After some speculation which caused a mislead to my earlier blog posting and some well-kept secrets about the Telus/Bell plans to upgrade to GSM/HSPA, it seems that the plan will go ahead as plan - this time it's official - but instead of dropping their CDMA networks for GSM/HSPA, the 4G/LTE network will be deployed.

I was reading through the press releases of both Bell and Telus and by reading those press releases, I realized that they are deploying the 4th Generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) network coast to coast. Thanks to their recent licences they had managed to secure during the Wireless Spectrum Auction back in May of this year (2008), it is expected that the new network will be ready by 2010. Both Bell and Telus selected Nokia Siemens and Huawei to provide the infrastrucutre that Bell and Telus will deploy. After all, it seems that both companies has the "Angels & Airwaves" on making their network to be adaptable for visitors in Canada - especially the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the recently announced plan for Toronto to bid on the 2015 Pan Am games (which I will cover on my next blog posting).

This is spreading like wildfire! From the message boards to many blogs such as WirelessNorth.ca. The only problem is, how will other providers that run on the big players' networks will benefit from the upgrade - especially Virgin Mobile, Koodo and Solo? It's up to them to decide for themselves.

References:

"Vendors cheer Bell-Telus network announcement, posts unoriginal quote." National Post. 10 October 2008. 10 October 2008. <http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpposted/archive/2008/10/10/carriers-cheer-bell-telus-network-announcement-posts-unoriginal-quote.aspx>

"BCE and Telus announce joint network upgrade." National Post. 10 October 2008. 10 October 2008. <http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=873515>

"Bell, Telus to upgrade networks." Toronto Star. 10 October 2008. 10 October 2008. <http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/515644>

"Telus and Bell announce GSM plans for Canada - HSPA 3G networks by 2010." IntoMobile.com. 10 October 2008. 10 October 2008. <http://www.intomobile.com/2008/10/10/telus-and-bell-announce-gsm-plans-for-canada-hspa-3g-networks-by-2010.html>

Reinforcing TELUS' leadership in the mobile broadband market and the ability to provide clients with the best selection of wireless services and networks in Canada, TELUS announced its commitment to a full national launch of a next generation wireless service by early 2010 based on the latest version of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology. This initiative ensures a smoother transition to long term evolution (LTE) technology, the emerging worldwide fourth generation (4G) technology standard, as it becomes available.

I don't know about the "leadership in the mobile broadband" part but this is great news for Canadians as this will force Rogers to step up their games. What about Bell you ask? Telus has their back:

As part of its investment, TELUS has entered into a network sharing agreement with Bell, which builds on and enhances arrangements in place since 2001.The network sharing agreement allows TELUS to lower the cost, increase the speed of the build-out and gives TELUS the ability to offer the widest national coverage for HSPA, using existing 1900 MHz and 850MHz spectrum, in the shortest time possible.

So Rogers, your move. When are you going 4G?

MD? Here's How to Register XOHM Anyway!!

Download Speed: 2-4MB (Not Bad)

Learn More: Xohm.com

XOHM turned their WiMAX service "ON" in Baltimore in what is the first of many U.S. towns to get WiMAX coverage in the next year or two.

At launch, mobile WiMAX service plans include a $10 day pass, $25 monthly home Internet service and a $30 monthly mobile service available on any WiMAX device. Special launch pricing includes a $50 “Pick 2 for Life” monthly service option covering two different WiMAX devices.

CrunchGear
GigaOM

Characteristics of Multipath Fading Channels - Principle and History of MCM/OFDM - OFDM Characteristics - Pilot-Assisted DFT Window Timing - Frequency Offset Synchronization - Coded OFDM Scheme to Gain Frequency Diversity Effect - Combination of OFDM and CDMA - Future Research Directions

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1. Increased downlink speed, averaging 3 Mbps on WiBro versus 1 Mbps on HSDPA (UMTS);
2. The majority of the subscribers are in their 20s and 30s;
3. Guaranteed minimum data rates of 512 kbps downlink, 128 kbps uplink

As an iPhone user, with HSPDA, I'm getting from 700 kbps to 2.7 Mbps on the Rogers network, with rates usually in the 1- 1.5 Mbps range. When I get very high data rates I'm under the impression that latency in graphics processing of the phone has more impact than the bandwidth of the radio link. If KT and other WiMAX operators success in providing real-world data rates of ~3 Mbps and guaranteed minimum rates (a very tricky thing to do in a wireless system - I would like to read the fine print :) ) then we will be entering an era of truly seamless web access, whether wireless or not.

More interesting is the change in use that will be enabled. KT's WiBro customers are in their 20s and 30s: the Web 2.0 generation. So don't think email-centric enterprise use, think social networking, videos, etc. Xohm, Sprint Nextel's WiMAX service has an October 8th launch date in Baltimore, MD. Barry West's, CTO and president of XOHM Sprint Nextel, vision can have a major impact on wireless usage in North America. High data rates combined with a new business model, that ties the service account to a person and not a specific piece of hardware, will open new opportunities for users and businesses. And with Intel launching a 802.11/802.16 chipset that will find its way into a large number of laptops, the barrier to entry will lower significantly for users.  WiMAX/4G is not just about data rates and technology, it's about a new way of doing business.

• Advances in Mobile MappingTechnology
• BlackBerry For Dummies
• Designing the Mobile User Experience
• Evolved Packet System EPS: The LTE and SAE Evolution of 3G UMTS
• Introduction to 3G Mobile Communications Second Edition
• Java Development on PDAs
• Mobile Application Development with SMS and the SIM Toolkit
• Mobile Broadband Multimedia Networks: Techniques, Models and Tools for 4G
• Mobile Web Development
• Pocket PC Network Programming
• Programming Mobile Devices: An Introduction for Practitioners
• S60 Programming: A Tutorial Guide
• Smartphone Operating System Concepts with Symbian OS: A Tutorial Guide
• Spread Spectrum and CDMA: Principles and Applications
• The Handbook of Mobile Middleware
• The Open Mobile Alliance
• The Symbian OS Architecture Sourcebook: Design and Evolution of a Mobile Phone OS
• WCDMA UMTS Deployment Handbook: Planning and Optimization Aspects

A Apple no dia 9 deste mês lançou o novo iPod Nano 4G, que volta ao seu desenho original estilizado. A Apple o deixou com cores vivas e uma tela panorâmica, que nos permite, entre outras coisas, melhorarar a reprodução de vídeos e navegar pelas coleções de música.

Quando olhamos a novidade de perfil visualizamos sua caracteristica mais distinta: sua extrema finura. No seu ponto mais grosso o iPod mede 6.2 milímetros, e vai diminuindo à maneira que seguimos seu perfil ovalado, herdado do MacBook Air. Possui uma tela de de 2.0 polegadas, resolução de 320x240 pixels, e a tecnologia para alterar automaticamente a orientação para vertical. Para ativar o modo de reprodução aleatória basta agitar o iPod Nano 4G, tecnologia chamada Shake to Shuffle. Possui Bluetooth, mas fica sem Wi-Fi. Sua bateria aguenta  até 24 de músicas ou 4 horas de vídeos, e também vem com gravador de voz.

No dia do lançamento saíram os modelos de 8 GB e de 16 GB, por 139 e 189 euros. Nos últimos dias começaram a aparecer iPod's Nano 4G de 4 GB em algumas lojas européias, tanto físicas como on-line, pelo preço que varia de 119 a 129 euros. A Apple não fez nenhum anuncio ou aviso do lançamento do iPod Nano 4G de 4 GB.

[ Texto traduzido e modificado, original: Gizmos, Gizmos ]

Forget Celltowers... This will be the mantra of companies for reducing the company costs of deployment and maintenance of huge celltowers.

World is undergoing a recession...many well established companies are going and many have already gone bankrupt like the most recent Lehman Brothers. Also, many companies around the world are cutting costs by cutting down their man power around the world...

Seeing all this, it is very clear that in times to come, telecom companies too will follow the same route with continually decreasing voice and data rates and thus, decreasing margins.

In my opinion, to reduce costs, telecom companies would some how like to pass on more and more costs to the consumers and what better way will there be, then to pass on the cell tower costs to consumers. WHAAT??? Cell tower costs to consumers...Am I joking here!!! NO...I am not. It's easily possible...

HOW? Ofcourse by using femtocells technology that will be used when 4G comes into play provided by LTE (Long Term Evolution). Now people may ask...What is that??? For this...you may like to see one of my earlier posts in this blog on femtocells and additionally...you may want to read the white paper on Femtocells written by our company experts.

To tell you briefly...how it will minimise the cost to companies, I would like to mention that femtocells will eradicate the network costs and also eliminate some, if not all, problems of backhaul that stymie 4G networks. It seems theoretical now, but when LTE comes in...people will be able to get whooping speeds of upto 150Mbps. Femtocells are small devices which can be installed by a group of houses or even a single house as a stand alone unit. It costs miniscule in comparison to a celltower and maintenance costs too are almost nill.

It's already being deployed in US, Europe and since recently, idea is being explored by Russians too and looking for good vendors to supply them the same so that they don't get left behind. Even I came in contact with some people who are looking to deploy these femtocells asap...mainly because of these reasons i.e. costs less, give better connectivity and last but not the least can be great where houses are in congested spaces and tower signals there, are weak or compeletly missing.

But inspite of having said all of the above...I do feel that it will remain a complimentary technology in 4G and not all countries will be able to shift so fast to femtocells...so we will still see the cell towers for some years to come...

Vishal

Here's my video of me unboxing my New iPod Nano 8gb below.

es gibt sie, die neuen nanos ^^ mit neuen echt geilen Funktionen,

sie sind besser und billiger :D

:( verdammt warum hab ich mir letztes jahr so einen kleinen fetten besorgt :D

I found a nice review by Kerby. Useful.

Como podréis ver, este blog esta un poco "pachucho" y sin vida actualmente. Tampoco he tenido mucho tiempo de actualizar y me faltaban las ganas después de mucho trajinar con mi vida y los sucesos mas extraños (que pienso que solo me pasan a mí) he decidido retomar esta iniciativa.

Para no hacer aburrido este post, empiezo con novedades tecnológicas y cosas nuevas que voy a comentar

Los nuevos iPod que fueron desde hace mucho tiempo descubiertos" presentados en la Key Note en Yerba Buena Center de San Francisco.

iPod Nano 4G: Volvemos al diseño antiguo pero mejorado. Alargado pero ovalado, mas fino y distintos colores para elegir. Los tenemos de 8GB y 16GB. Lo nuevo en este modelo de iPod es un acelerómetro, como el iPhone e iPod Touch 1G y 2G (también hablaremos de el ahora). Podremos ver los albums de nuestra musica solamente girando el iPod, aciendo uso del acelerómetro.

iPod Touch 2G: Se han introducido mejoras de hardware y diseño. Según se dijo, mas fino y algo apreciable de ovalación. En hardware tenemos, según una web que ha desmontado el "cacharrito" un chip bluetooth, para la función Nike+, etc. Tambien se ha incluido en el hardware un altavoz y botones laterales para subir y/o bajar el volumen de la musica y, aparte, la posibilidad de conectar un auricular con mando conectado al auricular para cambiar de canción y no tenerlo que sacar del bolsillo (cosa que es lo unico que veo mas util en esta versión). ¿Su precio? El primer dia estaba a 199€ y al segundo 219€. Mejor miren el precio en la web de Apple: http://www.apple.com/es

También se dio a conocer el ya esperado y ansiado por todos los usuarios de un iPhone y un iPod Touch la versión 2.1, que mejoraba sustancialmente el funcionamiento de dicho aparato y reduciendo el consumo de bateria pasando a 36h de musica y 4 de video. Precio: 139€

Ahora, aparcando la compañia Apple de esta entrada, voy a comentar algunos componentes de ordenador que he tenido el gusto de probar, ya que necesitaba un cambio de PC, aunque haré alguna entrada especifica para algun que otro componente.

• Placa Gigabyte p35-DS4
• Procesador Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
• Ventilador Heat Pipe Asus Artic Square
• Fuente de alimentacion Corsair VX550w
• Ram OCZ Reaper HDC 1066 1024MBx2
• T. Grafica Shappire HD 3650 512MB DDR2
• Caja PowerStation Verde
• Monitor Samsung 2032Bw 20"

Me ha costado una suma de dinero sustancial, pero he comprado componentes de gama media/alta. En la proxima entrada hablaré un poco sobre mircroprocesador, placa base y el monitor.

Un Saludo!

January 2008

Nick Lefler – Sr. Market Analyst

Summary of 4G: 4^th Generation Communication System is commonly used to describe the next generation in wireless technology.  Although many wireless carriers are still transitioning from 2G to 3G networks, there is already stiff competition for the technology that will become what we refer to as 4G.  The top contenders for this honor seem to be WiMAX, LTE, and UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband). 

Contenders:  Mobile WiMAX gained popularity when Sprint named it as the future standard of its mobile broadband network.  This project has been delayed but is still going to get two test markets up and running in the US early 2008.  Verizon wireless has recently announced that it will support LTE as its future 4G technology. 

Summary of LTE:  Long Term Evolution is the name of a project initiated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).  LTE is not a standard but will result in an eighth release of the UMTC standard.  UMTS is the technology roadmap that the GSM operators are currently based off of.  The 3GPP has released some target specifications for improving this UMTS standard to the 4G level.  They are:

1)       Download rates of 100 Mbit/s, and upload rates of 50 Mbit/s for every 20 MHz of spectrum (Current 3G technologies are less than half these speeds.)

2)       Sub – 5ms latency for small IP packets

3)       AIPN (All IP Network) based off of the TCP/IP core internet protocol

4)       Co-existence with legacy standards. (such as GSM or CDMA)

5)       Greater spectral efficiency

These specifications, along with many other things, would allow for a higher level of services such as voice, video, and messaging. 

Implications of Verizon’s announcement to adopt LTE:  Verizon has been supporting the CDMA technology which is considered a 3G technology.  The natural evolution for a carrier supporting this network would be to support UMB which is meant to improve the CDMA standard.  This announcement implies that Verizon is choosing to switch their network to one that is based on GSM technology.  This will not require them to make a wholesale switch on outdated phones however because of the specification requirement that states that LTE be able to co-exist with legacy standards such as CDMA.  This announcement also suggests that Verizon will be able to roam on a global network of other GSM networks.  Over 85% of the worlds current wireless subscribers are using GSM technology. 

Timeline:  Companies like Nokia and Vodafone have already experience successful testing of LTE and Verizon plans to begin testing in 2008.  Commercial launches in the US are tentatively set for 2010.  Although WiMAX is positioned to potentially release slightly earlier than this, support for LTE is greater and more global.  US carriers AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are supporting the development of this technology along with the majority of carriers outside the US.  Global device manufacturer NOKIA is also a supporter of this technology because of its foundation on the GSM technology that is supported on the large majority of their cellular phones.