Mobiles reviews - 3g

FCC unveils new T-Mobile 3G handset - Sony Ericsson TM506 Bella

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:56:34 +0000

With T-Mobile's 3G network up and running, we're eager to see T-Mobile bring some serious 1700Mhz 3G-compatible handsets into their stable. Some eagle-eyed detective work by Cellphonesignal has uncovered FCC documents that clue us in to a new T-Mobile 3G handset - the Sony Ericsson Bella. We're looking for T-Mobile to pick up the Sony Ericsson [...]

AT&T boosts 3G data network speeds ahead of 3G iPhone launch - 1.7Mbps/1.2Mbps HSDPA

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:27:09 +0000

Is AT&T's newly launched HSUPA data network upgrade leaving you feeling unimpressed? Well, worry not, fellow 3G network surfer, AT&T's got the just the thing to help quench that wireless data fiend within all of us. Just a handful of days before Apple and Steve Jobs is scheduled to showcase the next-generation iPhone on the WWDC [...]

AT&T: 20Mbps 3G network by 2009 - HSPA release 7, here we come!

Wed, 14 May 2008 19:19:12 +0000

While many AT&T customers are enjoying the No. 1 US carrier's HSDPA (HSPA in some areas) 3G network, AT&T's 3G speeds are still relatively slow compared to their counterparts in Europe and Asia. Following AT&T's HSUPA upgrade to their 3G network this year (creating a true HSPA network), Big Blue has announced on Wednesday that [...]

Chuckle-worthy: 3G is third-generation G-A-N-G-S-T-A

Fri, 09 May 2008 22:08:28 +0000

Who knew the 3G (third-generation) data networks across the globe were involved with gang-life? According to Wikipedia, the 3G network technology is apparently "the third generation of gangster mobile phones standards and technomology, supersoaking 2G." This is what happens when anyone is allowed to edit Wiki articles. We knew 3G data networks were the hotness, but we [...]

BlackBerry 9000 gets some hands-on love - BlackBerry 9000 eBay auction proves real

Tue, 06 May 2008 22:37:10 +0000

The RIM BlackBerry 9000 is the handset to watch within BlackBerry circles. With the 480 x 320 and improved QWERTY keyboard, RIM's still unofficial BlackBerry 9000 is definitely gunning to take back some of the market share that certain other smartphone offerings have started eating away. So, how does the BlackBerry 9000 measure up? Well, [...]

Levi's 3G slider handset available exclusively on Orange France

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:39:47 +0000

It looks like Levi's is back at it with another fashion-branded handset. Following on the Levi's handsets designed by Modelabs, the famous jean-maker has launched another handset in France. This time around, France's Orange network will be the exclusive provider for the 3G-toting mobile phone slider. By the looks of it, the only "fashion" forward [...]

Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee gets free 3G phones from China Mobile

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:44:38 +0000

China Mobile's celebrating its recent TD-SCDMA 3G network launch by giving away free 3G handsets to members of the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee. The network is running in trial-form in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen and Qinhuangdao, according to Wang Jianzhou, CEO of China Mobile. And, to give the network some added [...]

O2 down-throttles 3G users to 128kbps - 3G speeds limited unless user requests otherwise

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:13:21 +0000

What good is having 3G data access if you can't actually get to use that data connection to its full extent? Not much good. O2 is apparently down-throttling many of their 3G customer's data speeds. According to the Register, unless the customer is paying more than £35 a month or is a business customer, O2 is [...]

NTT DoCoMo achieves 250Mbps on Super 3G LTE network test

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:57:59 +0000

LTE is really starting to stretch its legs as the high-speed mobile broadband standard that we knew it could always be. NTT DoCoMo reportedly just achieved "a downlink transmission rate of 250Mbps over a high-speed wireless network in an outdoor test of an experimental Super 3G system." Super 3G, also known as LTE (Long Term [...]

Gartner: Apple places 10 million iPhone unit order - Apple preparing for 3G iPhone

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:31:57 +0000

There's another round of hyped-up buzz starting to build surrounding the imminent launch of the next-generation iPhone. The first hardware revision of the Apple iPhone will hit the US market with a 3G radio in tow, among other features - which should appease the masses that have lamented the iPhone's lack of true high-speed data [...]

Kevin Rose says 3G iPhone will do 3G video chat with iChat

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:39:01 +0000

Kevin Rose, Digg founder and Apple hardware prognosticator, just threw more fuel on 3G iPhone rumor-flames everywhere. It seems that having founded the uber-popular social-networking news site give Kevin Rose an inside line on some iPhone rumors. Rose previously speculated on the iPhone's initial release, citing sources that indicated the iPhone would launch with two battery [...]

AT&T data network outage?

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 07:35:10 +0000

[Update] The network seems to be back up in Los Angeles. At least these outages are short-lived. What's this? Another outage for AT&T's data network? We've been getting reports (confirmed on our end) of AT&T data blackouts in the Los Angeles area. It looks like the EDGE and UMTS/HSDPA networks are out of commission as of the [...]

O2 CEO confirms rampant iPhone sales in UK - gives Jobs a nod for incredible data revenue

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 02:11:57 +0000

Turns out that O2’s claims of the iPhone being the fastest selling device in the carrier’s history wasn’t all marketing-talk. O2’s head honcho recently paid his Jobs-ness a visit in Cupertino, California to presumably give each other their “high-fives” over how well the iPhone is doing in the UK. Despite reports of slow-sales , O2’s Matthew Key told Steve Jobs that O2 should move around 200,000 iPhones by the end of January (we should note that other reports indicate that iPhones have been selling very well). More importantly (especially for O2), Key told Jobs that the iPhone has spurred incredibly high data-usage rates on the UK network. With 60% of iPhone users clocking more than 25MB of data per month, O2’s data revenue has gone through the roof (compared with 1.8% of O2’s general subscriber base using 25MB of data every month). With data-revenue the key money-source from O2’s iPhone customers, it’s pretty much a lock that O2 will be picking up the 3G iPhone when it launches next year. Good for you, O2. Way to meet your iPhone sales goal. [Via: MocoNews ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Apple cracking down on unlocked iPhone sales - limits iPhone purchases to 2 per credit card, no cashAT&T CEO Randall Stephenson confirms 3G iPhone for 'next year'Apple iPhone sales eclipse all other smartphones in July!European carriers commit to revenue sharing plan for Apple iPhone - T-Mobile, Orange, O2Apple to announce 5 million [...]

IntoMobile's 3G vs EDGE webpage load-time shootout - just how slow is the iPhone?

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:43:02 +0000

Right, we all know just how much faster 3G data speeds are in comparison to EDGE speeds. Theoretical speeds are one thing, straight-up throughput numbers are impressive, but what about the most important aspect of any device’s wireless data connection - actual web-browsing performance? Unless you’re one of the harder-core mobile warriors that uses their mobile phone as a wireless modem (tethered to a laptop), chances are your cellphone’s data connection is predominantly used to serve up webpages on your handset’s display. So, just how much faster does a 3G data connection allow you to surf the web? Or, conversely, just how much does the iPhone’s EDGE-only data connection slow down the web-surfing experience? (Hint: not that slow) Well, we set to find out exactly what kind of load-times you can expect in real-world situations and with real-world devices. For this test we used an AT&T Tilt 8925 ( HTC Kaiser TyTn II ) on AT&T’s 3G network, and squared it off against an Apple iPhone on AT&T’s EDGE network. Webpage load-times were the focus of this test, and load-times were rounded down to the nearest second. Load-times were recorded from the moment the page started to load until the status-bar indicated that the page was finished loading (until the progress indicator-bar disappeared). Hit the link for the video. Hypothesis: Webpage load-times are bottlenecked by the device’s processing power and page-rendering technology. This should result in similar load-times between the iPhone and the Tilt. Results: What we found was completely expected. There’s more at play then just throughput. The iPhone’s web-kit based Safari browser allowed it to load pages almost as fast as the AT&T Tilt. We used the Pocket Internet Explorer that comes pre-installed on the Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional-based AT&T Tilt - and it proved to be the device’s downfall. Both devices had similar processor speeds, so that aspect was fairly controlled for in this test. Check out the video below to get an idea for real-world load-times. Summary:

The AT&T Tilt loaded the ShopBop.com webpage in 37 seconds, whereas the iPhone took a whole 26 seconds.
IntoMobile.com took 51 seconds to load on the Tilt and 83 seconds on the iPhone.
Load-times for CalBar.com were the most comparable - 15 seconds on the HTC Kaiser and 18 seconds on the iPhone.

From a purely objective standpoint, the iPhone is an incredibly competent web-browsing device - especially given its EDGE-only limitations. The AT&T Tilt is most definitely the faster web-surfer, but only marginally so (the load-time gap is more pronounced for image- and javascript-intense webpages such as IntoMobile.com). Interestingly, the iPhone beat out the Tilt in loading the ShopBop.com webpage. The rendering engine combined with good processing power keeps the iPhone nipping at the heels of 3G devices. From a subjective standpoint, we’d have to say that the iPhone’s web-browsing experience is clearly superior and is worth waiting a few extra seconds. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to test any Opera browsers. We expect that Opera on the AT&T Tilt would blow the iPhone out of the water. On that note, keep your eyes peeled for a follow-up test with the Opera browser! We can’t wait for the 3G iPhone… ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Use your iPhone as a wireless modem - tether your iPhone to your Mac laptop with TinyproxyApple: 1 million iPhone sold in next three monthsT-Mobile Germany leaks 16GB iPhone with 3G HSDPA - may launch November 12Microsoft Announces The Beta Release Of Their Deep Fish Mobile BrowserAT&T / Cingular improving EDGE speeds [...]

Sprint to roll out limited WiMAX network this week

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:52:44 +0000

We’ve been whining about Sprint’s seeming lack of focus on its WiMAX ( XOHM ) network, and all that complaining may have paid off. Actually, our incessant goading probably had little nothing to do with Sprint’s newest announcement, but it’s nice to think we had some sort of influence. Sprint’s WiMAX network is slated to go live this week in a limited trial-run. The 4G (well, it’s officially a 3G standard , but we think it qualifies as 4G) WiMAX network will be rolled out this week for Sprint employees only - in an effort to get its network ready for prime-time trials in Q1 of 2008. As it stands, Sprint will be flipping the WiMAX-switch on the downtown centers of Chicago, Baltimore and Washington - expanding to other US cities based on wireless data demand. Clearwire is out of the picture , but we’re assuming that Sprint’s leaving the door open to other investors to help with the nationwide network launch. The trial-run launch of Sprint’s WiMAX network this week barely makes the carrier’s self-imposed deadline for the launch of its 4G network by year’s end. We’ve heard rumor after rumor that put the entire WiMAX venture in doubt, so it’s good to see that Sprint is still committed to bringing their mobile broadband 4G network online in-time for a 2008 commercial roll-out. The full commercial launch should cement Sprint’s position as the premier high-speed wireless data provider in the States - Verizon and AT&T ’s LTE network won’t even see the light of day until 2009. All your financial woes may take a turn for the better, Sprint. Keep on keepin’ on! [Via: Telephony Online ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Sprint considering WiMAX network optionsSamsung signs on to build WiMAX network for Sprint in New York Metropolitan areaTexas to be among the first to try out Sprint Nextel's WiMAX networkLebanon gets its WiMAX onSprint and Clearwire team up for US WiMAX network - 4G in 2008