AT&T’s official GoPhone prepaid policy has always officially prevented network data access for iPhones (and other 4G devices except for BlackBerry), but a tipster reports that will change tomorrow. The new policy adds 4G HSPA+ and LTE support as well as Visual Voicemail access to the GoPhone package, with customers able to bring their own device or buy a new one at off-contract unsubsidized prices. According to the details, existing customers with iPhones will be automatically updated with network access on June 21st, however they’ll be able to call in and make the switch manually before that. The new features work on the $65, $50 and $25 monthly plans, however the two lower priced options will require data packages to work. You can get a peek at the leaked terms after the break, although we’d wait for an official announcement before picking up your 4G-capable handset and requesting service.
Vodafone CEO Vittorio Coalo has conceded that the company is pushing back its 4G rollout to September. The decision was taken in order to ensure the infrastructure is “really ready,” promising that Voda’s service will be “better performing” than EE’sBacon-flavored LTE. Despite the late start, Coalo has laid down an aggressive timeline, demanding that 40 percent of the UK is covered in 4G before March 2014 — which’ll please those notoriously impatient technofreaks no end.
Samsung’s Exynos 5-based Chromebook may have been available since last October, but how about one equipped with WiMAX radio? Graced with the presence of Google and Samsung reps in Kuala Lumpur (including a video message from Google SVP Sundar Pichai), today Malaysian carrier Yes 4G unveiled this rather special laptop for the local consumers. In fact, we should have seen this coming as Google’s official blog did hint this last month, but we failed to catch that blurred “Yes 4G” logo on the laptop in the blog’s photo.
As Google mentioned, the ultimate goal here is to help transform Malaysia’s education using the Chromebook. And now we know that this ambition will be backed by Yes 4G’s rapidly growing WiMAX network — from the initial 1,200 base stations in 2010 to today’s 4,000, covering 85 percent of the peninsula; and the carrier will expand into the eastern side with 700 more sites by the end of this year. This is especially important for the rural areas, where many schools still lack access to water and electricity. As a partner of the Malaysian Ministry of Education’s 1BestariNet project, Yes 4G’s parent company YTL Communications has so far ensured that 7,000 local state schools are covered by its WiMAX network, with the remaining 3,000 to be connected over the next six months.
Verizon is continuing to roll out its 4G LTE in more locations across the US of A by hitting many of the smaller cities and towns in between of the larger cities that they’ve already hit. Doing so will soon see them reaching the 500-market milestone. The carrier already has the largest LTE network in the US, and they expect to completely blanket their 3G network with LTE in just a couple of months.
Verizon launched LTE in 6 new markets today, including locations in Kentucky, Michigan, and Colorado. This brings the total number of markets that are equipped with Verizon 4G LTE up to 497, which is just three shy of hitting that illustrious 500 mark. AT&T is in second, but they still have work to do in order to catch up, and T-Mobile just launched their LTE network, so they’re still spring training, so to speak.
Verizon plans to cover its 3G network entirely with LTE by the middle of this year, and they carrier said that their 3G network is already 95% covered by their LTE, so they only have a little ways to go at this point. If you’re wondering if you’re city has LTE, it most likely does, but if you’re not sure, Verizon has a full list of LTE-equipped markets in the US.
Last year, Verizon blew past its year-end goals for 2012, covering 417 markets by the middle of October with a year-end goal of covering 400 markets. That’s quite an accomplishment and proves that not only is Verizon willing to casually meet their goals, but they aim to exceed them.
Verizon celebrated the 2nd birthday of its LTE network back in December, and announced that 440 markets had the carrier’s faster LTE speeds. Currently, more than 40% of Verizon’s smartphones run 4G LTE, as well as 63% of all internet devices sold from Verizon. Plus, over half of all of Verizon’s mobile network and data traffic is over LTE speeds. That’s quite impressive to say the least, and while there will be an equilibrium with AT&T eventually, Verizon is making sure they stay on top for as long as possible.
We’re sure many of you are pleased with your 4G and 4G LTE connections on your mobile devices, but even though those speeds are good enough for you to upload videos to YouTube and images to Instagram on a regular […]
When BT purchased nearly £200 million worth of 4G spectrum, the prevailing opinion was that it would remain a behind-the-scenes player. CEO Ian Livingston, however, might have grander aspirations for his company’s 2.6GHz property. In an interview with The Telegraph, he said that it was “highly possible” that we’d see BT-branded 4G SIM cards next year, bundled along with the company’s TV and broadband services. He also spoke of upgrading existing BT WiFi hotspots to provide 4G access, which would reduce the cost of 4G compared to its premium-priced rivals.
Nokia has officially announced the Lumia 928, its Windows Phone 8 smartphone for Verizon, and the device it has been steadily teasing over the past week. Packing a 4.5-inch OLED display and an 8.7-megapixel PureView camera, along with Verizon LTE 4G support, the Lumia 928 also has three high-audio-amplitude-capture microphones for better audio recording. It’ll also arrive with an impressively competitive price.
There’s wireless charging, as you’d expect from a device based on the Lumia 920, and NFC. That means the phone can be easily paired with wireless speakers and such, using Bluetooth 3.0 to squirt music across. Other connectivity includes WiFi a/b/g/n (2.4/5GHz) and microUSB.
Verizon Nokia Lumia 928 demo:
Nokia throws in HERE Maps, HERE Drive+, and HERE City Lens for easier navigation, along with the camera enhancements such as panoramic photos and animated GIFs. Optical image stabilization is included, just as Nokia demonstrated recently by strapping the phone to a remote-control helicopter, as well as a Xenon flash and Carl Zeiss optics. As for video recording, that’s supported at up to 1080p resolution.
The display, meanwhile, uses Nokia’s ClearBlack technology, and runs at 1280 x 768 resolution. It has a high-brightness outdoors mode, running at 500nits, and the super-sensitive touchscreen which can be used by gloves. The battery is a 2,000 mAh pack, and there’s 1GB of RAM paired with the 1.5GHz dualcore MSM8960 processor, and 32GB of user-storage.
Connectivity is impressive, with the Lumia 928 coming “Global Ready”: that means quadband GSM and UMTS HSPA for when you’re abroad, and EVDO/Rev.A and LTE for when you’re in the US on Verizon’s 4G network. It’s unclear whether Verizon will supply the phone SIM unlocked, however, for international use.
The Nokia Lumia 928 will hit Verizon on May 16, the company says, priced at $99.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate, and assuming a new two-year agreement.
Interestingly, the Lumia 928 had been expected to debut at Nokia’s London event next Tuesday. Exactly what will be the star of that show remains to be seen, though SlashGear will be there to bring you all the details as they’re announced.
One of the worst things about using a wireless modem on the go to connect your computer to the Internet is that it’s a pain in the butt to know how much data you’ve used. A data overage can cost you hundreds of dollars or more, so most people will keep a close eye on exactly how much data they are using. With your typical wireless modem, that means you have to go to your wireless carrier’s website, or dig into the device’s settings to search out the report that will tell you how much data you’ve used so far for any given month.
However, AT&T has unveiled a clever new USB wireless modem that features an integrated LCD screen that can solve this problem.
Made by Sierra Wireless, the new wireless modem is called the Beam. The coolest thing about it is that its integrated display can do is show you exactly how much data you’ve used at a glance. The display also shows several other helpful bits of information including such as network type and signal strength indicator.
The wireless modem offers 4G LTE connectivity, and can also act as a storage device supporting memory cards up to 32 GB of capacity. The Beam will be available on May 10 for just $19.99(USD) – with a two-year contract, of course.
Verizon Wireless has the largest 4G LTE network in U.S., with the service being offered in approximately 500 markets. Moreover the carrier is expected to be finished with its deployment work in a couple of months. After it, AT&T is the second network that’s offering the largest 4G LTE network, but its service is not available in even half of the total markets that Verizon caters to. Regardless, we’ve been seeing AT&T switch on its service in new markets at a swift place, only today it announced that its LTE service is now available in an additional 20 markets.
These 20 new markets include Lake City and Ocala, Florida; Lansing, Michigan; Cattanooga, Tennessee; Huntsville, Alabama and Shreveport / Bossier city in Louisiana. 12 additional markets have now been connected to AT&T’s 4G LTE network over the past couple of weeks, these include Springfield, Missouri; Florence, South Carolina; Petersburg, Virginia; Morgantown, West Virginia and Cushing, Oklahoma. AT&T is definitely playing catch-up with Verizon, it hopes to add quite a few markets by the end of summer. Other carriers such as T-Mobile and Sprint are gradually making their 4G LTE available in new markets as well.
According to a Chinese report, China Mobile (the country’s largest wireless carrier), will be its 4G LTE network this year. The network could launch as soon as August, as long as China Mobile can get approval by next month. This will be China’s first-ever LTE network to launch in the country — quite a delay from the roughly two years that it’s been available in the US.
The report comes from Chinese media outlet CWW, and they’re saying that the mobile operator is hoping to seek approval of its LTE-TD network by May 17, which would see the official launch of the network sometime in August of this year. In the meantime, China Mobile has been preparing by releasing several LTE devices, as well as setting up multiple LTE towers.
China Mobile has already deployed over 200,000 LTE base stations across 150 different locations in China, and they have said that they would be prepared for a full launch next month, including a full range of LTE smartphones going up for sale, as well as MiFi devices being available as well.
China Mobile’s total user base reaches 726 million, and it’s leaps and bounds ahead of what China Unicom and China Telecom have, which is 251 million and 168 million subscribers, respectively. No matter what, it seems China Mobile is dead serious about LTE, and by August when the LTE network is expected to launch, China Mobile will launch its LTE in full force.
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