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Broadcom is ramping up more chips designed to support 5G Wi-Fi, aka 802.11ac.

The chipmaker today announced its first 5G Wi-Fi combo chips designed specifically for entry-level consumer devices, meaning PCs, notebooks, tablets, and smartphones. Combo chips offer Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and FM radio all in one package. This second generation of 5G Wi-Fi chips includes the same features as Broadcom's current lineup but integrates more components to keep costs down.

"This 1x1 design lowers cost while still delivering dramatic speed, power and performance, empowering a broad new user base to effortlessly stream HD video, and significantly increase … Read more

LAS VEGAS -- Coolpad follows up the original Quattro 4G with a new smartphone squarely targeted at budget shoppers. The Quattro 2 4G features a dual-core processor, runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and has 1GB of RAM.

The other attributes of the Quattro 2 4G are also relatively midrange, at least compared with today's cutting-edge handsets. The phone will use a 5MP camera for main photo duty and will rely on a 1,800 mAh battery for power. The screen is a large 4.5-inch LCD but sadly will have a mere qHD resolution (960 by 540 pixels). … Read more

LAS VEGAS -- Tapping into high-speed 4G networks is a real treat, but sometimes a signal is hard to find. Mosaik's new CellMaps Mobile Coverage app for Android is here to help.

Announced today at CTIA 2013, the application lets U.S. Android phone owners see 4G footprints for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon in real time. Users can also drill down to see cellular network services in their neck of the woods or scan the overall 4G picture nationally.

Even more exciting is the application's ability to filter 4G coverage in granular details such as … Read more

It could be the most extraordinarily bizarre production vehicle in the world. The 2013 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG makes no sense whatsoever. It's a German military truck dressed up in a veneer of civility with a hot-rod engine. It combines legendary off-road capability, AMG performance, luxury, and technology in complete disharmony.

And whether you love it or hate it is a pretty good indication of whether you operate from the heart or the head, at least when it comes to cars.

The sensible approach to the G63 AMG would be to reason that you will never use its three differential … Read more

Samsung says it has developed new core technology that provides data transmission several hundred times faster than current 4G networks.

In an announcement Monday, Samsung said that plans to accelerate the research and development of 5G mobile communications technologies suitable for consumers across millimeter-wave bands are going ahead, with a view to commercialize the technology by 2020.

The Korean company says that it has developed the "world's first" adaptive array transceiver -- which is able to operate in millimeter-wave bands -- and has overcome issues caused by transmitting data over long distances. The core system is able … Read more

About two weeks ago, wireless Internet provider FreedomPop introduced the Overdrive Pro, a Sprint-powered 3G/4G mobile hot spot with a tantalizing price tag: $39.99 for the hardware, 500MB of data per month absolutely free, and low rates on additional data.

FreedomPop's previous products all relied solely on Clearwire's WiMAX network, which left users like me (who live where there's no coverage) out in the cold. But the Overdrive Pro changes that, and so I was excited to test-drive one.

Which I've been doing for the past few days. The good news is the Sierra … Read more

AT&T is getting closer to its quest of covering 250 million people with 4G LTE by the end of 2013. On Monday, the carrier announced five more markets that will receive the faster 4G speeds.

The new markets are:

This brings AT&T's total to 212 4G LTE markets and nearly 200 million people, up from 175 LTE areas just a month ago.

Verizon's needle, meanwhile, hovers in the 500-market range.

After months of speculation, LG confirmed on Wednesday that its Optimus G Pro will be available exclusively on AT&T on May 10 for $199.99 after contract, with preorders beginning May 3.

Equipped with a 5.5-inch screen, the phone marks LG's second attempt at a "phablet"-size handset in the U.S., with Verizon's LG Intuition being the first. While the Intuition didn't quite take off, the G Pro is a much better device. It performs well, and the G Pro is one of the first U.S. handsets to feature the … Read more

When LG was developing its first phablet, known globally as the Optimus Vu but in the U.S. as the Intuition, the head of the mobile division, J.S. Park, supposedly obsessed over the slide-top mechanism that covered the charging port, sending back prototype after prototype to his designers.

One was too fast, one was too loose, and another was too slow, according to a story related by James Fishler, head of marketing for LG's U.S. division, one he characterized as LG folklore. Park was convinced that the little detail was an important detail that consumers would focus … Read more