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MMS for iPhone 2G and tethering on OS 3.1.2 explained, not for the faint of heart

by Ross Miller posted Oct 19th 2009 @ 9:49PM

Let's be clear upfront that this isn't for the casual iPhone jailbreaker, but if you feeling like living on the edge, you can give your original model an added boost of MMS capability, or any device with OS 3.1.2 the power to tether. Highlighted in a series of tweets today by iPhone dev team lead MuscleNerd, whiterat (for MMS) and two-bit (for tethering) will get the job done, but both require tinkering with the baseband, which is exponentially more advanced and brick-inducing than, say, installing Cydia. Venture forth with the instructions beyond the read links below.

[Via 9 to 5 Mac]

Read - iPhone 2G MMS
Read - OS 3.1.2 tethering

Leaked AT&T email sheds light on 2G exit strategy

by Darren Murph posted Feb 13th 2009 @ 9:17AM

Way back in 2006, there was quite a bit of hubbub surrounding Cingular's decision to sell / not sell 3G phones in 2G areas, and now it seems that AT&T is looking seriously at how to move on beyond the latter. According to a leaked email sent within the AT&T organization, there's currently a phase-out plan that will lower prices on select 2G dumbphones, with the expectation that 3G handsets will be gently pushed on consumers jonesing for one of those older pieces. Of course, we get the feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and moreover, it's probably more to do with getting rid of 2G phones than 2G technology. Heck, LTE isn't even here yet -- do you really expect a sluggish corporation such as this to be that on the ball?

Nokia Siemens Networks' Multiradio Flexi makes 2G / 3G-to- LTE shift easier

by Darren Murph posted Feb 7th 2009 @ 8:09AM

Nokia Siemens Networks made quite a bit of noise at last year's CTIA by introducing an LTE solution for North America, and during this year's run-up to Mobile World Congress, it's vying for attention once more. The outfit's Flexi Multiradio Base Station is an understandably flexible solution that "meets the needs of new and existing 2G and 3G operators who can use their existing infrastructure to deploy new network-wide technologies via simple software upgrade to 3G or LTE." The true multiradio base station should ease concerns from operators worried over divvying up investment dollars for supporting various technologies, and it's even backwards compatible with existing Flexi Base Stations for those looking to spruce up their current hardware. For the consumer, this device could help carriers ease into LTE deployment more quickly, as the whole cut-and-run approach to simply axing one technology and moving over suddenly to another doesn't seem to sit well with most mega-corps.

NTT DoCoMo announces farewell to mova and DoPa 2G services

by Darren Murph posted Jan 30th 2009 @ 11:58AM

You've had a nice run, 2G, but the time has come to start looking beyond to bigger, better and (most importantly) faster things. With LTE just over the horizon, NTT DoCoMo is proactively announcing the phase out of its mova and DoPa 2G services. The 2G mova services encompass car phone and Pre-Call prepaid -- which got their roots in March of 1993 -- while the 2G DoPa packet communication service sprouted up four years after that. Both of these longtime favorites will be disconnected at the close of 2012, with the company noting that "associated services and related billing plans will also be terminated at the same time." Anyone still relying on this stuff will be contacted sometime over the next three years to ensure that they aren't shocked and surprised when December 2012 arrives, and they'll be encouraged to make the not-at-all-painful shift to FOMA 3G services. It's better in the fast lane, we promise.

Japan sells not a single 2G phone in January

by Chris Ziegler posted Mar 14th 2008 @ 8:07PM

It turns out that January of this year is the very first month in history that Japanese retailers brought on no stock of 2G phones, and as amazing of a statistic is that is, we have to admit -- we're just a little surprised this didn't happen, like, several years ago. As of the end of February, about 85 percent of Japan's mobile users (read: everyone in the country, we think) were on 3G handsets, another statistic that is both surprising and, at the same time, elicits a bit of an "it took that long?" response from us. Whatever; any way you slice it, these guys and gals are still way better off in the high-speed mobile data department than anyone else we can think of, so we'll err on the side of awe and just simply be impressed at the fact that it's no longer possible to get a crappy phone in the entire country of Japan.

[Via IntoMobile]

Samsung, Sony Ericsson strike cross-licensing agreement

by Darren Murph posted Jul 11th 2007 @ 8:33AM

In reality, it's probably best when two feuding companies decide to put their differences aside and move forward, but it's certainly a lot less fun. Nevertheless, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have reportedly inked a cross-licensing agreement on patents, which "allows the two companies to use each other's patents covering second-generation and third-generation wireless technology." Additionally, the deal requires that both firms withdraw all patent-related lawsuits filed against each other, and while "additional details" surrounding the exact terms were left undisclosed, we can now safely lay to rest all those outstanding 2G / 3G battles between the two outfits -- and wait for new quarrels to begin, of course.

Cingular to sell 3G phones in 2G areas again?

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 8th 2006 @ 8:04PM

We noticed a little gem in Cingular's press release triumphantly announcing completion of their GSM network integration: "Unlike some competitive services, all 3G services and features, such as Cingular Video, are also available on the company's EDGE network." Really now, is that so? This after customer complaints prompted the company to pull its 3G handsets off the market in EDGE regions just a few short months ago? The verbage of the press release certainly seems to line up nicely with intelligence we're getting, which suggests that the carrier's had a change of heart and intends to once again stock store shelves nationwide with its high-speed devices, possibly on or around November 1. Among those devices should be the lustworthy Hermes-based 8525 -- that is, if the stars are aligned correctly and Cingular's execs wake up on the right sides of their beds that morning.

[Thanks, Jason H.]

Update: Some readers are reporting that 3G handsets have already come to their HSDPA-unfriendly areas; from what we gather, rumors indicate that those sales will go nationwide on November 1 (give or take).

Vodafone Japan announces summer lineup

by Evan Blass posted May 22nd 2006 @ 11:48AM

New Softbank property Vodafone K.K. has announced four new 3G handsets -- along with the 2G Toshiba V304T "simplephone" -- that will be released this summer in Japan, including Sharp's 905SH clamshell with a 2 megapixel camera and One Seg digital TV reception. Also seen before was Voda's version of Nokia's N71, dubbed the 804NK, which sports those same multimedia and smartphone features along with obvious addition of bilingual menus. Like the three models mentioned previously, the Toshiba 705T and Sharp 705SH SLIMIA also sport clamshell designs, with the Tosh featuring external music controls and the Sharp (pictured) rocking dual cameras. Additionally, a sixth model, Sharp's 2G V403SH (also a flip phone), was announced as getting a summer makeover, and will now come in your choice of cloth beige or cloth blue.

SK Telecom launches HSDPA network with new Samsung SCH-W200

by Evan Blass posted May 16th 2006 @ 12:16PM

South Korean consumers looking for some serious mobile bandwidth need not wait until June to pick up one of LG's SH100 handsets that we brought you earlier today, because SK Telecom has just announced that their HSDPA network is live in 25 cities as of today, and that a new model from Samsung is available for the rollout. Besides 2G, 3G, and 3.5G data support, the new Samsung SCH-W200 -- which is the first of five impending HSDPA phones, including the SH100, that will available by year's end -- offers both a two megapixel as well as a VGA camera, S-DMB TV capabilities, MP3/AAC playback, text-to-speech, and perhaps most importantly with all these features, multitasking. Although theoretically capable of 12Mbps downstream traffic, SKT's HSDPA network will currently only deliver a relatively pokey 1.8Mbps to the W200 -- with 3.6Mbps promised for later this year -- but claims to be the only WCDMA network in the world to offer guaranteed video conferencing performance through circuit, and not packet, switching.

Read- HSDPA rollout
Read- HSDPA speeds (subscription required)
Read- Samsung SCH-W200

Qualcomm chips to power 3G world phones

by Evan Blass posted Apr 7th 2006 @ 1:10PM

In a move sure to excite both business travelers and wandering geeks, Qualcomm announced earlier this week that it expects to ship chips for high-speed world phones by the end of this year. Handsets with the new Qualcomm chipsets will be able to access both EV-DO services on CDMA networks as well as W-CDMA-powered GSM UMTS networks, effectively allowing for 3G connections almost anywhere in the world. Even customers not willing to shell out the big bucks that these first models will cost will still benefit from the new chips, as prices on current-gen 2G and 2.5G world phones will drop accordingly as a result of their new mid-tier market status.