The iPhone’s 4G impact on operators’ 4G networks

The Big News of 2010: 4G…or is it G4?A Nexius Executive Commentary – By Ned Taleb, Nexius CEO The first quarter of 2010 has just come to an end and a colleague at Nexius recently asked me what seems to be the hot topic with our operator customers and the technology press and analysts this year. My simple answer: 4G. From Apple previewing the 4th generation of its revolutionary iPhone today to operators racing to launch their 4th generation networks, 4G is the marketing term of the moment. At CTIA Wireless in March, I saw 4G news everywhere. Every major US wireless operator spoke about their 4G plans at the show: Verizon said they expect to roll out LTE in nearly 30 markets to cover 1/3 of all Americans by the end of 2010. The biggest LTE rollout and the first to market in the US. Not to be outdone, however, AT&T announced that their 4G vendor trials are underway and that they plan to begin commercial rollout early in 2011. While, T-Mobile didnt dive deep into 4G but they did announce plans to make a faster HSPA+ network available in markets that serve 180 million people by the end of the year. Since HSPA+ is backwards compatible with T-Mobiles current 3G technology its customers can continue to use their existing handsets to enjoy considerably faster network speeds. Sprint made perhaps the biggest 4G news at the show showcasing Americas first 4G smartphone, the HTC EVO 4G, which they will launch on the Clearwire WiMAX network. Sprint CEO, Dan Hesse, said in his address "LTE will be the larger of the two standards, but we couldn't wait. We have enough spectrum that we could add other techs later.""LTE will be the larger of the two standards, but we couldn't wait. We have enough spectrum that we could add other techs later." Even MetroPCS, a smaller operator, announced that it will launch its 4G LTE service in the second half of 2010. They are also working with Samsung to launch the first LTE handset, the SCH-r900, on their network later this year. But it isnt just operators and Apple talking 4G. Even Avatar director, James Cameron, recently jumped on the 4G bandwagon by pointing out that faster 4G networks would be the key to delivering 3-D applications on the phone. (To be precise, he actually said faster G4 networks would be the keybut he makes movies, not cell phones. His audience is Generation-X, Generation-Y, and beyond. He cares not for the enabling technology platforms but what they can do to bring media such as Avatar into the palm of the next generation of audience. So G4 it is, in as far as it really matters to our clients and customers. J )Clearly 2010 is all about speed: 1.) Getting to market quickly. 2.) Launching faster networks and faster devices. 3.) Delivering content to consumers at the speeds they demand. It really does not matter which 4G wireless operators deploy, be it WiMAX in the interim or LTE in the longer term, the objective is the same: to enable the realization of the future of wireless services and applications. Everyone from wireless operators to Apple to James Cameron want to deliver these services by uniting the best technology platforms with the fastest networks and the next generation of smart devices. We feel fortunate that Nexius has had the opportunity to work with so many of these leading companies to develop their 4G network rollout strategies as well as create, deploy, and integrate the services and applications that these networks enable. Its great to be at the center of such fast-paced innovation. Only time will tell who wins this battle for 4G dominance. Lets check back at CTIA 2011 to find out.

Buying a New Windows Mobile Phone leaves you out of Window Mobile 7

Newsfactor: Even new purchasers of Windows Mobile 6.5 phones won't be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 7 Series. Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 Series will require new hardware and even the new HTC HD2 phone doesn't qualify. AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint Nextel will carry the Windows Phone 7 Series devices. Newsfactor

MWC: Verizon’s Nexus One To Be Announced?

The Nexus One is coming to Verizon. That’s no surprise to anyone; we’ve known that fact for weeks. The question is, when exactly will Big Red’s Nexus One launch, and what will differentiate it from the T-Mo version? If Phandroid is correct, we could learn all that and more tomorrow. Rumor has it, that is when the announcement will be made. In addition, rumors have spread through Modaco that the HTC Bravo, renamed the HTC Desire, will be the VZW Nexus One. This phone will come with HTC Sense and be compatible with Verizon’s network. Otherwise, it should be pretty much identical to the T-Mo version.

Trio of HTC Phone Official Pics/Specs Leaked: Meet Desire, Legend, and Touch HD Mini [Unconfirmed]

We’ve seen leaks of the HTC Legend and Desire (formerly known as Bravo) previously, but what look like the official pics and specs for those and the Touch HD Mini have appeared a day ahead of HTC’s MWC press conference. The Desire, pictured above, will reportedly pack a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 3.7-inch AMOLED screen and will run Android 2.1 with HTC Sense. The Legend looks to have a 3.1″ HVGA screen, a 5 megapixel camera, and a 600 MHz CPU, while the HD Mini is a WinMo 6.5 handset with a 3.2″ HVGA screen, 5 megapixel camera, and HTC TouchFlo 3D. Full specs, from the Android forum at MoDaCo:

HTC Desire (Bravo)

* CPU Speed – 1 GHz * Platform – Android™ 2.1 (Éclair) with HTC SenseTM * Memory – ROM: 512 MB, RAM: 576 MB * Dimensions – (LxWxT) 119 x 60 x 11.9 mm (4.7 x 2.36 x 0.47 inches) * Weight – 135 grams (4.76 ounces) with battery * Display – 3.7-inch AMOLED touch-sensitive screen with 480 X 800 WVGA resolution * Network – HSPA/WCDMA: o Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz o Upload speed of up to 2 Mbps and download speed of up to 7.2 Mbps * Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: o 850/900/1800/1900 MHz (Band frequency, HSPA availability, and data speed are operator dependent.) * Onscreen navigation – Optical Trackball * GPS – Internal GPS antenna * Sensors – o Proximity sensor o Ambient light sensor o G-Sensor o Digital compass * Connectivity – Bluetooth® 2.1 with FTP/OPP for file transfer, A2DP for wireless stereo headsets, and PBAP for phonebook access from the car kit * Wi-Fi® – IEEE 802.11 b/g * 3.5 mm stereo audio jack * Standard Micro-USB (5-pin micro-USB 2.0) * Camera – 5 megapixel color camera with auto focus and flashlight * Audio supported formats o Playback: .aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma, o Recording: .amr * Video supported formats o Playback: .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .wmv o · Recording: .3gp * Battery – Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery * Capacity – 1400 mAh * Talk time: o Up to 390 minutes for WCDMA o Up to 400 minutes for GSM * Standby time: o Up to 360 hours for WCDMA o Up to 340 hours for GSM * Expansion Slot – microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible) * AC Adapter Voltage range/frequency – 100 ~ 240 V AC, 50/60 Hz * DC output – 5 V and 1 A * Special Feature – Friend Stream

HTC Legend

* CPU speed – 600 MHz * Platform – Android™ 2.1 (Éclair) with HTC Sense * Memory ROM – 512 MB, RAM: 384 MB * Dimensions – (LxWxT) 112 x 56.3 x 11.5 mm (4.41 x 2.22 x 0.45 inches) * Weight – 126 grams (4.44 ounces) with battery * Display – 3.2-inch AMOLED touch-sensitive screen with 320 X 480 HVGA resolution * Network – HSPA/WCDMA: o Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz o Upload speed of up to 2 Mbps and download speed of up to 7.2 Mbps * Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: o 850/900/1800/1900 MHz * Onscreen navigation – Optical trackball * GPS – Internal GPS antenna * Sensors – o G-Sensor o Digital compass o Proximity sensor o Ambient light sensor * Connectivity – Bluetooth® 2.1 with FTP/OPP for file transfer, A2DP for wireless stereo headsets, and PBAP for phonebook access from the car kit * Wi-Fi® – IEEE 802.11 b/g * 3.5 mm stereo audio jack * Standard Micro-USB (5-pin micro-USB 2.0) * Camera – 5 megapixel color camera with auto focus and flash * Audio supported formats – o Playback: .aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma o Recording: .amr * Video supported formats – o Playback: .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .wmv o Recording: .3gp * Battery – Rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer or Lithium-ion battery * Capacity – 1300 mAh * Talk time – o Up to 440 minutes for WCDMA o Up to 490 minutes for GSM * Standby time – o Up to 560 hours for WCDMA o Up to 440 hours for GSM * Expansion slot – microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible) * AC adapter – Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz * DC output – 5V and 1A * Special feature – Friend Stream

HTC Touch HD Mini

(Full specs unavailable). [MoDaCo]

Windows Phone 7 Series unveiled at MWC

Today at Mobile World Congress 2010, Microsoft unveiled the next generation of Windows Phones, Windows Phone 7 Series. For the first time ever, Microsoft will bring together Xbox LIVE games and the Zune music and video experience on a mobile phone, exclusively on Windows Phone 7 Series. Microsoft partners have already started building phones and you will be able to purchase the first Windows 7 phones in stores by holiday 2010. With Windows Phone 7 Series, Microsoft says to take a fundamentally different approach to phone software. The Windows Phone design begins with a new, holistic design system that informs every aspect of the phone, from its visually appealing layout and motion to its function and hardware integration. On the Start screen, dynamically updated “live tiles” show users real-time content directly, breaking the mold of static icons that serve as an intermediate step on the way to an application. Create a tile of a friend, and the user gains a readable, up-to-date view of a friend’s latest pictures and posts, just by glancing at Start. Every Windows Phone 7 Series phone will come with a dedicated hardware button for Bing, providing one-click access to search from anywhere on the phone, while a special implementation of Bing search provides intent-specific results, delivering the most relevant Web or local results, depending on the type of query. Partners from around the world have committed to include Windows Phone 7 Series in their portfolio plans. They include mobile operators AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, and manufacturers Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC Corp., HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm Inc. The first phones will be available by holiday 2010. Apple will have to up the ante with the iPhone 2010 to stay ahead of the smartphone game. 2010 will be a very cool year for smartphones. Read more of the latest Mobile World Congress 2010 News.

MWC: Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 7 Series

Windows Mobile 7, we hardly knew ye. While Redmond did make their big announcement (BGR) this week, they have changed the name of their OS from Windows Mobile, to Windows Phone 7. And that isn’t the only change 7 is going to bring to the table. WinPhones will use high-resolution, capacitive, multitouch displays. Users will be able to manipulate them in similar ways to Windows 7. Each handset will have a start button, Bing button, and back button. No stylus will be needed (duh). Windows Phone 7 devices will emphasize functionality as both personal and business devices. They use a scrolling, tile-based UI that displays updated content in the same way as the Widgets on your current smartphone. At the top of each application, there will be an app bar that contains all of the functions used in the app. Bing search will take geolocation into account, and the Phone/address auto-detector will link your dialer up to the map application. Overall, Microsoft is focusing on seven core things with these new devices; social networking, photos, games (Xbox live!), music, marketplace, and office. They are also trying to design efficient phones, that require the minimum possible inputs to achieve the desired functions. And now for the bad news…no Adobe Flash support in version one, and a “close” partnership with AT&T (and Orange, but they aren’t so bad). AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon, Vodafone, Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC, HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm will all be building or carrying Windows Phone 7 devices. The first of these phones should be out by holiday 2010.

Windows Phone 7 Series: Everything Is Different Now [Windows Phone 7]

It’s astounding that until this moment, three years after the iPhone, the biggest software company in the world basically didn’t compete in mobile. Windows Phone 7 Series is more than the Microsoft smartphone we’ve been waiting for. Everything’s different now. Today, at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft is publicly previewing Windows Phone 7 for the first time. The operating system will appear in phones this year, but not until the holidays. All of the major wireless carriers and every likely hardware maker are backing it, and they’d be stupid not to. Further details are forthcoming, but here is what you need to know: The name—Windows Phone 7 Series—is a mouthful, and unfortunately, the epitome of Microsoft’s worst naming instincts, belying the simple fact that it’s the most groundbreaking phone since the iPhone. It’s the phone Microsoft should’ve made three years ago. In the same way that the Windows 7 desktop OS was nearly everything people hoped it would be, Windows Phone 7 is almost everything anyone could’ve dreamed of in a phone, let alone a Microsoft phone. It changes everything. Why? Now that Microsoft has filled in its gaping chasm of suck with a meaningful phone effort, the three most significant companies in desktop computing—Apple, Google and Microsoft—now stand to occupy the same positions in mobile. Phones are officially computers that happen to fit in your pocket. Windows Phone 7 is also something completely new for Microsoft: A total break from the past. Windows Mobile isn’t just dead, the body’s been dumped, buried and paved over by a rainbow brick road.

The Interface

It’s different. The face of Windows Phone 7 is not a rectangular grid of thumbnail-sized glossy-looking icons, arranged in a pattern of 4×4 or so, like basically every other phone. No, instead, an oversized set of bright, superflat squares fill the screen. The pop of the primary colors and exaggerated flatness produces a kind of cutting-edge crispness that feels both incredibly modern and playful. The result is a feat no phone has performed before: Making the iPhone’s interface feel staid. If you want to know what it feels like, the Zune HD provides a taste: Interface elements that run off the screen; beautiful, oversized text and graphics; flipping, panning, scrolling, zooming from screen to screen. Some people might think it’s gratutitous, but I think it feels natural and just…fun. There’s an incredible sense of joie de vivre that’s just not in any other phone. Windows Phone 7 is connected in the same sense as Palm’s webOS and Android, with live, real-time data seamlessly integrated, though it’s even smoother and more natural. Live tiles on the Start screen are updated dynamically with fresh content, like weather, or if you’ve pinned a person to your Start screen, their latest status updates and photos. The meat of the phone is organized around a set of hubs: People, Pictures, Games, Music + Video, Marketplace, and Office. They’re kind of like uber-applications, in a sense. People, for instance, isn’t just your contacts, but it’s also where social networking happens, with a real-time stream of updates from like Facebook and Windows Live. (No Twitter support announced yet, it appears—a kind of serious deficiency, but one we’re sure will be remedied by ship date.) As another example, Music + Video is essentially the entirety of Zune HD’s software, tucked inside of Windows Phone 7. A piece of interface that’s shockingly not there: A desktop syncing app. If anyone would be expected to tie their phone to a desktop, you’d think it’d be Microsoft, but they’re actually moving forward here. All of your contacts and info sync over the air. The only thing you’ll be syncing through your computer is music and videos, which is mercifully done via the Zune client.

Hello Connected World

The People hub might be the best social networking implementation yet on a phone: It’s a single place to see all of your friends’ status updates from multiple services in a single stream, and to update your own Facebook and Windows Live status. Needs. Twitter support. Badly. But you have neat integrations, like the aforementioned live tiles—if you really like someone or want to stalk them hardcore, you can make them a tile on your Start screen, which update in realtime with whatever they’re posting. All of your contacts are synced and backed up over-the-air, Android and webOS style. Makes certain other phones seem a little antiquated with their out-of-the-box Contacts situation.

Zune and Multimedia

Microsoft’s vision of Zune is finally clear with Windows Phone 7. It’s an app, just like iPod is on the iPhone, though the Zune Marketplace is integrated with it into the music + video hub, not separated into its own little application. It’s just like the Zune HD, so you can check out our review of that to see what it’s like. Oh, and worth mentioning, there will be an FM radio in every phone (more on that in a bit). Pictures is a little different though, and gets its very own hub. That’s because it’s intensely connected—you can share photos and video with social networks straight from the hub, and via the cloud, they’re kept in sync with your PC and web galleries. Of course, you have multitouch zoom and scrolling stuff too.

The Xbox Phone

I’ll admit, I very nearly needed to change my pants when I saw the Xbox tile on the phone for the first time. Obviously, you’re not going to be playing Halo 3 on your smartphone (at least not this year), but yes, Xbox Live on a phone! It’s tied to your Live profile, and there are achievements and gamer points for the games you can play on your phone, which will be tied to games back on your Xbox 360. If Microsoft’s got an ace-in-hole with Windows Phone 7, it’s Xbox Live. Gamers have talked about a portable Xbox for years—this is the most logical way to do it. The N-Gage was ahead of its time. (Okay, and it sucked.) The DS and PSP are the past. The iPhone showed us that the future of mobile gaming was going to be on your phone, and now that just got a lot more interesting.

Browser and Email

Yes, the browser is Internet Exploder. And yes, the rumor’s true: It won’t be as fast as Mobile Safari. Not to start. But it’s not bad! Hey, least it’s got multitouch powers right out of the box. The Outlook email app makes me question how people read email on a BlackBerry. It is stunning. Of course, it’s got Exchange support too.

Apps and Marketplace

Remember what I said earlier about Windows Mobile being dead? So are all the apps. They won’t work on WP7. Sorry Windows Mobile developers, it’s for the best. Deep down, we all knew a clean break was the only way Windows Phone wasn’t going to suck total balls. The Marketplace is where you’ll buy apps. Since we’ve got like 6 months ’til Windows Phone 7 launches and people should be excited to develop for it, hopefully there’ll be plenty of stuff to buy there on day one. Naturally, Bing and Bing Maps are built into the phone as the default search and maps services. They’re nice. Bing’s also used for universal search on the phone, via a dedicated Bing button. And yeah, Office! It’s connected to that cloud thing, for OTA syncing and such. Business people should be happy.

Hardware

Another way the old Windows Mobile is dead is how Microsoft’s handling partners and hardware situation. With Windows Mobile, a phonemaker handed Microsoft their monies, and Microsoft tossed them a software kit, and that was that. Which is why a lot of Windows Mobile phones felt and ran like crap. And why it took HTC like two years to produce the HD2, the most genuinely usable rendition of Windows Mobile ever. Microsoft’s not building their own phones, but they’re going to be picky, to say the least, with Windows Phone 7. There’s a strict set of minimum hardware requirements—a capacitive, multitouchable screen, for example—and benchmarks that have to be met. Every phone will have a Bing button and an FM radio. Custom skins, like the minor miracles HTC worked, are now banned. The message to hardware makers is clear: It’s a Windows Phone, you’re just putting it together. Basically, phonemakers get to decide the shape and whether or not there’s a keyboard.

Big Picture

Windows Phone 7 Series is, from what we’ve seen, exactly what Microsoft’s phone should be. It’s actually good. But there’s a real, lingering question: Are they too late? The first Windows Phone 7 Series…phone—goddamn that is a stupid name—won’t hit until the end of this year. That’s more than three years after the iPhone, two years after Android, hell, even a year after Palm, the industry’s sickly but persistent dwarf. History is on Microsoft’s side here—we know what happened the last time Apple had a massive head start. Microsoft is, if nothing else, incredibly patient. Remember the first Xbox? Back when it was crazy that Microsoft was getting into videogames? It’s cost them about a billion dollars and taken nearly 10 years, but now, with Xbox Live, Project Natal and their massive software ecosystem, they arguably have the most impressive gaming console you can buy. That was a pet project. Now, mobile is the future of computing. What do you think Microsoft will sink into that? The mobile picture is now officially a three-way dance: Apple, Google, and Microsoft. The same people who dominant desktop computing. Everybody else is screwed. Former Palm CEO Ed Colligan famously said a few years ago: “PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.” That’s precisely what’s just happened. Phones are the new PCs. PC guys are the new phone guys.

HTC HD Mini To Debut At MWC

The Mobile World Congress won’t start until tomorrow, but a host of leaks have already sprung all over the Internet. PMP Today reports that the Proton, AKA the HTC HD Mini, will see its world debut at the MWC. This mid-range (presumably) budget smartphone sports a 3.2” HVGA touchscreen display and a 5 MP autofocus camera. The processor is a 600 MHz Qualcomm processor with WiFi and HSPA connectivity. This phone will have GPS, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and the WinMo 6.5 OS. The HD Mini is expected to lanch in April.

iPhone vs Android App Development: An Inverse Relationship [Apps]

A mobile analytics firm named Flurry assembled this chart, plotting the percentage of newly registered iPhone and Android app projects over time. The relationship? Frighteningly inverse. While stats like this can certainly be misleading, it almost appears as if a small pocket of developers are jumping ship with every tempting Android or Apple-related project that comes up. The January Apple app development boost, for instance, is attributed to the iPad (despite it being announced in the waning days of the month). While, it would probably be safe to attribute Android’s strong December to the Droid and maybe even teases of the Nexus One. Android’s July spike gets a bit more tricky, but the European release of the HTC Hero may have something to do with it. Even though the public wasn’t wooed by the iPad, developers certainly were. Of course, some of that love may be fleeting, depending on what Android devices pop up next. Oh, and it should be noted, despite how this graph may look, both Android and iPhone/iPad app development grew in January. [MacRumors]

HTC Legend Appears On Dutch Website, Will Go On Sale March And Look Even Sexier Than First Anticipated [Android]

Glimpsed in the most hi-res outfit we’ve seen so far is the HTC Legend, which—if rumors prove correct—should be shown off next week at MWC. It still looks like the Hero only with a unibody aluminum shell, but according to Dutch carrier KPN it’ll go on sale March. KPN’s advert for the Legend touts it as having a 600Mhz processor, an optical trackpad instead of the ball seen on previous models, and a 3.2-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen. The other specs gleaned from KPN seem par for the course—a 5.0-megapixel camera with LED flash, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and Android 2.1 (Eclair), and it looks like it’ll be running HTC Sense, the Android skin which they’ve used on a lot of their recent models. The leaked pics we saw recently of the Legend showed it as having black plastic inserts at the base and top of the back casing, where the SIM card, microSD card slot and camera are. It’s still got a chin by the looks of the profile photo on KPN’s site, but if you ask me that’s a good thing. This is definitely a phone to get excited about. [Tweakers via Electronista]