AT&T Expanding To 3G

After a long wait, AT&T has officially stated that it will be expanding its 3G capabilities across the 100 largest US cities, effective in 2008. Whilst it isn't included in the announcement, the main reason for this must be a 3G iPhone, already in the pipeline.

The increase in transfer speeds will hopefully silence some of the iPhone's detractors, who thought (and rightly so) that the EDGE network was sluggish and couldn't keep up with the next gen requirements of the iPhone. With all the new features, its a shame that the network could let Apple down in such a way, loading pages in safari in minutes, not the seconds which you see in the adverts. And with a multi-year deal between Apple and AT&T, they can't switch to another/multiple providers. So all we can do is pray AT&T get their act together and get the service up and running. The basic transfer speed of 3G is at least three or four times faster than the '2.5 G' EDGE and similar networks, and AT&T are already working on 4G, which will no doubt put 3G to shame.

3G was initially held from the iPhone's feature list due to battery issues and the relative youth of the technology. You have to hand it to Apple- they took a risk, and it paid off big time- 4 million sales and counting. Now, with 3G talk-time extended to 5 hours minimum, it has become a business possibility. And in talks late last year, both AT&T bosses and Steve Jobs let slip that it would be out long before the close of 2008. To keep us happy, Apple, please release the iPhone Nano, a theoretical product which looks ace- see artist impression below.

Written by Will on February 7th, 2008 with no comments.
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The Case Of The Missing iPhones…

Since its release, Apple has long been aware of the fact that a large proportion of iPhones in circulation are illegally unlocked. They've also made their best efforts to crack down on the figures, by releasing software which bricks unlocked iPhones, making them useless decorations.

Many units are totally unaccounted for, and recently compiled data has shown that these are most likely illegally unlocked versions, rather than legit versions waiting in inventory. Estimates for the unlocked European sales lie as high as 40% of the whole. If correct, these figures are a serious warning sign to Apple and their network partners. In order to combat this, the only thing they can really do is to clamp down on those jailbreaking the software updates. The SDK wont hurt either...

Things aren't so dire in the US, with research suggesting that somewhere in the region of 15-20% of iPhones are unlocked. These figures present a serious problem for AT&T, but Apple really needn't worry. People are obviously willing to make the effort themselves to get the iPhone, even if it means paying a premium for an unlocked version or moving to another carrier.

Written by Will on January 28th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on ATandT and Apple and Illegal and iPhone and unlocked.