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Alcatel's OT-C825 GSM slider doubles as PC webcam
Alcatel's latest slider is adding a hint of style and utility to what would be a relatively ho hum mobile otherwise, as the chrome and faux leather motif aren't half bad additions to catch a few eyes. The "smokey brown" handset sports a 220 x 176 resolution screen, weighs just under 100-grams, supports MP3 and AAC ringtones, and packs a microSD slot to complement the paltry 10MB of internal storage space. Additionally, you'll find an integrated music player, 1.3-megapixel camera, video recording capability, Bluetooth, and moreover, it should last you right around six hours if you're on the horn incessantly. Interestingly, the device can also be attached to a PC and turned into a webcam for video chats, and while there's no word yet of a US release, it will reportedly hit the European market sometime this summer.[Via Electronista]
Verizon rolling out G-PON technology to boost FiOS speeds
In Verizon's never-ending quest to continue bumping the bandwidth to the four or five lucky customers that actually have access to its FTTH network, the firm is planning to implement a new technology which will hopefully increase the speed of FiOS fiber-to-the-premises links "by four to eight times." Of course we jest about the amount of you oh-so-fortunate ones that can actually get ahold of such speedy luxuries, but Verizon is looking to Alcatel-Lucent to help with the forthcoming gigabit passive optical network (G-PON), which is slated to "increase the aggregate broadband speeds on Verizon's FTTP systems by four times downstream to the customer, and by eight times upstream back to the Internet." The outfit also stated that it would "continue deploying the broadband passive optical network (B-PON)" that it has been using since 2004, and took a moment to boast about "how simple" upgrading FiOS actually was. Still, the vast majority of you won't even be in the general vicinity necessary to acquire the newfangled G-PON niceties, but the soon-to-be-celebrating town of Lewisville, Texas can keep an eye on Q2 of this year, while folks in Kirklyn, Pennsylvania should have it sometime "over the summer."[Thanks, Jim V.]
Alcatel readying 20 "stylish" handsets for the US market
Just over a fortnight after deploying UMTS 900, Alcatel is now announcing that we Americans better get prepared for an absolute onslaught of phones right here in the US market. The 20 phone lineup is being dubbed a "spring lineup of fashion phones" that are reportedly quite the "chic and stylish" bunch. While there wasn't much detail on the specification end, we do know that the handsets will sport "soft-touch plastics, a leather-like finish, and design touches like dots of liquid metal." Of course, the ladies should appreciate the already-promised floral offerings, and those eying a low- to mid-range phone should find at least one option that suits their fancy. Among the barrage will be flavors that sport a 1.3-megapixel camera, 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, dedicated music controls, and support for 1GB TransFlash cards to boot. Currently, the outfit is already working to get its GSM handsets approved by AT&T, and the CDMA phones should be good to go on several "smaller regional carriers," hopefully by May of this year.[Via PhysOrg.com]
Alcatel-Lucent blows past data transmission record: 25.6Tbps
Data transmission records were just made to be shattered, as we've seen the benchmark go from 2.56- to 14- and now to 25.6-terabits per second within a year (and five days, but who's counting?). The momentary record holder this time around is Alcatel-Lucent, which "successfully transmitted a world record 25.6Tbps of optical data over a single fiber strand' using 160 WDM channels. In case you were wondering, that's enough speed to send about 600 DVDs worth of information to your buddy in one single second, after which you'd likely destroy any and all functionality his / her computer previously had before the bombardment. Now, what's it cost to run one or two of these pipes to Sealand?
