Apple’s iPhone 5S, expected to launch later this year, will support LTE-Advanced sources reportedly at Korean carrier SK Telecom claim, theoretically doubling the smartphone’s download speeds versus the current iPhone 5. “SK Telecom is approaching Apple to put out LTE-A technology on the upcoming iPhone 5S” an unnamed source at the carrier told The Korea
This will come too late to be a world first, if it happens at all, but an unnamed insider at SK Telecom claims his company is in talks with Apple to bring out a South Korean version of the “upcoming iPhone 5S” with support for LTE-Advanced. The official, who was quoted by The Korea Times, makes it clear that SK Telecom made the first approach, but says the two parties are now “in the middle of negotiations”, implying Apple was receptive to the idea. An LTE-A iPhone could theoretically double the download speed of a regular LTE iPhone 5 in ideal conditions, thanks in large part to carrier aggregation technology that enables downloads over multiple radio channels at the same time. The Korea Times also mentions that Apple might use Qualcomm to deliver LTE-A, but that would likely mean a Qualcomm modem specifically, rather than the Snapdragon 800 used in the South Korean Galaxy S 4, since these days Apple prefers its processors to be homegrown.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: The Korea Times
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of October 8th, 2012
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Samsung, Nokia, Google, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, LG, Intel, RIM
Refresh Roundup: week of October 8th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Oct 2012 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dolby spinoff Via Licensing has shone a signal into the night sky and assembled some of the world’s biggest telecoms players to form a patent supergroup. AT&T, NTT DoCoMo and Telefonica are some of the names that’ll pool their standards-essential LTE patents to prevent getting embroiled in litigation over FRAND licensing. While there are some notable holdouts to the team, we suggest company president Roger Ross coax them over by hiring Michael McCuistion to write them a rockin’ theme song.
Continue reading Via Licensing assembles an LTE supergroup to share standards-essential patents
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
Via Licensing assembles an LTE supergroup to share standards-essential patents originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 01:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If there’s one thing that defines the phablet, it’s not hand portability — what’s on the market usually demands something of a stretch. Pantech wants to keep our grip at least slightly in check through its imminent Vega R3. The Android phone’s 5.3-inch, IPS-based LCD isn’t what we’d call modest, but it’s framed by an extra-thin bezel that Pantech claims is still comfortable in one hand. The R3 will be powerful, no matter how you hold it. It touts the same quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro we just saw in the LG Optimus G along with 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel camera and a 2,600mAh battery that can top up 100 minutes. South Koreans can pick up the Vega R3 from one of their three major carriers on September 25th. Sadly, we’re not expecting an American variant of the design given an emphasis on cheaper and smaller Pantech models in the US.
Continue reading Pantech Vega R3 packs Snapdragon S4 Pro, 5.3-inch screen into one hand
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Pantech Vega R3 packs Snapdragon S4 Pro, 5.3-inch screen into one hand originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Sep 2012 04:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Now we’re intrigued. It’s a common (if unconfirmed) belief that the next iPhone will support LTE-based 4G, but the Wall Street Journal now understands through the ever-present “people familiar with the matter” that Apple is taking 4G worldwide. Where the current iPad only supports two LTE frequencies and drops to HSPA+ outside of the US and Canada, the new iPhone will supposedly cover parts of Asia and Europe as well. The exact countries haven’t been outlined, although it’s easy to imagine Apple going for those countries where 4G speeds matter the most: there’s been rumblings of talks with KT and SK Telecom in South Korea, but we could also see France, Germany, Japan and Scandiavian countries in the mix. The rumor hasn’t been confirmed, of course. That said, the iPhone was already purported to be using a new cellular chipset — and a number of carriers, most often in the US, have long said they won’t carry new smartphones unless LTE is part of the package. We’ll know the full scoop on Wednesday.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
WSJ: 2012 iPhone to support global 4G LTE originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 18:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
This is yet another possible hint that the next generation iPhone, where some prefer to call it the new iPhone or just iPhone 5 for the sake of continuity, might just carry 4G LTE capability as a couple of cellular operators in Korea – namely SK Telecom and KT, spilled the beans to the Korea Times that their respective companies are well advanced in talks with the fruity company in order to enable the handsets play nice with the 1.8 GHz network frequency in the final iteration. SK Telecom has plans to introduce a Multi Carrier (MC) network that would introduce LTE connectivity in 23 cities before the year is over, where users can alternate between the 800 MHz and 1.8 GHz LTE frequencies in a snap, making it easy for folks who use 4G smartphones and tablets.
You could say that the major problem which Apple faces would be the wide range of 4G frequencies worldwide that needs to be supported. Qualcomm’s universal LTE chip known as the MSM-8960 does help as it supports up to seven different frequency bands, although it remains to b seen whether Apple is one name that has signed up Qualcomm as its partner in the upcoming iPhone.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPhone 5 spotted on Korea Telecom (KT) system, imminent launch?, Korean carriers not hot on the Nexus S,
Aren’t you glad you waited to buy an LTE version of the Galaxy S III? Samsung has confirmed that the versions with faster cellular data will support Voice over LTE on appropriately equipped networks, giving them that IP-based boost to call quality. The rollout will start with the Korean LTE model receiving support in August — we suspect SK Telecom is an early partner here — followed by a deployment in foreign LTE markets, which would mostly limit the upgrades to American and Canadian owners. About our only qualm is with Samsung’s assertion that the update makes the Galaxy S III the “world’s first Voice over LTE smartphone:” we’re pretty sure the fine folks at LG and MetroPCS have a thing or two to say about keeping up with current events.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless
Samsung Galaxy S III LTE to support VoLTE calls, starting with Korea in August originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 22:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The little blue marble we call Earth is no stranger to HD Voice — it’s been around commercially since Orange debuted the service over its 3G network in Moldova nearly three years ago — but the technology still hasn’t been officially deployed over an LTE network. That is, until SK Telecom launches the service later today. Doing so will allow the South Korean carrier to snag the crown for world’s first before Sprint, which recently announced that its network won’t have it until later this year. It’s a win-win scenario for the company: HD Voice over LTE is meant to vastly improve call quality and reduce latency for the customers, while lessening network strain and offering new revenue-making opportunities for SK Telecom. What about devices? It hasn’t announced any brand new smartphones that can take advantage of the service, but the company’s ready to pre-load the Samsung Galaxy S III with software that enables HD Voice capability, and is planning to push an update to current owners of the flagship device. If you’re the type of person that still makes the occasional call, this kind of progress should come as pleasant news.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless
SK Telecom deploys HD Voice over LTE, claims title of world’s first originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) announced this week that it achieved the world’s first commercialization of Multi Carrier to offer the fastest LTE speed in Korea since July 1 2012.
The company developed MC technology to utilize both its existing 800MHz frequency band (20MHz) and the 1.8GHz band (20MHz) it newly acquired last year. With an additional 20MHz uplink/downlink spectrum, it is now using a total of 40MHz for its LTE services.
The biggest strength of MC lies in that it allows the use of …
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