Filed under: Handhelds

Compal’s been a vocal supporter of Intel’s MID followup to the tragic UMPC platform ever since It was announced in April of last year. Hell, the Taiwanese ODM even dedicated a team to crank out all the devices expected in the first half of 2008 but never came thanks in part, to Intel’s Atom slippage. Now Compal looks ready to toss a MID to consumers (either direct or through a third-party manufacturer, it’s not clear) with the unveiling of this handheld at Intel’s IDF in San Francisco. The QWERTY slider packs GPS, a Linux-based OS with media player, browser, eMail and IM clients, and Option’s GlobeTrotter Connect and GTM501 HSPA data kit offering tri-band HSUPA/HSDPA and quad-band GPRS/EDGE connectivity the world-over. No pricing or availability has been announced but we hope to hear more later today.

[Thanks, Stuart L.]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

3G is so Monday. Today, NXP Semiconductors is getting down with the “world’s fastest high-bandwidth cellular soft modem,” which will obviously be aimed at smartphones, MIDs and other handhelds thirsting for WWAN. Notably, the PNX6910 supports multi-mode LTE / HSPA / UMTS / EDGE / GPRS / GSM capability, and it’s reportedly capable of achieving data transfer rates of 150Mbits down and 50Mbits up. To put things in perspective, NXP suggests that users could download an “entire HD movie in less than 7 minutes,” though we’re not sure what constitutes an “entire movie.” Oh, and before you get too excited in here, you should probably know that the chip won’t even be available until Q2 2009 at the earliest.

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Filed under: Cellphones

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/3G_iPhone_to_support_42Mbps_Evolved_HSPA_data’; Get this. Australian site ChannelNews claims that a “senior executive of Telstra” is the latest 3G iPhone bean spiller. They quote the exec as saying the following:

“We know what is coming we have seen the new device and it will be available on our network as soon as it is launched in the USA. By Christmas this phone will be capable of 42Mbps which will make it faster than a lot of broadband offerings and the fastest iPhone on any network in the world.”

Interesting. We know that Telstra’s Next G HSDPA network has been capable of 14.4Mbps since 2007. At GSMA Mobile World Congress, they even committed to 21Mbps before the end of the year and 42Mbps using HSPA+ (aka, Evolved HSPA, HSPA Evolution) technology in 2009… not Christmas of 2008. Hard to say if this is just industry blow-harding or actual insider info. June 9th: T-minus 17 days and counting.

[Thanks, Paul S.]

Read — Telstra 42Mbps HSPA+ in 2009
Read — Telstra 3G iPhone rumor

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Filed under: Tablet PCs

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Filed under: Cellphones

Apparently not content to let Nokia Siemens have the upgraded mobile broadband spotlight to itself today, Ericsson has now announced that it’s set to demonstrate what it’s touting as the “world-first end-to-end HSPA Evolution technology” at CTIA next week. That, the company says, should allow for speeds up to an impressive 42 Mbps, a feat made apparently possible by a combination of higher order modulation technology (64QAM) and 2×2 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna technology. As for the actual demonstration, Ericsson is only going so far as to say that it’ll be conducted with an unspecified “handheld form-factor device” that’s based on the Ericsson Mobile Platforms access technology. Other details are unsurprisingly pretty light at the moment, but we’re betting Ericsson will have plenty more to say about it when they actually light things up at CTIA.

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Filed under: Wireless

Check it data fans, AT&T just announced a pair of new HSUPA LaptopConnect cards from Option. The GT Ultra goes type II PCMCIA while the GT Ultra Express is, you guessed it, destined for ExpressCard34 slots. Both cards are tri-band UMTS/HSPA 850/900/2100MHz and quad-band GPRS/EDGE capable for what AT&T speeds of about 600Kbps to 1.4Mbps on the way down or 500Kbps to 800Kbps back up the tubes. Those bands should get your suit connected in some 140 countries spanning the US, Europe, Japan and Korea. The cards are Mac and PC compatible and will set you back <s>$50</s> 0$ (for a limited time starting tomorrow) plus a two year contract of at least $60 per month. After you mail-in the appropriate rebate forms of course… which you’ll probably forget.

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Filed under: Laptops, Wireless

It’s not all just cellphones at Mobile World Congress — HP and Qualcomm have just announced plans to ship laptops with Qualcomm’s Gobi dual-3G chipset that supports both EV-DO and HSPA. That means you won’t be locked into a carrier when you buy a laptop with an integrated WWAN modem — and hardcore road warriors with multiple subscriptions will even be able to switch on the fly to the network with better coverage. HP says Gobi (officially the MDM1000 chip, but that’s no fun) will be available on a range of laptops from ultraportables to high-performance models later this year, but there’s no word on pricing just yet — let’s hope it falls into the “might as well” range, eh?

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Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Portable Video, Wireless

If you’re sick of hearing about end products and want to get down and dirty with the innards of handsets of tomorrow, look no further than Qualcomm. The firm is busting out a smorgasbord of new chips at Mobile World Congress today, so we’ll get right to it. Up first is the QST1000, QST1100 and QST1105 chipsets, which include the following:

• An integrated ARM11 applications processor running at 528 MHz with support for third-party operating systems (Windows Mobile, Win CE and Linux)
• A comprehensive range of popular audio and video codecs
  Rich multimedia features, including camera, video playback at up to VGA resolution, and TV-out
• Seventh-generation gpsOne engine with support for Standalone-GPS and Assisted-GPS modes, as well as gpsOneXTRA Assistance technology delivering enhanced Standalone-GPS performance
• Support for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and FM radio
• 65 nanometer process technology for enhanced battery life and bill-of-materials savings
• Ability to interface with Qualcomm’s Universal Broadcast Modem (UBM) solution for MediaFLO, DVB-H and ISDB-T mobile broadcast TV support
• Wireless WAN connectivity for voice calls and data capabilities (QST1100)
• Hardware-accelerated 2D/3D graphics core capable of performing up to 2.8 million triangles per second (QST1105)
• All three are sampling now and are expected to begin launching this year

Head on past the break for more.

Continue reading Qualcomm goes wild at MWC 2008, unveils slew of new chips

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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Kind of makes those New Years resolutions of yours seem a bit silly now, but AT&T has some high hopes for 2008. While it mulls its own 700MHz options and leaves the C block to the likes of Verizon, the company plans to build out its 3G network into 80 more cities, which boosts the number to 350 “leading” markets in the US, a rollout AT&T has been sluggish to compete with Verizon and Sprint on. AT&T also pledges to complete its HSUPA network by the middle of the year for speedier uploads. AT&T’s not giving many specifics on its future network plans, just that existing infrastructure improvements pave the way for HSPA+ and LTE in the “years to come.” Let’s hope those years come fast, these HD downloads we keep hearing about are liable to set a few cell towers on fire by year’s end.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Chalk up another one for the LTE team, as it has yet another big proponent in the ever-raging 4G war. Not even two months after Verizon gave LTE the nod over WiMAX / UMB, the board of the GSM Association has now voted to support Long Term Evolution as the mobile broadband solution to follow HSPA. The GSMA also noted that it would be interfacing with other outfits / organizations that are developing LTE technology and begin work with the NGMN (Next Generation Mobile Networks) initiative. Furthermore, Rob Conway, the entity’s CEO, reportedly called on the International Telecommunication Union to “ensure the industry wins the spectrum needed to offer mobile broadband.” ‘Course, we’ve already heard that things are shaping up nicely (in testing) for the standard, but winning over the GSMA is likely to incite some serious celebrating in the offices of LTE backers everywhere.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Although we’re sure some of you are dead set on using one carrier, Qualcomm is making sure the indecisive (or well-traveled) ones out there are covered, too. The firm’s Gobi chip promises to play nice with both EV-DO and HSPA (but not WiMAX) networks, which should mean that a number of laptops will soon boast multi-carrier WWAN support right out of the box. The introduction of the two-faced device gives users the ability to switch operators or choose the one with the best coverage in a given area without having to lug around two laptops or laptop-connect cards. You’ll also appreciate the fact that these things are actually immediately available, and according to Qualcomm, they should appear in various lappies in mid-2008.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!