Hasta La Gadget!

MetroPCS announced it has chosen Ericsson for its 4G LTE infrastructure launch, and–more importantly for consumers–Samsung to build its first LTE cell phone.

The company said in a statement that it is planning to launch a dual-mode LTE/CDMA smartphone in late 2010 as part of the initial rollout for its 4G LTE services in major metropolitan markets. “With the announcement of our LTE launch vendors, MetroPCS will move directly to 4G,” the company said.

MetroPCS is promising a “richer HTML browsing experience” and new multimedia apps that take advantage of the extra speed. Earlier this year, MetroPCS made waves with its $50 unlimited, flat-rate, no contract plan for the BlackBerry Curve 8330.

Currently, the carrier sells several Samsung handsets, including the Samsung Finesse (pictured).

Samsung has announced that it has developed the first commercial LTE modem for cell phones, according to Engadget. The company said that the device is the “first LTE modem that complies with the latest standards of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).”

The modem, referred to as the Kalmia for now, will support download speeds approaching 100Mbps and upload speeds in the range of 50Mbps, all within the 20MHz frequency band, according to the report–good enough for everything from Web surfing to gaming or even HD movie streaming.

We’re still a ways out from LTE network deployment in the U.S., but it’s good to know that when the time comes, Samsung will be ready.

This’ll probably end up being important for Bell and Telus up in Canada (even though they’re taking an intermediate step from CDMA to HSPA), but Verizon must absolutely love the fact that the infrastructure guys have now figured out how to hand off data packets between CDMA and LTE networks in a standards-compliant way. LG and Nortel — what’s left of it, anyway — have collaborated to complete the handoff in Nortel’s Ottawa research labs on 700MHz spectrum between EV-DO and the Canadian firm’s LTE hardware, using LG’s so-called M13 prototype modem that roughly resembles consumer-grade equipment that LG wants to release next year. This is great news for customers who not only won’t need to choose between a fast modem with crappy coverage and a slow modem with awesome coverage — they’ll be able to have both in a single device — but they’ll also be able to continue to torrent last night’s True Blood as they move between technologies. Cheers to that.

Filed under: Wireless

LG and Nortel complete first legit LTE-CDMA handoff, Verizon swoons originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Big Red’s flexing its 4G muscle today, announcing that it has successfully completed the first true tests on its nascent LTE network — end-to-end data calls that presumably approximate real-world usage. The action actually happened way back on July 15 in Seattle, while Boston just went down today — the two markets where Verizon said it’d be running the first trials — both on 700MHz spectrum won not terribly long ago. LG and Samsung provided the mysterious, unspecified “trial devices,” but don’t worry, Motorola fans — Verizon says they’ve got devices in the pipeline as well. Both Seattle and Boston currently have ten LTE cell sites live as the carrier trudges toward a 2010 date with destiny when it’ll take “up to 30” markets live, at which point EV-DO and HSPA will theoretically feel like trying to send packets via carrier pigeon. Progress!

Update: We just spoke with Verizon Wireless CTO Tony Melone to expand a bit on the trials. Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Though they’re not talking speeds with these trials specifically, they’re confident in saying that everything’s in line for 7-12Mbps down and 3-5Mbps up at launch.
• The trials are being conducted on commercial LTE base station hardware, but everything else is prototype (and changing very rapidly). The end-user equipment doesn’t currently resemble anything you’d actually buy.
• Data modems will be the priority at launch, which makes sense considering the amount of industry flux with regard to voice over LTE. Though Verizon believes the solution will ultimately be some form of VoIP, there are several outstanding issues, including handling of 911 calls.
• Everything in the trial so far leads Verizon to believe that they’re on track for a 30-market launch in 2010.
• This doesn’t spell the end of EV-DO deployments — far from it. Melone says that upgrades could continue all the way through to the initial LTE launch and beyond.

Filed under: Wireless

Verizon tests first data connections on LTE network in Seattle and Boston originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So we already knew Verizon was looking to push LTE out the door and to about 20 to 30 markets in the second half of 2010, but Tech Crunch’s got it on good word that the company’s doing everything in its power to get the service ready to go in a number of areas in time for Q1 2010. That’s interesting in and of itself, but together with this morning’s whispers of Apple’s tablet coming early next year and past talk of an Apple / VZW partnership, and the tale gets exponentially more intriguing. As TC suggests, a tablet lacking voice service on the LTE network wouldn’t violate AT&T’s not-at-all permanent exclusivity. Its source said there was one LTE device, not a wireless card, that this early launch was being “specifically geared towards,” but even if so, that could apply to any number of other non-Apple gadgets (from Nokia, perhaps?). Of course, much of this is rumor built on rumor, so no matter how well these pieces might seem to fall in place — or how potentially awesome the idea might seem — there’s a large grain of salt you should be taking with you.

Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops

Verizon rumored to be pushing up LTE plans to Q1 2010, new Apple device the catalyst? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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