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3GPP publishes world's first femtocell standard

by Darren Murph posted Apr 11th 2009 @ 6:02AM

With femtocells slowly but surely making their way out to the major US operators, we'd say it's about time we got a handle on what exactly these things are comprised of. This week, the world's first femtocell standard has been published by the 3GPP, which will supposedly "pave the way for standardized femtocells to be produced in large volumes and enable interoperability between different vendors' access points and femto gateways." The new protocol covers a foursome of areas: network architecture; radio & interference aspects; femtocell management / provisioning and security. For those unaware, a femtocell is a small box that essentially acts as a mini cell tower within the home, piping cellphone signals through the internet and providing great signal in areas where it was previously a struggle to nab a single bar. Now, if only we could get a few of these things in carrier-agnostic form, we'd be set.

[Via PCWorld]

Bluetooth SIG promises high-speed specification next summer, likely BT 3.0

by Darren Murph posted Dec 8th 2008 @ 8:29PM

After putting those nasty Bluetooth 2.2 rumors to bed, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group has directly informed Wireless Week that it will indeed look to come out with a "high-speed specification next summer." Of course, we've been waiting on such a thing for, like, ever now, but Executive Director Mike Foley has asserted that when the spec arrives in summer 2009 it will likely be sitting at 3.0. What's 3.0 promising? Faster overall transmission speeds and quicker connections, namely. So, what's the over / under on the Bluetooth SIG actually delivering?

[Via phonescoop]

ATSC gives initial thumbs-up to MPH mobile TV standard

by Darren Murph posted Nov 27th 2008 @ 6:59AM

Merely weeks after a handful of TV broadcasters voiced their approval of the MPH mobile TV standard, the almighty ATSC has elevated its specification for Mobile Digital Television to Candidate Standard status. Or it will early next week, based on the futuristic December 1st date on the press release. Anywho, the thumbs-up brings the standard one huge step closer to actual implementation in the United States, though a final standard isn't apt to be agreed upon until late next year. Not that the delay is really a problem -- after all, a grand total of 19 people in this great nation even care about TV on the go, right?

[Via mocoNews]

W3C finally publishes Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0

by Darren Murph posted Aug 3rd 2008 @ 3:55PM

Okay, so we saw W3C's Mobile Web Best Practices offered up in "near-final form" in June of 2006, but we're just now (August of 2008, for those parked under a rock or tuning in from a parallel universe) seeing a final release. Talk about taking their sweet time. Hopefully said document has been updated over the past two years, and hopefully webmasters will grab hold and actually implement some of the suggestions. In essence, these guidelines seek to make web browsing easier on more handsets, but we're still in dire need of more robust browsers before any server-side tweaks make a noticeable difference.

[Via the::unwired]

Ultra Mobile Broadband specifications get published

by Darren Murph posted Oct 5th 2007 @ 6:54PM

Not quite a year after EV-DO Rev. C became more commonly known as Ultra Mobile Broadband, we're now hearing that the official specifications have been published. Reportedly, the UMB specification should be "quickly converted into an official global standard by the 3GPP2 organizational partners," and with it should come "peak download data rates of 288Mbps in a 20MHz bandwidth." Notably, the release states that multi-mode, multi-band UMB devices will "leverage the existing 3G CDMA device selection to preserve economies of scale," and it's scheduled to become widely available on a worldwide basis during the first half of 2009.

[Via RCRWirelessNews]

OMTP agrees on micro-USB standard for mobiles

by Darren Murph posted Sep 21st 2007 @ 1:59PM

Just over eight months after the USB Implementers Forum completed the micro-USB specification, the Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP) has recommended that the protocol be accepted as a universal standard for charging and syncing mobile devices. Reportedly, the "OMTP's paper recommends that the micro-USB standard" be adopted across the mobile industry in order to "streamline the whole value chain and provide end users with a larger choice of the most popular peripherals." Still, we're not told when handset manufacturers will start offering up the new port en masse, but at least we're makin' progress, eh?

ATSC developing its own mobile DTV broadcasting standard

by Darren Murph posted Apr 10th 2007 @ 2:52PM

Squarely falling into the "you've got to be kidding" category, the Advanced Television Systems Committee has just announced that it will be developing its very own standard to "enable broadcasters to deliver television content and data to mobile and handheld devices via their DTV broadcast signal." In case you weren't aware, the world is quickly becoming over-saturated with hordes of other mobile television protocols, and just like the other guys, the forthcoming ATSC-M/H standard will be backwards compatible, which will allow "operation of existing ATSC services in the same RF channel without an adverse impact on existing receiving equipment." Among the services it hopes to channel are ad-supported (free to the user) television broadcasts, elusive "real-time, interactive services," subscription-based TV, downloadable content for on-demand playback, and there's even the potential for "real-time navigation" niceties in the future. Still, we're sure the standard will find a way to operate just fine, but unless a bidding war breaks out and the cost for mobile TV plummets due to all this competition, we're not really sure all these like-minded options are entirely necessary.

[Via MocoNews]

Mobile phones to adopt smaller "micro-USB" connector

by Darren Murph posted Jan 5th 2007 @ 12:19AM

Just when you think another protocol change couldn't possibly surface and force you to purchase more adapters in order to operate your gadgets, it does. Sure enough, the USB Implementers Forum has recently announced that we loyal consumers will all be shelling out a few extra bucks as new mobile handsets, PDAs, and digital cameras adopt a new, smaller "micro-USB" adapter for syncing / charging. As the RAZRs of the world get thinner and thinner, so must the port in which we charge it, and while there's no apparent size specification just yet, all we know is that it'll be smaller than the current implementation, and inevitably require additional purchases in order to use. Additionally, the USB-IF stated the new standard would support USB On-The-Go, and will feature a "stainless steel shell" to reportedly yield "more than 10,000 insertion cycles" before your charging port is rendered completely inutile. No word on when to expect the ultra-diminutive port to start showing up on handsets, but look for it on the first mobile barely thicker than a credit card.

[Via Mobileburn]

Chinese government demands all handsets be rechargeable via USB

by Darren Murph posted Dec 22nd 2006 @ 4:59PM

Following South Korea's lead, the Chinese government is now demanding that future handsets, regardless of brand, be able to recharge via a standard USB port. The Ministry of Information Industry (MII) hopes that the mandate will slash phone costs for users, eliminate proprietary hassles, and more importantly, eliminate waste within the country. Considering nearly "100 million" folks in China alone replace their phone annually, that's a lot of antiquated chargers hitting the junk pile, and this new standard hopes to cure the problem and cut back on waste before it gets too out of hand. While we've no idea when this mandate will actually be enforced, these head honchos sound pretty serious, and considering the estimated $306 million the country will be saving, we wouldn't doubt their earnestness.

[Via Techdirt]