Tired of abysmal sound quality when yapping via PTT? Are your chirps not leading to responses in a timely fashion? Never fear, as Motorola is all over it. For better or worse (though probably better), Moto has released its next-generation push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) solution, which is optimized for CDMA 1x networks with EV-DO Rev. A data capability. According to the official verbiage, the new solution leverages the zippy protocol to provide "low call set-up time latency and improved quality of service (QoS)." Rev. A chirping -- who woulda thunk it?

So there's good news and bad news, and we're not even giving you the option of choosing which you'd prefer to hear first (hint: it's the good). Sprint has dropped the price of its Phone-as-Modem plan (capped at 5GB monthly) to just $15 per month. Now, the rest of the story. First off, you must own a Power Vision phone with connection capabilities to a laptop. Next -- unlike the old PAM plan which ran $49.99 / month all by itself -- this "attachable plan" requires you to have another data plan already on your account. For instance, the BlackBerry Personal Pack ($30 / month) or the Worldwide Data Plan ($70 / month). In the end, it looks as if tethering in and of itself got cheaper, but those newfound strings that are reportedly attached will likely cause some frustration.

[Via phonescoop]

With LTE a few years out yet, Alltel needs something to get it over the 3.5G hump -- and seeing how it's presently a CDMA carrier, you can pretty much guess where this is going. Sure enough, Verizon's newest partner in crime has announced that the rollout of its EV-DO Rev. A upgrade is now underway, promising a bump in downlink speeds from 400-700kbps on the existing Rev. 0 network to somewhere between 600kbps and 1.4Mbps. Uplink speeds are where Rev. A really shines, though, blazing as much as ten times faster than it did before -- 800kbps on a good day with bursts of up to 1.8Mbps. Two data cards are being offered to take advantage of the service -- one from Huawei and one from UTStarcom -- while compatible handsets currently include the HTC PPC6800 and Touch. The rollout is targeted for "select markets" right now -- Charlotte, New Orleans, Phoenix and Tampa among a total of 18 -- with overall EV-DO coverage continuing to expand as well; Alltel's targeting 82 percent of its footprint to be upgraded by year's end.

Make us proud, Alltel! The number five carrier's really been going all-out as of late, doing an impressive job of keeping its offerings in line with the big boys -- and in some cases, outdoing 'em with hot exclusives like the Glimmer. Once again, they've gotten the jump on their larger, heavier competition by becoming the first carrier to release a firmware upgrade for the Vogue (the Alltel Touch, in this case) that ups the radio to EV-DO Rev. A speeds. Speedy uploads aside, the upgrade includes some Bluetooth fixes and adds the ability to receive video messages. Sprint, Verizon -- your move.

[Via phoneArena]

Qualcomm's latest release has left us smothered in technobabble, but frankly, it's a breath of fresh air to not see any sort of vitriol spewed in Nokia's direction. Announced today, the aforesaid outfit has developed a method for improving capacity of CDMA2000 networks; more specifically, its technology will enable "operators to support more than double today's capacity of 35 simultaneous calls in 1.25MHz of spectrum while delivering the same level of voice quality." Unfortunately, the improvements are slated to be featured in Qualcomm's forthcoming Cell Site Modem CSM8xxx-series chipsets, which aren't supposed to go commercial before 2010. Oh future, you seem so far away.

We try not to be an overly philosophical bunch, but we can't help but observe some interesting parallels between Motorola's industry-first demonstration of an EV-DO Rev. A to LTE handoff with the way the entire wireless world is progressing. Without a single major carrier win to its name, EV-DO's successor, UMB, seems poised to ride off into the sunset while current CDMA customers like Verizon plan migrations to the GSM-friendly LTE standard. Anyway, this little technical achievement will certainly set the minds of said CDMA customers at rest, knowing that its subscribers will one day be able to roam on data services between EV-DO Rev. A and LTE cells -- and considering that the transition period could last many years, that's an important capability to have. On an interesting side note, Alltel was on hand for the demo; they've not committed to any 4G technology, but we can say with certainty that they're at least considering LTE at this point.

Truth be told, there's nothing extraordinary about Sierra Wireless' latest EV-DO USB modem. It plays nice with Rev. A networks, includes a microSD slot, and comes with TRU-Install to simplify the setup procedure. Granted, it is "the only product in its class to include a connector for an external antenna (saywha?)," and it is remarkably small, so it's still worth a look if you're currently doing without. As expected, you'll reach downlink speeds of up to 3.1Mbps and upload speeds of up to 1.8Mbps, and the built-in GPS antenna is a nice bonus, too. Unfortunately, we've no idea how costly this one will be, but be on the lookout for a Q2 launch.

[Via MobileBurn]

Check yourself before you wreck yourself, fools, because Verizon's most expensive BroadbandAccess data plan is about to get a whole lot less unlimited. Yes, true, there's already a 5GB soft cap on the current plan -- but the worst that'll happen to a chronic violator is a throttled download speed or a termination of the contract. Starting March 2, the best plan offered by the carrier will truly not be unlimited in any sense of the word, to the tune of 49 cents per MB. Yep, that's the overage charge users will pay for busting past that 5GB cap, so use all due caution there. What's a guy got to do to get some truly limitless 3G these days?

[Via MobileBurn]

Yeah, we're starting to feel slightly bombarded with portable cellular routers, but we can't help but crack a smile each time one of these wonderful creations rolls into the commercial realm. Today, we've got Digi unveiling its new Digi Connect WAN 3G, which is hailed as an upgradeable 3G WWAN router for "primary and backup connectivity to remote sites and devices." Besides supporting both EV-DO and HSDPA standards, it also aims to provide "a fast and easy Ethernet-to-3G wireless connection" and even includes a built-in VPN. Sadly, no price is mentioned, but we're sure the folks at Digi wouldn't mind coughing up that information if you called up with the right tone of voice.

It's not like we haven't seen truckloads of portable WiFi routers before, but iBox2Go seems pretty jazzed up about its iteration. The dubiously named HotSpot in a Box arrives in a relatively large case that's sure to make avid travelers scratch their heads, and looks to include Sprint's Novatel U727 EV-DO card along with all the required cabling. Consumers can select from a trio of routers: the iB100 features USB only and a single Ethernet port, the iB300 adds PCMCIA and the iB500 tacks on an ExpressCard slot, 802.11n support and three more RJ-45 ports. Reportedly, each unit can handle up to ten simultaneous connections, and you can grab one now for $249.99, $199.99 and $349.99, respectively. Oh, and click on through for a video chock full of enthusiasm about this thing.

Well, it's finally here: meet the LG Voyager, successor to the enV and arguably one of the best QWERTY handsets on Verizon to date. Pretty much everyone walks away with a feature or two here that they're gonna love: EV-DO, VCAST TV, a 2 megapixel camera, two amazingly large displays, expandable memory via microSD, touchscreen exterior display and a full keyboard all make the cut. But hey, enough of the small talk -- head off to the gallery, check it out, and stay tuned for our full review!

For devoted LG fans, each incarnation of the Chocolate line of music phones has been a step up from the one before it. With the LG Venus sporting new features like touch-screen navigation and being more ergonomically styled, many wonder if the device will live up to the hype. As Verizon prepares for online availability in the coming weeks, we thought it'd be fair to add more fuel to the flame with the quick start guide, yeah? Have a look!

We've had plenty of face time with this little guy already, but Verizon Wireless has finally fessed up to a precise release date and price point for its EV-DO BlackBerry Pearl 8130. The phone is available for pre-order at $200 with a 2 year contract and an automatic $100 online discount, and will ship out on November 8th. Let's see if that's good enough to beat Sprint's version to market.

Although we're sure some of you are dead set on using one carrier, Qualcomm is making sure the indecisive (or well-traveled) ones out there are covered, too. The firm's Gobi chip promises to play nice with both EV-DO and HSPA (but not WiMAX) networks, which should mean that a number of laptops will soon boast multi-carrier WWAN support right out of the box. The introduction of the two-faced device gives users the ability to switch operators or choose the one with the best coverage in a given area without having to lug around two laptops or laptop-connect cards. You'll also appreciate the fact that these things are actually immediately available, and according to Qualcomm, they should appear in various lappies in mid-2008.