Hasta La Gadget!

TeliaSonera has today flicked on the green light for its LTE networks in Stockholm and Oslo, officially starting the countdown for LTE-enabled phones. For the moment, keen mobile webstronauts will only be able to hook up their laptop or other USB-equipped device via the Samsung-provided 4G modem, but 100Mbps download speeds on the world’s first commercial LTE network are still nothing to sniff at. This rollout is in fact slightly ahead of schedule, and the other major cities in Sweden and Norway are likely to soon get treated similarly well, while TeliaSonera makes a point to mention it has a license to do similar damage to Finland’s 3G operators. The US might not be too far behind, either, given that the modem in use in Scandinavia recently cleared the FCC. Now if only we had phones that could ride these massive waves we’d be all set.

TeliaSonera launches world’s first LTE network, awaits phones eagerly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Newswire, TeliaSonera  | Email this | Comments

Think LTE is the future? How’s about the present? Clearwire is expanding its national footprint in a big, big way today by announcing WiMAX services in a slew of regions in a smattering of states. Starting today, 4G access can be found in both Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii, which effectively removes the last sane reason to not visit and / or relocate there. In fact, CLEAR is now available to 800,000 citizens of America’s finest state, with service extending 1,759 square miles over Oahu, Maui, and Lanai. Moving on, residents of Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh, North Carolina can also buy in, right along with those folks in Dallas/Ft. Worth, San Antonio and Austin, Texas who mistakenly think their BBQ is superior. Closing things out, we’ve got new access throughout the Puget Sound area (including Seattle and King County, Pierce County, Kitsap County, and Snohomish County), not to mention a green light to hop on the 4G superhighway in the Chicago region. If you’re anxious to ditch 3G, you’ll find plans starting at just $30 per month.

Clearwire’s WiMAX rollout rolls on: NC, WA, TX, IL and HI get lit originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Hawaii, North Carolina, Puget Sound, Chicago, Texas  | Email this | Comments

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon has brought about a new wave of possibilities for smartphones, but evidently those chips are just too exclusive to slip into so-called “mainstream smartphones.” In order to remedy such a tragedy, the outfit has today introduced the MSM7x30 family of solutions, which uses an 800 MHz to 1GHz custom superscalar CPU based on the ARM v7 instruction set. The chips support 720p video encoding / decoding at 30fps, integrated 2D and 3D graphics (with support for OpenGL ES 2.0 and OpenVG 1.1), 5.1-channel surround sound, a 12 megapixel camera sensor and built-in GPS. In related news, the outfit also announced that it is sampling the industry’s first chipsets for dual-carrier HSPA+ and multi-mode 3G / LTE, which ought to make those champing at the bit for a speedier WWAN highway exceedingly giddy. Hit the links below for all the technobabble.

Read – MSM7x30 solutions
Read – Dual-carrier HSPA+ and Multi-Mode 3G/LTE chipsets

Filed under: Cellphones

Qualcomm chips promises 1GHz speeds in ‘mainstream smartphones,’ simultaneous HSPA+ / LTE support originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Samsung and Qualcomm have wrapped up a cross-licensing deal with ten figures of US currency in it, which will permit the Korean giant to continue producing 3G- and 4G-enabled wireless devices for the next 15 years. In exchange, Samsung is letting Qualcomm make use of its own 57 patents on mobile technology and splashing out a further $1.3 billion as a down payment. Further royalty payments are involved, but not detailed, but just as a reference point, that’s more than the new Dallas Cowboys stadium and its ultra-huge scoreboard cost to build. The move is a renewal of the two companies’ current arrangement and Samsung has boldly claimed the terms of the new contract are more favorable to it, but we get the feeling the champagne will be flowing in San Diego this week.

[Via MobileTechWorld]

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Samsung pays Qualcomm $1.3 billion to secure wireless licenses originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

As much fanfare and support as it’s been getting over the past couple years, LTE’s dirty little secret is that there’s been no unified stance on how to ferry voice services over the technology; the concentration has been on data alone so far. Sure, the occasional carrier has raised concerns — and a variety of solutions have been proposed, ranging from VoIP to repurposing legacy networks for voice alone — but until now, voice has been an afterthought that everyone’s been procrastinating on solving. Fortunately, a veritable who’s-who of industry players from both the manufacturer and carrier sides of the fence have congealed this week to announce the One Voice initiative, which basically just hand-picks existing 3GPP-defined standards for voice and SMS services over LTE. Strangely missing is T-Mobile, one of the loudest voices in demanding a voice standard for LTE up until this point — but considering that AT&T, Orange, Telefonica, TeliaSonera, Verizon, and Vodafone are all on board along with Samsung, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and others, we think they’ll have no option but to fall in line in the long term. For consumers, this means we can all breathe a sigh of relief that LTE handsets won’t be arbitrarily compartmentalized by supported voice standard, so it’s a big win any way you slice it.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Coalition of carriers, manufacturers settles on voice standard for LTE originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments