4G

Motorola’s Xoom will get the promised 4G LTE modem upgrade in September, per corporate communication from Verizon Wireless sent to registered users, published by the Droid Life blog. The free of charge update promises a tenfold increase in network speeds, available to more than 110 million people in select markets where the carrier rolled out its 4G LTE network, with “coverage expanding every day”. The email notice reads:

Be on the lookout at the end of summer for an email with information about how to upgrade your Motorola XOOM to speeds up to 10X faster than 3G. In the meantime, learn more about what you can do to prepare for the 4G LTE upgrade to your Motorola XOOM by backing up data, encrypting, or resetting your Motorola Xoom tablet.

On a somewhat related note, T-Mobile and Sony Ericsson also began rolling out Gingerbread updates to the Xperia X10 and G2x

Expand
Expanding
Close

SprintFeed is reporting that the Evo will be given the end of life status, along with a few other phones on Sprint’s network, this fall. The White Evo will cease in September, and the black Evo and Samsung Epic will cease in October. The Evo was a breakout phone for Android and 4G technology, but it is certainly understandable as Sprint puts better phones in its lineup. Check out the rest of the phones in the image above. Anything you’re sad to see go?

Sprint announced on their blog that they will be unveiling an update to their Nexus S 4G. The update will include tweaks to increase data speed, Wi-Fi connectivity, speakerphone audio quality, and adds TTY support for the deaf and hard of hearing. The update will be dubbed Android 2.3.5 and will be available Monday, July 25th.

Engadget has exclusively received the update to test data speeds. As you can see in the screenshot above, speeds were improved — even enough Engadget says the speed change is noticeable.

Sprint is now offering the Nexus S 4G for $99 on a two year contract. The Nexus S 4G packs Android 2.3, 1 GHz Hummingbird processor, NFC technology, 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen, and 16GB of built in memory — making this arguably Sprint’s best phone. You may also be interested in HTC Evo 4G and HTC Evo Shift 4G, which are also available for $99.

via TechCrunch
Expand
Expanding
Close

AT&T this morning announced first two devices 4G LTE devices, both Mac compatible: A 4G LTE mobile hotspot and a 4G LTE USB modem. If you live in any of AT&T’s five 4G LTE markets (Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, with more coming by the year’s end), you can take advantage of 4G LTE speeds. Those living outside the initial 4G LTE coverage needn’t worry because AT&T, as they say, will have the only combo LTE/HSPA+ network and both devices feature HSPA+ support as a fallback technology. “Our customers will receive a more consistent mobile broadband experience that supports simultaneous voice and data connections and higher speeds than others can provide outside their LTE footprint”, AT&T argues. More on the devices, availability and price points after the break.

Expand
Expanding
Close

The HTC Evo 3D has passed through the FCC’s desk packing AWS bands, reports TmoNews. Interestingly, these AWS bands point to T-Mobile’s 4G network. But as we have experienced before, something going through the FCC doesn’t necessarily mean its coming out anytime soon.

The EVO series has been exclusive with Sprint since the EVO’s release. This FCC filing definitely points to this device going to T-Mobile, breaking Sprint exclusivity. We’ll keep you updated if this phone actually hits or not, but in the mean time read our review of the device.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Pocketnow has published exclusive pictures of what they say is a Samsung QWERTY slider on its way to Verizon Wireless. As you’ll notice, the device is very similar to the Epic 4G on Sprint. It is not clear yet as to whether this device will have 4G capabilities like the Epic 4G, but we are hopeful.  More importantly, we’re wondering if Verizon is going to saddle this thing with Bing like it has its other Samsung (save the Droid Charge) and LG Android devices.  If so…pass!

The device has the model number SCH-i405, following Samsung Continuum’s of SCH-i400, reports AndroidSpin. The device has already earned Bluetooth and Wi-Fi certifications, but has not made its way past the FCC. There isn’t any other information as to what’s actually inside the device. For those of you who can’t wait to get your slide on, this device should be hitting stores in a month or two.
Expand
Expanding
Close