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Rep. Eshoo intros 4G disclosure act, hopes to turn consumers into techies
We're gonna shoot from the hip here -- wireless carriers have gotten a little out-of-hand with their 4G marketing. Even industry standard setter, the ITU, can't figure out a way to keep the story straight. This consumer disinformation loop is exactly what Rep. Anna Eshoo plans to undo with her "Next Generation Wireless Disclosure Act." Like its title says, the bill would force carriers to be absolutely, unfalteringly crystal clear on minimum data speeds, network reliability, accessible coverage maps, and, of course, the technology being used. Think the T-Mobile girl can handle that in thirty seconds? We didn't think so, either. Retailers tried a similar consumer hand-holding effort during the DTV transition, although that came without a regulatory shove. Hit the source for legalese in all its undisturbed glory, and while you wait for Uncle Sam to act, you can clear up any lingering confusion by diving into our primer. [Image credit via Going WiMax]
Yosion's second-gen Apple Peel 520 arriving on March 28th, ready to cellularize your iPod touch
Remember the second-gen Apple Peel 520 we saw back in January? Yep, Yosion has now confirmed that this familiar-looking adapter will be available in China on March 28th, which happens to be this coming Monday. Like its predecessor, this new sleeve lets you send texts and make regular phone calls on a jailbroken iPod touch (including the latest FaceTime-loving model), but now Yosion's also thrown in GPRS data connectivity along with some extra battery juice, all for the price of just ¥520 ($79) for pre-orderers and possibly around ¥598 ($90) when it's out. Frankly, this isn't a bad value proposition for those already clinging onto an iPod touch -- just make sure El Jobs doesn't catch you holding this Peel.
2G, 3G, 4G, and everything in between: an Engadget wireless primer
It's hard to believe nowadays, but in a simpler time, cellphones really were called "cell phones," not dumbphones, smartphones, feature phones, or superphones. They bulged in your pocket -- if they fit in your pocket at all, that is -- and they made calls. That's it. None of this social networking, messaging, browsing, Instagramming, Flash 10.1 nonsense. They didn't upload 5 megapixel photos to Flickr, and they most certainly didn't turn into wireless hotspots. Of course, those bleak days are mercifully behind us now -- but as carriers around the world start to light up a promising new generation of high-speed wireless networks, things are beginning to get a little confusing. Just what is "4G," anyway? It's one higher than 3G, sure, but does that necessarily mean it's better? Why are all four national carriers in the US suddenly calling their networks 4G? Is it all the same thing? Answering those questions requires that we take a take a little walk through wireless past, present, and future... but we think it's a walk you'll enjoy.
Hacker intercepts phone calls with homebuilt $1,500 IMSI catcher, claims GSM is beyond repair
In 2009, Chris Paget showed the world the vulnerabilities of RFID by downloading the contents of US passports from the safety of his automobile. This year, he's doing the same for mobile phones. Demonstrating at DefCon 2010, the white hat hacker fooled 17 nearby GSM phones into believing his $1,500 kit (including a laptop and two RF antennas) was a legitimate cell phone base station, and proceeded to intercept and record audience calls. "As far as your cell phones are concerned, I'm now indistinguishable from AT&T," he told the crowd. The purpose of the demonstration was highlight a major flaw in the 2G GSM system, which directs phones to connect to the tower with the strongest signal regardless of origin -- in this case, Paget's phony tower. The hacker did caveat that his system could only intercept outbound calls, and that caller ID could tip off the owner of a handset to what's what, but he says professional IMSI catchers used by law enforcement don't suffer from such flaws and amateur parity would only be a matter of time. "GSM is broken," Paget said, "The primary solution is to turn it off altogether." That's a tall order for a world still very dependent on the technology for mobile connectivity, but we suppose AT&T and T-Mobile could show the way. Then again, we imagine much of that same world is still using WEP and WPA1 to "secure" their WiFi.
Original iPhone owners can also keep their unlimited data with iPhone 4
Remember the original iPhone and its wicked-fast EDGE connection? Turns out being an early adopter has some value after all. Original iPhone users have been paying $20/month for unlimited 2G data and 200 text messages per month. Since AT&T is no longer offering new unlimited plans, I assumed that I would not be able to keep the unlimited data option when we upgraded my wife's original iPhone. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I upgraded her phone today and was presented with the option of keeping an unlimited data plan for $30/month. [This is also an option for 3G and 3GS owners who are grandfathered on the $30 unlimited data plan; however, you cannot add tethering to the $30 plan, only the $25 2GB plan. New iPhone purchases are only offered the $15 or $25 data plans. –Ed.] As an aside: you still have to choose a text message plan, which is a reminder that -- like the iPad -- AT&T very quickly changed the great data package for the original iPhone for a worse deal when the iPhone 3G came out ($30/month for 3G, but no included text messages). That said: if you don't use more than 2GB per month, you can save $5/month by using the new $25/month 2GB data plan, or the $15/month 200MB plan if you don't use much data at all. My wife and I don't send or receive many SMS/MMS messages, so I'm dropping both of those from our plans and going to a per-use plan. AT&T's per-use messaging costs are $0.20 for SMS and $0.30 for MMS, so assuming that I send/receive 25 SMS messages per month, I'll be saving money there too.
The saga of changing from an iPhone 2G... to an iPhone 2G
My wife's iPhone 2G is broken. The power switch always thinks it is being pushed down, which means that the iPhone turns itself off fairly regularly. As you might expect, it's fairly annoying. Because I have a lot of nice, good, and generous friends, many of whom are also gadget folks, I asked on the Twitter if anyone had an iPhone 2G that was sitting in a drawer after they had upgraded. My friend Jim Ray sent me his. Did I say "friend"? I mean best friend. I took both iPhones home, swapped the SIM cards, and we all lived happily ever after. Ha ha! No, not really. Of course it wasn't that easy! As soon as I swapped the SIM cards, the phone showed the "connect to iTunes" logo. When I did that, iTunes said "Hey, congrats! You bought an iPhone! Let's get you setup with a two-year contract with AT&T!" Well, as you may have heard, there are some pretty strong suspicions that a new iPhone is going to be released soon, and the last thing I wanted was a new 2-year contract with a 3 year-old iPhone. Read on for the rest of the story...
Iota Flex wants to be a MiFi for voice and text
Would you believe us if we told you that that rubber bracelet-looking thing is actually going to have a built-in SIM card and bring voice / text capabilities to Android tablets, e-readers and netbooks via Bluetooth? Yeah, it sounds super crazy, but that's exactly what it'll eventually do. Convinced that 2G capabilities like talking and texting should be easier to add to MIDs, tablets and netbooks, Seattle-based startup Iota has come up with the Flex. It's definitely in the early stages of development, but in essence they see people clipping the bendable device to a bag, pairing it to an Android tablet, e-reader or MID, and then making calls from said devices. We caught some time with Iota and the prototype at the Netbook Summit this week and were told that they plan to sell the Flex through retailers for under $100 -- it would be an extra $40 a month for unlimited calling and texting thanks to a partnership with Simple Mobile. Here's where we say we wouldn't hold your breath for this thing to hit the market -- though if they can pull it off, it'll certainty be an interesting solution for adding voice and text to those hoards of incoming Android tablets. After you're done wrapping your brain around this wearable voice and text accessory, check out the hands-on pics and hit the break for a hacked together demo of the dev kit they've been selling. %Gallery-93804%
3G technology: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow
Cellular technology has been evolving since its invention. With the first cellular telephone networks, developed by Bell Labs and AT&T, cellular technology began to make leaps forward in ease of use, voice quality, and data communication. The miracle of technology we know today as the cellular phone was made possible by a steady stream of innovation that continues on into the future. The history of cellular technology starts at Bell Labs in the 1960's and 70's where they began to iron out the details on what a commercial cellular network would be. A cellular network is a network of base stations, or antennas, that form large pockets (cells) of radio signal coverage that overlap. With a technology called "handover," if you made a call using one base station, and you then moved out of that base station's range and into another base station's area, your call could be "handed over" to the base station that was closer to your location. These base stations allowed you to make calls to other cellular phones or to wired landline phones. Over the years, the evolution of cell phone technology has been broken up into "generations." It started with the first generation (1G), and it continues to the upcoming fourth generation (4G). In the beginning, cell phones weren't much more than huge walkie-talkies. Over time, though, they evolved into the data powerhouses that we carry around in our pockets.
MMS for iPhone 2G and tethering on OS 3.1.2 explained, not for the faint of heart
Let's be clear upfront that this isn't for the casual iPhone jailbreaker, but if you feeling like living on the edge, you can give your original model an added boost of MMS capability, or any device with OS 3.1.2 the power to tether. Highlighted in a series of tweets today by iPhone dev team lead MuscleNerd, whiterat (for MMS) and two-bit (for tethering) will get the job done, but both require tinkering with the baseband, which is exponentially more advanced and brick-inducing than, say, installing Cydia. Venture forth with the instructions beyond the read links below. [Via 9 to 5 Mac] Read - iPhone 2G MMS Read - OS 3.1.2 tethering
Engadget Labs: The best mobile data carrier in America
When T-Mobile finally decided to join the 3G data card bandwagon earlier this year, we figured it prudent to grab a few sticks from the likes of T-Mob, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and AT&T in order to see which carrier provides the most bang for the buck in the mobile data arena. And trust us, it's about more than just uplink and downlink rates in 2G / 3G regions these days -- it's about figuring out which operator provides the coverage you need at the price you can afford, all while dodging those precarious overage charges and finding yourself out of luck when traveling overseas. Join us after the break as we delve into the deep, murky realm that is mobile broadband, and prepare to have your every preconceived notion about this stuff utterly destroyed.
Leaked AT&T email sheds light on 2G exit strategy
Way back in 2006, there was quite a bit of hubbub surrounding Cingular's decision to sell / not sell 3G phones in 2G areas, and now it seems that AT&T is looking seriously at how to move on beyond the latter. According to a leaked email sent within the AT&T organization, there's currently a phase-out plan that will lower prices on select 2G dumbphones, with the expectation that 3G handsets will be gently pushed on consumers jonesing for one of those older pieces. Of course, we get the feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and moreover, it's probably more to do with getting rid of 2G phones than 2G technology. Heck, LTE isn't even here yet -- do you really expect a sluggish corporation such as this to be that on the ball?
Nokia Siemens Networks' Multiradio Flexi makes 2G / 3G-to- LTE shift easier
Nokia Siemens Networks made quite a bit of noise at last year's CTIA by introducing an LTE solution for North America, and during this year's run-up to Mobile World Congress, it's vying for attention once more. The outfit's Flexi Multiradio Base Station is an understandably flexible solution that "meets the needs of new and existing 2G and 3G operators who can use their existing infrastructure to deploy new network-wide technologies via simple software upgrade to 3G or LTE." The true multiradio base station should ease concerns from operators worried over divvying up investment dollars for supporting various technologies, and it's even backwards compatible with existing Flexi Base Stations for those looking to spruce up their current hardware. For the consumer, this device could help carriers ease into LTE deployment more quickly, as the whole cut-and-run approach to simply axing one technology and moving over suddenly to another doesn't seem to sit well with most mega-corps.
NTT DoCoMo announces farewell to mova and DoPa 2G services
You've had a nice run, 2G, but the time has come to start looking beyond to bigger, better and (most importantly) faster things. With LTE just over the horizon, NTT DoCoMo is proactively announcing the phase out of its mova and DoPa 2G services. The 2G mova services encompass car phone and Pre-Call prepaid -- which got their roots in March of 1993 -- while the 2G DoPa packet communication service sprouted up four years after that. Both of these longtime favorites will be disconnected at the close of 2012, with the company noting that "associated services and related billing plans will also be terminated at the same time." Anyone still relying on this stuff will be contacted sometime over the next three years to ensure that they aren't shocked and surprised when December 2012 arrives, and they'll be encouraged to make the not-at-all-painful shift to FOMA 3G services. It's better in the fast lane, we promise.
Japan sells not a single 2G phone in January
It turns out that January of this year is the very first month in history that Japanese retailers brought on no stock of 2G phones, and as amazing of a statistic is that is, we have to admit -- we're just a little surprised this didn't happen, like, several years ago. As of the end of February, about 85 percent of Japan's mobile users (read: everyone in the country, we think) were on 3G handsets, another statistic that is both surprising and, at the same time, elicits a bit of an "it took that long?" response from us. Whatever; any way you slice it, these guys and gals are still way better off in the high-speed mobile data department than anyone else we can think of, so we'll err on the side of awe and just simply be impressed at the fact that it's no longer possible to get a crappy phone in the entire country of Japan.[Via IntoMobile]
Blinged out iPod Shuffle doesn't come cheap
For the small price of 248,000 Norwegian Kroner (around $40,000) you can pick up a concentrated mix of gold, diamonds, and... iPod Shuffle. There's not a lot more to this blinged out creation: why anyone would want to place forty gees worth of precious carbon on a $99 gadget, we'll never know.[Thanks, Eirik S.]
Samsung, Sony Ericsson strike cross-licensing agreement
In reality, it's probably best when two feuding companies decide to put their differences aside and move forward, but it's certainly a lot less fun. Nevertheless, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have reportedly inked a cross-licensing agreement on patents, which "allows the two companies to use each other's patents covering second-generation and third-generation wireless technology." Additionally, the deal requires that both firms withdraw all patent-related lawsuits filed against each other, and while "additional details" surrounding the exact terms were left undisclosed, we can now safely lay to rest all those outstanding 2G / 3G battles between the two outfits -- and wait for new quarrels to begin, of course.
Apple's iPod Shuffle: the next great appetizer?
Although this won't go down as the first restaurant to mix in a little iPod action with the meal, it's fairly safe to say that Fat Duck chef Heston Blumenthal has melded portable audio with dining like no other. Apparently, the culinary guru "wanted to experiment with using sound to enhance a dining experience," which landed a person with a plate full of silver electronics and tangled white cord to compliment the rest of the Sound of the Sea dish. Aside from the food itself, the iPod was pre-loaded with "soothing sounds of the sea breeze and waves gently caressing the seashore," presumably to further enhance the eating experience. Still, we can't really envision how listening to sounds related to our meal would make things more appetizing -- you know, unless deafening moos just jazz up your taste buds when rolling by a burger joint.[Via Kottke]
Apple's 2G iPod Shuffle unboxed and in the buff
While Apple's second-generation iPod Shuffle was unveiled quite some time ago, shipments just recently started flooding out of Cupertino's (or China's) doors to eager early adopters. Even more recently, Apple announced retail availability to the enthrallment of those who'd rather brave mall traffic than take advantage of free shipping. Nevertheless, *nathan has hooked us up with an early peek at what 2G Shuffle owners can expect when unboxing their precious little DAP, so be sure to hit the read link to see the shiny, silver device in all of its minuscule glory. [Via Nick Starr]
Cingular to sell 3G phones in 2G areas again?
We noticed a little gem in Cingular's press release triumphantly announcing completion of their GSM network integration: "Unlike some competitive services, all 3G services and features, such as Cingular Video, are also available on the company's EDGE network." Really now, is that so? This after customer complaints prompted the company to pull its 3G handsets off the market in EDGE regions just a few short months ago? The verbage of the press release certainly seems to line up nicely with intelligence we're getting, which suggests that the carrier's had a change of heart and intends to once again stock store shelves nationwide with its high-speed devices, possibly on or around November 1. Among those devices should be the lustworthy Hermes-based 8525 -- that is, if the stars are aligned correctly and Cingular's execs wake up on the right sides of their beds that morning.[Thanks, Jason H.]Update: Some readers are reporting that 3G handsets have already come to their HSDPA-unfriendly areas; from what we gather, rumors indicate that those sales will go nationwide on November 1 (give or take).
2G iPod nano gets splayed
Gutted, splayed, dissected, nekkid -- whatever you call it -- the disassembly of gadget hotness is a tradition of incalculable weight and precedence. It's also dang fun, and today we have the second generation iPod nano's internals all spread out for your viewing pleasure. iLounge did the honors here, so head on over for the full collection.[Thanks, Ben]
