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AT&T announces 20 new LTE locations

AT&T dumps a bucket full of LTE location news, both currently active cities and coming soon announcements

AT&T just sent out 20 press releases with a bunch of LTE announcements. There's a lot to digest, so allow us to break it all down in one place for easy reading.

New LTE cities that are currently active:

New LTE cities coming this summer:

There's no word on when exactly during the summer these will light up, but I'm sure AT&T will remind us again when they go live -- or you fine folks will let us all know the minute it drops.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

Huawei Reveals the World’s Fastest 4G LTE Smartphone

Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, today introduced the HUAWEI Ascend P2, the world’s fastest smartphone, at the 2013 Mobile World Congress (MWC). The Ascend P2 features a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and LTE Cat 4 providing an ultrafast web experience with download speeds of up to 150 Mbps. Continuing the fashion legacy of the Ascend P-series, it is only 8.4mm slim with an infinity edge 4.7-inch IPS HD in-cell touch display with second-generation Corning® Gorilla® Glass, and will be available in black and white.

“Ascend P2 is the perfect combination of elegance and power, and further proof that there’s no need to compromise when desiring a perfect smartphone. It is evidence of the outstanding smartphone experiences and great technology that we are committed to bringing to consumers globally,” said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group.

The HUAWEI Ascend P2 will be on sale in France through Orange in June 2013.  

“We’re pleased to be working with Huawei again to enable our customers to have easier and faster access to all their favorite content,” said Yves Maitre, Senior Vice President, Mobile Multimedia & Devices, Orange. “We are impressed by the design and look forward to putting the Ascend P2 into the hands of consumers as soon as possible.”

“The technological capabilities of the HUAWEI Ascend P2 will enable our customers to have the fastest access to all their content, with speeds up to 150 Mbps on our brand new 4G network,” said Florence Paour, Device Marketing Director, Orange France.

The HUAWEI Ascend P2 runs on the Android 4.1 operating system, with Huawei’s own Emotion UI 1.5. Powered by a 2420 mAh battery and 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, the Ascend P2 downloads HD movies in minutes, and loads online videos, web pages, songs or e-Books in seconds. Huawei’s proprietary ‘swift sharing’ supports uploads and downloads two to three times faster than other smartphones in a Wi-Fi environment. With its NFC module*, Ascend P2 enables e-payments and can act as an electronic ticket. Huawei's unique Quick Power Control (QPC) and Automated Discontinuous Reception (ADRX) power-saving technologies, reduces power consumption by 30% and charging time by more than 25% compared to other smartphones.

Continuing the fashion focus of Huawei’s Ascend P smartphones, HUAWEI Ascend P2 evokes the image of an infinity pool with its seamless, elegant design and curvy contours. Using in-cell technology, its LCD 4.7-inch IPS HD touchscreen is an impressive 8.4mm slim. Its ‘magic touch’ feature provides enhanced screen responsiveness even with gloves, and instant keyword translation and Wikipedia searches can now be done on a single window with ‘smart reading’. The screen also calibrates its brightness automatically under any light conditions, allowing users to perform any function, under any light.  

The HUAWEI Ascend P2 provides optimal photo and video features including a 13 MP BSI rear-facing camera with HDR, and a 1.3 MP front-facing camera to support self-portrait and video shooting. A dedicated camera key on the side of the phone also allows instant access to picture taking, click once for the camera to be activated and another time to take the shot. With Huawei’s advanced camera algorithm, high-definition images can be captured even in backlit conditions. Auto adjustment modes further enable Ascend P2 to produce photos that rival professional cameras.

The Huawei Emotion UI*, available on the Ascend P2 is easy to use and customize. The UniHome function combines home panels with the main menu, while Huawei’s patent-pending Me Widget better utilizes screen real-estate by combining all the information and functions you need in a single, customizable widget. Emotion UI is also pre-installed with a smartphone housekeeper function to support real-time data traffic tracking, automatic blacklisting and blocking, periodical system cleaning, and spontaneous exiting of idle programs and cache cleanup, in addition to anti-virus, energy saving, privacy protection, software management, and more. 

For more information, visit Huawei Device online: www.huaweidevice.com

NVIDIA UNVEILS NEW TEGRA 4I PROCESSOR WITH BUILT-IN LTE

NVIDIA (NVDA) on Tuesday announced its first Tegra processor with an integrated LTE chip. The 2.3GHz quad-core Tegra 4i, which brings the company in closer competition withQualcomm (QCOM) and its line of Snapdragon CPUs, is equipped with 60 custom GPU cores, a fifth processing core for battery conservation and an integrated NVIDIA i500 LTE modem. It also includes NVIDIA’s Chimera camera technology that is capable of capturing HDR panorama shots without requiring a single-direction sweep. The company calls its the new processor the most efficient, highest performance CPU core on the market, noting that it will provide “amazing computing power, world-class phone capabilities, and exceptionally long battery life.”

[Source: BGR]

Apple begins selling unlocked iPhone 5 in the US, starting from $649 (update: LTE bands)

It's that special time of the year... that is, when Apple decides to unfetter the iPhone for US shoppers. The Cupertino crew has quietly started selling the iPhone 5 in an unlocked, off-contract form that will work on GSM, HSPA+ and (if you're in the right countries) LTE networks. There's few surprises versus what we've seen in years past, or in other regions: the unlocked iPhone 5 ships in the same capacities and colors as the carrier-bound model, and starts from $649. That's still expensive for those still used to buying on an agreement, and it won't represent as much bang-for-the-buck as a $350 Nexus 4. If you're yearning for the LTE the Nexus 4 lacks and don't mind living in an iOS universe, however, Apple is ready and waiting.

[Source: Engadget]

Nexus 4 works with LTE after simple tweak

Some enterprising tinkerers on the XDA Developers forums are demonstrating that despite the lack of a working signal amplifier and filter in LG’s Nexus 4, it’s still possible to force the phone onto an LTE network from the phone’s debugging menu — at least on LTE band 4 (1700MHz and 2100MHz) on Canadian carriers Telus and Rogers.

Last week, Anandtech reported that "Band 4 (AWS) could essentially be supported with the power amplifiers and transceiver that already are onboard the Nexus 4, but again it ultimately comes down to a particular OEM choice whether these get supported." As we've written previously, getting LTE support across multiple carriers across the US and internationally is a minefield, which is why Google chose not to include support for multiple LTE bands on the Nexus 4.

[Source: The Verge]

Ireland completes spectrum auction after analog shutoff, LTE rollout pegged for mid-2013

The dust has settled after Ireland's recent spectrum auction, and wouldn't you know it, Vodafone, O2, Meteor and Three have picked up a combined 140MHz of paired spectrum across the 800, 900 and 1800MHz bands. According to the country's regulator, ComReg, the auction will effectively double the spectrum available in these bands and will allow for LTE deployment across Éire. For its part, O2 has committed to begin its 4G rollout in the first half of 2013. To ensure quick deployment, all license holders are required to make their new spectrum available to 70 percent of Ireland's population within three years. In all, the companies will pay €855 million ($1.09 billion) for spectrum rights until 2030, of which, €482 million is payable up front. Curiously enough, the country's 800MHz spectrum was freed up just last month after its analog shutoff. To find a complete breakdown of the situation, feel free to hit up the announcement from ComReg at the source link below.

[Source: Engadget]

AT&T to allow FaceTime on non-shared data plans, but only on LTE devices

After ruffling plenty of feathers back in August when it announced that FaceTime over cellular would only be available to users on its Mobile Share data plans, AT&T has decided to loosen those restrictions a bit. Today, the carrier announced that customers on its new tiered data plans will be able to use FaceTime on its network, but only if they have LTE-capable devices.

This means that customers who still have grandfathered-in unlimited data plans are still out of luck if they'd like to FaceTime without using WiFi. Also, owners of non-LTE devices -- so, basically anything before the iPhone 5 and the third-generation iPad -- need not apply. You don't need to have LTE service for your device, however, which is at least some good news for those who don't live in AT&T's LTE coverage areas. If you meet the new criteria, you'll be able to start using FaceTime over cellular on AT&T in eight to 10 weeks.

[Source: TUAW]

4G LTE to launch in UK on October 30

iPhone 5 owners in the UK have something to cheer about -- 4G LTE service will be available for the first time in the country starting on October 30th.

The ultra-fast LTE service will operate on the network of EE (formerly known as Everything Everywhere), a new joint venture of Orange UK and T-Mobile. Although Orange and T-Mobile customers will soon see their carrier change to EE, they'll need to have an EE data plan in order to take advantage of the faster speeds provided by 4G LTE.

At this point, the service is expected to roll out in 10 cities on October 30th. By the end of 2012, 16 cities -- which contain a third of the population of the UK -- will have 4G LTE, and EE expects 98 percent of the population to be covered by 2014.

[Source: TUAW]

iPhone 5 officially announced with 4-inch display, A6 CPU and LTE for $199 on September 21st

Apple may be notoriously secretive and tight lipped, but the company appears to be getting worse and worse at actually keeping things under wraps. The iPhone 5 appears to be the most leaked handset in existence. Thankfully, the suspense is over, the next-gen iPhone is finally here and it does, in fact, go by the numerical title of 5. Just like the parts that have been circulating on the web, this is a glass and aluminum two-tone affair and, at 7.6mm it's a full 18 percent thinner than the 4S. It's even 20 percent lighter at 112 grams, which is even less than the mostly plastic Galaxy S III. It's all those "magical" things and it packs a larger 4-inch in-cell display. The new version of Apple's Retina panel is 1136 x 640, which clocks in at a more than respectable 326ppi. It also sports better color saturation with full sRGB rendering. That new longer screen allows for an extra set of icons to be displayed on the home screen, and first party apps have already been tweaked to take advantage of the additional real estate. The iWork suite, Garage Band and iMovie have all been updated. Older apps will still work too, though they'll be displayed in a letterbox format until an update is issued. The tweaked ratio puts the iPhone 5 display closer to 16:9, but it's not quite there.

[Source: Engadget - View more images there]

 

Apple search results turn up iPhone 5 name and LTE connectivity, indications of new iPod touch, iPod nano and iTunes 11

Apple offered a hint of the name in its invitation to today's event, but it looks like a slip-up on its own website may have now let the cat of the bag. Searching for "iphone-5" brings up a number of results for (as yet nonexistent) pages related to a device that seems to clearly be called the "iPhone 5." What's more, as 9 to 5 Mac notes, there are also references to a "new iPod touch with Retina Display" and a new iPod nano, as well as a similar indication that iTunes 11 is set to be released today.

[Source: Engadget]