Microsoft is set to reveal new versions of the Surface RT tablet, using Qualcomm Snapdragon processors alongside existing NVIDIA Tegra chips, sources claim, with the goal of adding integrated LTE support. Although NVIDIA will supply processors “for some versions” insiders told Bloomberg, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon would feature in other models, as Microsoft attempts to make its
Samsung’s LTE-Advanced version of the Galaxy S 4, the unsurprisingly named “Galaxy S 4 LTE-Advanced”, could arrive in South Korea this month, the company’s mobile chief has confirmed, as Samsung attempts to position itself as a key player in double-4G speeds. The new variant of the Galaxy S 4 flagship will make Samsung “the first
More than a year after Sprint stopped launching WiMAX phones, it added a new paragraph to its terms and conditions that indicate its impending breakup with the wireless standard. According to PCWorld, the change (originally noticed by an S4Guru forum user) was implemented on May 22nd. You can read it in its entirety after the break, but to summarize: if you have a WiMAX device, you’ll eventually have to decide whether you want to keep using your phone without it, deactivate your contract or transition to the carrier’s LTE network. You won’t have to pay an early-termination fee if you choose deactivation, while you’ll get a “standard” LTE device (Sprint didn’t specify which) if you opt for transition. The Now Network didn’t say how long it will continue supporting the flagging wireless standard, but it’s clear as day it’s focusing its efforts on widening its LTE coverage.
[Image credit: William Ross]
Filed under: Networking, Sprint
Source: Sprint
After adding monthly SIM-only plans to its product line-up last week, EE’s announced a few new subscriptions that people will have access to at some point this summer. One is a shared option, which’ll allow patrons to use their plan “across phones and tablets, or with other people.” The other is a PAYG data-only option, so you’ll be able to buy gigabytes without signing up for anything long-term, and gobble them up on your tablet, laptop, MiFi device or anything else with a SIM slot. We don’t have any firm launch dates or pricing for either of these plans, but more is expected “in the coming weeks.” In other news, the number of customers on EE’s LTE network has exceeded the half a million mark, meaning around 200,000 new subscribers have come on board since April.
Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops, Tablets, Wireless, Mobile
4G carrier EE has announced the UK’s first shared plans, following US carriers in offering agreements which can be spread across multiple phones, tablets, and even different users. The Shared 4GEE Plans, which will be detailed “in the coming weeks” according to the carrier, come alongside a new set of pay-as-you-go mobile broadband plans for
AT&T is moving quickly to spread out its 4G LTE service to customers in the US, and while they’re still behind Verizon‘s dominance in LTE coverage, you have to admire Ma Bell’s efforts to getting its 4G network up to full strength. The carrier announced that they dumped their 4G LTE network onto 22 markets
Intel has shown off its new chips for tablets, smartphones, and LTE-enabled devices, with Silvermont, Bay Trail-T, and Merrifield all revealed at Computex 2013 today. Merrifield, due to show up in Intel-powered smartphones from early 2014, is the company’s next-gen smartphone platform, a 22nm Atom SoC that was, for today’s show, wrapped up in a new touchscreen reference design.
Intel was coy on specific details about the phone, and indeed about Merrifield, though did let slip a couple of elements the new Atom chip will bring. Unsurprisingly there’s talk of both more performance and more battery life; however, there’s also apparently an “integrated sensor hub” that will be used for “personalized services.”
Intel hasn’t said exactly what those services might be – nor, indeed, what types of sensors will be included – but it does remind us of Motorola’s comments last week about the incoming Moto X, and how the company was looking to contextual understanding for its new range of phones. Merrifield will also include “capabilities for data, device, and privacy protection,” Intel says.
As for tablets, first up will be Bay Trail-T, the 22nm quadcore Atom SoC that’s expected to crop up in slates for the holiday season. Bay Trail-T is good for more than twice the processor power of current Atom for tablet chips, Intel claims, as well as a boost in processor performance; 8hrs or more of battery life is supposedly possible, based on a 10.1-inch Full HD slate with a 30Wh power pack. “Weeks of standby” and support for Android and Windows 8.1 are also promised.
However, down the line there’s Silvermont, Intel’s 22nm “low power, high performance” architecture for phones and slates. Still no word on when, exactly, that will be ready for prime-time, however.
Finally, Intel has at last rolled together its own 4G LTE modem, a multimode system to pair with next-gen 22nm quadcore Bay Trail-T Atom SoCs for tablets. Intel is promising global LTE roaming – no small feat, given the array of different networks in operation around the world – from the XMM 7160, despite the chip also apparently being one of the world’s smallest.
Intel details Merrifield new phone chip; Homegrown LTE for Bay Trail tablets is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
It’s no surprise, really. Offline devices just don’t carry the allure that they once did, and in fact, yours truly would argue that they simply lack the requisite functionality to become runaway hits in the modern era. It’s genuinely difficult to think of a flagship consumer electronics product, with a display of any kind, being engineered in the year 2013 without at least some level of internet connectivity in mind. Even a Kickstarter dream dubbed Pebble would be borderline useless without an online link, and as consumer demands shift dramatically towards expecting more for less, it’s the carriers who have found themselves positioned to take advantage.
Verizon has joined a host of other megacorps in launching so-called innovation centers across the world. Earlier this year, Samsung committed $1.1 billion to create a pair of Open Innovation Centers — temporary homes for upstarts looking to woo Sammy’s check writers into believing in their technology. In 2011, AT&T’s Palo Alto, Calif.-based Foundry innovation center joined similar entities already running in Texas and Israel. In a nutshell, these facilities exist solely to ensure that pretty much everything with a circuit board also ships with an AT&T radio. Microsoft, Intel and Vodafone have all done likewise in the past three years.
I recently had the opportunity to visit Verizon’s first Innovation Center — a sprawling facility located squarely in Massachusetts’ famed Route 128 technology corridor. The center opened in Waltham in the middle of 2011, and now enables roughly 25 employees to “largely operate outside” of what you probably associate with the word “Verizon.” What I found was the world’s greatest case against the existence of a “dumb pipe” — a phrase often used to describe carriers that do little more than provide access to a network. No structured technical support, no humans on the other side, no bloatware on the devices they sell. Companies who show up looking for aid in the art of interconnectedness face no fees, no risk of surrendering intellectual property and no requirements of exclusivity. This is the future of the wireless carrier: an increasingly vital component in making tomorrow’s whiz-bang gadget one that this generation will actually crave.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Verizon
Samsung’s new Galaxy S4 Mini, announced earlier today, will be offered in LTE form in the UK, it’s been confirmed. The new, smaller iteration of the flagship Galaxy S 4 would be offered in three forms depending on market, Samsung had said today, with 3G, dual-SIM 3G, and 4G variants; now, the UK’s only current 4G carrier, EE, has weighed in with confirmation that it will be offering the smartphone.
“We can confirm we plan to stock the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini from launch” an EE spokesperson told us today. “It will be available on our superfast 4GEE service.” Meanwhile, the phone will also be available on 3G-only networks Orange and T-Mobile, which are part of the combined EE network.
Although it shares the name of the Galaxy S 4, the Mini version does make some significant departures from that handset’s flagship specifications. For instance, the 4.3-inch display runs at just qHD resolution – 960 x 540 – rather than the 1920 x 1080 of the full-sized phone. Inside, too, there’s a compromise to be made, with the Galaxy S4 Mini running a 1.7GHz dualcore chip rather than the quadcore of its bigger brother.
The camera also sees a compromise, mustering 8-megapixels rather than 13-megapixels. A single storage option has been confirmed at this stage – just 8GB, of which around 5GB is available to the user – though there’s still a microSD slot to add to that. It’s worth remembering that apps can’t be installed to microSD, however.
What none of the networks are saying is how much the Galaxy S4 Mini will cost, nor indeed when exactly it will hit their shelves. Those details may have to wait until Samsung’s “Premiere 2013″ event in late June, when the Mini will be one of a number of new devices – running both Android and Windows – we’re expecting to see.
Galaxy S4 Mini will support UK LTE confirms EE is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Before other carriers in the UK get their 4G networks up and running, EE’s looking to bolster its customer base by tempting you with an LTE fling, rather than a long-term relationship. The network already has 12-month SIM-only plans available if you don’t need a device, but today has launched 30-day SIM-only options for the commitment-phobic. That freedom comes with a £2 mark-up per month over the year-long plans, however: the cheapest option rings up at £23 every 30 days for 500MB of data, with a maximum cost of £63 for 20GB. Every price tier comes with unlimited texts and calls as standard, and if you’re intrigued by a no-strings-attached trial month, you can snag a SIM at stores, online, or over the phone right now.
Source: EE
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