Hasta La Gadget!

Fleshing out what constitutes a 3G versus a 4G wireless technology is like trying to objectively quantify whether Coke or Pepsi is the superior beverage — but for what it’s worth, the UN’s ITU is widely recognized as the closest thing we have to a final word (on the Gs, that is, not the colas). They’ve just issued a press release stating that of six technologies nominated for IMT-Advanced (the formal name for 4G) certification, just two have emerged victorious: 802.16m WiMAX 2 — also known as WirelessMAN-Advanced — and LTE-Advanced. That would leave Sprint, Verizon, and everyone else currently deploying WiMAX and LTE technically false in advertising their latest-generation services as “4G,” though with so many technologies crowding the 3G space, we can’t necessarily blame them; heck, even EDGE and CDMA2000 without EV-DO technically qualify as 3G in the eyes of the ITU, so yeah, the situation is really just as muddled as ever. For what it’s worth, neither 802.16m nor LTE-Advanced are live anywhere in the world — and they aren’t expected to be for some time — so whether you like it or not, the UN says you’re still living a 3G existence no matter where you’re located. So close! Follow the break for the ITU’s release.

Continue reading ITU lays down law: WiMAX 2, LTE-Advanced are 4G, everyone else is a buster

ITU lays down law: WiMAX 2, LTE-Advanced are 4G, everyone else is a buster originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Oct 2010 10:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola is definitely tossing its hat in the LTE mobile broadband ring — it just announced this plug-and-play USB-lte 7110 modem at the 4G World conference in Illinois. It’s rated for FDD-LTE Category 3, meaning the little exclamation-point-shaped dongle is theoretically capable of 100Mbps download and 50Mbps upload speeds, and it’s got a pair of omni-directional MIMO antennas to help you pull down as much of that juicy, low-latency data as Motorola’s unnamed partners intend to squeeze. Just don’t be fooled by the company’s claims that this is the “first commercial 4G LTE device” — we’re pretty sure Samsung and LG have Moto beat. PR after the break.

Continue reading Motorola prepping 4G USB modem for LTE networks, doesn’t say which ones

Motorola prepping 4G USB modem for LTE networks, doesn’t say which ones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The fact that Sprint and Clearwire have teamed up to deliver WiMAX to New York, LA, and San Francisco isn’t news. In fact, we’ve already seen the networks light up in operational readiness modes on the way to full consumer availability. But now we’ve got dates, the first specifics that we can recall for these cities. Now, according to both Clearwire and Sprint, New York’s WiMAX service will go live on November 1st, LA’s on December 1st, and San Francisco sometime around the end of December. We’ll see if those early 5Mbps to 7Mbps download / 1.2Mbps upload speeds we’ve experienced can be maintained once the service meets the crush of the big city horde. Of course, this is nothing but good news for wireless consumers who’ll also see Verizon light up its competing LTE network in these cities (38 in total) at about the same time.

Sprint promises WiMAX in NYC on November 1, LA on December 1, and San Francisco a few weeks later originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 02:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rogers is breaking LTE out of the confines of its labs for the first time with the announcement today that it’s flipping the switch on a trial network in Ottawa — a place where infrastructure partner Ericsson conveniently just happens to have some facilities. The 4G network won’t be open to customers yet, but it seems like that’ll be a relatively small step — in the Ottawa area, anyway — once all the technical issues have been ironed out. Step one will be a deployment in Rogers’ AWS spectrum portfolio, but they’ve already filed a request with the gub’mint to roll out on 700MHz as well — a critical step if these guys want any semblance of interoperability with the first LTE deployments in the US. So, Canadians, tell us: excited? Follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading Rogers, Ericsson turn Ottawa into an LTE trial playground

Rogers, Ericsson turn Ottawa into an LTE trial playground originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 22:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’ll be a little while before AT&T’s LTE rollout is in full swing — but if you’re the kind of individual that enjoys some margin of future-proofing, you’ll want to take a close look at the just-announced USBConnect Adrenaline modem for AT&T, an LG-sourced unit that becomes the carrier’s very first device to tout LTE upgradeability in 2011. In the meantime, you get HSPA, a microSD slot with support for up to 32GB, and GPS; it runs $49.99 on contract. Next up, Sierra Wireless’ USBConnect Shockwave is AT&T’s first HSPA+ modem, meaning it’ll work nicely on AT&T’s upcoming HSPA+ upgrade — an upgrade that’ll have a more immediate impact in some areas than LTE will; this one goes for a nice, fat zilch on contract. Finally, the Huawei USBConnect 900 is AT&T’s first Huawei device (notice a lot of firsts here?), and it’ll be “compatible” with AT&T’s prepaid DataConnect Pass plans of $15, $30, and $50 for 100MB, 300MB and 1GB, respectively. Look for the Adrenaline and 900 in stores on October 17; the Shockwave hasn’t been dated just yet. Follow the break for AT&T’s full press release.

Continue reading AT&T’s new USB modems include HSPA+, LTE-upgradeable, and prepaid options

AT&T’s new USB modems include HSPA+, LTE-upgradeable, and prepaid options originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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