Items tagged with 5G
Chinese smartphone makers like Huawei, OnePlus, and Xiaomi are growing rapidly amid a declining smartphone market for the big players like Samsung and Apple. Much of the reason is that Chinese devices have similar hardware and features, for much less money. A perfect example is the Xiaomi Mi 9 smartphone that debuted this week for under $450. OnePlus has new devices coming that are expected to be unveiled at MWC 2019 next week. OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition As we build up to the show, a new report has surfaced that claims OnePlus will launch a 5G smartphone in Q2 2019, but the report claims that the...
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Smartphones using first-generation 5G modems have not even hit the market yet (and few have officially been announced) at this point, but Qualcomm is already pushing forward with its second-generation design. As the follow-up to its Snapdragon X50 5G modem, which will be available in many new devices this year, the company has announced the Snapdragon X55 5G modem. The Snapdragon X55 improves upon its successor in a number of ways; the first of which is the fact that it's built on new 7-nanometer process tech; the same process node as the Snapdragon 855 SoC. The integrated chip supports 5G NR mmWave...
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A world of faster wireless connectivity awaits as carriers and hardware makers alike forge ahead with 5G roll outs (real 5G roll outs, that is, and not fake ones like 5G Evolution). We expect 5G to be a point of focus at Mobile World Congress, and indeed, LG is planning to introduce 5G phones at the event. Interestingly, however, LG will not be jumping on the folding phone bandwagon in the immediate future. LG President Kwon Bong-Suk recently confirmed as much during a press conference at the LG Science Park in Seoul, South Korea. "During the Consumer Electronics Show in January, LG introduced...
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AT&T is giving a status update of sorts on its nascent 5G wireless network. The second-place U.S. wireless carrier first lit up its network in December in the following markets: Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Louisville, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Raleigh, San Antonio and Waco. 5G service is currently limited to select AT&T customers, who are all accessing the network using Netgear Nighthawk 5G Mobile Hotspot. AT&T today announced that it will expand its 5G footprint later in 2019 with the addition of two more cities: Chicago And Minneapolis....
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The war of words between America's top carriers over 5G branding has now devolved into a lawsuit. AT&T started this whole mess then it decided to relabel its LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network as 5G Evolution (5G E). Competing carriers cried foul as 5G E is little more than extension of 4G LTE technology and is in no way true 5G. Sprint, the fourth-place wireless carrier, has now filed a lawsuit against AT&T for its blatantly misleading advertising. "AT&T has sought to gain an unfair advantage in the race to 5G by embarking on a nationwide advertising campaign to deceive consumers...
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Apple is a company that likes to keep as much of its hardware development in-house as it possibly can. This allows the company to extract the most performance possible from its hardware designs through increasing integration. The most famous example of this is the company's A-Series chips that power everything from iPhones to iPads to HomePods. It's no secret that Apple has an in-house team dedicated to building future 5G cellular modems that would be used in its iPhone and iPad/iPad Pro product lines -- and perhaps even future MacBooks. A new report from Reuters claims that...
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This year's Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona is now just a few weeks away, and that typically means that leaks and rumors will start flowing in faster and more furiously than usual. Even the companies themselves are starting to get in on the action around this time of year. That's the case with Huawei, which teased a looming announcement of a folding smartphone at the event. Huawei's mobile team posted an image on Twitter that points to a press event on February 24 at 2 pm CET (8 am ET / 11 am PT). "Come with us to explore #ConnectingTheFuture LIVE from #MWC @GSMA. Are you ready to reveal...
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It appears that Verizon has realized one of the big downsides to proclaiming "first" when it comes to its 5G wireless rollout. Verizon claimed to have the first 5G network available in the United States when it launched Verizon 5G Home back in early October, but it was using non-standardized 5G hardware. Verizon took this shortcut in order to get the jump on its rivals, but by bypassing a standards-based approach, it meant that future smartphones and other 5G devices wouldn't be able to work on this initial Verizon 5G TF network. But now, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg is saying that...
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The US Justice Department has filed a series of indictments against Huawei, China's largest telecommunications company, and its US affiliate. Huawei stands accused of several crimes, including a conspiracy to steal trade secrets from T-Mobile, more than half dozen counts of wire fraud, and obstruction of justice. US security and intelligence agencies have long warned against doing business with Huawei over concerns that it is spying for the Chinese government. Today's charges, however, are not directly related to those previous warnings. Instead, the Department of Justice says Huawei conspired...
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We have a lot to look forward to with 5G wireless technology, which is the successor to current generation 4G LTE networks deployed by America's four major wireless carriers. Carriers are promising a lot with their 5G rollouts, with AT&T and Verizon jumping the gun with limited 5G network availability in some of the largest U.S. markets. AT&T lit up its first mobile 5G network at the end of the 2018, but it is only available in 12 markets currently (Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Fla., Louisville, Ky., Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Raleigh,...
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In a report yesterday, we told you that LG is looking to say goodbye to touch as it embraces gesture controls in its upcoming smartphones. Today, LG is giving even more insight into what it will be showing off at MWC 2019, which is being held in Barcelona, Spain next month. LG says that its newest flagship will sport Qualcomm's brand new 7nm Snapdragon 855 SoC, which will be all the rage for devices launching this year. In addition, the smartphone will feature 5G connectivity, likely made possible by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X50 5G modem. If that wasn't enough, LG also said that it will...
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AT&T is planning to replace the "4G LTE" logo on some smartphones with a "5G E" logo when they are connected to faster portions of its network, a decision that has caused a bit of an uproar on social media, and by the wireless carrier's competitors. The company's response to all that criticism essentially boils down to 'Sorry, not sorry'. "If I now occupy beachfront real estate in our competitors' heads, that makes me smile," AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan said at CES. What AT&T calls "5G Evolution," or 5G E, is not true 5G. It's still LTE, but with some optimizations to speed...
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Earlier today we reported that T-Mobile was taking AT&T to task for its decision to seemingly deceive customers by changing 4G LTE labels on consumers' smartphones to ”5G E” with a software update. 5G E stands for 5G Evolution, which in AT&T parlance is a speed-boosted extension of existing 4G LTE wireless technology. Now, the nation's largest wireless carrier, Verizon Wireless, is also calling out AT&T. While Verizon technically launched a 5G wireless network, it is limited to just a few cities in the United States at the moment and is only available...
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Out of the four major wireless carriers in the United States, it is fair to say that T-Mobile is the snarkiest, with social media often serving as a podium for company CEO John Legere's outspoken antics. It is sometimes funny and other times over the top. In a recent Twitter post, however, T-Mobile throws shade at AT&T over its "5G E" marketing, and it's both funny and over the top. What is ultimately at issue here is that 5G E, or 5G Evolution, is not true 5G. What AT&T refers to as such is basically 4G LTE with some speed optimizations, otherwise known as LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced...
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