Carriers

BARCELONA, Spain--At the Mobile World Congress here, I hitched a ride in a 2011 Audi A8 demo equipped with Alcatel-Lucent 4G/LTE infrastructure.

The 2011 Audi A8 is typically equipped with an integrated 3G Wi-Fi hot spot to support its Google Earth navigation system and up to six device connections. But the 4G hot spot will give users even higher bandwidth for better telematics response and Internet access to support applications such as streaming media. Think live video conferencing from the backseat of the car, which is what we did.

Alcatel-Lucent demoed the 4G capability in the vehicle using LiveCast and Vidyo. As I rode around Barcelona in the back of the A8, I video-conferenced with an Alcatel team following us in another vehicle. Our demo was also broadcast to Alcatel's booth at Mobile World Congress.

This Audi connected to Alcatel's temporary 4G base station in a building about 1.5 miles away from us, and we witnessed speeds of up to 30Mbps. However, there were only a couple of users accessing that base station. In a commercial application, Alcatel says users can expect speeds around 5Mbps. That's a lot faster than the 400Kbps to 1.5Mbps you can expect on current 3G networks. … Read more

The second day of Mobile World Congress has come to a close, and while it's a little slower than the last few days, there was still plenty to see in Barcelona.

The big news of the day was from HTC, which introduced several new phones including the so-called "Facebook phones"--the HTC ChaCha and the HTC Salsa--which apparently might have Android OS 2.4. It also announced the HTC Incredible S, the Wildfire S, and the Desire S. HTC also jumped on the tablet bandwagon with the 7-inch HTC Flyer.

Speaking of tablets, we took a … Read more

Nokia and Microsoft want to create a "third ecosystem" to rival the mobile phone realms built by Apple and Google--but carriers have an even broader alternative of their own.

Last year at the Mobile World Congress show, a group of them unveiled the Wholesale Applications Community. It's an effort to outflank native software and monolithic app stores with Web apps not tied as tightly to specific smartphones and available through a variety of conduits.

And this year at the show, they launched WAC.

"With the commercial launch of operator storefronts, handsets and applications, all based on … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Mobile World Congress 2011 is off and roaring, as we finally get a chance to have some hands-on time with a few of the products announced this past weekend. But it's not all just handset coverage; Barcelona has also become a hotbed for the latest news in the mobile industry.

Indeed, it seems Nokia and Microsoft are not quite done discussing their partnership, as Nokia's Stephen Elop and Microsoft's Steve Ballmer took to the stage at Mobile World Congress to tout their vision for the future. Elop tried to allay some fears, while Ballmer gave … Read more

T-Mobile gave its new Samsung SGH-T259 a low-key debut today when it added the phone to its Web site without even the whimper of a press release. The trim blue flip phone doesn't offer much in the way of design, but it has enough features to keep you busy beyond making calls.

Features include text messaging, a basic media player, stereo Bluetooth, a personal organizer, a microSD card slot, T-Mobile's Visual Voicemail, a speakerphone, and GPS. The handset is a quad-band world phone and it supports T-Mobile's brand of 3G.

The T250 is available for purchase now … Read more

AT&T has started a new plan today that will allow AT&T subscribers to make unlimited voice calls to any mobile number, regardless of carrier. This is similar to Sprint's unlimited mobile-to-mobile plan. The Any Mobile Number plan will be effective this Thursday, and requires a minimum of a $20 a month unlimited messaging plan plus an existing voice plan.

This is indicative of a growing trend from carriers to stay competitive, perhaps in the wake of the Verizon iPhone. T-Mobile recently announced it is offering free phones this weekend, for example, and in addition to … Read more

HTC may have vaulted to glory in recent years with its selection of Android phones, but last month at CES the company broadened its portfolio just a bit with the new Freestyle quick-messaging phone.

The Freestyle, which goes on sale from AT&T this Sunday, February 13, lacks the high-end features of the new HTC Thunderbolt and its simple design won't stand out in the cell phone crowd. Yet, for users who don't need a lot, the BREW-powered Freestyle should deliver.

The aluminum body features a 3.2-inch touch screen with just a few navigation controls below. … Read more

Best Buy announced today that it will have an exclusive on the upcoming HTC Thunderbolt for Verizon Wireless. Though it won't arrive in stores until the middle of this month, customers can preorder the Android smartphone starting today.

The Froyo-powered Thunderbolt, which first saw light last month at CES 2011, will be Big Red's first commercially available 4G LTE phone. On the outside it sports a candy bar design with a 4.3-inch WVGA capacitive touch screen and a virtual keyboard.

Other features include a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, messaging and e-mail, an 8-megapixel camera with HD video capture, … Read more

Good news, T-Mobile lovers! All T-Mobile phones will be offered for free at T-Mobile retail stores this Friday, February 11, and Saturday, February 12, just in time for Valentine's Day. Of course, you have to sign up for a new two-year contract, so it's not completely free. But it's still a great deal, especially if you want a fancy new HSPA+ phone like the T-Mobile MyTouch 4G. Do note that mail-in rebate cards might apply, and that the deal is only applicable in select locations.