Telus launching North America’s first 42Mbps dual carrier HSPA+ network (update: Bell, too)

Australia’s Telstra already claimed the title of World’s First on this one, but Telus up in Canada isn’t far behind, becoming the first carrier in North America to push HSPA+ up to 42Mbps through the magic of dual carrier technology. The concept, of course, is nothing new — remember those “Shotgun” two-line 56k landline modems back in the day? Dual carrier isn’t much different, employing two HSPA+ connection simultaneous to get an effective max theoretical throughput of 42Mbps. Telus has already wrapped up lab trials, but it expects to offer the blazing speeds to customers some time in the first quarter of 2011 with the launch of the first compatible devices — USB modems at first, we’d presume — and since Bell shares the network with Telus, we’d imagine that they’re in cahoots on this as well. Rogers, ball’s in your court. Follow the break for the full press release.

[Thanks, Zach]

Update: Bell reached out to us to let us know that they’re in the thick of testing dual carrier HSPA+ as well with trials on real-world cell sites kicking off this month, and that “no one’s ahead of Bell in testing this technology.” As we mentioned before, Bell and Telus are in bed with each other for their HSPA airwaves, so it makes perfect sense.

Continue reading Telus launching North America’s first 42Mbps dual carrier HSPA+ network (update: Bell, too)

Telus launching North America’s first 42Mbps dual carrier HSPA+ network (update: Bell, too) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Huawei’s E583C mobile hotspot: looks so good, you’ll wish it weren’t portable

Okay, so maybe that’s a stretch, but there’s no question that Huawei’s newest mobile hotspot is indeed a looker. Blessed with a silver and black motif as well as a subtle 1-inch color OLED for providing status information at a glance, the new E583C follows in the footsteps of the E585 and Vodafone’s R201. Functionally, it’s fairly predictable, offering a 3.5G HSPA connection to up to five devices over WiFi and a sixth via a direct USB connection. There’s support for Windows, Mac and Linux platforms, with a promise of hitting upwards of 5.76Mbps (up) and 7.2Mbps (down). Huawei’s also tossing in a microSD card slot, and if you aren’t turned on by MiFi-esque mobile routers, the newly introduced E173u USB modem just might do the trick. Catch ’em later this month in Hong Kong for HK$1,380 ($177) and HK$498 ($64), respectively.

Continue reading Huawei’s E583C mobile hotspot: looks so good, you’ll wish it weren’t portable

Huawei’s E583C mobile hotspot: looks so good, you’ll wish it weren’t portable originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 03:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Purported myTouch HD leaks out alongside promise of T-Mobile’s first HSPA+ smartphone

Someone should really tell T-Mobile USA it’s got a rather large hole that needs plugged. Hot on the heels of the (presumably) T-Mob-bound G1 Blaze leak comes this duo, which includes a purported leak of the myTouch HD (or 3G HD) as well as a web portal that quite clearly prepares us for the launch of the carrier’s first HSPA+ smartphone. Of course, there’s no official confirmation that the handset you’re peering at above is anything more than a fan render, but it certainly has a look of authenticity to it; sadly, there aren’t any rumored specifications to tag alongside the JPG, but it’s a pretty safe bet that this one will run some flavor of Android and rely heavily on screen presses for letter input. As for the promo page? Scrutineers have drawn a link between it and the Vanguard that we peeked a few weeks back, so feel free to let your imagination run a bit wild there. Looks like it’s gearing up to be quite the second half for America’s number two GSM operator.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Purported myTouch HD leaks out alongside promise of T-Mobile’s first HSPA+ smartphone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T deploying software fix for slow upload speeds over next few weeks

Looks like AT&T and Alcatel-Lucent have finally sorted out the software glitch that’s resulted in slow HSPA upload speeds in certain markets — we were just told on the record that a patch is being rolled out and the update will be completed over the next two to three weeks. That should mean iPhone 4 and laptop data modem customers should start to see their upload speeds creep back to higher levels after being capped at UMTS rates for the past few weeks, so that’s good news — let us know if things are getting better for you, yeah?

AT&T deploying software fix for slow upload speeds over next few weeks originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile webConnect Rocket 2.0 USB WWAN modem now on sale

Timely, no? In concert with its HSPA+ expansion, T-Mobile USA has decided to come clean with that webConnect Rocket 2.0 that we peeked a few weeks ago courtesy of a leaked presentation slide. Said device isn’t drastically different than the original, offering a mildly overhauled design and “a new rotating swivel USB form factor.” The bigger news is the expanded platform support, with this bugger now playing nice with Windows 7, XP, Vista and any version of OS X since 10.4. It’s up for grabs right now via the source link if you’re in the mood for those so-called “4G speeds,” with an on-contract stick costing absolutely nothing and a no-strings-attached version running $199.99.

Update: We’ve updated the post with a new image of the actual device, though it’s not quite ready for primetime on T-Mobile’s site just yet. When it hits, it’ll run $49.99 on contract, with the 1.0 version going for zilch on contract.

T-Mobile webConnect Rocket 2.0 USB WWAN modem now on sale originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile’s HSPA+ blankets 85 million Americans in warm ‘4G’ comfort

T-Mobile's HSPA+ blankets 85 million Americans in warm '4G' comfort

The 4G wars are really getting fierce, and we love the smell of bandwidth in the morning. The latest volley comes from T-Mobile, taking this opportunity to let us all know that its HSPA+ network is more pervasive than any other 4G offering in the nation, currently covering 85 million people in the States and growing to 185 million by 2011. Of course, HSPA+ isn’t true 4G in that it’s (theoretically) slower than LTE and WiMAX, a point that AT&T is surely still grumbling about. But, sometimes you have to go to war with the network you have, not the network you might want or wish to have at a later time.

Continue reading T-Mobile’s HSPA+ blankets 85 million Americans in warm ‘4G’ comfort

T-Mobile’s HSPA+ blankets 85 million Americans in warm ‘4G’ comfort originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 07:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile webConnect Rocket 2.0 leaks out, brings along Mac support and microSDHC slot

T-Mobile’s webConnect Rocket has only been delivering “4G speeds” to users in search of mobile internet for a handful of months now, but already the company looks to have a successor on deck. If a pair of leaked slides are to be believed, the webConnect Rocket 2.0 is mildly overhauled version of the original USB WWAN modem, capable of delivering HSPA+ speeds on both PC and Mac platforms. There’s also a nifty microSDHC slot for loading up to 16GB of storage, but outside of that, little else is known. We’re still waiting patiently for a price and release date to come our way, but in the meantime, feel free to slam the brakes on that impending Rocket 1.0 purchase.

T-Mobile webConnect Rocket 2.0 leaks out, brings along Mac support and microSDHC slot originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile and HTC to launch first 21Mbps HSPA+ smartphone in September

T-Mobile might be busy expanding its we-swear-it’s-like-4G HSPA+ network to all sorts of metro areas in the US, but those theoretical 21Mbps speeds have been limited to those wielding WebConnect Rocket data cards, not any actual phones. It looks like that’s about to change, though: a spokesman for T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom told Light Reading that an HTC-built Android phone capable of HSPA+ speeds will launch in September, followed by another device in the fourth quarter sometime before the holidays. That lines up with what we’ve been hearing, as we’ve been told that the first device will actually be the leaked HTC Vision QWERTY slider (pictured above) that’s been popping up in the wild lately. We’re not so sure what the second phone will be, but we’ll get there — for now we’re just stoked that another high-end Android set with a hardware keyboard will be making the scene.

[Thanks, Rod]

T-Mobile and HTC to launch first 21Mbps HSPA+ smartphone in September originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T having HSPA upload speed problems in some markets

There’s now a rather meaty thread on Mac Rumors‘ forums detailing problems that iPhone 4 users have had with miserably slow upload speeds in HSPA-equipped AT&T markets — speeds that had in some cases been well over 1Mbps before the holiday weekend but have since fallen to 100kbps or lower. A popular theory is that AT&T decided to cap speeds in light of the iPhone 4’s success and the danger it poses to network oversaturation, but we’re not buying it — 100kbps is ridiculously slow for an HSUPA-enabled network, even a heavily-used one, and there are huge markets (LA, for example) that seemingly aren’t affected. We don’t know what’s going on, but we’ve reached out to AT&T for comment and we’ll let you know what’s up as soon as we do.

AT&T having HSPA upload speed problems in some markets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia sells wireless modem business to Renesas in bid to refocus

Nokia just announced a $200M-ish deal to sell its wireless modem business to Japan’s Renesas Electronics Corporation. The deal is part of a broader alliance to develop HSPA+ and LTE modem technologies while working together to research future radio technologies. Per the agreement, Nokia will transfer its wireless modem technologies for LTE, HSPA and GSM standards, “certain” related patents (interesting in light of the Apple lawsuits), and about 1,100 Nokia R&D staff to Renesas, the majority of whom are located in Finland, India, the UK, and Denmark — assuming regulatory approval of course, something the two expect to receive by the end of the year. Why now? Well, according to Kai Oistamo, Executive Vice President at Nokia, “The alliance enables us to continue to focus on our own core businesses, connecting people to what matters to them with our mobile products and solutions.” Sounds like somebody’s slimming down in preparation for a fight.

P.S. Though the ‘Shop above only shows a Nokia USB modem, the agreement goes much deeper to cover the modem technologies used inside billions of Nokia handsets. So yeah, this is a fairly significant change of direction for Nokia.

Continue reading Nokia sells wireless modem business to Renesas in bid to refocus

Nokia sells wireless modem business to Renesas in bid to refocus originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jul 2010 04:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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