launching a new initiative with foreign car manufacturers. But not all automakers are necessarily on board with Verizon’s dream of embedding 4G into every car. Read more »
It took 12 years for 3G technologies to touch half of the world’s population, but getting to 85 percent coverage will only take another five, according to wireless infrastructure vendor Ericsson. In addition, Ericsson projects LTE networks will cover half the globe’s population. Read more »
The adoption of tablets, social media and new interfaces and the changing nature of the TV itself mean the digital living room will continue on its path of rapid change, thanks to new ways of creating, viewing, bundling, distributing and selling content. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
In a bid to encourage more customers to use their mobile phone as a wireless hotspot, Sprint has revamped its mobile hotspot tethering services on smartphones. There’s a new lower-priced plan but it will cost more per gigabyte. So will the new $50 plan. Read more »
Apple may be planning to add 3G data support for FaceTime on iOS devices, based on some recently published screenshots. Many have wanted FaceTime on a mobile broadband instead of Wi-Fi networks. But I’m not sold that it’s a good idea. Here’s why. Read more »
T-Mobile is the per GB charges for its no-contract data plans.The overall price of the low-capacity one week plan is now rising to $15, but customers it provides 3x the amount of broadband. There is also a new middle-tier plan, making for three monthly plan options. Read more »
The FCC is curious why Verizon bought a bunch of 4G spectrum back in 2008 but now plans to sell it. The FCC is asking Verizon some poignant questions, and though the word “warehousing” is never mentioned it’s certainly the direction the FCC is heading. Read more »
This probably won’t shock you, but tablets connected to 3G and 4G networks consume a lot more data than their smartphone equivalents. However, on Tuesday video optimization vendor Bytemobile reported exactly how much: iPads eat up three times more data than iPhones over the cellular network. Read more »
The Big 4 carriers took swipes at one another at CTIA Wireless, arguing over which had the faster network and whose were really 4G. Clearwire stayed out of the debate, but according to CTO John Saw the carrier is planning to shame them all. Read more »
T-Mobile is still struggling after its planned acquisition by AT&T fell through. In the first full quarter after the proposed merger was scuttled, the nation’s fourth largest carrier managed to gain only 187,000 customers; most from lower revenue businesses, such as prepaid and M2M. Read more »
Sprint is cramming an awful lot of radios into its latest hotspot. On May 18, Sprint will begin selling the Sierra Wireless Tri-Fi hotspot, which customers can immediately connect to its 3G and WiMAX networks but will eventually support Sprint’s planned LTE network. Read more »
Verizon Wireless is partnering with Color to highlight the power of its 4G network. The carrier will offer its customers the chance to use an enhanced version of Color, which will enable live video streaming with audio and double the existing frame rate. Read more »
What features might your next smartphone have? When you consider new mobile chips, graphics processors, 4G networks, sensors and more, the sky’s the limit. Here’s an overview what you can expect to see in the smartphones of tomorrow, which will top 1 billion sales by 2015. Read more »
Eighty-five percent of the global population owns mobile phones. This report forecasts the global handset market, examining the Americas; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Asia-Pacific. Drivers include an increased number of subscribers in developing countries and the rollout of 3G and 4G wireless networks. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The heterogeneous network, or HetNet, will turn today’s big-tower cellular systems into dense, multi-layered and tremendously high capacity networks. Given the complexity of such systems, it’s easy to imagine HetNet as a technology of the future, but Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg says you would be wrong. Read more »
Apple hasn’t confirmed an LTE version of its iPhone, but Sprint has confirmed that if such a device launches, the carrier would keep its unlimited data plans. That may be a big differentiating factor when at least 3 of 4 U.S. carriers offer LTE iPhones. Read more »
Sprint doesn’t plan to dump WiMAX entirely after it takes its LTE live this summer. Instead, it plans to reposition the older 4G technology as the network for its prepaid customers. Sprint will begin selling WiMAX devices next quarter under the Boost and Virgin brands. Read more »
Verizon hasn’t exactly done a bang-up job selling its critics on the merits of its 4G spectrum consolidation plans. T-Mobile would be a prime candidate to buy up Verizon’s extra 700 MHz airwaves, but it’s not interested and wants the FCC to kill the Verizon-cable deal. Read more »
The global adoption of LTE was going to heal the rift between the CDMA and GSM camps and give U.S. consumers more freedom to switch among carriers and greater choice in devices. Verizon’s planned sale of its extra LTE spectrum pretty much quashes that dream. Read more »
Verizon Wireless is hosting a fire sale on LTE spectrum, revealing it will “rationalize” its spectrum holdings by discarding extra 700 MHz licenses. The sale would basically make Verizon’s LTE rollout a lot easier, but it would also sound the death knell for interoperable LTE devices. Read more »
In the first quarter of 2012 all eyes were on the screen, both big and small. Apple’s new Retina display pushed video streaming, and broadcast-TV streaming service Aereo’s launch was quickly followed with litigation. These events and more are discussed in a new quarterly report. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Sprint’s Galaxy Nexus with LTE arrives in stores and online April 22 for $199 with two-year contract. That’s $100 less than the Verizon version, but Sprint is sweetening the deal even further. Buyers who activate Google Wallet will see $50 in credits in their Wallet account. Read more »
Ting, the innovative startup that resells Sprint’s cellular service in consumer-friendly plans, will soon be adding 4G LTE service to its lineup. If pricing is competitive on a per gigabyte basis, Ting’s shared plan component could bring a boost to Sprint’s new LTE network. Read more »
For the last year Sprint has been talking up how it would replace its old Nextel iDEN systems with a shiny new LTE network, but until today it hadn’t revealed when. On Thursday, Sprint network engineering president Steve Elfman provided that critical detail, 2014, FierceWireless reported. Read more »
After 16 months of iPhone exclusivity, Instagram is on Android, although some iPhone owners aren’t impressed. A Galaxy Note review unit arrived and the large size is already becoming a benefit to me. Plus, Sprint has two LTE phones ready before the 4G network arrives. Read more »
More than a year after promising to make WiMAX and LTE versions of its PlayBook tablet, RIM has delivered squat on its 4G promises. But now new photos have popped up on CrackBerry’s forums that appear to be of the mythical LTE PlayBook. Read more »
The number of new LTE devices is up 76 percent in the past three months but tablets, not smartphones, are driving more of this growth. Carriers are mistakenly feeling the strong need to fight back against lower-priced, no contract Wi-Fi slates as tablet sales rise. Read more »
Two years after Sprint and HTC enjoyed a winner with the original Evo 4G, the two are back at it with the Evo 4G LTE, a variant of the One X phone that will serve as a flagship for Sprint’s emerging 4G LTE line-up. Read more »
Following up on last week’s news that Sprint’s LTE field testing is nearly complete, the carrier announced pre-orders on April 12 for its first LTE handset. The $99 LG Viper gains the distinction as the first LTE device for Sprint’s LTE network, launching later this year. Read more »
MetroPCS on Tuesday became the latest operator to begin throttling mobile data, but MetroPCS isn’t eliminating its unlimited data plans entirely. It’s added a $70 price tier that preserves unlimited voice, SMS and LTE data use, but all other customers get capped. Read more »
ABI Research estimates there will be more LTE microcells in place than actual LTE base stations by 2014. There’s good reason to believe the forecast: For a heterogeneous network with wide coverage, the number of microcells will have to far outweigh the number of base stations. Read more »
Sprint customers holding out hope for new WiMAX smartphones can officially consider such hopes dashed: no additional WiMAX phones will be launched. The carrier’s LTE tests are wrapping up and on track for a mid-year launch; we may see Sprint LTE phones sooner than later. Read more »
