Archive for: evdo
One pretty glaring flaw we noticed in our HTC Thunderbolt review was the lack of any 3G/4G switch. Such a switch is a vital asset for times when battery life needs to be favored over data throughput. But alas, the old Android test menu saves the day again. Simply dial *#*#4636#*#* to access this hidden test menu where you’ll find among other things, the 3G/4G switch in all its glory. On the Thunderbolt, you have three options: LTE only, EV-DO only, and LTE+EV-DO. It’s not the most user friendly solution (and we certainly hope HTC issues a patch to change the situation) though it’s better than nothing at all we guess.
Inhabitants of New Zealand will want to prick their ears up this morning, as some rather interesting wireless news has come to light. Apparently, so many people have chosen Telecom New Zealands’s WCDMA hardware and services that the country has decided the old CDMA network isn’t even worth it any more. The result: they’re shutting it down.
Customers are being told that as early as this October, CDMA roaming will be nixed, with the rest of the 3G network going offline by this November. Talk about speed! If it were here in the US, it would take another half a decade or more. (Remember the ridiculous delays behind digital TV here in the States?) The 2G CDMA network will stick around a bit longer however, continuing operations into 2012.
Either way you slice it, looks like GSM just scored another victory. Another nail in the coffin of CDMA…
Cellular-News
In the market for a webOS device? What about kicking it up a notch to a more “mature” version of webOS in the form of a Palm Pre+ or Pixi+ ? If you had any reservations because of the price, drop it. Verizon is either feeling the webOS love or they have warehouse upon warehouse chock full of these things. Either way they’re dead set on moving as many webOS devices as possible. Don’t believe me? Well then, ask yourself if they are in fact aren’t desperate to sell sell sell, why would they feel the need to drop the Pre+ down to $49.99 w/ a new 2-year contract? The Pixi+ comes in even lower at $29.99 w/ a similar 2-year plan. At these prices, it would be utter stupidity to get any other version of webOS as Verizon’s offerings are now the cheapest, and by far the fastest.
I always wanted to give webOS at least some attention. Is now the time to do so? Anyone have new plans featuring webOS in their immediate future?
Precentral
It used to be that you only were rewarded if you actually accomplished something worthwhile. The better you did, the more compensation. Nowadays however, we live in the age of bank bailouts, auto bailouts, tax cuts for those who don’t need it and so on. Failure is the best business as it gets you the most money. Sad really.
Along those lines, when we hear the name “Sprint”, failure is generally an accepted word that follows quickly soon after. In their defense, Sprint has managed to at least slow down the bleeding of customers over that last quarter or two. But losing customers quarter after quarter is hardly a reason to celebrate, much less reward the CEO for “performance”.
So what exactly is the price of failure? In Sprint’s case — $12.3 million. Now, it’s important to note that isn’t an outright cash amount but instead the total amount of compensation when all things are taken into account. Things such as 401(k) contributions, private jet flights here, there, and everywhere, security services, etc., etc. It’s also worth highlighting that while this compensation for performance is still grossly high, it is down from the previous year to the tune of 13%. Progress, but still a long way to go.
Why highlight this? There’s no real need actually. But I figured since we still here offhand comments about various bailouts around various different industries, why not highlight an exchanging of cash that in much the same as the other examples, is a ridiculous case of lost priorities.
Think ‘ol Hesse should have been paid so much for failing to convince millions of people to jump on board with his company, much less even retain the customers he he currently has?
Cellular-News
Say what you will, 4G is coming this year to the masses (relatively). It’s going to be awesome. Sure, 1st gen products are usually just betas. But are you going to sit there and tell me you’re going to pass up a chance to pick up a 4G phone, whatever it may be, and be part of the “exclusive” first 4G crowd? I know I want to be. To me, and you, and probably a few others, Verizon’s late-2010 4G rollout is the beginning of exciting stuff. For AT&T, it’s another reason to cut the other guy down (as every carrier does).
In AT&T’s eyes, Verizon’s early lead doesn’t mean anything most notably because the phones themselves are going to suck. At least from the start. Big Blue goes on rationalizing their position saying that because of the insane power requirements for the blazing fast 4G waves, the phones will either (1) last 20 minutes on a charge when actually being used or (2) be “fat bricks”.
Now, the term “fat brick” is pretty relative as is “thin”. In the case of the iPhone 3G, I hear people constantly saying how they love how super thin it is and even would be interested in a thinner model. I guess I’m one of a dying breed who prefers my phone to be thicker than a piece of paper and not have to worry about snapping it in half when I sneeze on it. Apparently I’m old. Not to mention, holding these molecule thin phones is far from comfortable. I don’t have big hands — far from it — but clam handing these pieces of plastic day in and day out is starting to get annoying.
So, if Verizon’s first 4G phones are “fat bricks” — good. I could use a little mass in my mobile life. All too often manufacturers get fixated on jumping on this stupid thin is in bandwagon when doing something as simple as sticking a larger battery inside would add a much greater value. But I digress…
As we come upon the 4G rollout, I’ll happily sit back and bask in the limelight while holding my two fat bricks. Care to join me?
Think of a world where opposite beings such as T-Mobile and Sprint worked together? Weird isn’t it? The odd pairing might not be such an uncommon thing in the near future. In efforts to boost network capacity and resilience, T-Mobile is rumored to be in talks with Clearwire in a potential partnership. So far, Sprint has been the only major carrier to make use of Clearwire’s 4G wireless technology. The speed is there for sure. But having T-Mobile and Clearwire/Sprint more or less working together is, well, weird.
Sprint and T-Mobile in particular are competitors. Another thing to keep in mind is that T-Mobile, while not exactly “bleeding customers”, isn’t exactly booming. For Sprint, the outlook is even worse. Taking two under performing or stagnant companies and combining, them whether through a buyout or partnership isn’t exactly the best of choices for any party involved.
Through it all, the speed increases are hard to ignore. T-Mobile users in particular probably are blinded more so than Sprint users as they’re still fairly new to this whole high speed thing. Promises of leapfrogging ahead of the competition may seem like an awesome goal to rush towards. But partnering up with Sprint…? I just don’t see success at the end of that tunnel.
Phone Scoop > Reuters
Whether you want to get overly technical and explain how LTE isn’t technically 4G or simply don’t care, begging on hands and knees for something faster to come along, one thing is for certain: we all want LTE. Article after article has been written, telling of how LTE will save the planet and maybe even aid in solving world peace. But how does it actually fare in real world scenarios? I mean, the on paper maximums show speeds as high as 100Mbps/50Mbps up/down respectively.
The debbie downer in the group will quickly point out that the real world speeds Verizon is seeing are far from their maximums (12Mbps down/5Mbps up constant | 40-50Mbps down/20-25Mbps up peak). Such views while valid, are rather short sighted. I mean, if you find yourself complaining about data speeds that are several times faster than what we poke along with right now, nothing will ever make you happy.
As for myself, I can’t wait to pick myself up a nice LTE data card late this year early next. Even at only12Mbps, mobile web browsing will be much, much faster.
Electronista
- February 24, 2010 2:40 pm
By the time we start seeing unannounced devices showing up in carriers’ retail inventory systems, an imminent launch of said product is usually a given. With the HTC Incredible in mind and it’s awesome Android goods stuffed inside, we can only wait…impatiently. For the record, the Incredible will become the new “flagship” Android device on Verizon once it drops in the near future. The biggest talking points of course being the 1GHz processor and Sense UI, giving Android a prettier, yet darker face.
While it’s not a concrete, “Hey, the Incredible is coming on *insert date here*”, it is nonetheless, another drop in the bucket. Any early Android adopters (read: Droid owners) going to say sayonara to the DROID in hopes of taking the new hotness for a ride?
BerryScoop
- February 17, 2010 7:06 am
GSM or CDMA? It isn’t a hard decision to make, though it’s one that can often lead to heated debates (at least in the states where consumers aren’t very privy to the huge GSM market around the world). For myself, even though I’m on Verizon at the moment, I much prefer GSM and the freedom that popping SIM cards back and forth allowed. That SIM swapping may come into my life once again with me actually having to switch carriers at all as Verizon has officially announced that they’ve joined the GSMA.
What’s the big deal? Well, only that Verizon is again, a CDMA carrier and the GSMA is a GSM focused organization. In case you were wondering, the chosen “4G” technology for CDMA2000 networks was UMB backed by Qualcomm. However, after Qualcomm made the switch to LTE, others followed eventually killing off any hopes of UMB making it into the real world.
With Verizon voicing support for LTE (GSM technology) well back into last year, it was only a matter of time before they became friends with the cool kids and joined the GSMA club. One thing that’s interesting to mention is that with Verizon’s acceptance into the GSMA, has CDMA finally been dealt a final blow? I mean, well over 80% of the world uses GSM technology with the rest making up CDMA. Of that small global CDMA figure, the US makes up one of the largest shares.
Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how Verizon adopts and adapts the rules of the GSM realm. What I’m most curious about is if and how they will incorporate SIM cards. Common sense says they’d just start moving services over to SIM cards so that the transition to 4G and beyond would be that much easier. Though I can already see the nightmare of moving an entire network from a SIM-less nature to one that is the exact opposite. Above all else, there’s always the fact that Verizon hasn’t ever really been the most customer friendly or “open” network. With the move to GSM comes a much more open philosophy and way of thinking. Is Verizon ready? Are you ready?
In the grander scheme of things, Verizon isn’t the only major CDMA carrier promising LTE adoption as China Telecom and KDDI have also voiced intentions of moving to LTE as well as joining the GSMA. With that said: Will three of the biggest CDMA networks making the move to LTE for 4G (and most likely beyond) be more fallen dominoes in the path to CDMA’s death?
Unwired
GSM World
