mobilecon

Defense Department pushes spectrum sharing as solution to wireless crunch

SAN DIEGO - The Department of Defense says it's onboard with freeing up more wireless spectrum for commercial wireless broadband use. But proposals that rely heavily on the government sharing wireless spectrum with private sector wireless carriers doesn't jive with what the industry wants.

At the CTIA's Mobilecon tradeshow here Wednesday, Major General Robert Wheeler, a deputy CIO for the Department of Defense, gave a keynote speech in which he outlined how the government agency plans to free up additional spectrum that will help the country reach President Obama's goal of releasing 500 MHz of additional … Read more

Verizon to blow past year-end 4G target, covering 417 markets

Verizon Wireless said today that it would surpass its year-end goal of blanketing 400 markets with 4G LTE two months ahead of schedule.

On October 18, the company will have covered 417 U.S. markets with its super-fast wireless network, extending its overwhelming lead over the other carriers. Its 4G LTE was the focal point of the carrier's presentation at the MobileCon wireless trade show this week.

Despite the speedy work, it's sticking with its target of completing the full upgrade by the end of next year, in which its 4G LTE coverage will be comparable to its … Read more

Sprint to sell LG Optimus G, LG Mach, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1

Sprint Nextel expanded its lineup of 4G LTE devices, nabbing the LG Optimus G quad-core smartphone, the LG Mach QWERTY slider, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 tablet, and a 4G USB stick.

Apart from the previously announced LG Optimus G, Sprint announced the new devices at the MobileCon wireless trade show today. No pricing or availability information was available.

The brand-new LG Mach features a full QWERTY keyboard and is expected to be a more affordable device. The smartphone runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, has a 5-megapixel rear camera and VGA front-facing camera, and is … Read more

Nokia Lumia 810 brings Windows Phone 8 to T-Mobile

T-Mobile added another Windows Phone 8 handset today by announcing the Nokia Lumia 810. A variant of the previously announced Lumia 820 that's optimized for T-Mobile's network, the Lumia 810 will be available "in the coming weeks."

The Lumia 810 will deliver a 4.3-inch display, interchangeable covers in cyan and black, an 8-megaixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, a 1.2-megapixel front-facing shooter, Nokia Music and Nokia Maps, and support for T-Mobile's HSPA+ data network. The carrier did not announce pricing, but like the earlier Lumia 710, it should come in at under $100 … Read more

LG and T-Mobile team up on Optimus L9 with Android 4.0

The day before MobileCon kicks off in San Diego, T-Mobile and LG prime the mobile pump by unveiling the LG Optimus L9.

Running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the midrange handset also features a 4.5-inch qHD display made with Corning Gorilla Glass 2, a 1GHz dual-core processor, and a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and 1080p HD video recording.

There's also a large 2,150mAh battery onboard, and LG's Quick Memo app. There's no pricing or availability information yet, but we're hoping to learn more when we (hopefully) see the phone tomorrow at MobileCon.… Read more

What to expect from MobileCon 2012

MobileCon, the rebranded mobile show that used to be known as Fall CTIA, runs October 9 to 11 in San Diego, CA. As before, the show will have a strong IT and enterprise focus, but we'll still see consumer goodies crop up in the form of new handsets.

What we won't see is the mass press conference spectacle of January's CES or the absolute circus of February's Mobile World Congress at the quieter MobileCon. Instead, expect news generated in private meetings and unexpected press releases for new smartphones.

Although AT&T already announced its fall lineup … Read more