Sony S2 clamshell Android tablet clears FCC with AT&T HSPA+

One of Sony’s first Android tablets has been caught at the FCC, complete with HSPA+ support and a removable Li-Ion battery pack. Engadget spotted the dual-screen Sony S2, listed as the Sony SGPT211US, as it gained approval for its Ericsson F5521gw modem, which supports the 850 and 1900 MHz 3G bands that AT&T uses, with up to 21Mbps HSPA+ speeds network-depending.

There’s also WiFi b/g/n 2.4GHz confirmed, along with Bluetooth. The battery is a 3080 mAh pack; Sony is yet to suggest how many hours of runtime users will be able to expect from the clamshell tablet, which has a pair of 5.5-inch touchscreens.

Sony has previously said that the S2 will arrive sometime this fall, along with its single-screen sibling the S1. No indication of pricing or what processor the tablets will use has been given, though Sony has made it clear that it intends to customize the UI somewaht.

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Tags: 3G, Android, AT&T, FCC, HSPA+, Sony, Sony S2, Tablet PC's

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T-Mobile flips on 42Mbps HSPA+ across 55 markets, launching Rocket 3.0 modem stick tomorrow

Fellow road warriors, we bring you good news: starting today, T-Mobile customers across 55 markets — including Chicago, Detroit, Honolulu, Pittsburgh, Miami, and many more — will have immediate access to a faster HSPA+ “4G” network. This means anyone with compatible devices can achieve theoreticaldownload speeds of up to a whopping 42Mbps, as opposed to just 21Mbps from the good ol’ days. But of course, only time will tell whether this upgrade will deliver its promise — you may recall that even AT&T’s LTE demo last week delivered “realistic” download speeds of up to just 28.9Mbps, when in theory it should be capable of hitting up to 100Mbps.

Anyhow, if you want to soldier on and be a guinea pig an early adopter, then help yourself to ZTE’s Rocket 3.0 USB modem stick starting tomorrow — the entry price is $99.99 after a $50 mail in rebate, but tied to a two-year broadband plan of 2GB or higher; or you can opt for the contract-free price of $199.99.

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Tags: 3G, 4G, HSPA+, LTE, T-Mobile, T-Mobile USA

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RIM makes Bold move with OS 7

Updated smartphone, operating system

Research in Motion has unveiled two additions to its range of Blackberry Bold smartphones, the 9900 and 9930.

Both handsets run the new BlackBerry 7 OS, which provides support for 4G networks, HSPA+ connectivity, faster JavaScript, HTML 5 and voice-activated searches.

Spec-wise, the latest BlackBerrys pack a 1.2GHz processor, a 5Mp camera and 8GB of on-board storage. Then there’s a 2.8in, 480 x 640 “Liquid Graphics” touchscreen display featuring a 287 pixels per inch (ppi) pixel density. The iPhone 4′s “retina display” is 326ppi, in case you ask.

Both handsets can connect to 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi networks. They also have Bluetooth 2.1.

As well as support for near-field communications (NFC) technology, there’s a built-in compass, which can be used for location-based functions and augmented reality apps such as Wikitude, an AR service preinstalled on each device.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 – the HSPa+ 3G version – and 9930 – the CDMA EvDo model – are expected this summer. Prices have yet to be announced.

Article: RSS via The Register

Tags: 4G, BlackBerry, BlackBerry OS 7.0, Bold 9900, Bold 9930, HSPA+, NFC, RIM, Smartphones

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Samsung Galaxy S II Ad Shows Off Dual-Core, HSPA+ Features

After the last Samsung Galaxy S II ad was showing off the vivid Super AMOLED Plus screen — the smartphone ads are stacking up as we count the sixth — today we get another one, this time being all about the speed delivered by the dual-core processor.

It is well known that the Samsung Galaxy S II will sport either an Exynos or a Tegra2 chip, depending on the region. Model GT-I9100 will feature the Exynos 4210 CPU aided by the Mali-400 MP GPU and model GT-I9103 will be powered by nVidia Tegra 2, running a ULP GeForce GPU. Regardless of the chip, dual-cores are strong and fast and the ad below was thought to bring that out.

Additionally, besides the 1.2GHz dual-core processor, check out the HSPA+ mention. T-Mobile subscribers, are you ready to welcome your Galaxy S II?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJN92OArd74

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Tags: Android, Dual-Core, Galaxy S II, HSPA+, Samsung, Smartphones, Super AMOLED Plus, Video

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v available tomorrow for €590, starting with Portugal

Some lucky Aussies might have been able to pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v ahead of the rest of the world, but it turns out the Portuguese will actually be taking this Honeycomb tablet home first, starting tomorrow. Originally known as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 but quickly superseded by a slimmer, impending model, said transitional device is now listed on Vodafone Portugal’s website with a more delightful €589.90 ($860, which is no doubt off-contract) tag to go with its HSPA+ radio, along with a big red “available from April 26th” stamp. We dug through Vodafone’s other European sites and the only country that also mentions this Tegra 2 slate is the Netherlands, though it only indicates a “week 17″ launch — in other words, any time between now and May 1st. If you’re in Europe and don’t mind this slightly out-of-date whopper, be sure to check back as we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for more details.

Article: RSS via Engadget

Tags: Android, Android 3.0, Galaxy Tab, Galaxy Tab 10.1v, Honeycomb, HSPA+, Nvidia, Samsung, Tablet PC's, Tegra 2

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Superfast Mobile Broadband Infrastructure Spending to Hit GBP17bn in 2014

Market intelligence firm iSuppli (IHS iSuppli) has predicted that the next generation (4G) of Mobile Broadbandtechnology, Long Term Evolution ( LTE), will cause related global mobile operator infrastructure spending to spiral upwards from just £921 Million ($1.5bn) in 2010 to £17.13 Billion ($27.9bn) by 2014 (107.5% CAGR).

LTE will allow UK mobile operators to offer peak internet download speeds of between 100Mbps and 1Gbps(1024Mbps), although end-users will only see a small fraction of this (some predictions point to 8Mbps-30Mbps). By contrast the existing HSPA(3G) solutions offer download speeds of up to 14.4Mbps, although average performance tends to hover around the 1Mbps-3Mbps range.

Further estimates suggest that by 2014 LTE will be home to 303.1 Million subscribers around the world. However, according to Ofcom’s current timetable, much of the UK’s related spectrum auction and release programme will not be completed until the very end of 2013.

In other words the UK won’t be able to experience the full benefit of LTE until 2014 and even then customers will need to buy new hardware (USB Modems etc.) in order to take advantage of it. Some mobile operators, such as O2 UK, are also mooting a two tier solution for LTE where only certain services would benefit from the faster speeds (here).

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Tags: 3G, 4G, 4G Networks, HSPA+, LTE, Mobile Broadband

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Ericsson coaxes 168Mbps download speed from HSPA 3G network

HSPA has clearly evolved by taking a big step today, picking up new HSPA world-first achievements in Stockholm, Sweden as it managed to touch 168Mbps on the downlink and 24Mbps on the uplink using a prototype consumer device and commercial network equipment. These figures are definitely world records in their own right for a device of its class, making them the highest HSPA speeds achieved on commercial network equipment. Apart from that, dual-carrier HSPA with 84Mbps was also demonstrated with the help of commercial network products. This is made possible by utilizing a couple of 5MHz carriers in the connection to the same consumer, allowing one to hit peak speeds of 84Mbps which is basically double the maximum speed which is offered today by the fastest commercial HSPA networks.

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Tags: 3G, 3G Network, Ericsson, HSPA+

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Huawei IDEOS X5 hands-on (video)

Huawei was right on cue here at CES today, announcing the US version of its IDEOS X5 mid-range Android smartphone. This device uses the same formula as the original IDEOS (also known as the Comet for T-Mobile) and aims to provide a decent product at a competitive price. Although we already knew the specs, this was our chance to play with the IDEOS X5 and gather more information. The phone looks elegant and feels solidly built, with a 3.8-inch WVGA capacitive display behind glass in front and 1500mAh battery behind soft-touch plastics in back, all wrapped in an 11.4mm-thin body. Take a look at the gallery below, and hit the break for additional details and our hands-on video.

On the hardware front, the 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7230 CPU is paired with an Adreno 205 GPU and 512MB of RAM. The radio is tri-band HSPA+ with support for AWS (900 / 1700 / 2100MHz). There’s a second microphone in the back of the phone for noise cancellation, as well as SRS for audio enhancement and an FM radio. The 5 megapixel camera, which features autofocus and a single LED flash, also supports 720p HD video recording. There’s a microSD card slot in addition to 4GB of built-in storage, as well as a video output capability. Regarding software, the IDEOS X5 runs vanilla Android 2.2 and features Flash 10.1, Swype, and hotspot functionality. While the phone won’t break any speed records, it’s sufficiently fast, scoring 1470 on the Quadrant test. Huawei didn’t disclose any pricing information or carrier partnerships (although T-Mobile seems likely with AWS on board). Availability is slated before mid-2011 with — sadly — no plans for Android 2.3 at this point in time.

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Tags: Android, Android 2.2, CES 2011, HSPA+, Huawei, Huawei Ideos X5, Smartphones, Video

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HSPA will dominate 4G LTE for next five years

The hype of 4G LTE might dominate the headlines, but HSPA will remain king — at least for the next five years. The analysts have weighed in and the forecasts show that 4G LTE might not be all it’s cracked up to be.

We’re not immune the hype leading up to fourth generation LTE. The idea of surfing the web faster is at the core of our mobile hearts, but new forecasts from independent telecom analyst Ovum suggests HSPA will be the technology to get us there first, at least in the short term.

Packed in the pages of the latest forecasts, Ovum projects that HSPA connection will hit 1.87 billion by 2015 and grow at a compound annual growth rate of 46 percent. As LTE grabs the headlines it’s easy to forget that HSPA is a firmly established technology with a mature infrastructure and device ecosystem.

Combined with the natural upgrade path to HSPA+, which is being deployed in greater volumes in 2010 and you have a solution sufficient for many operators’ needs for the next five years. So HSPA will have us covered for the next five years, but what about LTE?

According to Ovum, “there is a huge amount of hype surrounding LTE and we expect it to really take off in 2012”. Over time, LTE is expected to become the dominant force but for the time being HSPA and the HSPA+ upgrade path can deliver equally impressive speeds — most importantly, more bang for the buck.

A quick look over at the theoretical speeds of HSPA+ shows download speeds up to 56 Mbit/s and upload speeds of 22 Mbit/s. Compare that with the actual speeds of current LTE networks which top out in the neighborhood of 12 Mbit/s download, 4 Mbit/s upload and the decision to stick with HSPA and move to HSPA+ makes sense (and cents).

Article: RSS via Electricpig

Tags: 4G, Data, HSPA+, LTE, Mobile Broadband

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UK to lead in 4G LTE roll-out, regulator Ofcom predicts

While Verizon may have been the first to wow us with its LTE speeds, the US carrier may not hold the lead for long. Communications regulator Ofcom has predicted that within a couple of years the UK will be the world-leader in adopting LTE, with James Thickett, Ofcom’s director of market research, suggesting that the push toward 4G connectivity is a result of “the extent to which UK users are embracing themobile internet in such a big way.”

Still, with no 4G networks in operation currently, versus the US’ trio of HSPA+, WiMAX and LTE, it seems the UK has plenty of room to catch up. Although the technologies being rolled out in the US are arguably not true 4G, and only using the nomenclature as a convenient shorthand to differentiate from existing 3G networks, as we’ve seen with Verizon’s LTE service they do offer comparatively huge speeds: we recorded 12.4Mbps downloads and 6.73Mbps uploads.

Ofcom’s prediction is part of the regulator’s annual International Communications Market report, which also found a greater tendency for UK users to get online via laptops rather than desktops, and that the growth of smartphone adoption was – at 70-percent in the last year – the highest of the countries covered. However, HDTV adoption has been lower than in most countries, which Ofcom blames on relatively poor service availability.

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Tags: 4G, 4G Networks, HSPA+, LTE, Ofcom, UK, WiMAX

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