EVDO Rev A to be succeeded by….EVDO Rev B. 9.3Mbps/5.4Mbps up/down speeds coming to a CDMA carrier near you.

Think CDMA is dead? Think again (unfortunately). While I may be using a CDMA carrier currently, that doesn’t mean I’m tattooing CDMA logos on my body and boycotting anything with a SIM card. As with all tech related material, CDMA has a pretty large group of followers who for whatever reason, aren’t planning on moving to GSM anytime soon.

Thankfully, those with CDMA technology don’t have to sit idle and watch their GSM cousins enjoy all of the 4G fun. The next CDMA based technology will be EV-DO Rev B. The advancements over rev A are of course, faster download and upload speeds of 9.3Mbps and 5.4Mbps respectively.

CDMA users in the US shouldn’t hold their breath for any Rev B action as Sprint is making their big 4G push with WiMax and Verizon giving their nod to LTE — a GSM technology. In reality, EV-DO Rev B doesn’t seem like a 4G technology, at least not one that fits in with the rest. 9.3Mbps compared to the near triple digit speeds LTE claims to offer near it’s theoretical maxium don’t speak too favorably of Rev B.

Still, for those looking down the road at CDMA 4G technologies by choice or mandate can feel *slightly* more comfortable tonight.
PhoneScoop

webOS training at VZW stores starts. Pre/Pixie launch can’t be too far off.

Back when the Palm Pre was launched, Sprint boasted of their exclusive deal with Palm concerning webOS. (A lot of good that did them…) Verizon countered with an “end of year” release of webOS themselves. Obviously they were a bit too excited as Sprint ended up being correct — that Verizon wasn’t getting any webOS love until 2010.

Well, 2010 is just around the corner and tonight we can now feast our eyes upon the very training documents VZW employees are currently consuming, prepping for the big webOS launch day. I originally thought and still think that the Pre is pretty hot. The Pixie not so much, but the Pre has got something special. With a new home on Verizon do you think webOS, the Pre, and Palm can turn their fortunes around?

PhoneArena

Sprint HTC Hero “Google Experience” models support EV-DO Rev A. Non-Google units stuck at Rev 0? [Update]

**Update: All is well in the world again. According to HTC, the problem is actually a rouge text display problem “claiming” to be merely Rev 0 when in fact the phone can actually be in Rev A mode. Whew, crisis adverted. Happy surfing.

Well this would certainly be scandalous. It appears that a bit of strangeness is running around the Android world as of the last couple of days with Sprint’s HTC Hero officially being released. The problem appears to be centered around said devices manufacture date and support for either EV-DO Rev-0 or A. The word around various Android forums is if your Sprint Hero DOES NOT have the “Google Experience” plastered across it’s backside, your phone is stuck at Rev 0 while the *theoretically* newer Hero’s WITH “Google Experience” wordage have EV-DO Rev A support instead of the slower 0. Now, the differences between Rev 0 and A when download speeds are concerned aren’t anything to get worked up about. However, when upload speeds are concerned, well, that is something to get hot and bothered over as being limited to Rev 0 can certainly be seen as a “bad deal”.

To get to the bottom of the mystery, finding out the required information is rather simple. First, flip your phone over. Do you or don’t you see “Google Experience” on the back of your Sprint Hero? Next, do the following:

• To check your units manufactured date:
  1. Open Dialer
  2. enter: ##786#
  3. Scroll down to “Manufacturer’s Date”
• To Check which whether you have EV-DO Rev 0 or A:
  1. Navigate to: Settings > About Phone > Status > Mobile Network Type

For those who are curious or needing a baseline to compare to, Android Central’s in-house Sprint Hero has the following info:

Born on: 4/9/2009 (Sept. 4, 2009) — EV-DO Rev. 0.

Many will note that the HTC customized devices such as those running the Sense UI wouldn’t have Google branding because of various red tape and licensing issues. Units popping up with Google branding are strange to say the least as no comment or announcement has been made thus far as to why newly manufactured Hero’s are coming with said branding. Even more strange and potentially angering are reports that users owning Google branded Hero’s are seeing EV-DO Rev A support on their phones. Obvoius early adopters or those unlucky enough to get an un-Googled phone complete with yesterday’s EV-DO Rev 0 are going to be a bit peeved ultimately creating a slew of consumer returns to claim the coveted Google branded phones with their faster Rev A support.

Let’s hear it. Did you get a Sprint HTC Hero? Did it come with/without Google branding. And finally, after are you rockin’ EV-DO Rev 0 or A? Leave a word in the comments…

Android Central

BlackBerry Tour high return claims ruffle a few feathers…

Having a piece of art, geeky art that you and your company have spent so many hours and sacrificed blood and tears for experience a quality problem is a sad sad thing to go through. Understandably, I’m sure RIM is feeling the heat as both Verizon and Sprint BlackBerry Tour’s (9630) are getting flack from users because of faulty trackballs. Return rates have been estimated as high as the 50% mark according to both Barron’s and a CrunchGear poll — not a small problem or claim to say the least. It really isn’t hard to find information confirming said problem. A few minutes sifting through such sites as Howard Forums, as well as many other BlackBerry specific sites have turned up quite alarming rates of incidences. Such issues will eventually cost someone copious amounts of money. One side-effect for carriers is that some of those lost dollars often get passed to them.

Even though they aren’t responsible per say for the hardware issues, (even though field testing is supposed to catch problems like this), feathers from both Verizon and Sprint are getting ruffled. So much so that a PR firm even sent Mobile Crunch a statement “clarifying” the issue, rebuking it, and more or less calling them out on a “false” claim. The statement goes on:

I thought you would be interested to see that both Sprint and Verizon Wireless have refuted the unsubstantiated comments made by TownHall Investment Research. We would appreciate it if you would also consider updating your story as soon as possible given that both Sprint and Verizon Wireless have strongly refuted TownHall’s claims about the carriers’ return rates.

Some one is a bit pissed to say the least. Oh well, when you build crap, do a crap job testing it, and then release it to millions of people, bad PR is sure to result. You know the drill. RT away.

Source: MobileCrunch, Image Source

HTC dual wielding smartphones/platforms on Verizon this fall.

CDMA users often feel left out when it comes to cool phones and such as their GSM brethren are often first to get all the coolest geeky stuff. This fall Verizon is looking to spruce up their offerings a tad with two promising contestants both coming from HTC land. The first up, the HTC Imagio will bring Big Red their first tasting of WinMo 6.5 come early October packing a 3.6-inch WVGA touchscree, 528MHz Qualcom core, 512MB/256 ROM/RAM, 5 megapixel shooter w/ auto-focus and anti-shake features, and GSM/GPS/CDMA/EVDO radios. Certainly something to look forward to no? That is until we get a more revealing spec sheet of the HTC Predator which will supposedly come to Verizon in late October packin’ Android under the hood. The fall season looks like it’s heating up quite well. Heck, I’m even excited to see how the Imagio turns out. Thoughts?

Source: BGR