Is this for Real? Sprint to consider LTE?


The battle between WiMAX and LTE is getting very interesting and frankly very confusing – at least to me.

It was just last month Sprint rolled out their WiMAX in a handful of new metropolitan areas including Washington, D.C. According to Financial Times, Sprint is now  considering an LTE strategy that could pave the way to a merger with T-Mobile USA. After spending all those $$$ Billion on WiMAX?

The talk of Sprint switching to an LTE based 4G future gives more credence to the ever circling rumors that T-Mobile USA parent Deutsche Telekom is considering a merger of its #4 T-Mobile USA division with Sprint, which currently is a distant number 3 in the U.S. market. In the past, the differing 3G technologies (CDMA vs. UMTS) made a merger seem unlikely, but if both were to plan ahead for LTE, then the two companies’ futures would be a bit more in step. Read more of this post

Verizon on iPhone? Is it for real this time?


Good News for those of you loving iPhone, but hating its  current and exclusive carrier, At&t. Bloomberg News recently reported Verizon Wireless  to start offering iPhone in January of next year. The move will end the domestic exclusivity deal Apple has had with AT&T Mobility since the first iPhone launched in 2007. Although, you might have heard such a rumor many times since 2008, but I think it is real this time. Read more of this post

Who has really been Behind the iPhone success?


Apple sold more than 1.7 million iPhone 4 devices in the first three days of availability  in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Japan.  According to Piper Jaffray and  one survey, more than 77%  of  the iPhone 4 were sold in the U.S., were upgrades and thus would not bolster the carrier’s net customer addition results.

It is even more impressive when you consider the initial pre-order system failures, the device shortages, and the fact that half of the family isn’t even available yet. And most impressive may be that those who bought it in the U.S. were willing to sell their souls to AT&T for another two years.

In support of the new iPhone’s flooding its network, AT&T Mobility claims they have  increased capacity of its 3G network in the New York City area. The updates included the addition of new carriers to “nearly all cell sites in Manhattan and in other areas as needed throughout the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn,” as well as adding a “layer” of precious 850 MHz spectrum to support increased coverage. The carrier has been transitioning portions of its 850 MHz spectrum from its legacy 2G network to its 3G service over the past several years in an attempt to bolster the 3G network’s coverage and capacity. The 3G network originally launched using the carrier’s 1.9 GHz spectrum band. Read more of this post

First Android Based Tablet Coming


Samsung may release their first tablet  by mid or late Summer.

The tablet, tentatively identified as the S-Pad, purportedly boasts Google’s Android operating system, a 7-inch AMOLED capacitive display, 3G, WiFi, and USB ports.

It will be the first time an Android based tablet has sported an AMOLED capacitive display. Samsung is certainly well known for its high quality AMOLED screens, which the firm claims are about five times brighter than the average LCD screen and purportedly perform some 20% better when used outside.

It is still unclear which version of Android the tablet will run, and what the processor inside it would be, but according to Korean news site Chosun.com, consumers can expect to see the S-Pad as early as August. Read more of this post

Google Android Powered 3G on Verizon’s Horizon


by Elias Shams

Apple's tablet vs Google's tablet :-)

This is what I love about America the most! Competition! Competition! and more Competition which explains why we are more of  a service oriented nation as supposed to sales oriented like all other countries I have been living and working including UK, Spain, and even Germany.

It’s not even three months from the launch of Apple’s iPad, Google is already working on the development of an Android-powered tablet in collaboration with Verizon Wireless to compete with Apple’s. I read about it in the Wall Street Journal this morning. Adding a big new twist to the tablet computing wars.
Read more of this post

Wi-Fi After Smartphones Vs. Speedy Gonzales After Cheese

Believe it or not, Wi-Fi is spreading faster in smartphones than Speedy Gonzales running after Cheese. Another News I forgot to blog about during the CTIA event last month is the fast spread of Wi-Fi in 4G  mobile technologies.

According to ABI research, the number of phones shipped with Wi-Fi jumped to 139.3 million in 2009, up from 92.5 million in 2008. The annual shipping number will surpass 500 million units by 2014, when 90 percent of all smartphones will have the technology. And even as smartphones make up more of the handset market, Wi-Fi is expected to grow more common in less-expensive phones. read more…

What Happens In Vegas, Certainly Will Not Stay In Vegas This Time


by Elias Shams

I decided to take a break from Awesome Washington DC last week. So, I headed to Vegas for the CTIA event.

Ton of  awesome wireless gadgets and technologies were unveiled during the event.  Those of you couldn’t make  the trip, here are some of the highlights that made the most buzz.

As a classic geek, first thing first – looked for the booths with the best looking babes. They were all fantastic looking, one hotter than the other one :-) The angels were all over the place.  Surprisingly, there were more brunettes than blondes this year  which I like :-)

As for the wireless phones, starting with Sprint and their glorious  4G WiMAX initiative:

More WiMAX markets

Sprint Nextel and Clearwire that currently offer WiMAX services in more than 20 markets covering more than 30 million pops, unveiled additional market for offering its “4G” service to cover 120 million potential customers by year-end. read more…

It was all about Smartphones, Wi-Fi, Enterprise, and Security in Barcelona


by Elias Shams
Not sure how many of you made it to the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month. In case you missed the show, here is the summary.

I had a chance to meet with many companies there and learned more about their new tech gadgets during my three days trip. I meant to write this a week after my return, but got bombard by ton of other articles that required more immediate attention, iPad was certainly one of them. Finally,  got a chance last night to sit down in my favorite local coffee shop Tryst to summarize my report.

There were indeed several noteworthy product announcements with significant enterprise implications. In addition to Android and Windows Phone 7, there was big emphasis on new mobile security solutions for enterprises. Referring to my last article about the smartphones for enterprise, this was a perfect show.

This is going to be a long report. So, let me give you some mojo first. This dude is one of my favorite DJs. I go to most of his parties every time  he is in DC. In fact, he will be in FUR this Sat. So, before you continue, if you are a club manic like me, watch this first. Otherwise skip this clip:

With the help from a few colleagues who were also in Barcelona with me, here is the list: Read more…

Skype For Your iPhone Over 3G Network


by Elias Shams

I thought Skype or any other type of VoIP over the 3G network was a forbidden thing. I just found this clip on youtube from last week when David Ponsford from Skype explained the pipeline for Skype on iPhone:

This means we should be able to use Skype over 3G with our Smathphones soon starting with iPhone :-)   Skype currently works  on iPhone only via Wi-Fi, but using it on 3G network is just another awesome and cost effective feature – for us, the user of course, but not for the wireless carriers. Read more…

iPad is like a very Hot Girl or Boyfriend you can’t have Sex With


by Elias Shams
Not yet!

If you are about to dump your Amazon’s Kindle for iPad, you may want to wait for a while – particularly if you are a non-AT&T customer. There are still three major obstacles about iPad to be resolved – wireless technology, wireless pricing, and of course the video functionality. Regardless, how pretty the iPad is, what are you going to do with it without these three? It’s like you are dating the hottest babe or honk in town, but you can’t even touch. Correction: you can touch, but can’t do anything. You know…

No doubt iPad has  more goodies over Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble e-reader – from supporting apps, much nicer screen, the look, to its crazy battery life and etc. Literally, every site and blog I know of, they jumped on iPad and promoted it – iPad this, iPad that, iPad the killer, Gazillion reasons iPad will kill Kindle, etc. Frankly, they might end up to be right, but I think it is too early to jump to such conclusion. Read more…

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