Posts tagged 3G

UKGadgeteer is currently testing out the INQ Mini and is impressed with the openness of the company surrounding their products. He is especially impressed with the technical support option Get Satisfaction,

“Not just does this help the end user in getting answers to their questions, it can also offer useful information over and above what the mobile network operator may tell you.”

When it comes to UKGadgeteer’s first tip however, it is all about hooking your browser up to m.inq.getjar.com and having a delve through the many applications, a lot of which are free, meaning,

“It offers easy access to Java / Brew specific applications which are pretty much guaranteed to run fine on the phone. So, there’s the tip; if you are looking for additional applications for your INQ Mini, head to m.inq.getjar.com and see what’s available.”

Let us know if you discover a gem…

It seems a fairly bold statement to say the least from Carphone Warehouse’s chief executive Charles Dunstone,

“We get a sense that the mobile broadband thing has peaked. We are seeing some of those people begin to realise that the bandwidth you get on mobile is so much less than you get on a fixed line.”

The company’s direction has clearly moved toward fixed broadband, so such statements are in line with the direction that they’re taking, but peaked? Maybe it’s a reaction to the news that Talk Talk, Carphone’s fixed-line business, has seen further growth for the second quarter running. Even so, the point on which this story gets into trouble is highlighted by Broadband Genie,

“[…] few would argue that mobile broadband was ever really mooted as a replacement for fixed-line alternatives - yet, anyway.”

As the mobile industry progresses though this possibility is certainly beginning to increase in size on the mobile data horizon. In opposition of Dunstone’s comments is Andrew Cowie’s post at the Guardian, contemplating an entirely different perspective,

“Is it time to lose the landline and just have a mobile phone for calls and a 3G broadband dongle for the internet?”

The argument for one or the other is currently settled on issues of coverage and what it is you do online… but will one eventually marginalise the other?

Amongst the current INQ Mini reviews and previews, the Mobile Deals Compared (MDC) blog has decided to focus on the INQ Chat, referring to it as an affordable alternative to the more well know smartphone brands.

Making a focus of the integrated features and of course that Qwerty keyboard, MDC is holding on to high hopes for the Chat, especially as they were so impressed with the INQ1,

“[…] the INQ Chat 3G truly has the potential to be a more affordable version of the Blackberry for those who have an eye for the famed smartphone, but not the wallet.”

Are you looking forward to the arrival of the INQ Chat?

Charles Arthur at The Guardian may have given up on femtocells (mini mobile masts for home use that use your broadband connection to plug your phone into the wider network), but the news that manufacturer Ubiquisys has just raised $11 million suggests he may have spoken too soon.

TechCrunch quotes Ubiquisys CEO Chris Gilbert, “The femtocell industry is about to enter a phase of aggressive growth”. This is quite the opposite of the opinion expressed by Charles, who has long hoped for this ‘aggressive growth’ so as to solve his problem of living in a rural area where there is “great broadband but terrible mobile reception.”

As Charles continues he turns his attention to mobile wi-fi and the rise of the dongle, something 3 has staked an interest in and, if you were in any doubt, have a look at what Ewan from Mobile Industry Review has been up to…

ISPreview have covered the news that the European Commission’s Council of Ministers have followed the lead of the European Parliament in approving a proposal that will allow 3G mobile broadband services to use the 900MHz frequency band, currently reserved for 2G activity.

“The move could result in industry savings of up to €1.6 billion because operators will not need to invest as much cash into new Mobile Broadband infrastructure (fewer base stations). The 900MHz band also has a greater range and exists in areas where other bands have yet to be established. For example, just think of all the areas where your phone can get a 2G but not 3G signal…”

Food for thought indeed, especially when it comes to how this will affect the UK operators, something ISPreview discusses…

3, as part of their Free Calls Forever campaign, are offering free SIMs - one for you and one for a friend.

All you need to do is get your free SIM, pop it in a unlocked 3G phone and you’ll be able to Skype your day away, all day, every day for nothing. All you need to do is head here and enter your details and 3 will aim to deliver your pair of SIMs within five working days.

“We’ll send you a free SIM, plus an extra one to give to a mate - so you can both benefit from free calls to each other. The more people you tell about this great offer, the more people you can talk to for free…”

Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

*update* Apologies on our behalf for suggesting you can Skype away all day… this isn’t as yet the case. Although you’ll be able to make regular calls, Skype won’t be available until later in the year via the free SIMs - likely early Q4.

*Further update* As there was some confusion around this we sought some clarification from 3 - Skype will work on almost all 3 branded 3G handsets, but at the moment not on 3G handsets that hadn’t originally come from 3. 3 have told us they’re working on a solution over the summer that might solve this problem for some of the most popular 3G handsets that hadn’t originally been bought from 3. In the meantime, the good news is you can use 3’s SIMs in non 3 3G handsets to make calls, send texts, and access the internet. And if you’re using one of the free PAYG SIMs currently being given away, you can get free texts and internet everytime you top up - no matter where your 3G phone came from.

At Top 10 Broadband, Jonathan Leggett has written on a Financial Times story that suggests 3 are set to acquire the UK division of T-Mobile.

It appears that T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telecom is looking to sell the UK division and with the networks currently positioned as they are, speculation suggests 3 are likely to take the reins, “The two firms currently already share their mobile broadband and mobile phone network. Furthermore, 3 does not have a 2G mobile network of its own.”

Jonathan suggests that if the merger were to go ahead “it would create one of the mobile broadband sector’s largest players and would dramatically boost 3’s already-growing customer base.” Interesting stuff, but with 3 and T-Mobile declining to comment we can only wait.

News of Skype on the iPhone has prompted a response from 3, as reported by Pocket-Lint’s Amy-Mae Elliot.

The operator has pointed out not only have they been offering the service since 2006, but also that Skype on the iPhone functions differently. Whereas the iPhone relies on Wi-Fi, 3 use the 3G network meaning customers can make a Skype call whenever they have a signal.

Available on contracts from £9 a month and for regularly topping up PAYG customers it is no surprise that the network sees “over 1 million minutes of Skype to Skype calls [being] made on 3 every month.”

For Pocket-Lint’s full article click through…

3 have secured Target Components for distributing their 3G starter kits across the UK.

Sam Trendall of CRN has the details on Target being given the charge of supplying the pre-loaded dongles. The starter kits are valid for 12 months and can be subsequently topped up, and in the case of Target will be bundled with laptops. Target’s purchasing manager Kelly Burnley stated “We have seen a massive growth in laptop and netbook sales […] Customers have been asking us for mobile broadband products.”

To read more on this, click through.

The 3G Forum has been directed to a Washington Post article by e1000er discussing the possibility of 3 UK picking up the iPhone.

It comes from comments made by CEO Kevin Russell suggesting it is something the provider would look at. The news is met with differing opinions, both freddyg and Dave_Keys are optimistic, speculating regarding the iPhone and 3’s extensive 3G network. Wenklaw, however is far more dismissive, believing the device is over-hyped.

For the rhyme and reasons and to give your own views join in here.

Outside of the box is a good place to be when it comes to doing something a little different. In light of this I give you one of Stephen Waddington’s projects, the wireless webcam.

Sure, when he received his 3 mobile broadband dongle he put it to use checking email while on the move, web browsing, uploading images to Flickr, posting blog entries and demo web applications in meetings. But that’s not all! He also hooked up a webcam with TinCam and a dongle to upload images to his piece of the web.

“The data throughput isn’t gutsy enough to act as a live connection and would quickly max out your data plan but uploading a captured image (about 30 to 40kB depending to quality) webcam image to a web server every few minutes is entirely viable.”

Stephen finishes by asking whether 3G could see the rise of temporary, mobile webcams. What do you think? Also he asks if might just be an excitable geek in a manner that suggests something is wrong with such a status?

There’s been a couple of interesting threads regarding 3 mobile broadband recently: one on Urban75 forum the other on boards.ie. In the Urban75 thread, ‘miss direct’ writes that she’s thinking of signing up to 3 mobile broadband using the half price deal as she’s an existing customer. She asks if 3GB a month will be enough, and also how fast the service is. ‘ChrisFilter’ reckons 3GB is “enough for browsing” but maybe not for downloading music or streaming TV programmes, while ‘Tricky Skills’ of London tells of his 1GB a month deal, claiming “It’s great for me… Connection is good and the speeds are fine for browsing”. If you’ve got any experiences to add, head on over to Urban75.

Meanwhile on boards.ie, ‘Glenman’ reports that he’s getting a great 3G signal despite living “in the middle of the hills near the Bluestack mountains on the back road between Glenties and Ballybofey”. Sounds charmingly rural! He asks whether 3G is transmitted by most of the masts in Ireland, to which ‘sesswhat’ links to a map on the 3 website which can be used to check coverage anywhere in the country. When conversation turns to Vodafone’s coverage ‘Jimmycrackcorm’ follows this up by writing “3 have the best 3G coverage in the country” Have you any experience of using 3 mobile broadband in Ireland? Let the members of boards.ie know what you think.

Liam from greenhughes.com has been musing once again on the combination of the Eee PC and the 3 Mobile Broadband dongle (you may remember a previous article from April in which Liam helped readers get the dongle working with the Eee PC) and has some interesting thoughts on how far mobile internet has come. Believing the Eee PC and the 3 dongle to be “two [of the] hottest gadgets this year”, Liam thinks the two together make “a whole new computing experience”, as he relates it to the kind of change we experienced in communications when the mobile phone was introduced to the masses.

Liam creates some interesting parallels between the way we use the internet and the history of using phones before mentioning how 3G pricing structures “are a bit more reasonable making it an option for a regular [mobile] internet connection”. The next stage, in Liam’s view, is integrating the dongle into the Eee PC so mobile broadband is ready to go straight out of the box. - this next step could, he concludes, “usher in a whole new age of convenience in computing”.

We’ve already featured news of the PC World and 3 collaboration in the article Take what you can get… However, we thought we’d let you hear what Ewan thinks of the deal.

Writing at SMS Text news Ewan has come across a the appealing offer: PC World have teamed up with 3 to offer a free laptop to anyone who signs up to a 3 Mobile Broadband package, or £350 off of a higher spec laptop. To get this rather tasty offer you just need to sign up to an 18 month contract at £35 a month and the laptop is yours! Ewan thinks it’s a good idea, stating “I do like the subsidised model applied to laptops. Very smart” and he thinks it should help to convert more people to mobile broadband. More details of the offer can be found here.

Tech Radar have reviewed 3 Mobile Broadband and have come out of the other side impressed.

The introduction explains the advancement in the technology that surrounds connecting to the web via 3G and its genuine competitor to Wi-Fi credentials. Once into the details, there is mention of the value of mobile broadband and how 3 is currently offering existing customers half price deals.

Pleased with the promise of plug and play being actually that, Tech Radar conclude, “It’s fast, affordable and 3’s 3G and HSDPA coverage is impressive. Whether you’ve got an ultra-portable notebook that’s missing its internet when out and about, or just want an alternative to home broadband for your desktop PC, 3 Mobile Broadband is a solid option.”

Read the full review here.