"It's yet another in a long series of diversions in an attempt to avoid responsibility." - Chris Knight
Archive for the ‘Wireless’ Category
2 Or 3 Android Handsets Coming From HTC In 2008
November 12th, 2007 by iDunzo
According to Digitimes, which cites the Commercial Times (a Chinese paper), High Tech Computer has said it will design and engineer two or three handsets for Google’s Android mobile platform next year.
The information comes from statements at an analyst meeting made by HTC’s CEO, Peter Chou. His remarks have led people to believe that HTC will be the first to market with an Android phone.
In fact, the comments Chou made during last week’s Android announcement implied the same.
If this is the case, it isn’t too much of a stretch to believe that T-Mobile would be the carrier offering up such a device, as HTC and T-Mobile are pretty tight these days.
Not only did Chou spill the beans about Android phones, he also said HTC is working on a new 3G solution that is not based on Qualcomm’s chipsets.
Whether it is changing suppliers to STMicro, Texas Instruments, Broadcom, Ericsson, or developing a radio solution of its own is unknown.
HTC is also working on a next-generation touch-based user interface that it says will be better than its own TouchFlo UI, which appears on several of HTC’s smartphones.
Lastly, HTC is putting together a dual-mode handset, but not the kind you might think.
Rather than marry Wi-Fi and cellular radios, which is has done with more than a few handsets, it is pairing WiMax and TD-WCDMA, which is the home-grown Chinese flavor of WCDMA. This phone would strictly be for Chinese markets.
Posted in Google + Technology + Toys & Gadgets + Wireless | 
Comments Off on 2 Or 3 Android Handsets Coming From HTC In 2008
Apple iPhone Firmware Update 1.1.2 On The Way
November 5th, 2007 by iDunzo
In what is sure to ignite another outcry against Apple, the latest firmware update for the iPhone will – you guessed it – wipe out access to third-party applications and wireless networks other than AT&T’s. Again.
The firmware update, to 1.1.2, is said to be coming this week in conjunction with the iPhone’s launch in the U.K.
iPhones will be available in Great Britain starting on Friday, and will come preloaded with 1.1.2.
Since iTunes 7.5 is also rumored to be released this week, it isn’t a big stretch to surmise that Apple will make the 1.1.2 firmware update available to the general public as well.
There are some positives in the update. The iPhone will support more languages, notably Cantonese.
There is also full support for French and German, with different keyboard configurations to provide access to special characters used in those languages.
No real surprises there, as the iPhone is going to be hitting European shores later this month.
The bad news is, according to those who’ve seen the 1.1.2 firmware, it will again lock out access to third-party applications by fixing the loophole that currently lets users unlock their iPhones.
According to MacRumors, one third-party application in particular is being targeted by Apple this time around: iToner.
iToner allows users to create their own custom ringtones from their iTunes library and install them on the iPhone.
Since this prevents Apple from earning some extra cash, it’s no real surprise that it would take action to stop this application.
The update will also break access to unlocking the SIM card so iPhones can be used on other networks.
Not much else has been leaked about the firmware update, and it is unknown if it will provide any new features or functionality to the iPhone.
Undoubtedly, the ever-diligent hacking community will likely come up with yet more ways to circumvent the iPhone’s locking software and open it back up.
All we can do is sit back and wait for it all to happen. Again.
Posted in Apple + Software + Technology + Wireless | Comments Off on Apple iPhone Firmware Update 1.1.2 On The Way
gPhone Software: “Everything You Need To Run A Phone”
November 3rd, 2007 by iDunzo
Google’s Monday Revolution will be a suite of software based on Linux and codenamed “Android,” according to a story published at News.com.
This suite is implied to be an operating system (“it’s said to include everything you need to run a phone”) to be followed immediately thereafter by an SDK.
The rest of the story is standard gPhone preview: weasel-worded blather like “backed by some of the largest wireless industry companies in the world” and “carrier X is said to be heavily involved.”
Buried deep, however, are nuggets like JumpTap executive Dan Olschwang wondering if the whole thing is just a giant trap to get people to write expansions to Google’s software.
Tim Hanlon of Denuo points out that if the gPhone’s framework is anything like what’s described here, the carriers would be loathe to let it in their playground at all.
With all the buzz the past year or so with talks of a Google phone, would you be interested in Google gPhone software?
I’m all for this sort of “geek to the core” phone technology, especially if Google has a say in it.
Posted in Google + Software + Technology + Wireless | Comments Off on gPhone Software: “Everything You Need To Run A Phone”
Google’s Mobile Plans To Be Revealed Monday
November 2nd, 2007 by iDunzo
I guess Google couldn’t wait two weeks to spill the beans.
It appears that Google is prepared to make an announcement on Monday regarding its plans in the mobile space, and sources say Sprint, T-Mobile and a bunch of handset makers will be involved.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Monday will likely be the day we learn the fate of the wireless industry.
Whether Google will move along an evolutionary or revolutionary path is completely unknown, but the result will probably shake up the industry either way.
At least two carriers, Sprint and T-Mobile, are on board with whatever Google is up to. Along with the carriers, handset vendors are working behind the scenes, too.
The Journal’s Amol Sharma writes:
While Sprint appears to be agreeing to work with Google to put the Web giant’s new Linux-based open operating system into phones, T-Mobile will probably go even further: the company has worked with Google for months on plans to build Google-powered phones with a variety of Google software and applications. As far as handset partners for Google, Taiwan’s HTC is a likely bet, our sources say. Samsung, LG, and SonyEricsson are also possible, but we’ll wait and see the full roster. Equally interesting will be who isn’t on the list.
Even though T-Mobile is lagging behind the other major U.S. network operators from a technical standpoint (no 3G yet), it is more forward thinking when it comes to its products and services.
In this respect, it makes sense for T-Mobile to be pushing Google the hardest for a more fully evolved product.
On the OEM side, HTC is an obvious choice but by deploying a platform, and not just one piece of hardware, it will allow more parts of the mobile ecosystem to share in the development and growth of the industry.
Posted in Google + Technology + Wireless | Comments Off on Google’s Mobile Plans To Be Revealed Monday
Steve Wozniak: Apple Should Unlock The iPhone
November 1st, 2007 by iDunzo
Steve Jobs got a suggestion the other day from an old friend and business partner — a guy named Steve Wozniak.
Unlock the Apple iPhone, Woz said:
I am really for the unlockers, the rebels trying to make it free. I’d really like it to be open to new applications.
Wozniak said in an interview with Laptop magazine:
From a business point of view, Apple owns what they have done. They have a right to lock it. But I’d really like it to be open to new applications. I’d like to install some nice games. Why in the world can I not install a ringtone that I’ve made? How would that hurt AT&T’s network?
He added:
Here is Steve Jobs sending letters to the record companies saying they should provide music that’s unprotected, but here he is taking the opposite approach with the iPhone.
The magazine covered a lot of ground in its interview. Highlights:
- He’s switching to Leopard “the first day it comes out.”
- He’s skeptical of Linux’s potential. “I don’t think it’s going to make a big mark.”
- “No, I haven’t tried Vista. I bought Parallels, but I didn’t install it. I don’t have any desire to try out Vista and haven’t seen the need to yet.”
To find out more, be sure to check out the complete interview with Steve Wozniak.
Posted in Apple + Technology + Toys & Gadgets + Wireless | Comments Off on Steve Wozniak: Apple Should Unlock The iPhone
Quarter Of A Million Apple iPhones Unlocked
October 23rd, 2007 by iDunzo
According to Apple’s quarterly results, fully 17% of all iPhones sold are unlocked and roaming on networks other than AT&T’s.
Apple’s recently reported third-quarter results were full of interesting figures.
Perhaps the most interesting is that of the 1.4 million iPhones sold, 250,000 (or 17%) of them have been unlocked.
They believe this because they’ve subtracted the number of iPhones activated on AT&T’s network from the total number of iPhones sold.
Um. That figure is pretty danged high.
Not only that, the iPhone Dev Team is reporting that there have been 500,000 downloads of its AnySIM 1.0 unlocker program.
That means more than one-third of everyone who bought an iPhone has decided that they might hack it.
Posted in Apple + Technology + Toys & Gadgets + Wireless | Comments Off on Quarter Of A Million Apple iPhones Unlocked
