NTT DoCoMo To Demo 4G Phone
Japanese mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo will demo a prototype 4G phone based on LTE technology later this month, according the company’s handset partner NEC.
The 4G demo will take place at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which starts on February 15.
While 4G modems are starting to go on sale around the world, voice 4G phones have yet to appear in the marketplace. NEC says NTT DoCoMo will demo streaming high resolution video across a 4G network at the Mobile World Congress on a 4G phone joint developed by Fujitsu, NEC, NTT DoCoMo and Panasonic.
4G WiMAX Phones in Stores in 2010
Clearwire has set itself a deadline of Christmas 2010 for selling WiMAX smartphones in the shops. But the mobile company has warned that it won’t subsidize the cost of new 4G WiMAX phones.
Likely initial retail cost to the poor phone user? Anywhere from $450 to $1000 says Clearwire.
Clearwire’s partner Sprint also plans to release dual mode 4G / 3G phones next year.
4G Chips from Qualcomm
Mobile phone chip maker Qualcomm has announced it’s now providing a new family of wireless chipsets (MSM7×30) that combine 3G and 4G technology to help phone carriers move to 4G phone networks.
Among the first companies to test the new technology are LG Electronics, Sierra Wireless and ZTE. Qualcomm expects the new chips to be available in commercial products by mid 2010. Android, Brew, Symbian and Windows Mobile operating systems will all be supported.
4G Speed – The Truth
What speed will the mobile 4G internet run at? Motorola and ZTE think they know and it’s 20Mbps.
While showcasing data modems at trade show ITU World that support download speeds of up to 100Mbps and upload speeds of 50Mbps, both companies admitted that real world internet speeds will much slower.
Actual mobile speeds will instead be more like 20Mbps for downloads and 5Mbps for data uploads. That’s not as bad as it sounds – it’s still around ten times as fast as current real world speeds experienced by most 3G mobile users around the world.
Altair: 4G Modem Coming This November
Mobile manufacturer Altair Semiconductor says it will release its first 4G / LTE data modem this November.
The company predicts that 4G cell phones will start appearing in the marketplace in late 2010, with “millions of units” in use by 2010.
“Best of 4G” for Samsung Mondi
Samsung has just picked up the “Best of 4G Award” from xchange magazine at the 4G World conference for the Samsung Mondi.
Mike Saxby of xchange magazine said, “xchange is pleased to honor Samsung Mobile’s contributions to the development and advancement of 4G technology and services. The growth in the 4G arena has been incredible, as shown by Samsung Mobile’s achievement.”
The Samsung Mondi is a hybrid 3G / 4G mobile device that can work on 3G phone networks and 4G mobile WiMAX networks when available.
It’s pretty sleek. See the 4G Phones Samsung Mondi Review.
Samsung Develops 4G Phone Modem
Samsung has announced it has developed a Long Term Evolution (LTE) / 4G modem. The modem, currently called the Kalmia, can support a download speed of 100 Mbps and an upload speed of 50 Mbps.
That’s fast enough to download a full HD movie in the background in one minute while you’re Twittering, Facebooking or checking your ‘mails.
Samsung says it’s currently working with developers preparing to launch a 4G phone network due to launch in 2010 – widely thought to be Verizon.
4G in Jamaica
Jamaica will have a 4G phone network from the second quarter of 2010. The service will be provided by Jamaican mobile phone provider Digicel after it won a licence to bring four generation WiMAX phone services to the island.
By using mobile WiMAX technology, Digicel will effectively turn cities and towns in Jamaica into huge mobile broadband Wi-Fi hotspots.
Deployment will begin this month and the 4G service will cover 60% of the island on initial launch, with more coverage being added according to user demand.
