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 »
AT&T will launch the Nokia Lumia 900 with LTE on April 8 for $99 with a two-year plan commitment. At this price, the Nokia hardware powered by Microsoft’s software and AT&T’s 4G network could go a long way towards restoring Nokia and Microsoft’s smartphone brands. Read more »
Are fewer competitors better for mobile broadband customers? Yes, according to a new study, which seemingly ignores trends in mobile network architecture that intended to address the capacity crunch the author’s see, thus undermining the assumptions on which the theory is based. Read more »
4G phone sales are expected to increase ten times over those in 2011, totaling 67 million LTE handsets this year. The new networks are faster and more efficient for carriers, so where’s the savings? There isn’t one and early LTE adopters are paying for the transition. Read more »
U.S. Cellular has begun selling its first 4G device, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, across its coverage area, though LTE speeds will be limited initially to parts of six states. The data plans aren’t cheap, but it’s providing the first 4G option for many small towns. Read more »
Approximately 90 percent of all tablets in the U.S. relied on Wi-Fi over 3G mobile broadband last year, according to industry analyst Chetan Sharma. The data suggests that carriers aren’t a needed distribution chain for slates for several reasons: long-term contracts and redundant data plans. Read more »
Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus is a Verizon Wireless exclusive in the U.S. but Sprint customers may be able to get the device next month. Although Sprint’s 4G LTE network isn’t available yet, the phone will keep the LTE radio for future activation and likely support Google Wallet. Read more »
In 1998, NetZero became the first ISP to offer free dial-up Internet access; 14 years later it’s doing the same thing except with mobile broadband. NetZero revealed is becoming a virtual 4G service provider, reselling – or in many cases, giving away – Clearwire’s WiMAX bandwidth. Read more »
One reason to get the new iPad is to take advantage of the 4G LTE wireless connectivity option. But what if you already have an iPad and a data plan for it? Here’s how you can transfer that plan the day you get your new iPad. Read more »
We already knew from Apple’s iPad product page that the new tablet has a much higher battery capacity over the prior iPad. But is there a special or new 4G LTE chip to help? Based on iFixit’s teardown, it’s a battery-only solution; no advanced LTE chip. Read more »
After leading the world in smartphone sales, the U.S. reign is over. China will take over the top spot this year and has no plans of looking back. India and Brazil are also moving up, bringing a “second coming of the smartphone” to the world. Read more »
Verizon Wireless is upping its already considerable commitment to LTE, revealing to the Dow Jones that it will complete its core LTE rollout this year and reiterating its commitment to selling only 4G smartphones from here on out. Read more »
The industry has moved beyond starry-eyed soothsaying about a world of 50 billion connected devices to start talking about how these mammoth networks of objects and appliances would actually work and how they would be managed. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Apple’s new iPad includes support for LTE mobile broadband, with 3G fallback. That’s good to know, but one bit of information Apple neglected to share was the pricing plans for the LTE service from AT&T and Verizon. Here’s the plan data, directly from the Apple Store. Read more »
