If you’re a Vodafone customer who’s unfortunate enough to live, work or generally frequent a signal blackspot area, then you may be interested in one of their signal boosters: the Sure Signal, which has now been redesigned and improved. Continue reading
This week the European Commission issued a decision, ordering all 22 EU states to open up the UMTS band for LTE services by mid-2014. The paired terrestrial 2 GHz band (1920 to 1980 Mhz paired with 2110 to 2170 MHz) has been reserved for 3G services since late 90s. The decision by the European Commission makes it mandatory for all member states to open the relevant spectrum by the end of June 2014, and also lays down technical conditions to allow coexistence of different technologies in the band.
For those users not with Everything Everywhere (who were granted the 4G LTE spectrum by Ofcom), all is not lost.
Apple’s iPhone 5 has a set of 3G / 4G data connection technologies that may fill the gap in speeds that Vodafone, O2 and other carrier customers have felt they have lost out on.
The iPhone 5 uses the following 3G technologies: HSPA+, DC-HSPA and LTE. Continue reading
Bluetooth has become a must-have feature of any modern smartphone and became available in 5 billion devices back in 2010. Since then the wireless technology has continued to grow and the launch of Bluetooth 4.0 with Bluetooth Smart looks set to accelerate it’s growth further. Continue reading
According to this PDF, the Olympic Committee are prohibiting many items such as knives, firearms, ammununtion and illegal drugs but also 3G Wireless Hotspots.
According to the rules, “smart devices” like iPhones, Androids and tablets are permitted in the Olympic venues but they must not be used as wireless hotspots/access points. Understandably, in crowded events these hotspots will use up available bandwidth in the area and cause a strain for the carrier networks. It could also be because BT are the offical partner for the Olympics and they are offering paid access to their WiFi network.
No noisemakers are allowed either. So no vuvuzelas, airhorns or drums.
O2 announces that it has switched on a new superfast 3G network across London this week, having gained permission to reuse the 900MHz spectrum for 3G services from Ofcom, the UK Communications Regulator, back in January. O2 is the first UK operator to take advantage of the change to its 900MHz network licence and the new 3G900 network layer in London is expected to deliver a 50% increase in capacity to O2’s existing 3G network. Continue reading
With Vodafone already running HSPA+ trials, Huawei Technologies, a provider of next generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, unveiled its latest HSPA+ slide USB stick, the E182E, at CeBIT in Germany. Continue reading
Steve Jobs unveiled the second generation of iPhone at yesterdays WWDC keynote. Two models will be available, 8GB and 16GB, with the later coming in two colour options (black or white). Aside from the colours and some smoothing of the edges the new breed of iPhone looks very much like its now defunct sibling (albeit slightly fatter and heavier on account of some additional new internals). Continue reading
