As expected, the FCC has launched a Speed Test app that measures mobile broadband performance for Android devices. Available as a free download from Google Play, the app runs periodically in the background and performs tests when you aren't using your handset. There is a manual test option, for those of you steeped in the ways of Speedtest.net.
According to the FCC, the app is a "first step towards evaluating mobile broadband network performance, arming consumers with information to make fact-based, informed decisions about their wireless providers." In practice, data gathered from FCC Speed Test will help build out visualizations and maps that compare speeds and technologies across the country. Android users can hit up the Google Play link below to try it out. iPhone users, meanwhile, will have to wait till early next year; the FCC says it will submit an iOS version by late 2014.
Filed under: Cellphones, Networking, Mobile
Via: Phone Scoop
Source: Google Play, FCC
We knew good and well that Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo would be divulging details about its 5G wireless plans at CEATEC, but the claims that we've stumbled upon here in Chiba are nothing short of bananas. Granted, the operator is making clear that its vision isn't intended to reach implementation until 2020, and it confesses that a 5G standard has yet to be ratified. That said, it's dreaming of a world where its network offers "1000 times the capacity and 100 times the speed as the current network."
Representatives for the company told us that the challenge is going to be dealing with range limitations in higher frequency spectrum, but it plans to employ "high-frequency bandwidth by transmitting with a large number of antenna elements." The goal for looking so far forward? It's already seeing an insane appetite for video on networks that can barely maintain poise under the load, and the notion of transferring 4K content to the masses is going to require a substantial upgrade. CEATEC's known as a place that allows companies to dream big and aim for the fences, but we'll be honest -- we'd really, really prefer that 2020 arrived sooner rather than later.
Mat Smith contributed to this report. %Gallery-slideshow99596%
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
Last year, the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU) told us there were five billion mobile subscriptions worldwide at the close of 2010, and now it's reporting that at the end of 2011, that figure hit a staggering six billion.
Interestingly, the number of global mobile broadband subscriptions now outnumbers fixed ones by two to one, and mobile internet services showed the biggest growth rates in 2011: 40% worldwide and 78% in developing markets. The ITU attributes the latter figure to the relatively high price of fixed access in these countries, and the increasing availability of mobile alternatives. The CTIA also commented on mobile broadband use, reporting that from July 2011 to June this year, Americans consumed 104 percent more data -- no doubt due, in part, to people taking advantage of expanding 4G coverage. As usual, we've given you the cheat sheet, so if you'd like the full reports and have got a thing for statistics, there's plenty more in the source links below.
[Image credit: Chris Jordan]
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Wireless, Internet, Mobile
International Telecommunication Union: worldwide mobile subscriptions hit six billion in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Internet, Mobile, Samsung
UK government and industry heavyweights set up 5G Innovation Centre, want to go one better originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 18:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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