iphone 4g

T-Mobile expands 4G network, sort of offers 4G iPhone

If you're desperate to stay with T-Mobile's service and rock an iPhone, the nation's fourth-largest carrier has good tidings on both fronts.

Today, T-Mobile unveiled plans to expand its 1,900MHz band in 14 new markets, bringing its grand total to 37 cities covered by the faster network.

In addition, the carrier announced a partnership with Solavei, a no-contract carrier that resells T-Mobile's service -- and the iPhone. Customers who sign up with Solavei in any of T-Mobile's 4G markets will be able to purchase the iPhone and sign onto an unlimited talk, text, and … Read more

4G LTE smartphone shipments to triple next year -- study

Shipments of 4G LTE smartphones will triple next year, research firm Strategy Analytics predicts.

The research firm sees shipments rising to 275 million next year from this year's 91 million, a rise of 203 percent resulting in a record year for LTE phone vendors. Companies that stand to benefit the most include Apple, Samsung, and LG, with the iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy S3 among the most popular handsets.

But other vendors will participate in the LTE push, such as Nokia, HTC, Motorola, Blackberry, Huawei, ZTE, and Pantech. Growth in LTE smartphones will be driven by demand in … Read more

iPhone 5 gets 4G LTE when Apple says so, not carriers

Apple will be the judge of whether a network's 4G LTE offering is worthy of supporting the iPhone 5, not the other way around.

That's the apparent revelation in a report today from industry site Telecoms.com. A spokesperson from Swisscom confirmed Apple's 4G approval protocol to the site this week, claiming that "Apple only enables 4G access after testing their device on an operator's live network."

In other words, Apple has managed to put 4G behind its fabled walled garden in a way, wrestling a significant measure of control away from the network carriers. Once Apple has determined that a 4G network has met its internal performance standards, it pushes out a software update enabling the step-up from 3G (or -- gulp -- something else) to LTE on that network.… Read more

T-Mobile boosts 4G coverage in attempt to lure iPhone users

T-Mobile today added Baltimore, Houston, and Washington, D.C. to the list of U.S. cities served by 4G (HSPA+) on its faster 1900 network.

"As a part of our $4 billion plan to transform our network, T-Mobile continues to strengthen an already fast and competitive 4G experience in major metro areas across the country by installing new equipment and retuning our 4G airwaves to work with more devices," T-Mobile USA Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray said in a statement today.

One of the devices that the carrier specifically highlighted to get the faster 4G coverage is the … Read more

AT&T Mobility CEO sees record customer loyalty by 2015

AT&T believes customers will stick even tighter to its wireless service over the next few years.

The company expects to hit a record-low rate of customer turnover by 2015, according to Ralph de la Vega, chief executive of AT&T's mobility arm. He was speaking today at the company's investor conference in New York.

De la Vega was his usual bullish self and threw out several stats to back up his optimism. In addition to the customer turnover rate estimate, he said he expects 90 percent of its customer base to own a smartphone by … Read more

FreedomPop's $99 sleeve brings 4G to iPod Touch

After a long wait, FreedomPop is now shipping the iPod Touch 4G Sleeve.

The sleeve can be attached to any fourth-generation iPod Touch, and allows you to connect to the firm's 4G network and make free calls via Skype and any other voice-over-IP application. Users can connect to 4G anywhere that is on the startup's 4G coverage map -- including the East Coast, Florida and California.

Currently, a sleeve-equipped iPod Touch can stream video, make VoIP calls, and serve as a hot spot for up to eight devices. The startup began taking preorders in May for the $99 … Read more

Apple has been an LTE straggler -- maybe that's a good thing

Apple has taken a wait-and-see approach to 4G LTE, and that may pay off for the iPhone 5.

While LTE on Verizon's network has become a standard offering for Android phones over the last year or so, Apple CEO Tim Cook has resisted -- until Wednesday.

Cook always said pretty much the same thing: iPhone-use LTE chipsets aren't good enough yet for Apple.

And he had a point. Previous generations of LTE tech had power-consumption and chip-integration tradeoffs. Plus, Verizon's build-out of LTE has been steady but slow. (It just reached an area near my stomping grounds, … Read more

Apple's next iPhone to sport 4G LTE tech, report says

Apple's next iPhone will sport speedier fourth-generation wireless networking, according to a report.

Citing "people familiar with the matter," the Wall Street Journal says Apple's next iPhone will work with some but not all 4G LTE networks in the U.S. and other countries when it's released.

AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint have 4G LTE networks in the U.S. These networks offer considerably faster data speeds than 3G networks, though use differing frequencies.

4G LTE technology was largely expected to be included in last year's iPhone model, the iPhone 4S. Apple chose … Read more

Verizon LTE hits 34 new markets, blankets 75 percent of U.S.

The Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network will be available in 34 new markets, starting tomorrow, and cover more than three-quarters of the nation in a total of 371 markets.

The carrier, which made the announcement today, added that its 4G LTE coverage is expanding 38 existing markets tomorrow as well.

The latest rollout further widens the gap between Verizon and its competitors when it comes to 4G LTE, an increasingly important selling point as consumers begin to care more about network speeds and how quickly they can browse the Internet, stream music, and download attachments and pictures on their smartphones. … Read more