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Chevrolet cuts in-car LTE data pricing in half
The ongoing cost of owning a new car just got a little cheaper for Chevy drivers who opted to trick out their new vehicles with 4G LTE data plans. As CNET's Roadshow reports today, the automaker has cut the rates for its in-car cellular service in half.
The story of EE has been turned into a book
Nothing says summer like lying on a beach and getting stuck into a good book. But what to read? A 19th century classic, or perhaps Murakami's latest surrealist tale? What about the fascinating story of how mobile provider EE came to be? Well, look no further than The 4G Mobile Revolution: Creation, Innovation and Transformation at EE, penned by former network CEO Olaf Swantee and now departed comms director Stu Jackson.
LG's GoPro rival can stream direct to YouTube
LG has made an action camera that can live stream to YouTube (or anywhere else) without a phone or WiFi. The LG Action CAM LTE (clearly, hours spent on the name) has onboard 4G to beam video direct to the web. The camera itself looks like an elongated GoPro Hero4 Session (and, weirdly, that frame and quick release pictured look like they actually are from the Hero range). Unlike GoPro cameras, though, LG's Action CAM has built-in GPS and motion sensors -- much like the Garmin, or TomTom action cameras. This means you'll be able to record where your footage was taken, gather metrics or easily find video highlights later.
BT pledges £6 billion for superfast broadband and 4G upgrades
In its first set of financial results since it absorbed EE, the UK's biggest mobile operator, BT has made a fresh commitment to improving broadband and 4G connectivity across Britain. After seeing profits rise more than nine percent to £3.4 billion, the company says it is to spend £6 billion on improving its services, which will include extending its superfast broadband coverage to 12 million homes and delivering LTE to 95 percent of the UK by 2020.
Netflix is the one limiting its video quality on AT&T and Verizon
Last week as T-Mobile CEO John Legere announced that his company's Binge On program would expand to cover YouTube, he mentioned a strange point: that even the "mobile optimized" 480p Netflix streams T-Mobile offers were higher-res than what you get streaming via AT&T or Verizon. Executives from those companies said they don't reduce the resolution of videos on their networks, although tests revealed that Legere was right -- Netflix does only stream at 360p on AT&T and Verizon. Now the Wall Street Journal has reported that the culprit behind this restriction was actually Netflix itself.
The People's Operator now has a super-cheap 4G plan
When The People's Operator (TPO) launched in the UK in 2012, it stood out for two reasons. On the one hand, a quarter of the company's profits are piped into a charitable foundation, and 10 percent of subscriber spend goes to a charity of their choice. Kudos where kudos is due, but initially high data costs seriously limited the MVNO's potential audience. In subsequent years, TPO -- which piggybacks on EE's network -- has improved the attractiveness of its tariffs, though they've remained 3G-only. Today, however, TPO has finally caught up with the times, announcing its first 4G plan with 2GB of data, 600 minutes and unlimited texts for £7 per month.
Samsung Connect Auto brings LTE data to your car
You didn't think Samsung would stay out of the connected car race, did you? Sure enough, the Korean electronics giant has unveiled its own take on smarter vehicle tech in the form of Connect Auto. The Tizen-powered (and Knox-secured) dongle plugs into your car's OBD-II port and provides LTE data to everyone in the car through a WiFi hotspot. And like other connectors, it should help with your driving. The adapter promotes safer driving habits (including through insurance partnerships), keeps tabs on maintenance, helps you find your parked car and even alerts your contacts if you're ever involved in an accident.
Qualcomm's X16 modem could help gigabit LTE work in more places
While our wireless carriers bicker over who offers the fastest service, Qualcomm went and pulled back the curtain on the Snapdragon X16 modem, a dry sounding bit of networking tech with huge implications. With it comes the promise of insanely fast gigabit LTE download speeds... but shouldn't hold your breath waiting see your Ookla Speedtest results shoot through the roof.
AT&T completes its first LTE calls with another carrier
You can already get high-quality LTE phone calls on multiple US carriers, but they're not all that practical when they only work between customers from the same carrier. They're on the cusp of hitting the mainstream, though: AT&T has quietly revealed that, as promised, it recently completed the first Voice over LTE calls between its customers and another network in "select areas." It's a bit late to the game (T-Mobile started cross-carrier testing a while back), but this will be a big deal when it eventually rolls out nationwide -- you'd be much more likely to get LTE quality when you call a friend.
Apple is being sued over another data-gobbling bug
Apple is fending off another lawsuit regarding its phones helping themselves to cellular data even when supposedly running on WiFi. As you may recall, a California couple took Apple to court in October over iOS 9's WiFi Assist, which would clandestinely switch the phone from WiFi to LTE and eat through the user's data allotment. Now, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP has filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple for a similar, earlier, data-sucking bug.
EE's tiny 4G lifelogging Capture Cam goes on sale
Not content with offering a variety of smartphones and tablets, EE has expanded its accessory portfolio with a range of broadband devices and action cameras. We've already met the Action Cam -- basically a GoPro with 4G streaming capability -- but the carrier also recently debuted another, smaller, connected camera: the Capture Cam. It's taken almost a month, but today the pocket-sized snapper has finally gone on sale, just in time for Christmas.
LG yanks its Watch Urbane 2nd Edition from stores
Did you have your eye on one of those new LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition from AT&T? Well tough. LG just yanked the smartwatch from store shelves citing "a hardware issue which affects the day-to-day functionality of the device." The device was the first Android-based smartwatch to include a cellular connection. It had debuted on AT&T only a week ago and was supposed to come to Verizon tomorrow, November 20th. Nope, not any more.
Samsung's 'premium' smartphone chip puts everything in one place
Samsung's next chip is a single square of silicon with a load of things your mobile computer needs. To start, the Exynos 8 Octa 8890 (memorable) is based on 14nm FinFET tech, whose 3D design means better power performance. The company has custom-designed the CPU around a 64-bit ARM design, and will apparently give a 30 percent improvement in performance and ten percent in power efficiency compared to the Exynos 7 Octa it replaces. ARM's Mali-T880 graphics processor also snuggles closely next to a high-end LTE modem. You know, like Qualcomm does.
Android Wear can switch to LTE, works without your smartphone
Your next (or first) Android wearable needs not for Bluetooth or Wifi. Android Wear's cellular support has finally arrived, just as the first compatible watch starts to ship. LG's Watch Urbane 2nd Edition crams an LTE radio beneath its circular 480 x 480 screen, with models that'll work on AT&T and Verizon — carriers that are both selling the watch in the US this week.
School and nonprofit customers stop Sprint from shutting down WiMAX
Sprint announced back in 2014 that it will shut down its WiMAX data network today, November 6th, 2015. That's not going to happen now, though, because a Massachusetts court has put a stop to the carrier's plans, according to Recode. Judge Janet Sanders has decided that Mobile Beacon and Mobile Citizen -- groups that provide WiMAX connection to schools and nonprofit organizations -- have been able to at least show that they can prove shutting down the network completely constitutes a breach of contract on Sprint's end.
T-Mobile wants to put a mini LTE tower in your home
T-Mobile has done a fair amount to get LTE into every nook and cranny of its coverage map, but that doesn't matter much if there's still a cellular dead zone in your home or office. You might not have that issue from now on, though. The Magenta network is launching a 4G LTE CellSpot that promises full-fledged LTE calling and data -- you're not making do with 3G here. You only need an LTE-capable phone and a broadband internet connection to fill in those gaps.
EE's £130 Robin tablet is aimed squarely at kids
Tesco might be easing back on building family-friendly phones and tablets, but UK retailers and carriers believe there's still plenty of interest in such products. Amazon recently surprised us with a very capable £50 Fire tablet, and now EE wants a piece of the action with its new kid-centric Robin slate. The 4G-ready device features a 7-inch 1024 x 600 display, a quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage (with microSD support), 2-megapixel camera and is powered by EE's own Kurio OS, which is based on Android 5.1 and offers plenty of parental controls out of the box.
LG's 2nd Watch Urbane is the first Android Wear device with LTE
Tonight LG took the wraps off of the new V10 phone and its latest smartwatch, the Watch Urbane 2nd Edition. Like the first model, it has a circular display but one-ups its predecessor by arriving as the first device to combine Android Wear with a built-in cellular connection for calls and data, so you can leave your phone at home -- something even the upgraded Apple Watch can't do. LG already had a webOS-powered Watch Urbane LTE that could go it alone, while Samsung's Gear S ran Tizen. Packing Android Wear means this watch should have more apps ready for internet-connected use even when your phone and WiFi are out of range. Behind its 1.38-inch 480x480 res P-OLED display there's a 570mAh battery that LG claims can still last through the day with the help of a Power Saving Mode. There's no word on price or exact release date yet, but it's coming to the US and Korea first.
Bills could rise as Ofcom triples UK carriers' licence fees
After toying with the idea of quadrupling the amount providers must pay for mobile spectrum for almost two years, UK communications regulator Ofcom has finally arrived at a decision. It announced today that the big four -- EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three -- will now pay a total of £199.6 million annually for their allocations of the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency bands, more than triple the £64.4 million they currently have to hand over.
Three's Voice over LTE launch means better signal in more places
There's more than one way to wipe out a not-spot, and to compliment Three's inTouch app for WiFi calling, the carrier has today become the first in the UK to add Voice over LTE (VoLTE) support to its mobile network. Simply put, VoLTE -- or "4G Super Voice," as Three's branding team would prefer you call it -- uses your 4G connection to handle calls (when appropriate), instead of older 2G and 3G networks. That part isn't particularly important, however, but it means customers will be able to call, text and check Instagram in places they haven't been able to before. In addition to its existing 1,800MHz slice of 4G spectrum, Three's been building out an 800MHz network to support VoLTE services. These lower frequency airwaves probe further into underserved rural areas, and deeper into buildings, lavishing mobile coverage on previous dead zones.
