Posts Tagged ‘4G Wireless’

Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 Philippines (via SMART)

Update: Smart Nexus 7 Is Bundled With Pocket Wifi Plan

The Nexus devices is heading over the country soon! Smart Communications announces Saturday that they will be offering the latest Google devices – Nexus 4 and Nexus 7- in the Philippines. The announcement was made via Twitter.

SMART to Offer Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 in the Philippines

About Nexus 4 and Nexus 7

Nexus 4 is the latest Google Phone. Successor of Galaxy Nexus, it was designed by Google in partnership with LG Electronics. It sports a quad-core processor, a stunning 4.7 inches Corning Gorilla Glass display, and Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) mobile OS.

Nexus 7  is the latest iteration of Google tablet. It sports a 7-inches display, a quad-core processor 1 GB RAM and is being offered an amazing price of as low as $199 USD (around 8400 Pesos) for the 16GB WiFi Model. It also runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS.

About SMART Communications

Smart Communications is the mobile arm of the telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT). It is the country’s largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers. They now offers a wide array of wireless technologies: GSM, 3G, and 4G (LTE, WiMAX and HSPA+).

Pricing and Availability

Smart has not yet disclosed the details about the price of these devices. It is likely though that Nexus 4 phone will come tied up with a plan and a 24-month contract. For Nexus 7, it is possible that SMART will only offer the 32 GB, WiFi + HSPA+ model and tie it to a their data plan.

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iPhone 5? Apple to Unveil the Next iPhone in September 12 Event

Apple has sent invitations to the media Tuesday (US)  regarding an event that will be held on September 12, 2012 at Yerba Buena Center, San Franciso. Although not explicitly mentioned, the invitation gave hint at a possible release of the next iPhone, which the media often refers to as iPhone 5.

The invitation shows a big number 12 but casting a shadow of something that looks like 5. See for yourself below:

The Apple event invitation shows hint of the possible release of iPhone 5.

What does the rumor tells us about the next iPhone?

Big Screen (4 inches)

Recently, there’s a strong rumor that iPhone 5 will sport a bigger screen.  In my opinion, this move is logical since Apple’s main competitor in the smartphone market, Samsung Mobile has already released dozens of smartphones which gigantic screen.  The Galaxy line for instance sports screen sizes of as big as 5.5 inches (Galaxy Note 2). Other phone manufacturers such as HTC and Motorola follows a similar move.

Smaller Dock Connector, Thinner Uni-body Aluminum Case

Photos of rumored iPhone 5 reveals a smaller dock connector, a thinner uni-body aluminum case. The thinner aluminum might compensate for the increase in the phone size and maintain the current weight of iPhone.

LTE Support and Nano SIM

Rumor also says that iPhone 5 will be the first to use the so called nanoSIM, smaller than the current microSIM used in iPhone 4S. The purpose of which is to conserve space inside the already jam packed smartphone design.

Even before the release of iPhone 4S, people have been expecting Apple to support the increasingly becoming popular 4G LTE wireless technology. Many are unsatisfied that iPhone 4S just support up to 14.4 Mbps of data transfer (3G HSDPA). If Apple will indeed finally support the faster LTE network, then it would be a huge leap for many.

iPhone 4S Availability in the Philippines

Now that the two largest mobile network company in the country (SMART and Globe) selling iPhones in the Philippines, it would be good that Apple make the device a little earlier. Last year, it took more than two months before the celebrated device officially entered the Philippine market. I hope, this time it would be much earlier.

When it comes to price, I think Apple won’t break its tradition of keeping the price of the iPhone series while lowering the prices of the previous models. If that holds true then the prepaid 16GB iPhone 5 will likely be priced at 33, 200 Pesos.

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SMART To Launch Its 4G LTE on August 25

After more than nine months since SMART Communications begins public testing of its upcoming 4G wireless technology known as Long Term Evolution (LTE), the company announced today that the official launch will be on August 25, 2012.

This launch is expected to further boost SMART‘s lead in wireless internet connectivity.Currently, SMART is offering variety of wireless technologies, from GSM, GPRS, EDGE, 3G, 4G HSPA+, and WiMAX. With the addition of LTE on the line up, it will take SMART to another level of wireless communication, both in terms of speed and efficiency.

SMART LTE Launch on August 25, 2012

What is LTE?

LTE or Long Term Evolution is the most advanced commercially available wireless communication standard capable of achieving speeds as fast as 100Mbps, depending on variety. In the case of SMART, testing shows that it is capable of clock download speed of up to 42mbps. To give you an idea, a 700mb movie can be downloaded in  less than 30 seconds (depending on signal consistency). And based on public beta tests, LTE is lightning fast!

On August 25, the Philippines will be the third country in the region to have a commercial LTE available to the public. The other two were Singapore and Hong Kong.

Still Lagging in Internet Speed

Although the country is one of the biggest internet users in the world, based on study, we are still lagging in terms of internet speed. For instance, data from Internet World Stats and SpeedTest.net says that the Philippines is lagging behind almost two-thirds of the world. We are not only surpassed by wealthier nations but that of relatively of the same income range as ours. For more details, see the article published by GMA News Online here.

With the launch of SMART LTE, I hope that better internet will be here in the Philippines.

Broadband Stick Users: DO NOT Upgrade Connectify to Version 3.4

I’ve been using Connectify since Windows 7 was launched three years ago. For those who were not familiar, Connectify is a Windows 7 application that converts your laptop’s wireless adapter to a router. With that, you can share your computer internet to your wireless devices through a Wifi broadcast.

For the past two years now, I’ve also been using Smart Bro plug-it device (USB Broadband stick). I used Connecifyto share my internet connection to my other wireless devices an

Connectify (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

d it worked fantastic ever since. But then, last May 2012, I received a notification to update my Connectify to a newer version, I think it’s version 3.4 (I had version 3.1 installed). And because this is not the first time I updated the program, I went ahead for an update.  After restarting the Connectify though, I was surprised to find out the support for 3G/4G cards has been disabled for free version and was now reserved for the paid Connectify Pro version. Oh yeah!

Thankfully, I still have the installer of the older version, 3.1. I uninstalled the 3.4 and re-installed the 3.1. It worked just fine. So, warning for Connectify users out there who are also using 3G/4G cards: DO NOT EVER UPDATE!

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New Apple iPad Unveiled- Specs, Prices and Availability in the Philippines

Apple Inc unveiled early today the next generation of their popular tablet device, the iPad. And contrary to the most common expectation that it would be called “iPad 3″ or “iPad HD”, Apple reverted back the name to simply “iPad”. The extremely rumored and anticipated unveiling was held in San Francisco before a crowd of media and tech bloggers.

The new iPad with Retina Display

New iPad Features

The predicted by many, the new iPad features a Retina Display doubling the resolution of old iPads to a stunning  2,048 X 1,536 pixel density. With this new display, Apple also upgraded their processor to A5X with quad-core graphics processor.

The rear camera is also upgraded to iSight sporting a 5MP sensor capable of capturing vivid shots and 1080p HD videos.

As anticipated, the new iPad now supports the most advanced 4G wireless mobile connectivity, the Long Term Evolution (LTE). This will enable the new iPad to download at a blazing speed of up to 73 Mbps. And of course, the new iPad is backward compatible with 3G services like HSPA etc.

Software updates and features includes the video stabilizers for minimizing vibration during video capture. A new Dictation capability which will enables the new iPad to convert voice to text (this is not Siri).

Pricing and Availability

The new iPad will be available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, UK and the US Virgin Islands on Friday, March 16, 2012. For the rest of us (especially here in the Philippines, we may have to wait for a little while).

The new iPad is priced starting at 499 USD for 16 GB Wifi model and 629 USD for 16GB Wifi+4G models. Apple maintained the price the same as the iPad 2 before. iPad 2 prices now has been lowed by 100 USD starting today.

LG Announces Optimus Pad LTE

LG Electronics unveiled yesterday a new tablet named Optimus Pad LTE. It is an Android-powered tablet (version 3.0, Honeycomb) with a 8.9 True HD IPS display with a resolution of 1280X700-pixel. It has a 2MP front facing facing camera and an 8MP rear-facing camera. Inside the device beats a decent Qualcomm dual-core processor with a clock speed of 1.5 GHz.

LG Optimus Pad LTE

The device supports expanded memory of up to 32GB via SD card slot and an HDMI out. The battery is 6800mAh. And of course, as the name indicates, it supports Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless broadband technology.

Here’s the full specs:

Operating System: Android 3.2 Honeycomb
Memory: User 32GB (Micro SD up to 32GB)
Size: 245 x 151.4 x 9.34 mm
Weight: 497 g
Display: 8.9-inch IPS True HD Display
Resolution: 1280 x 768
Camera: 8MP (Rear) / 2MP (Front)
Processor: Qualcomm 1.5GHz Dual-Core / Dual Channel Processor
Battery: 6,800mAh
Others: HDMI, DLNA

Register for SMART 4G LTE Beta Testing for FREE

SMART Communications have launched a beta testing program for their upcoming  and most awaited 4G LTE broadband technology. The program is called SMART Evolution Closed BETA Program. They are inviting tech enthusiasts, bloggers, and typical power users for a free beta testing.

SMART 4G LTE Broadband Stick

For those who are interested, your job is simple: to put it through the paces, give it a real workout, and to tell them about it. For bloggers and those active in social networks, you are free to tell your friends the world about it.

To register, just sign up here:

http://www1.smart.com.ph/bro/lte/sign-up

What is 4G LTE?

LTE or Long Term Evolution is the fastest wireless broadband technology in the world capable of providing internet speeds up to 42Mbps.  To illustrate how fast was that, let’s put it this way: downloading, uploading and sharing files will be done in a snap; gigabyte-sized files are downloaded in matter of seconds.

YouTube and Netflix video streaming experience will improve dramatically. Purchasing software (games) online will be a lot easier. Video Calls won’t be snappy. All of these benefits will be made possible by LTE technology.

SMART Shows Upcoming 4G LTE Broadband Stick on Its Product Page

It’s already a public knowledge that SMART Communication has been testing a new mobile wireless technology for quite a while now. That technology is classified as 4G (4th Generation) and is known by the acronym LTE which stands for Long Term Evolution.

4G LTE was by far the fastest mobile wireless technology in the world. SMART reports that it can deliver as fast as 50Mbps data transfer rate. For consumers, SMART claims that it can download a one-hour HD movie in less than a minute, while a 200-mb upload is done in 5 seconds!

Today, if you check SMART Bro’s product webpage, you can  notice that they already added the upcoming broadband stick for 4G LTE.

SMART 4G LTE Broadband Stick

Note: SMART’s 4G Rocket Plug-it is also a 4G technology but is not LTE. Instead it was using a technology called HSPA+.

4G Portable or Pocket Wifi Coming to SMART Bro

If you love the speed of the SMART Bro’s Rocket Plug-it, then SMART is on its way to offering a pocket WiFi capable of getting a 4G HSPA+ wireless signal. This was what SMART is promoting as their upcoming broadband product. See the teaser ad below:

SMART Bro Rocket Wifi Plus (portbale wifi)

Aside from the promise of “up to 20 mbps”  connection speed, there’s not detail yet as to the pricing and availability.

We’ll update you with a new post regarding this.

Related articles

• SMART Unveils 4G (HSPA+) Rocket Plug-it (techalang.com)

SMART Unveils 4G (HSPA+) Rocket Plug-it

SMART has formally released today its newest wireless internet device, the Rocket Plug-it offering up to 12 Mbps broadband internet speed, the fastest in the Philippines.

SMART Bro Rocket Plug-it device

SMART Rocket Plug-it works in SMARTS 4G HSPA+ Wireless Broadband network which is currently available on selected areas in the country. Currently, those areas are located key cities such as Metro Manila, Cebu City, Davao City and many others. See the full list of SMART Bro HSPA+ coverage in the Philippines.

SMART Rocket Plug-it device is available at a price of 3995 pesos on time payment. It is not available on a post-paid. Internet rates is the same as the 3G Plug-it which was 10 pesos per 30 minutes. The rate is subject to change when the promo ends this September 2011.

Rocket Plug-it was SMART’s counter offer to the recently released Globe Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini which as a maxiumum speed of 10-Mbps and also runs in 4G HSPA+ technology.