Quantance’s LTE power boosting technology is now out of the labs and on its way to device manufacturers. It has begun shipping samples of its qBoost chips to handset makers and radio silicon vendors, but most significantly it claims to have landed its first customer. Read more »
Researchers showed off a way to deliver speeds of 2.5 terabits per second over wireless networks — 500,000 times faster than the current low-end LTE speeds and 5,000 times faster than 5.5 gigabits per second, which is the fastest theoretical wireless broadband I’ve encountered. 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 »
Sierra Wireless believes that laptop PCs too thin even to support an Ethernet port would be ideal candidates for an embedded LTE connectivity. On Thursday it unveiled its latest LTE module, which, at 2.5 mm in thickness, Sierra claims is the world’s thinnest 4G wireless module. Read more »
Vodafone and O2 are joining forces in Britain to share their grid and try to roll out 4G services faster than planned. It’s being painted as a great deal for consumers — but it’s actually being driven by the actions of their rivals. 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 »
AT&T introduced its latest LTE phone on Tuesday, but the biggest feature isn’t the wireless network, touchscreen or processor. The $49 Samsung Galaxy Exhilarate is a UL Platinum certified handset as a sustainable product with 80 percent recycled products making up the phone’s casing. Read more »
The on again, off again launch of Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G LTE smartphone is on again: Customers will find the $199 Android 4.0 device in most Sprint stores on June 2. Unfortunately, I suspect we’ll see more mobile devices held up due to patent infringements. Read more »
In its attempts to kill Verizon’s mega-spectrum deal with the cable operators, T-Mobile has begun challenging Verizon’s claims that it is the most efficient user of mobile spectrum in the country. But T-Mo is countering Verizon’s fuzzy math with equally fuzzy math of its own. 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 »
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 »
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 »
Bloomberg is reporting yet another merger rumor about T-Mobile, this one involving regional CDMA and LTE operator, MetroPCS. Maybe someone from Metro is talking with someone DT in some back room somewhere in the world, but they can’t seriously be considering the deal. 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 »
AT&T introduced its third Microsoft Windows Phone handset with LTE: The Samsung Focus 2 launches on May 20 for $49 with new two-year contract, which is priced lower than the $99 Lumia 900 and $199 HTC Titan II. At this price, the specifications aren’t shabby. Read more »
If you’re an Android user looking for new hardware, this was a good week for you. Both HTC’s One X for AT&T and Samsung’s Galaxy S III arrived. Interestingly, one of the two phones has generated much positive feedback while the other seems to impress fewer. Read more »
Nokia Siemens Networks plans to show off gigabit wireless speeds using the variant of of LTE-Advanced network that Clearwire plans to deploy. But don’t get too excited, too soon. These aren’t real world speeds and they’re not for handsets. Read more »
AT&T’s newest LTE phone, the HTC One X, is due to hit stores May 6 for $199. The phone is similar to T-Mobile’s One S, but has a larger screen Super LCD screen. Here are my first impressions after a day with the new handset. Read more »
By analyzing data from a live 3G network in a major city, the mobile network analytics firm Actix has found that only 5% of iPads are used outdoors. iPads account for just 1% of data sessions, they use 4X more data than an average 3G device. Read more »
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’s biggest critics have banded together to try and block its purchase of 4G airwaves from the cable providers – or at least delay it. Sprint, DirecTV, FairPoint and multiple consumer and industry policy groups have joined the CWA’s petition to halt regulatory proceedings over the deal. 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 »
By integrating the touch sensor and display on the next iPhone, Apple could shave half a millimeter of thickness from the handset. Reverting to a metal back would also reduce thickness. But it makes far more sense to use that space savings for a higher-capacity battery. 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 »
AT&T’s first Android 4.0 smartphone arrives on May 6: The HTC One X will cost $199.99 with 2-year contract. The dual-core, 4.7-inch handset with Beats Audio supports AT&T’s new LTE network in 32 markets and falls back to HSPA+ where LTE coverage isn’t yet available. Read more »
Smartphone sales surged both in the U.S. and worldwide, carriers struggled to cope with the ever-increasing consumption of mobile data, and the fight for spectrum remained front and center in the first quarter. Our latest quarterly wrap-up analyzes these trends and more. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
AT&T’s networks are getting an upgrade that will transform them from static cellular grids into a kind of network organism whose cells will grow and shrink as customers move through them. Ultimately these self-optimizing networks will be a critical component in providing cheap and ubiquitous mobile data. 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 »
Matt describes all the differences between the AT&T Galaxy Note and the international addition, while Kevin convinces Matt consider buying a MotoActv. Hands on with the HTC One S and X international editions and thoughts on Nokia’s response to the Lumia 900 connectivity issues. Read more »
We’re testing carrier coverage to give consumers a real-world look at mobile data performance. As part of this process, we measured performances across multiple LTE markets during the first quarter and have put together a head-to-head comparison of AT&T and Verizon’s LTE networks. 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 »
Singapore’s StarHub has taken its 4G fate into its own hands, revealing today it will shut down part of its 2G network to make room for LTE, rather than wait around for new 4G spectrum to materialize. Its LTE network goes live this year. Read more »
A Samsung Galaxy Note review unit arrived this weekend; here’s a brief look at the hardware. People are asking the wrong question about the Note, trying to classify it as a phone, a tablet or even a “phablet.” I’ll show you the right question to ask. Read more »
