Filed under: T-Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

Well screw us — T-Mobile’s 3G network debut tomorrow? It’s going to be voice only. That’s right, you heard us, VOICE ONLY. So trepidatious is this company to actually get their 3G data rollout, um, rolled out, they’re launching first with kneecapped voice-only service, keeping only EDGE for those demanding data. Here’s the snippet from the memo we received:

“3G is the next generation of our wireless network, following our current GSM network. In this early phase of our network evolution, 3G is a new technology for carrying wireless voice calls and supporting existing data capabilities on our network. In future phases, this next generation network will power ‘high-speed’ (3G) products and services that connect customers in new and exciting ways. … Inform customers who are interested in high-speed data that the first phase of our 3G roll out supports voice only.” [Emphasis ours]

No word on when T-Mobile actually plans to turn on the faster data, but for everyone who was hoping he wait continues — for those that haven’t already jumped ship, anyway.

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Original post by Ryan Block

Filed under: Samsung, China Mobile

A nice, thick blanket of 3G might still be years away for China, but who the heck knows — if they can keep fast-tracking it like they’re doing here, maybe they can tighten up that schedule just a teensy bit. After kicking off a trial… like, whoa, this month, China Mobile has already blessed a large enough swath of its nascent TD-SCDMA coverage to deliver some 15,000 compatible Samsung handsets, data cards, and 3 million yuan (about $430,000) worth of minutes to the Beijing Olympic Games’ organizing committee this week. It’s said that the hardware will be doled out to staff and volunteers helping to get the Games in order, giving them something to do with their leisure hours (we suppose) as they put the finishing touches on the many event venues spotting the city, and presumably, China will be working hard to play up its technological achievement come game time later this year. If you can call a proprietary 3G protocol that lags its CDMA and WCDMA competition by years a “technical achievement,” anyway.

[Via mocoNews]

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Yamaha’s got a thing for making dreams into reality, and we must say, we’re crossing our fingers and hoping to all that’s good and merciful in this world that the above pictured device goes commercial. Little is actually known about the keyboard / notepad hybrid aside from the fact that it was showcased at the Milano Salone trade fair in Italy, and for what it’s worth, Yamaha christened the device “key for journey.” Look, there’s even slots in the leather-bound lid so the keys have room to breathe when it’s all closed up. Ah well, a boy can dream, can’t he?

[Via kanYe West Blog]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Yamaha’s got a thing for making dreams into reality, and we must say, we’re crossing our fingers and hoping to all that’s good and merciful in this world that the above pictured device goes commercial. Little is actually known about the keyboard / notepad hybrid aside from the fact that it was showcased at the Milano Salone trade fair in Italy, and for what it’s worth, Yamaha christened the device “key for journey.” Look, there’s even slots in the leather-bound lid so the keys have room to breathe when it’s all closed up. Ah well, a boy can dream, can’t he?

[Via kanYe West Blog]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming, Household

Highly modified foosball tables are a dime a dozen, but this contraption could easily be mistook for some sort of Martian gaming machine at first glance. Dreamed up and crafted by designer Chelpa Ferro, this Tota Treme Terra looks to be a vanilla foosball table with an artsy overhead light and a hodgepodge of speakers wrapped all around. Word on the street has it that the machine belts out sound effects based on the action up above, but sadly, the actual details about this potential ninth wonder of the world are being left to our imaginations.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We first heard about this laser-guided wheelchair way back in 2006 but didn’t really have much more than promises from the team behind it about exactly what they had in store. As New Scientist reports, however, it seems that the folks from Lehigh University and Freedom Sciences are still hard at work at it, and they’re finally showing off some of their progress. The wheelchair is apparently still not entirely automated though, with it needing to be driven to the rear of the vehicle by remote control, after which the on-board LIDAR system kicks in and loads it onto the lift all by itself. Not surprisingly, the estimated price for the eventual commercial version has also gone up since we last heard from the team, with it now set to demand $30,000 (as opposed to $15,000 to $20,000) when it goes on sale later this year, assuming it gets the necessary FDA approval. Until then, you can head on over after the break to check it out in action.

Continue reading Researchers show off laser-guided wheelchair that docks with vehicles

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Verizon Wireless

It looks like it’s a surprisingly good time to be a behemoth US carrier, with both AT&T and Verizon reporting some pretty aggressive profits in the first quarter of 2008 in the face of a flagging economy. Many of Verizon’s results closely mirror AT&T’s actually, with data revenue absolutely destroying the numbers from a year ago — up 48.9 percent year over year, in Big Red’s case. As we can see from Verizon’s own documentation here, they’re tooting their horn against their arch-nemesis with more net adds, a slightly better ARPU, lower churn, and lower cost per customer, with service revenue and total subs (of course) being AT&T’s big wins. Whether the momentum can be kept up through a challenging ’08 remains to be seen, but it’s a solid start for the nation’s number two. Hit the gallery below for a big shot of Verizon’s message to employees regarding the results.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Telstra, GSM, UMTS, CDMA

Oh, come on, Qualcomm, show a little emotion; shed a tear or something! After some two years of planning and urging legacy customers to migrate, Australia’s Telstra has flipped a big, red, scary-looking switch somewhere, sending its CDMA network into darkness, never to return. The move effectively obsoletes roughly 3,500 CDMA sites around the country along with what the carrier bills as “redundant equipment” — a nice little cost savings, no doubt, not to mention the freeing of significant chunks of spectrum for more advanced services. As you might have guessed, Telstra is jumping through these hoops to get customers onto its Next G-branded UMTS network, mirroring a widespread trend away from CDMA-based technologies and toward the GSM roadmap. Globally, it seems like CDMA2000 has years of life left — but without a shred of major carrier support for the 4G path, its glory days may be numbered.

[Via Pocket PC Thoughts]

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Original post by Chris Ziegler