Spectrum Archive

  • Odds are Apple will sell *a lot* of iPhone 4s today

    Odds are Apple will sell *a lot* of iPhone 4s today

    Posted on June 24, 2010 | No Comments
    The odds that John Biggs will take home an iPhone 4 today? I think you'll find that France has a better chance of winning the World Cup this year. The odds that Apple will sell more than 1 million iPhone 4s today? Well, according to Bookmaker.com, you're looking at 50/50. Presumably these odds that into account that fact that the Apple hardware isn't as robust as you'd like to see!

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  • Australia to pay Telstra A$11 billion for entire copper network

    Australia to pay Telstra A$11 billion for entire copper network

    Posted on June 20, 2010 | No Comments
    The Australian government just found the infrastructure for its A$43 billion national broadband project and eliminated its largest competitor in one fell swoop -- pending shareholder and regulator approval, Telstra will receive A$11 billion of that money in exchange for its entire landline network. Telstra will decommission its monopoly of copper cables to make room for the government's fiber and migrate its customers to the resulting 100Mbps National Broadband Network (NBN) as those light-bearing threads roll out. While Telstra might become a smaller player in the internet and cable business without a land network of its own, it may get even larger in the wireless space -- the company says it's received "written confirmation from the Prime Minister" that it can bid on a chunk of precious LTE spectrum should the deal go through. Press release after the break.

    Continue reading Australia to pay Telstra A$11 billion for entire copper network

    Australia to pay Telstra A$11 billion for entire copper network originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • BlackBerry Curve 9300 fixing to replace the 8500 series?

    BlackBerry Curve 9300 fixing to replace the 8500 series?

    Posted on June 2, 2010 | No Comments
    It death of the BlackBerry Curve 8900 on T-Mobile (you can still get it on AT&T, by the way) bummed us out for the simple reason that it was perhaps the best-looking BlackBerry every made. The Curve 8500 series that followed it just didn't have the same sort of sleek, high-end air about it, so we're happy to see that the 8500's follow-on should go a little ways toward closing the gap. What we're apparently looking at here is the Curve 9300, a phone that carries over the now-standard optical pad from the 8500 but uses a decidedly 8900-esque chrome surround while adding 3G and support for 802.11n, a feature it shares with the Pearl 3G. What keeps the 9300 on the low end of the spectrum, though, is its screen -- it's apparently just QVGA, and we're a little discouraged that the leaked unit here isn't running BlackBerry 6 -- but you get what you pay for, right?

    BlackBerry Curve 9300 fixing to replace the 8500 series? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Verizon looking to partner up for rural LTE deployments

    Verizon looking to partner up for rural LTE deployments

    Posted on June 2, 2010 | No Comments
    If you're wondering why T-Mobile doesn't have 3G in the middle of the Mojave, the answer's pretty simple: it's hard for any of the Big Four to justify spending millions of dollars on infrastructure in sparsely-populated areas. Rather than ignore it and leave the spectrum blank, though, Verizon's asking other companies to step in and share the responsibilities -- sort of -- by letting partners do most of the hard work (build towers and operate backhaul) while Big Red chips in its 700MHz spectrum holdings and "core LTE equipment." Presumably, Verizon will help itself to a share of the proceeds, which from their perspective, makes it look like a win-win scenario: they're helping to bring 4G technology to underserved areas, doing less work and spending less capital than they'd have to otherwise, and profiting off the spirit of an initiative that FCC chief Julius Genachowski is pushing very, very hard at the moment. And hey, we bet you'll be getting some insane throughput when you're rocking the LTE modem in the middle of nowhere.

    Verizon looking to partner up for rural LTE deployments originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Verizon looking at non-unlimited plans for 4G data, will use LTE for voice by 2012

    Verizon looking at non-unlimited plans for 4G data, will use LTE for voice by 2012

    Posted on May 27, 2010 | No Comments
    We'd not-so-secretly hoped that carriers would be looking to dispense with those troublesome 5GB caps on so-called "unlimited" 3G data plans, but there's a big problem with that: spectrum is still limited, and even though 4G technologies help use it more efficiently, it's still a constraint that the FCC is going to need many years to solve. We're not sure how much the spectrum crunch really factors in here, but in addition to his comments on Droid Incredible inventory problems, Verizon Wireless boss Lowell McAdam mentioned at a Barclays Capital conference this week that he hopes to move away from unlimited plans altogether for the company's LTE network, instead charging for "buckets" of megabytes, just like in the olden days -- despite the fact that it'll cost it a half to a third of what it costs today to transmit the same amount of data.

    On a happier note, McAdam said that the company expects to be using its LTE network for voice by 2012, which comes just after its first volley of LTE-capable handsets in early 2011. He also mentioned that at least some of those devices will be shown off at CES 2011, and naturally, we'll be there -- not just to check out the phones, but to raise some hell at the notion that unlimited data is a thing of the past. At this rate, how are we ever going to run the Engadget servers on a wireless connection?

    Verizon looking at non-unlimited plans for 4G data, will use LTE for voice by 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 May 2010 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • India’s 3G auction draws to a close

    India’s 3G auction draws to a close

    Posted on May 19, 2010 | No Comments
    It's been a long time coming, but after countless delays in getting the auction underway, bidding on nationwide 3G spectrum in the world's second most populous market has ended -- and four companies appear to have come out on top. Most of the Indian markets only had three licenses available, so you'll likely be doing some roaming if you travel much, but Reliance, Bharti, Aircel, and Tata have all come away with significant swaths of airspace. And how much did it end up costing for the privilege of delivering high-speed wireless 'round these parts? After kicking off India-wide bidding for one slot at 35 billion rupees (about $773 million), the auction wrapped up at 167.51 billion rupees ($3.7 billion) after some 183 rounds of bidding in just over a month. Now, the hard part: actually building those 3G networks. Chop chop, guys!

    India's 3G auction draws to a close originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 May 2010 11:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Motorola ‘Xtreme’ coming to Verizon?

    Motorola ‘Xtreme’ coming to Verizon?

    Posted on May 12, 2010 | No Comments
    We wish we had more detail to give you, but we've gotten reliable word that Verizon will begin testing a new Android-powered device from Motorola next week called the "Xtreme." We don't have specs handy, but considering that Big Red's got the Devour and the Droid is well on its way to middle age, it would make sense for a new phone from Moto (particularly one with such an Xtreme-ly awesome name) to be more toward the high end of the spectrum -- possibly something along the lines of the rumored Shadow (pictured). Will give you more details just as soon as we have them.

    [Thanks, HTC Kid]

    Motorola 'Xtreme' coming to Verizon? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 12 May 2010 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Mahru: Meet Korea’s awesome dancing humanoid (videos)

    Mahru: Meet Korea’s awesome dancing humanoid (videos)

    Posted on April 30, 2010 | No Comments
    It's not only Japan, but Korea is developing advanced robots, too. Case in point: Mahru, the dancing humanoid, made by the Korea Institute of Science & Technology (KIST). And this robot is way more impressive than similar models we've seen before.

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  • Creepy, creepier, Japan’s new Android (video)

    Creepy, creepier, Japan’s new Android (video)

    Posted on April 5, 2010 | No Comments
    If you still needed evidence Japan is the country churning out the most realistic androids out there, here's another hint for you. Meet Geminoid-F, the newest robot from one of Japan's most famous robot makers, Hiroshi Ishiguro. Ishiguro-san's invention is as realistic as it is creepy, but also very cool.

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  • Seattle is the most dangerous place in cyberspace

    Seattle is the most dangerous place in cyberspace

    Posted on March 22, 2010 | No Comments
    Symantec published a report recently listing the 50 riskiest places to be online, as apparently having that many beardos in one place can only result in evil. Seattle made the top of the list, however San Fransisco, Boston, and Washington D.C. made it up near the top as well.

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  • Churches (and others) will have to upgrade their mics right quick or the FCC will be very angry

    Churches (and others) will have to upgrade their mics right quick or the FCC will be very angry

    Posted on January 22, 2010 | No Comments
    The absurdity of this issue, I swear. Get this: churches (and other deals like outdoor events) have been using microphones that operate on the 700MHz spectrum since, like, forever. It turns out that that part of the spectrum, 700MHz, is to be set aside for over-the-air digital TV broadcasts. You see where this is going: churches all over the country are going to have to upgrade their microphones, sound systems, etc. lest they run afoul of the law come June, 2010. You'd think God would have warned them about this.

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  • Samsung Stunt for MetroPCS performs surprisingly few stunts

    Samsung Stunt for MetroPCS performs surprisingly few stunts

    Posted on December 17, 2009 | No Comments
    MetroPCS' bread and butter rests in the low- to mid-end of the handset spectrum since it offers its devices on a pricey contract-free basis, so it shouldn't come as any surprise that the freshly-announced Stunt from Samsung doesn't mess with the time-tested formula. The candybar trudges along with a 160 x 128 display, Bluetooth, AWS CDMA (like all MetroPCS handsets these days), and a shell utterly devoid of meaningful industrial design -- that's it. No more, no less. And sometimes, simplicity is a beautiful thing, right? It's not showing up on the carrier's site just yet, but the Stunt should be available today.

    Samsung Stunt for MetroPCS performs surprisingly few stunts originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • WIND Mobile launches in Canada, T-Mobile gets a spectrum buddy

    WIND Mobile launches in Canada, T-Mobile gets a spectrum buddy

    Posted on December 16, 2009 | No Comments
    Despite some last-minute drama with the government, Canada's WIND Mobile has launched today, bringing to the table an interesting new low-cost competitor to the nation's giant incumbents, Rogers, Bell, and Telus. Though its network -- based on last year's AWS auction -- lacks the footprint of the bigger guys, the pricing is pretty compelling: its $15 voice plan offers twice the minutes of low-cost competitors Koodo and Fido (which are really just fronts for Telus and Rogers, anyway) and CAD $35 (about $33) wins you unlimited data on your BlackBerry. Speaking of BlackBerrys, WIND is rolling out the Bold 9700 as one of its launch devices alongside the HTC Maple (known as the Dash 3G in the States), the Samsung Gravity, the Huawei U519, and the E181 USB modem. Service is only live in Toronto and Calgary at the moment, but the limited distribution doesn't seem to be holding people back -- WIND's site has been up and down all morning.

    [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

    WIND Mobile launches in Canada, T-Mobile gets a spectrum buddy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Review: Viliv S7 Premium

    Review: Viliv S7 Premium

    Posted on December 15, 2009 | No Comments
    True story: About two months back I was walking through my house with the then-new Viliv S7 convertible netbook. I started babbling to my wife while she was tending to the kids about how much I loved this little netbook. Even though she clearly couldn’t care less, I went on to proclaim that if Apple would have gotten in [...]

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  • Acer Liquid A1 hits the FCC with AT&T’s HSDPA flavors

    Acer Liquid A1 hits the FCC with AT&T’s HSDPA flavors

    Posted on December 11, 2009 | No Comments
    It's already selling in Europe with one of AT&T's 3G bands, but the prospect of a US-friendly Acer Liquid A1 just got real, governmental-involvement style. The FCC has approved a 850 / 1900MHz version of the Android device, and while this is no guarantee of an AT&T berth -- much of Canada is crowding in on this spectrum, not to mention the possibility of selling the phone unlocked and unsubsidized -- we're massaging our temples this very second with the appropriate good vibrations to get this thing out and about in the States and on the cheap.

    Acer Liquid A1 hits the FCC with AT&T's HSDPA flavors originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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