UnlicensedMobileAccess
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T-Mobile launches speedy LTE-U service in six cities
The war over speedier LTE data is heating up in a big, big way. T-Mobile has launched LTE-U (that is, LTE riding on unlicensed frequencies) in parts of a handful of cities, including T-Mobile's home turf in Bellevue as well as Brooklyn, Dearborn, Las Vegas, Richardson and Simi Valley. If you have a compatible device (just the Galaxy S8 for now), it'll take advantage of public 5GHz wireless to give your service a boost. And if that's not fast enough, both T-Mobile and AT&T are offering a peek at the next wave of not-quite-5G speeds.
T-Mobile to bundle Wi-Fi Calling app with future Android devices?
Yesterday, we saw that LG's Optimus One might ship with WiFi calling, and that's all well and good, but a new leak suggests the Optimus was just the tip of a UMA iceberg to come. The above picture is one of several allegedly leaked training slides obtained by TmoNews, highlighting a dedicated "Wi-Fi Calling" app that may come pre-installed on upcoming Android devices, one of which just might be that new T-Mobile G2. Before you raid your piggybank in hopes of free VoIP calls, however, know that this app-ified brand of WiFi calling isn't necessarily the seamless switching solution we've wanted all along; that little yellow "limitations" tab reportedly explains that as soon as you leave the WiFi radius, you effectively drop your call.
LG Optimus One headed to T-Mobile with 3G hotspot and WiFi calls?
If the allegedly leaked slide immediately above is the real deal, it looks like the LG Optimus One is destined for T-Mobile, and it's going to get some serious use out of that 802.11 b/g WiFi radio. We knew the quad-band GSM handset was going to have a shot of Froyo on top of some fairly middling specs, but here's an unexpected treat: the Android handset just might be the first Android device with UMA support. If you've already forgotten what that particular acronym means, we don't blame you, as Unlicensed Mobile Access hasn't held the spotlight since the days of HotSpot@Home, but suffice it to say the tech uses a WiFi access point to make free VoIP calls, no cell signal (or minutes) required. It'd be easy to point to this move as a nefarious T-Mobile plot to free up cellular bandwidth a la the femtocell, except it apparently also works the other way, too -- the Optimus One will allegedly let you share that HSDPA 7.2 Mbps connection over WiFi with your thirsty laptop.
Samsung brings SGH-P200 UMA phone to Italy
We've been pining after Unlicensed Mobile Access and the promise of seamless VoIP / cellular handoffs for so long, we've admittedly become a little jaded, so forgive us if we seem a bit desensitized to the news that Samsung has launched its SGH-P200 UMA slider in Italy this week. Samsung's claiming that the P200 is the world's first commercially available UMA mobile, and we're inclined to believe them, despite a string of promising announcements over the past couple years that have yet to materialize. UMA aside, the P200 sports a 1.3 megapixel camera, EDGE, smallish 220 x 176 display, and 80MB of shared internal memory in a 22.5mm thick package -- fairly pedestrian specs, but hey, the draw of VoIP is strong, is it not? Expect the phone to spread elsewhere in Europe shortly, while our American friends shouldn't have much longer to wait for the similarly styled T709 on T-Mobile.
