cellular

The T-Mobile Sonic 4G Mobile HotSpot, though fast enough for most Internet applications, wasn't the fastest mobile router in terms of data speed I've seen. In fact, in my testing around San Francisco, on average, it was actually slightly slower than the previous model, the T-Mobile 4G Mobile Hotspot ZTE MF61, which came out a while ago. Still, overall, it makes a very good investment.

First of all, it comes with a very strong battery that lasted up to 8 hours in our testing, which is about 2 hours more than what T-Mobile claims. A mobile router's battery life depends a lot on how much you use it on the go. The good thing about the Sonic 4G is the fact that it can go in and out of standby mode very quickly without any user interaction. While other mobile routers need to be "waken" by a press on the power button, the Sonic seems to wake when there are data requests. And the router can stay in standby mode for days on a full charge.… Read more

Cool as she is, the iPhone 4S' new personal assistant Siri hasn't been able to tell me in a meaningful way which iPhone 4S offers the fastest data speeds. In the end, I resorted to the usual do-it-yourself approach: a real-world test. And the results were interesting.

Prior to the testing, I expected some big differences between the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S (both GSM versions), since the iPhone 4S supports AT&T's faster HSDPA 14.4 network, which is capable of reaching an upload speed of 14.4Mbps and download speed of 5.8Mbps, theoretically twice the speeds of the iPhone 4.

This wasn't always the case, however, and sometimes it was quite the opposite. But first let's talk about how the testing was done.

How we test It's generally hard to figure out the way to get the best picture of how fast a mobile cellular Internet device's data rate is. The truth is that the speed of a cellular Internet connection varies a great deal from one location to another. It also depends on the server on which the app's data resides and sometimes even on the time of day.

For the testing, I used the Speedtest.net mobile app, which is the most popular app for the purpose. The app automatically connects to a nearby server to download and upload data. How busy the server is during the test affects the scores, but the app still offers a good representation of data speeds in a local area.

I gathered iPhone 4Ses from AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint, and tested the three smartphones against an iPhone 4 at a few well-known places in San Francisco: CNET's lobby, Union Square, and the Fisherman's Wharf area of Pier 39. I picked the first location for an obvious reason: it's the lobby of the building where I work, which is near the Financial District. The others are two of the most popular spots in the city, with lots of people using their phones. Also, I tested three 4G hot spots from various carriers for a comparison.

Keep in mind that these tests only evaluate data speeds for these phones in San Francisco and are not designed to be representative of data speeds you'll find in your area. However, they at least should show how the data speeds compare between each carrier version of the iPhone 4S, as well as the difference between AT&T's iPhone 4S and the iPhone 4.… Read more

The exclusive iPhone 4S club isn't so hard to get into after all.

Regional carrier C Spire Wireless, formerly known as Celllular South, said it will be offering Apple's latest iPhone in coming weeks. Exact timing and pricing information wasn't yet available.

C Spire marks the fourth U.S. carrier to offer the iPhone, after Sprint Nextel joined AT&T and Verizon Wireless during last week's launch. The addition also draws attention to T-Mobile USA, the only national carrier to be left out in the cold. AT&T is still attempting to acquire the carrier, … Read more

AT&T fired back at Sprint Nextel and Cellular South, the two companies that have sued to block AT&T's planned acquisition of T-Mobile USA.

The Dallas telecommunications giant filed two motions today seeking to dismiss the complaints filed by Sprint and Cellular South.

AT&T's argument is that Sprint and Cellular South are competitors, and lack the legal standing to file a complaint, and that Sprint's secondary complaint about the deal's effect on wholesale pricing for access to the wireline ground infrastructure is immaterial.

AT&T also argues that Sprint has … Read more

Starting next month, U.S. Cellular customers will be able to get their hands on the HTC Wildfire S, HTC Hero S, and HTC Flyer tablet. All will run Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

The Hero S has a 4-inch qHD Super LCD touch screen, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. The U.S. version of the HTC Kingdom, it'll be available for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate, so long as you've got a data plan.

The more budget-friendly and basic HTC Wildfire S has a 3.2-inch display and a 5-megapixel camera. … Read more

The largest cell phone carrier you may never have heard of is about to get a makeover. Starting next Monday, September 26, regional operator Cellular South will be known as C Spire Wireless.

The company doesn't explain the reasons behind the name change on its landing page, but it elaborates more in a press release (PDF) and fact sheet (PDF). According to the release, it's all about offering a personalized customer experience in which customers will see "services that anticipate their needs, and rewards they'll get just for using their phone in new ways." Read into that as you wish.

Among the new features that the carrier will offer are an optimized and personalized app service ("Scout"), customer loyalty rewards ("Percs"), a more intimate customer service effort ("Circle"), customized service plans with "infinite data" ("Pulse"), converged services between your living room and phone, and a fancy new Web site.

We expect to hear more details on Monday so hang tight for the full scoop on what we can expect from C Spire. … Read more

Keeping up with its promise to deliver eight smartphones this year, including one from Motorola, U.S. Cellular unveiled that it will offer the Motorola Electrify later this month for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate.

Similar to the Motorola Photon 4G for Sprint, the Electrify features a 4.3-inch qHD display, a dual-core 1GHz processor, 16GB of internal memory, an 8-megapixel camera, and a front-facing VGA camera. The Android 2.3 Gingerbread phone also has an HDMI port, comes with the Webtop app, and is compatible with such accessories as the HD Station.

U.S. Cellular did not … Read more

Sprint announced today its first mobile cellular router that can be used both within the U.S. and internationally, the International Mobile Hotspot by ZTE.

This is similar to the Sprint Mifi 4082, with one big exception: it doesn't support 4G networks. The new International Mobile Hotspot doesn't feature Wireless-N, either, just the old 802.11g standard.

Similar to other mobile hot-spot solutions, the new router can support up to five Wi-Fi clients at a time, comes in a very compact design, and offers about 4 hours of battery life. It comes with a preinstalled, unlocked SIM card that is both W-CDMA and GSM capable. It can also be tethered to a laptop to work as a modem or an SD card reader.

The new International Mobile Hotspot is available now at $50 (after a $50 rebate with a two-year contract). It comes with a single data plan that costs $60 per month with a 5GB cap. Additional international rates vary, depending on the location. … Read more

Sprint is said to be preparing to sell the iPhone 5 by setting up new cellular equipment in Apple stores, according to a story in Beatweek Magazine earlier this week.

Citing an anonymous source, Beatweek said that Sprint is installing network repeaters at Apple retail stores to ensure a strong signal so that potential iPhone 5 buyers can test the device on the carrier's cellular network.

The source, who lives in Austin, Texas, is quoted as saying "one thing I can tell you is that the electrical contractor that I work for is contracted to install Sprint 'repeaters' at The Domain. There is a Apple Store at The Domain. One of the 'repeaters' is to be installed INSIDE the Apple Store. There is to be a total of 5 'repeaters' installed. The equipment is CDMA and 4G (Sprint)."

The Apple store located in the Domain is also in Austin, Texas. Sprint uses CDMA for its 3G network, the same as Verizon Wireless. But analysts and other industry watchers have expressed doubts that the next iPhone would be a 4G device, citing Apple's concerns that the technology isn't yet mature. Apple and at least one iPhone carrier have reportedly been testing 4G LTE internally, but an actual 4G iPhone isn't likely to surface until next year.… Read more