TechVirtuoso

No LTE iPhone is coming in the near future

April 21st, 2011 at 2:34 PM  No Comments

Another one of predictions for the next iPhone that seems to be coming true, was confirmed by Apple COO Tim Cook yesterday during their quarterly report conference call. The next generation iPhone will not have support for LTE wireless data technology.

From Forbes:

“The first generation of LTE chip-sets force a lot of design compromises with the handset, and some of those we are just not willing to make.”

Adding LTE into the next generation iPhone would mean adding more complexity by needing both a 3G and a 4G chip, that would only work on one provider, and require more power. Currently only one LTE mobile phone is on the market right now, the HTC Thunderbolt on Verizon, which has been the only US carrier so far to roll out any LTE service. In addition to lack of real LTE coverage in most of the country, even on Verizon’s network, the Thunderbold has been plagued with horrendous battery life.

The next iPhone will probably feature HSPA+, as the Qualcomm chip that is making its way into it, supports it already. It just needs to be enabled in the firmware.

Mobile World Congress award winners

February 17th, 2011 at 11:56 AM  No Comments

Mobile World Congress announced the winners of the various yearly awards. Everything from phones, to apps, to networks, and a bunch of other things no one except the real mobile geeks cares about.

Among the most interesting awards:

  • Best Mobile App – Angry Birds
  • Best Mobile Device – Apple iPhone 4
  • Device Manufacture of the Year – HTC

What is a little bit telling about the ecosystems of each of the major smartphone platforms, is that Apple was the only platform where a third party developer won “App of the Year” in that category:

  • iOS – Angry Birds (Rovio)
  • Android – Google Maps
  • Blackberry – BlackBerry Messenger (RIM)

While Google Maps on Android is quite possibly the best mapping program on any mobile platform, it’s sad that that was the best Android could come up. with As far as BlackBerry goes, if the built in messenger is the most interesting thing about it… it’s not even worth insulting.

A complete list of awards is available at the GSMA website.

Google announces Nexus S, intros with motion sickness inducing video

December 6th, 2010 at 11:46 AM  1 Comment

Google has announced their new platform phone, the Nexus S. Based on the Samsung Galaxy S series of phones, it’s the successor to the HTC built Nexus One.

Beyond the typical stuff, the phone specs/features:

  • 1GHz Cortex A8 (Hummingbird) processor
  • 16GB of internal storage
  • 512MB of RAM
  • 4″ WVGA (800 x 480) screen with Contour Display (curved glass screen) on Super AMOLED
  • Dual cameras (Back-facing: 5 megapixels 2560×1920 with auto focus and flash, front-facing: VGA 640×480
  • Near Field Communication (NFC) hardware
  • Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

According to Google, starting December 16, Nexus S will be sold unlocked and carrier-independent initially through Best Buy stores in the U.S. and after December 20 at Carphone Warehouse stores in the UK.

Its quad-band GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900) and tri-band HSPA (900, 2100, 1700) which means it will only have 3G service on T-Mobile in the U.S., and EDGE on AT&T.

(BTW, seriously, don’t watch the video above if you get motion sickness. It made me a little sick to my stomach to try and make it all the way though.)

Windows Phone 7 going CDMA sooner than expected?

October 25th, 2010 at 7:49 PM  3 Comments

From the good people at Engadget:

So, here’s what we know: a Windows Phone from HTC just earned its FCC wings, it’s production (meaning non-prototype) hardware… and it’s a CDMA device. … Anyhow, if we had to guess, this is probably the tilt-sliding HTC 7 Pro, seeing how that’s the only CDMA Windows Phone 7 device to bow so far, equipped with 802.11b / g / n alongside Bluetooth + EDR. Sprint, let’s make this happen.

Microsoft had originally said that Windows Phone 7 would be GSM only at first. Hopefully this will mean a change of heart and that our Sprint and Verizon friends will get their hands on Windows Phone 7 sooner then expected.

HTC Supersonic coming sooner then expected?

March 3rd, 2010 at 12:29 AM  2 Comments

SPRINT BRAND LOGO Sprints soon to be flagship Android device may be coming to big yellow sooner then anyone expected.  According to a article at Forbes.com the HTC Monster could be available by Summer of 2010.  Is it coincidence that this date has been pushed up a week after Verizon announced that they are looking better then expected for the LTE rollout of 2010?  Is Sprint trying to 1 up Verizon by getting their first WiMAX enabled phone out the door before Verizon gets their first LTE roll out functional?

No matter the reason I cannot wait to get my hands on this device.  The rumored Snapdragon processor, slim form factor and large display should make this phone a winner among many Sprint fans.  Look below for some leaked photos of the new device, these photos have been taken from EngadgetMobile.com, androidmobileos.com and youhtc.ru.

View HTC Supersonic

Goodbye RIM, Microsoft, hello Android, Google Apps

November 20th, 2009 at 1:07 AM  5 Comments

androidThose of you who know me, know that I have been an avid BlackBerry proponent for many years. I held fast to the opinion that BlackBerry coupled with Microsoft Exchange was the solution for business mobile communications. Be it BlackBerry Enterprise Server or Microsoft ActiveSync, I held steadfast in my opinion that nothing could perform as well or better in maintaining perfect harmony between my desktop, my laptop, my phone, and anywhere access to my information. I am here to say, that era has ended. A moment of silence, please. Now that the mourning is over, let me tell you the changes I’ve made, how, and why.

First, let me say that I had not been looking to leave the BlackBerry/Exchange family, but I was holding out for a full screen BlackBerry with a physical keyboard, a slider if you will. Those of you who follow mobile devices closely, especially those who follow BlackBerry hardware, are well aware of the numerous design concept drawings, mock-ups, etc. of a BlackBerry slider that have been floating around for at least a year. Never revealing just exactly when we would see such a device, RIM has only been willing to confirm that several design options have been considered. This secrecy is nothing unusual among device manufacturers, but the lack of information and an opportunity provided by a competitor presents a precarious position, and, in this case, caused a long time RIM fan to jump ship.

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Palm drops Windows Mobile in favor of webOS

September 18th, 2009 at 11:29 AM  6 Comments

palm-pre-webos-lgPalm has announced that they will no longer be incorporating Microsoft Windows Mobile onto new devices, stating a commitment to the future of their new webOS platform, present on the recently released Palm Pre. Windows Mobile was first released on a Palm device back in 2006 with the Palm Treo 700w, later followed up by the 700Wx, 750 and Treo Pro. 8xkqt5hwir

“We’re making significant process with Palm’s transformation, and our culture of innovation is stronger than ever. We’re launching more great Palm webOS products with more carriers and turning our sights toward growth,” said Jon Rubinstein, chairman and CEO.

This move comes as a blow to Microsoft, which is struggling against up and coming smartphone OS providers in the business sector like Palm webOS, Google Android, Apple iPhone and the continued fight against Research in Motion’s Blackberry.

According to Garner, at the end of 2008, the estimated market share for Windows Mobile, worldwide, in the smartphone market was 12.4% — currently many of the those phones are made by Taiwan based HTC, however they’ve began releasing many of their new phones with Google’s Android platform, so it remains to be seen what their continued commitment to Windows Mobile will be.

However, the move could backfire on Palm, as some businesses continue to see devices like the Pre as more of a consumer oriented device and will opt for Windows Mobile and Blackberry which provide better support for Exchange and more enhanced and native device security.

Yesterday Palm, together with Sprint, revealed they’d only sold around 810,000 Pre devices in the last quarter. (In comparison the iPhone 3GS sold over 1 million units in the first week and over 5 million in the quarter.) Palm also announced yesterday losses for the quarter reached $164.5 million, compared to a loss of only $41.9 million last year. However, this did beat industry expectations for the company. Palm says they expect revenues for the next quarter to be even lower than their last.