Tag: 3g
Is this the ereader that takes electronic books mainstream? ASUS to debut feature-packed, yet budget model
The company which turned the notebook on its head now has plans to do the same for ereaders with a model that has dual screens. The idea being that you can read an ereader as you could a normal book and turn pages, or even better, use the second screen for web surfing or whatever else ASUS comes up with.
Ofcom releases 3G coverage maps
Spare a thought for people living in Scotland or Wales, or if you live in Scotland or Wales spare a thought for yourself. The 3G coverage maps released by Ofcom show a distinct lack of a 3G network in those areas. In fact there is a distinct lack of coverage in any rural area in the UK.
The maps show that 3 is the network with the most 3G coverage, closely followed by Orange. O2 comes last – supporting our theory that O2 is, in fact, a bit rubbish.
Ofcom said: “For 3G network coverage there is still a noticeable difference between rural and urban areas, and also between different parts of the UK, with coverage problems a particular issue in the devolved nations.”
3G is becoming ever more important, especially with the new generation of smartphones which rely on good coverage and fast connections in order for their features and apps to run smoothly. The maps paint a bleak picture of a network that isn’t really supporting the smart devices.
What’s the answer? Well, see these related posts for possible alternatives and solutions: Will WiMax or LTE win out? | Femtocells – much more than a signal booster
(via The Press Association)
Vodafone to launch 3G signal booster
If mobile phone coverage is a problem in your household then you may be interested in the Vodafone Access Gateway – a little box that plugs in to any broadband line to create a boosted 3G signal.
Vodafone is saying that the device is the first of its kind in Europe. Unfortunately, it only works on the Vodafone network but I suppose that is understandable – they’re hardly likely to want to improve the signal quality of their rivals.
The Vodafone Access Gateway will be available for free with some phone plans, as a one off payment of £160 or for a monthly charge of £5. It can handle up to four calls at once so would be perfect for a family home.
Get yours from Vodafone from 1st July and never miss a call again because of lack of coverage.
Ofcom offers glimmer of hope in O2 tethering row
Consumer blog Bitterwallet has posted an interesting update concerning the ongoing issue of whether O2 should be allowed to charge for iPhone tethering.
The row essentially boils down to the fact that O2 are proposing a £14.68 – £29.36 monthly bolt-on charge for customers who want to use their iPhone to tether 3G data to their laptops. iPhone customers already have a plan in place with O2 whereby they can download, supposedly, unlimited data, so customers would be paying extra for data they’ve already paid for.
Bitterwallet’s post includes a letter from a reader who contacted Ofcom to complain about O2’s proposal. The reader was told that “without further calls to them about this issue” any action Ofcom might take would not go forward. This implies that Ofcom will need more people to lodge a complaint before any action is taken.
If you did want to complain then Ofcom can be reached on 020 7981 3040 or 0300 123 3333.
Play.com sim-free iPhone 3G is legit
I must confess, when I saw the story earlier this week about Play.com selling unlocked iPhones, I was a little skeptical. It seemed rather ‘off the back of a lorry’.
Well, the company has explained where they’ve come from. European regulations insist that a sim-free version of any phone is offered, so they’ve shipped them in from the continent. Play reassures customers that they come with a ‘full manufacturer warranty’ and you’re encouraged to register it at the Apple website.
Play was vague on how well it’s selling so far, offering only the statement that “customer response so far has been very positive and orders are growing nicely”. As previously reported, the 8GB model is £550, and the 16GB will cost £600. Expensive, especially with version 3.0 only a few months away.
(via T3)
Samsung Memoir gets official
Samsung’s got a decent line in cameraphones going on, with last year’s Pixon and Omnia, and now it’s throwing this – the Memoir – into the mix. It’s got an 8-megapixel sensor, 16x digital zoom, and a xenon flash, along with full touchscreen and aGPS.
There’s five shooting modes, and uploading your snaps to the internet is easy, with Flickr, Kodak Gallery, Photobucket and Snapfish integration. There’s 3G for uploads, but no Wi-Fi sadly, so you might consider uploading in low-quality, at least until you can get home. No word on pricing, but it should be arriving this month.
(via BGR)
Orange adds HP Compaq Mini 700 and Toshiba L300 to its 'connected' product line
Since November, Orange has been offering the Eee PC 901, complete with a 3G module, for £25 a month on a two-year contract. It’s an interesting blend of the mobile phone and PC business models, and has presumably proved successful, because the company is rolling out more laptops.
The HP Compaq Mini 700 and the Toshiba L300 have been added to the available range. You’ll get the former for £30 a month, and the latter for £35. They both come with the ‘internet everywhere’ service – meaning ‘everywhere you can get a phone signal’, anyway. That gives 3GB of monthly data allowance – not a great deal for heavy users.
iPhone 3G software SIM unlock demonstrated
Another step has been made towards unlocking the iPhone 3G so that you can use any SIM card in it. The “iPhone Dev Team” has developed a software tool that’ll unlock the device for you. They’re calling it “YellowSn0w”. The video above shows it in action – turning a locked phone into an unlocked one that accepts a T-Mobile SIM.
The tool’s due for release on Dec 31, so I advise you to spend the time between now and then desperately trying to get hold of an iPhone without signing up for a two-year O2 contract. Good luck with that.
Demo Video (via Gadget Lab)
Related posts: Can you really turn your iPod touch into an iPhone with Truphone? | All hail the penguin, as Linux gets ported to iPhone (kinda)
Nokia intros the 6260 slide for "high speed sharing"
Nokia has introduced its latest slider phone and is emphasising how it’s “made for high speed sharing”.
Obviously, all mobile phones are made for sharing – funnily enough they were invented as a way to talk to people, before someone came along and thought that sending 160 character strings of text was a much better way of communicating, and then someone else decided to squeeze the whole of the Internet onto mobile phones and unleash the horrors wonders of Facebook and MySpace onto unsuspecting commuters.
Anyway, you get the idea. Nokia’s 6260 slide is fitted with the latest HSDPA and HSUPA technology, meaning it should be a breeze to both upload and download photos and videos to and from the plethora of web services it’s now obligatory to use on the move…
Another iPhone lawsuit: Apple knowingly selling cracked handsets?
Every so often someone decides to file a lawsuit against Apple because — well, because it’s Apple, it seems.
While normal people buying products from other manufacturers — heck, even normal people buying Apple gear — would simply check out a piece of kit before buying it, or at least return it for a replacement if damaged, it seems this isn’t good enough for one New York resident.
We’ll leave aside the “defective 3G” and “not twice as fast” parts of this lawsuit (yes, it comes in multiple parts, folks) because we’ve already been there and got the T-shirt. Instead, let’s look at the accusation that Apple knowingly and wantonly shipped defective iPhones with hairline cracks in the casing…
