"soundhaspriority" wrote in message
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"ScottW" wrote in message
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"ScottW" wrote in message
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"ScottW" wrote in message
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http://www.i4u.com/article6402.html
In addition to ipod functionality..
this is one of the first generation new TV phones. LGE has
one in test
as well.
The DMB function is Qualcomms mediaflo.
http://www.qualcomm.com/mediaflo/index.shtml
They bought spectrum (UHF channel 55 IIRC) and will
begin offering digital broadcast in most major metro centers
by year end.
Verizon has already signed up to offer the service to their
subscribers.
ScottW
Thanks, Scott, for the heads up. Although I am professionally
involved in
media creation, I am personally more of a data/text person.I
carry a
subnotebook everywhere I go, and two EDGE data terminals: one
card, one
phone. When available I may add a Sprint EVDO rev A card, or
simply upgrade
to T-Mobile's coming HSPDA. I actually prefer to view static
websites. In
terms of media leverage, however, video is where it's at.
There will be universal phones available in a year... but I'm not
sure
if they've worked out the kinks with the network operators...
for example can you pick the fastest data service available
without
incurring some ridiculous roaming fees?
Have to wait and see on that one.
Why can't you use your phone as modem?
I can and I do. But I used to have a Nokia 6820, which is only an
EDGE Class 6 device.
Do they allow the
data card and phone to share time/data service on one account or
is it
considered
two numbers?
I swap the SIM card. The tradeoffs are as follows:
1. The Sierrra 775 card is a Class 12 EDGE device - 4 slots
down/up. It has a large power budget, with a Blackfin software
radio and 2watts/800mHz, 1watt/1900 mHz.
2. The HTC Wizard is a Class 10 EDGE device - 4slots down/1 up.It
doesn't have the power budget. It seems to have additional latency
over that inherent in GPRS/EDGE. It used to be that Google would
seldom load. It appears that sites that were Ackamai hosted would
load, but others with large back ends would not. I haven't checked
since I installed the new AKU 2.0 ROM image, but this is why I
bought the card.
Currently, T-Mobile charge nothing for domestic roaming. There is
good signal in much of the southwest. There is also bad signal in
much of the southwest. The Northeast is very good, frequently
providing downlink at the theoretical maximum EDGE speed of 236
kbs. People who use Sprint EVDO for onsite service in suburban
Philly report mediocre coverage, with dropback most of the time to
1xRTT. Now my old standbys, the T-mobile hotspots are giving me
trouble. The installations did not anticipate local competition.
In many seats, one cannot log into their vaunted 802.1x network,
sometimes not even their open network.
WiFi was simply never designed to have lots of access points
operating
in an area. No coordinated channel assignment..its just a free for
all
RF wise.
So it's very much a crapshoot. The coverage maps are not truthful.
The purpose of another connection card would be to increase the
chances of broadband.
HTC has a new phone, the TYTN,
http://www.europe.htc.com/products/htctytn.html, which actually
has universal triband HSPDA coverage on top of UMTS, EDGE, and
GPRS. However, reports are that the phone simply cannot host a
modem connection at full speed, which is faster than Bluetooth
2.0. I don't have any data on phones that can act as a broadband
modem without a speed penalty, but I know of several that cannot.
New HTC models seem to have buggy ROM code. It took them six
months to straighten out the Wizard. It would seem that because PC
cards are simpler devices with larger power budgets, they should
be assumed more reliable, in the absence of substantial user
experience with 3G phones for laptop data.
Thats generally true...but because the PC card market is
substantially
smaller than phones...they use the same basic chipsets as phones.
Not as a rule. Perhaps some do, but as a counterexample, the Sierra
775 EDGE cardbus card uses a Blackfin software radio:
http://www.analog.com/processors/bla...ics/index.html
The card draws a tremendous amount of power and runs HOT. It could
never be powered off a cellphone battery.
Its a fully software configurable digital radio configurable for X-fm
and the like as well.
No wonder it runs hot... It is still an example that the digital
wireless modem
isn't large enough for dedicated hardware development.
The HTC Wizard uses the dual core TI OMAP 850:
http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtb...contentId=4679
While the Blackfin radio is completely firmware, the OMAP 850 was
designed for EDGE, period. It's built into the DSP core. Firmware,
but specialized. The WM5 core is a typical ARM derivative.
ARM cores do not have DMA.
Not true. ARM11 used as an application processor in the
chipset I referenced does.
http://www.arm.com/products/CPUs/fam...M11Family.html
They are strictly PIO. This is the cause of the data bottleneck. The
ARM core simply can't ship the data out the usb port, or bluetooth,
as fast as it comes in. This is another reason to go with a pc card.
We use cellular modems in equipment tracking and sometimes
its a challenge to make sure all the ancillary features remain off
in the
modems chipset.
I can't tell what the HTC design is based on...but it isn't quite
universal yet.
The Tytn uses a Samsung 400 mHz ARM core. I don't know what the
phone chip is.
This chipset gets real close to universal coverage with minor
variance in
RF bands supported depending on the chips used.
http://www.cdmatech.com/download_lib...00_chipset.pdf
That is very impressive. What's missing from this picture is the
willingness of carriers to allow subscribers to roam at reasonable
rates.
It remains to be seen how many manufacturers will support the
"global"
roaming market and what kind of premium they can charge.
ScottW
The question is, how/will Verizon, Sprint, and others use it to our
least advantage ? 
They all want to lock us in and charge
exorbitant rates for data. That's one reason I went with T-Mobile. A
Wizard is easy to unlock, and with 4-band EDGE/GRPS, closest to
global as currently available. And T-Mobile data is cheap, if slow
away from hotspots.
Verizon had no EVDO competition until recently with Sprint and
as you know..EDGE really isn't competition so it is priced
accordingly.
Until 3 or 4 providers get to comparable technical capability
so they can really compete..data prices will remain high.
Not enough subscribers are making the service provider
decisions based on data..yet.
Starting to look like the phone/ipod convergence may be the
app to change that.
By 2010, Vista will be in handhelds. See
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/06..._sells_xscale/
Maybe but they couldn't make it in the market with Xscale
so why will Vista be different?
Intel as a company is really F'd right now.
The sold Xscale cuz they never really broke into handhelds.
I remember the bid deal all the analysts made when Intel announced
their plans to enter the mobile market...
They ****ed away billions on Xscale and get what in return?
They're also rapidly losing out int the flash commodity business
which is also up for sale.
Intel is in serious decline right now.
The days of ARM cores are numbered.
I don't see that at all. Intel has gone after the mobile market
before and failed...they simply can't catch up and with AMD nipping
away
the desktop market they need to protect that.
But power consumption will always be a problem for broadband.
Current user experience indicates marginal talk time with UMTS.
Always the case with first generation new technology.
CDMA..GSM all went through the power optimization process.
First you get it to work..then you get it to work well.
ScottW