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Montblanc's stupid-expensive Summit 2+ Wear OS watch comes to Verizon for $1,170
Is an eSIM-capable watch really worth this much coin?
Luxury watch brand Montblanc announced its Summit 2+ smartwatch back in March. The Wear OS watch is now available to order from Verizon for an eye-boggling $1,170. It doesn't offer much that really stands out except for two things: built-in LTE connectivity and a price tag that's higher than anybody should probably pay.
You can try out Stadia with your 4G or 5G connection today
Mobile data streaming gets a limited, but needed first step
Google is finally letting Android phone owners use their 4G and 5G connections to stream gameplay to and from Stadia starting today. The company is calling this an open experiment and, as it may turn out, could bear significant limits.
You might be able to buy a 4G rotary cellphone later this year
You know you want that dial in your grubby mitts
Back in February, we covered Justine Haupt's adventures in making her own "distraction-free" 3G cellphone with a rotary dial and a humble ePaper display. She even open-sourced her design and firmware and shipped out some proprietary parts to people who wanted to make one for themselves. Now, she's drafting plans and booting up manufacturing to sell a 4G version with a few more features in tow.
AT&T now says it won't get rid of 5Ge logo in status bar, doubles down on lying to customers
5Get the hell out of here with that nonsense
In a decision related to a complaint initially filed by T-Mobile, the National Advertising Review Board finally said what we all knew about AT&T's dumb "5Ge" branding from the get go: it's bullshit. AT&T is choosing to comply with the industry self-regulatory body, sort of: (over an issue, let us not forget, that it bitterly contested in an actual lawsuit) it says it will stop saying 5Ge, marketing 5Ge, but that it won't stop using the 5Ge logo in your status bar, because AT&T will do everything possible to weasel out of admitting that displaying a "5Ge" symbol when your phone is definitively not connected to a 5G NR network is and always was a lie. A big lying lie, told by liars, who lie (read: the marketing division). The update regarding the status bar icon came this afternoon in a statement given to Light Reading, with the carrier saying it would not change the 5Ge logo back to 4G or some other term, and that it would continue to be displayed.
T-Mobile is about to boost LTE speeds by renting unused 600MHz spectrum
Dish, Comcast, and investment firms are just sitting on these licenses
COVID-19 is disrupting daily life in unprecedented ways. T-Mobile has already opted to close many of its retail locations, and now it wants to speed up your data. People may be relying on their mobile connections more than ever, so T-Mobile is renting some unused band 71 spectrum around the US.
With the latest Android 10 October security patch, some people using Pixel phones in the US have seen their LTE icon switch to 4G. This change is also visible in network settings, where it says 4G instead of LTE when you're choosing a connectivity preference. Since there's a lot of confusion about what exactly the difference between the two standards is, people used to seeing LTE instead of 4G have been concerned that their connection may have been downgraded. As it turns out, the whole gallimaufry was an unintended change of terminology, not a switch of the actual network, and Google has both a workaround to offer and a proper fix in the works.
As the wireless industry likes to say, "5G is here" — from manufacturers with 5G capable phones, carriers with 5G networks, and the users who want to feel like they're on the bleeding edge because they're enjoying super-fast speeds. But that little "5G" icon in the status bars on their shiny new phones may not represent all the progress they've been promised.
The Pixel 3 and 3 XL launched late last year with a robust but not comprehensive set of LTE bands. According to an FCC document, Google has asked regulators to approve a change to the Pixel's LTE complement. In the coming months, these phones could get LTE band 48, which is good for everyone.
Technology is complicated enough for the average consumer, but carriers have a long and storied history of manipulating terminology to make it even harder to follow. Years ago, carriers like T-Mobile and AT&T jumped the gun on 4G by rebranding their 3G HSPA+ networks as "4G." Now, AT&T is doing the same thing as we move on toward 5G. After announcing 5G Evolution branding earlier this year, it's going to use a fake 5G icon on LTE phones.
Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X24 LTE modem is the fastest, most advanced 4G chip on the planet. Or, at least, Qualcomm hopes it will be by the time it's in your next smartphone.
Back in April, Comcast announced that it was entering the wireless game with Xfinity Mobile. It promised "a new kind of network" and the plans actually weren't too bad, with $12 per GB, a $45 unlimited tariff, and discounts for Xfinity home internet customers paying for the more expensive packages. 18 million Wi-Fi hotspots are also accessible, helping to keep cellular data costs down. Xfinity Mobile has now been rolled out across all of Comcast's service areas.
This is Sprint's Magic Box, the world's first all-wireless small cell, which promises to improve LTE data coverage and download speeds indoors. The plug-and-play unit is aimed at both small businesses and regular customers and offered at no extra cost, with availability subject to qualifying locations.
Apple has filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm in California today, claiming damages around $1 billion. The damages stem from what Apple claims are rebate payments Qualcomm refused to pay. Specifically, Apple alleges Qualcomm withheld the payments after the iPhone-maker began to cooperate with Korea authorities who later fined Qualcomm $850 million in an antitrust investigation.
Google's Pixels are advertised as supporting LTE band 4, an AWS frequency. The band is commonly used throughout North and South America, and a number of readers from both continents have gotten in touch to let us know the Google Pixels are having difficulty with this band which, in some regions on some operators, is basically the only LTE signal available to subscribers. A Google Product Forums thread where these problems are being discussed can be found here.
We've seen mobile hotspots for cars before, but I don't think I've ever heard of one that uses the ODB-II communications port on your vehicle for power, freeing up that precious cigarette lighter for things like chargers. The ZTE Mobley is just that.
Google's "Project Nova" MVNO ambitions have already begrudgingly been acknowedlged by Android/Chrome "czar" Sundar Pichai, but now the Telegraph is reporting the company is in talks for no-cost international roaming as a feature of the service.
Sprint unleashed a slew of network announcements this morning at a press conference in Chicago, and for the most part, it's just the news you'd expect: more LTE, more Spark, and more HD voice.
Earlier today, we covered some interesting updates coming to Sprint's Galaxy Mega, Galaxy S4 Mini, and HTC One Max, all concerning LTE bands and "LTE UI Enhancements." These changes were of course related to Sprint's fledgling "Spark" tri-band LTE network which, according to Sprint, could potentially reach speeds of between 50 and 60 Mbps.