3G

In today's podcast: China finally issues 3G licenses; Lenovo lays off 2,500 workers; and Microsoft to release Windows 7 public beta.

In today's podcast: Motorola wins next-gen mobile contract in China; North Korea gets 3G service; and Estonians to vote with mobile phones.

Apple has crossed another boundary this weekend, releasing the 3G iPhone in a truly unlocked state.  AT&T offers the 3G iPhone without a plan but you must eventually use the iPhone with AT&T. 

In January, after the release of the MacBook Air, I had issues with the product and was telling people to wait until it was revised a bit before buying.  I didn't think it would take over 9 months to update but I think the next release will hit the sweet spot.  So let's go back to my January post and see if Apple can improve on any of the ten things I found to be lacking in revision 1.

In Wednesday's IT Blogwatch, we wonder whether Apple's iPhone has jumped the shark with its firmware updates. Not to mention today's favorite waste of time...

Gregg Keizer reports:

Is your iPhone 3G not living up to expectations? Blendtec sets the example for what happens to iPhones that misbehave.

If you are planning on purchasing a smart phone over the next 90 days in the US, chances are your choice will be an iPhone.

Today was a big day in the iPhone world. News that was pent up for weeks and months poured forth like water. With a nod to Richie Jennings, I am attempting to sum it up here...

According to AT&T's new 3G iPhone website, the maximum download speed you can expect to achieve with the device is 1.4mbps. That is much different than typical 3G phones like the Motorola Q for instance which comes in at a hefty 3.6mbps. HSDPA data cards can get as high as 7.2 mbps.

iT's iT Blogwatch: in which there's little choice other than to talk about iPhone 3G, but what about the bloggers we don't often hear from? Not to mention logo math...

Gregg Keizer reports:

Just when I think innovation in security is dead, along comes something innovative. It doesn’t happen everyday, but it’s nice when it does happen. In this case, it is the concept of a security channel to remote devices that was discussed during a briefing about the Nonstop Laptop Guardian from Alcatel-Lucent.

In today's podcast: 3G trials start in North Korea; Cisco denies it aided China's online censorship; and OLPC shows images of future laptop.

Agam Shah, IDG News Service is saying that the 3G iPhone will be announced on June 9th at the Apple WWDC. This jibes with my early February predictions pretty well. Apple has typically had about a six week lag between announcing products and delivering them. That would put the release date (when you and I can get our grubby hands on them) at July 21st - thereabouts.

Another day, another clue of the 3G iPhone's guts. Today, Zibri, of the (in)famous Ziphone.org iPhone unlocking fame, discovered some interesting code in the SDK released yesterday. Along

Apple's choice of the slower EDGE chips might have been a stroke of genius. If you are building the world's best smartphone, you want the fastest data speeds available right? Common sense would dictate that faster equals better but it might not have been th case for the iPhone...Here are some rasons why EDGE makes more sense...at least when Apple originally relased the iPhone.

1. Cheaper hardware
2. Less power drain on the iPhone. Allowing slim design and all day usage.