Hasta La Gadget!

Took ’em long enough! Nearly a full year has elapsed between the time that Best Buy announced that its ‘Connect‘ program would support 4G and the time that it actually started stocked 4G gear. In fact, the company actually took the time to sign up for LightSquared’s wholesale LTE service a full week prior to making good on its commitment to Clearwire, which may or may not say anything about the future viability of WiMAX. At any rate, those who’d prefer to sift through mounds of peripherals (and be hounded at the exit by employees attempting to hawk product protection plans) in order to buy their 4G service can now do just that. BB Connect stores in the US will offer unlimited 4G service for $45 per month with a month-to-month or two-year contract, and if you choose the latter, the $35 activation fee will be waived and a hardware subsidy (“up to $150”) will be yours. So, you digging in, or feeling the tug of Long-Term Evolution?

Continue reading Best Buy Connect takes the 4G leap, now stocking over 20 WiMAX products

Best Buy Connect takes the 4G leap, now stocking over 20 WiMAX products originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ofcom, the UK version of the FCC, is currently sitting on two fat bands of prime 4G spectrum, at 800MHz and 2.6GHz, but it won’t be doing so for long. This morning has seen an announcement from the independent regulator that it’s looking to sell off those airwaves to the highest bidder, as early as 2012, pending the conclusion of a consultation on how to ensure the auction helps promote, rather than stifle, competiton. The 800MHz band comes directly from spectrum freed up by the country’s transition to digital television, and together with the 2.6GHz is equivalent to three quarters of all the mobile spectrum the UK uses today. The usual suspects of O2, Vodafone and Everything Everywhere will be vying for prime position in the next wave of superspeedy internet … we just wonder how 3G-centric network Three will react to the news.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading UK 4G spectrum set to be auctioned off next year

UK 4G spectrum set to be auctioned off next year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ringo and co. said it best, and now Beeline, Megafon, MTS and Rostelekom are getting a little help from their friends. Er, friend. Or maybe it’s the other way around? At any rate, the first four have just signed a deal with Yota to build out a nationwide LTE network that’ll work across the board. Rather than forcing each operator to do their own thing, the four in question will now have the option to buy 25 percent stakes in Yota; according to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, this unified effort will enable Russia’s economy to reap the benefits of a widespread 4G network while other nations (ahem, America) fight to see whether it’ll be WiMAX or LTE taking the lead. If you’ll recall, Yota was actually one of the first carriers on the planet to serve up commercial 4G, but last year it decided to make the switch from WiMAX to the suddenly popular LTE. The goal here is to have LTE in 180 cities with a total population of more than 70 million citizens by 2014, and we’re told that those situated on Little Diomede may actually be the first to get LTE in Alaska. Kidding. Maybe.

Continue reading Russia’s major mobile operators join hands for unified LTE rollout

Russia’s major mobile operators join hands for unified LTE rollout originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Mar 2011 01:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thanks to Verizon’s blowout at CES, we’ve already been treated to a couple of LTE-friendly mobile hotspots from the likes of Samsung and Novatel Wireless, but Sierra Wireless is joining the crowd here at Mobile World Congress. The outfit has just revealed its two newest mobile hotpots, the AirCard 754S and 753S. The former supports dual-carrier LTE, while the latter handles dual-carrier HSPA+, enabling up to five WiFi devices to surf on either of the fastest two mobile superhighways. We’re told that the 753S can hit downlink rates as high as 42Mbps (and upload rates near 5.76Mbps) on a DC-HSPA+ network, while the 754S can reach 100Mbps (down) / 50Mbps (up) while operating on an LTE network. Both of these are right around the size of a deck of cards, and no software installation is required to get ’em working. There’s also an integrated LCD that provides a look at WiFi access information, battery life, network signal strength, and the number of devices connected, with audible alerts and a web admin interface available as well. The duo is expected to ship at some point during 2011’s second quarter, but there’s no news yet on which (if any) carriers will be picking them up.

Moving right along, Canada’s own Telus will be offering yet another new one from Sierra Wireless this March: the AirCard 319U USB modem, a device we recently spotted in the FCC’s database. This one promises download speeds of up to 42Mbps and upload speeds approaching 5.76Mbps, with a swiveling design that allows the body of the modem to be tucked up against the side of the notebook and protects it from being damaged by accidental bumps. The LTE-friendly AirCard 320U is the USB version of the 754S hotspot shown above, with an articulating and pivoting hinge that works with the widest possible variety of USB port placements, and if all goes well, it’ll ship during Q2 2011 for an undisclosed rate. Sierra plans on having Mac and PC support for the whole lot, and we’ll be digging for details surrounding price and availability.

Sierra Wireless intros dual-carrier HSPA+ / LTE AirCard 753S and 754S, with 319U and 320U in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re looking to make yourself somewhat more productive on this lazy weekend, and you’ve got an Arduino or two collecting dust, we’ve got just the thing to add line after line to your dwindling to-do list. Tronixstuff has a borderline insane tutorial series going, and as of now, 27 chapters have been published. It’s essentially the Arduino Bible, but the two most recent additions in particular have piqued our interest. With the explosion in mobile broadband, even hackers are looking to get their creations online. If you’ve mastered the art of Arduino, but haven’t yet been brave enough to toss in a bit of GSM communication, the how-to guides linked below definitely deserve your attention. Just be careful how you write that code — one wrong line with a SIM card installed could lead to text overages that’ll take two lifetimes to pay off.

Elaborate Arduino tutorial explains the nuts and bolts of communicating over GSM originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Feb 2011 11:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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