Voice over Rev A. to make Verizon’s network “iPhone ready”. With LTE on the horizon, does it really matter?

If you walked up to any non-techie, technologically inept individual and tried to explain why an iPhone on AT&T — regardless of cell signal strength, coverage, etc – is still better than an iPhone on Verizon, they’d probably laugh at you and walk away. At least here in the US, AT&T’s image has become synonymous with sub-par quality, coverage, and performance. Verizon on the other hand has benefited from AT&T’s foibles. On the surface, their brand image has actually increased. Many people look to them as the saving grace of the iPhone in the US.

But there’s one big shortfall of Verizon’s CDMA network that current AT&T iPhone users would miss — simultaneous voice and data. AT&T’s UMTS network supports it. Verizon’s CDMA doesn’t — until now.

Samsung and MetroPCS beat Verizon, AT&T. Ship first CDMA/LTE dual-band phone.

Verizon is currently boasting of having LTE live in “30 NFL cities” by years end. AT&T is equally as proud, though admittingly behind Verizon, have stated that they will have some form of LTE network go live mid-way through 2011. However, both Verizon and AT&T have already mentioned that they won’t have any LTE phones in consumers’ hands until 2011 is several months old. With that said, a “little guy” is beating the big guys to market in one big way — LTE hardware.

SprintPCS currently has an operational LTE network in Las Vegas, while Samsung is finally getting around to releasing that RCH-r900 they showed off many months back. In case you missed it, the r900 is a mobile beast. It packs literally every wireless spec you can think of inside it’s tiny body — CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, LTE, AWS band 1700/2100MHz, WiFi, and GPS. The CDMA/LTE/T-Mo loving 1700MHz AWS band is a hot combination that I haven’t seen come on a US-bound phone yet. It should hint that the r900 will be a multi-carrier phone here in the States. (Well…we can hope.) Although, without LTE or any type of 4G tech dropping anytime soon on T-Mo, the luster is sort of lost as it’s “just another phone”…

Motorola working on AT&T/T-Mobile 3G chip in an attempt to bring the two love birds together

Imagine the day when you can pick up either an AT&T or T-Mobile 3G device and move freely between the two GSM carriers without a care in the world concerning 3G abilities. Such a module seems like it would have been a no brainer. If they can squeeze four 2G frequencies on a chip, what the hell is taking them so long to get three 3G frequencies on a chip? I don’t know the answer, but I can tell you that Motorola is working on a solution. A new 3G module they’re developing would do what many a gadget lovers have wished about for some time — AT&T and T-Mobile 3G on a single phone. It makes sense for consumers and it makes sense for all mobile device manufacturers. Why waste money, time, and resources building two phones with the only difference mainly being the 3G radio inside? It’s a huge waste.

So far T-Mobile’s odd-man-out 1700MHz frequency has kept it’s 3G phone offerings pretty slim. With a dual mode supporting phone, “exclusive” phones that drop on AT&T could now very easily be used on T-Mo. Oh happy day. Such would make the lives of many cellular users much easier. Never again will they have to decide which carrier to use because of a phone. Now they can choose based on actual things that matter such as coverage and….coverage. Everyone raise their hand who wanted this 2 years ago…..

Android Central > Engadget

China Unicom reporting iPhone sales count passes 100,000

If you happened to catch the article we mentioned a few days back highlighting the extremely rough estimate/rumor that a mere 5 official China Unicom iPhones were sold at launch, you probably came to the conclusion that basing overall numbers off of one store — even the largest online retailer in the country — isn’t exactly the most accurate way to reflect sale. In truth however, the main point wasn’t to say “Hey there’s only 5 iPhones in China” but more to highlight abysmal sales overall. Even according to China Unicom’s revealed sales numbers on December 3rd pictured a bleak outlook with only 5,000 units selling in the first four days of availability.

Now that Apple’s little gem has had a few more weeks to win the hearts and minds of the Chinese, sales numbers are picking up. To date the new sales figures are showing the 100,000 mark nothing but a figure in the rear view mirror. Compare that to the original 2007 iPhone’s 250,000+ sales on opening weekend and we can begin to see the toll that black market (read: fully functional and better) iPhones, stratospheric price tag ($730-$1025 USD), and lack of WiFi have done to the first official iPhone offering.

The price is unlikely to change much. Black market iPhones ulocked from elsewhere fix this problem. Also a knock against China Unicom’s offering is the lack of WiFi. Again, unlocked black market iPhones have this feature within. So why would someone buy a “legit” iPhone from China Unicom that is more expensive and comes with less features? Peace of mind perhaps? All I can say is that while Gen 1 might not quite live up to the hype everyone thought it would, gen 2, 3, and so on should more than make up.

All of this of course comes from China Unicom themselves so it would be interesting to hear from a few Chinese readers as to the real state of affairs. Any Chinese readers care to share any insight?

AppleInsider

Sprint giving up on QChat after short, year long honeymoon.

If you’re a contractor, dispatcher, or some other typical “business user”, chances are you use or at least have seen Nextel/Sprint Nextel push-to-talk phones out and about your neck of the woods, Whether the phones were powered by Nextel’s iDen or Sprint’s “QChat” doesn’t matter as they were essentially the same technology. Now some may have had a hard time deciphering between the two networks and technologies not wanting to pick the inferior network. Such pondering will no longer be required as Sprint is removing one of those choices. After only one year on the market, Sprint is axing their supposed iDen replacement. Old phones with the feature will still be supported. Old phones however will leave the factory void of any QChat feature or support form here on out.

To this day, Sprint has neglected to reveal any actual iDen and/or QChat subscriber numbers so it’s hard to say exactly how many people will be affected. It’s worth noting however that Sprint does mention that Nextel iDen customers are the largest chunk of their push-to-talk user base. Draw your own conclusions.

In a way this is good for Sprint. They’re still stuck in a deep, black hole of suck and quarterly results show that. These days it’s all about the consumer in the mobile sphere with higher end feature phones and smartphones taking the cake. Such phones simply aren’t available anywhere on Nextel though Sprint does have a few gems. Ultimately, consolidating and getting rid of excess baggage is the best thing Sprint can do in their trek for black ink. So long QChat, we barely knew you.

Cellular-News > AP

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T-Mobile USA looking for a new bunkmate?

Coming last place can get old after awhile. Perhaps that’s what’s fueling T-Mobile’s motivations to actively search for a new U.S. partner if reports from Reuters are to be believed. Currently ranked 4th out of the “Big 4″ US cellular providers (Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint, & T-Mobile), T-Mobile has for some time now been trying to recoup lost ground and push itself ahead of it’s rivals. Part of pushing ahead is expanding the carriers rather weak coverage nationally speaking. Such adventures aren’t cheap mind you as the actual physical motions of adding towers and backhaul capacity are the most expensive upgrades carriers can make. If you’re thinking T-Mobile is looking to purchase another carrier and add to their coverage that quickly, you’ll be disappointed to know that’s not quite how it’s going down. They’re actually looking for another carrier to invest in their network with returns on investments the shining jewel of the partnership. So if T-Mobile really is trying to make new friends, where would they go?

A few possible options include AT&T (as they’re another GSM provider meaning minimal cross network issues), MetroPCS, and ClearWire. Chances of an AT&T partnership while easiest on paper are rather slim. The two largest GSM carriers collaborating has “anti-trust lawsuit” written all over it. Clearwire is…well…Clearwire. It’s pretty neutral. MetroPCS on the other hand while surprising because of their current adoption of CDMA technology isn’t that far from a T-Mo partnership. I mean, they use the 1700MHz band just like T-Mo uses for their 3G network. It is possible. But don’t forget, this isn’t exactly a “take over” partnership that T-Mobile seeks. They merely want someone else to finance a large sum of money now to rapidly build out their network.

Don’t expect anything to happen overnight though. Two unnamed Reuters sources who are familiar with the matter said that while they are anxious to expand the carriers coverage and form new partnerships, there isn’t a big rush and that they are “weighing all of their options”. Overnight success it is not. But further on down the road, T-Mobile could become quite the market dominator. Seem plausible?

Electronista > Reuters

NTT DoCoMo jumping 2G ship a little early. Set to abandon in March 2011. [Update]

Update: Got a couple dates mixed up. Sorry ’bout that.

Living in Japan presents itself with several pros and cons. On one hand, because the land of Japan is so small, the ever growing population is finding itself having to cram into tighter and tighter spaces. On the other hand, if you happen to care about mobile technology, Japan is a hot bed of activity. Part of that success is due in part to the close quarters. Further increasing in mobile technology is that a majority of the population lives on a small part of the overall land meaning cellular networks can upgrade large swaths of coverage area relatively quickly and cheaply when compared to U.S. counterparts.

Examples of this speedy rollout can be highlighted by detailing how Japan started their 3G rollout years before the U.S. and are planning to have a fairly extensive 4G network in place by December of 2010. Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about 4G efforts stateside — they’re coming, but not near the speed or coverage area that Japanese 4G networks will be enjoying come this time next year.

This move to 4G and quick rollout of wireless technologies over all combined with rather swift uptake by the public meant Japan could flip the switch on 2G cellular networks as soon as December March 2011 — much sooner than the U.S. Perhaps they’re just sick and tired of 2G’s god awful everything and/or enough peoples have abandoned 2G use all together as NTT DoCoMo has announced that instead of December 2011, they will be killing 2G network support several months earlier with 2G network shut down coming as early as in March 2011. But what good is a 4G network without devices to take advantage of it? Check. DoCoMo is planning on releasing 4G data cards in late 2010 with 4G handsets to follow in early 2011.

Living in a country with considerably more land to cover, it’s hard to imagine a world without 2G here in the states as driving an hour or so from your house (in many instances even much less than that) results in your 3G coverage giving way to the antiquated 2G networks. Keep driving and you’ll eventually find a big, nasty network hole. Current U.S. network troubles aside, living in a more technologically advanced city and society is a tech lovers dream. How’s your stomach for sushi and your ability to decipher Japanese? I’ll be needing a roommate…

PhoneScoop > Yahoo

T-Mobile USA debuts UMA services for corporate users.

Work in an office, have a corporate BlackBerry, and wish you could save your minutes and instead make calls via the WiFi signals that are so abundant around you? T-Mobile USA is here to answer your calls as they are officially rolling out WiFi calling services for those who flock in a more suit and tie type of environment. Instead of wasting precious cell minutes, why not route those calls over WiFi? Such is one of my favorite things about T-Mobile. The move is part of a bigger plan to encourage business users to cast aside the old as dirt landline and instead go wireless in order to cut costs and company expenses on upkeep.

Much like the consumer branded “T-Mobile Hotspot@Home” UMA-based calling features, the corporate version will come with an additional fee on top of normal cellular fees. This fee will vary depending on the number of users. If TMO can keep Mr. Greed from creeping up and actually price this fairly competitively as they did with their consumer version, this could be a rather worthy option for many businesses to look in to no? Do any users think their company would eye such a plan and additional expense while simultaneously ditching their landline?

MobileCrunch > Reuters

Verizon’s LTE rollout schedule gets a bit more specific

Verizon users who were longing for a more specific rollout date for the carriers foray into next gen 4G/LTE networks will have something happy to look forward to this morning.  Yesterday, May 13th, during a conference call, CEO Lowell McAdam stated that Big Red plans on launching their LTE network in 20-30 markets starting in the second half of 2010 with “nation wide coverage being complete sometime in late 2013 or early 2014.