Yes, these handsets are programmed to fall back to another connection type if the fastest one isn't available.
LTE > HSPA+ > HSPA > EDGE/GPRS
Right now, the LTE chip is separate from the chip that covers the other technologies. That's why 4G LTE handsets are bulkier and have poor battery performance (more silicon = more power).
Some speculate that an LTE chip that can incorporate the other technologies (HSPA+/HSPA/EDGE/GPRS) would be a more suitable candidate for handsets. The only problem is they aren't available in volume. Qualcomm, one of the cellular chipset leaders is scheduled to sample their next gen LTE chip in late 2011, with volume shipments starting in early 2012. "Sampling" is offering a small quantity of pre-release parts for manufacturers to create prototypes with.
That would put the technology in a prototype sometime in Q4.
If Apple is imminently ready to ship the iPhone 5, it is way too late in the design timeline to play around with new components. The engineering phases are typically: prototype, Design Verification Test (DVT), Engineering Verification Test (EVT), Process Verification Test (PVT)/ramp, and steady state production.
If Apple is announcing a new handset in September, by now the hardware components have been finalized and the software team is finalizing iOS 5 so there can be a production ramp of several weeks/a month to build up sufficient inventory for launch.
The availability of LTE chipset samples in "late 2011" would dovetail nicely in the design schedule of the iPhone 6 (a device that would presumably ship sometime next year).
Of course, that does not promise that the iPhone 6 will have LTE, just that a more appropriate chipset will be available during the prototyping phase. If other LTE chipset manufacturers have their own solutions, Apple is likely to test those out as well. Each component is probably evaluated based on a number of criteria (price, availability, size, features, performance, etc.) and it is entirely possible that some or none of the offerings are acceptable to a given handset manufacturer (Apple, HTC, Samsung, RIM, etc.).
GASP! I need medical attention! Some one just posted a completely logical post, explaining clearly why logic dictates that Apple will not release an LTE phone in 2011!!!
All sarcasm aside, great post, I agree wholeheartedly. I also think that the iPad 3 will be the first iDevice with LTE. They have a wildly successful product (iPad) to test out certain design and engineering changes with they did not have in 2008/2009... One that, since it is not a phone with the inherent need a phone has, literally gives Apple more room to work with and try new things.
The EVO 4G does use a bunch of power when in 4G mode, if it cannot find a 4G source that it is expecting to find.
And it seemed I needed to carry around a 12V car battery to make it through the day. The battery life was simply atrocious. That was about 9 months back so maybe they fixe the bugs finally.
Beyond that, it was a pretty, but very unpolished, UI. There were lots of areas where the UI did not handel things correctly (like caustic shaders that would hard-code the height of a button or cell). The navigation, while not too bad, was ho-hum and far less convenient than my cars built in system (much smaller screen/not nearly as visible in daylight/power-cord issues...). The Google maps were more out-of-date than what the car came with.
I was a long time IPhone user until last summer when I bought 4 EVO 4Gs for the family. I never would have believed at that time that Apple would still not have a 4G phone on the market.
I now own a couple of EVO 3D phones (with 4G) so I can give you the rundown on 4G. Just like 3G vs older mobile technologies, a 4G phone will switch back to 3G or whatever other wireless data is available. The EVO 4G does use a bunch of power when in 4G mode, if it cannot find a 4G source that it is expecting to find. Power use in 4G mode when there is no 4G service available is much like leaving your phone on when traveling on an airliner; the phone constantly searches for cell towers but does not find them, so it uses more power than usual. If your phone's list of 4G service (cell towers with 4G) is up to date then the phone is much less likely to end up searching for 4G that isn't actually available. On my much newer EVO 3D the power use in 4G is much lower, I can't be sure why, so it just isn't an issue on a new well designed phone. Of course both EVOs allow the user to turn 4G on or off at will (a button on the first screen to the left of home) so you can always use it as a 3G phone if you like.
I really liked my IPhones. I resisted buying an Android phone but my son (teenagers know everything) said that I really should, so I finally gave in and got the EVOs. It took all of about 30 minutes to get really comfortable with the Android phone, and once I did I realized that a top of the line Android phone is, to put it bluntly, as good as an IPhone when comparing things that both phones can do. But in addition there are a bunch of things that you can do with the Android phones that you just can't do with the IPhone. Also, apps are generally free, and even the ones that you must pay for are much cheaper than IPhone apps with similar functionality.
As a side note, once you have used Google maps on Android you will find every other GPS guidance system clunky and outdated. I just bought a new BMW (M3) with the BMW GPS system, and I simply cannot stand to use it. I just park my phone in the armrest and use Google Maps instead. By the way the BMW GPS cost me over $2,000, my phone $500 without contract $200 with contract.
The Iphone is a good phone. It's easy to use, quite capable, reasonably reliable, reasonably fast, but it is simply not as good in any category as a top of the line Android phone.
i went from a 3GS to HTC Inspire. the GPS is always losing connection and it's a joke by now with my wife. especially when it does so in NYC
IThe Iphone is a good phone. It's easy to use, quite capable, reasonably reliable, reasonably fast, but it is simply not as good in any category as a top of the line Android phone.
fair and balanced reporting, just like fox news.
want me to respect your well written piece? don't bias it so much.
This isn't the first time I've seen this. Why the odd nomenclature of referring to one by its frequency and the other by it's common acronym? 700MHz = SMH and 1700MHz = AWS.
Isn't that 1700MHz band the one used by T-Mobile? Is AT&T assuming their acquisition will be allowed?
I don't want 4G in a phone yet (for the reasons stated above), but I'll be ready for a 4G iPad next spring.
Yes I can imagine the iPad gaining more from LTE than the iPhone. After all, LTE is a data focussed technology and it is only just getting it's act together on voice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by captbilly
I was a long time IPhone user until last summer when I bought 4 EVO 4Gs for the family. I never would have believed at that time that Apple would still not have a 4G phone on the market.
I now own a couple of EVO 3D phones (with 4G) so I can give you the rundown on 4G.
A CDMA phone with WiMax data falling back to CDMA data is quite a different beast to an LTE phone. Don't confuse them just because they're both marketed as "4G". I would have put WiMax as about the same as 3G-HSPA - and at worst, LTE leapfrogs WiMax. So you can't use your experience to understand an LTE phone - BUT you are right that phone makers will ensure that LTE devices fall back to 3G and probably 2G.
In Australia our big WiMax network is upgrading to TD-LTE and our UMTS networks are moving towards FD-LTE - both will be big upgrades. Then they'll be similar in many ways - though our WiMax network currently has more bandwidth to play with. Back in 3.75G world, 2 reviews I see from the US (middle of last year) had the iPhone 4 pretty well at the same speed as the EVO 4G. (see
EVO 4G and iPhone 4). You'll get people here question your claims, but in most places people might just accept the marketing.
I look forward to ongoing upgrades to the iPhone, but our current 3G (dual carrier HSPA+ at maximum 42Mbps) is PLENTY fast... if that's the next iPhone upgrade. And still not 4G, though our marketing can be a bit dodgy at times too.
edit:
Looks like T-Mobile calls their HSPA+ at 42Mbps "4G" too. This has NOTHING to do with an LTE iPhone. The next iPhone will probably have these "4G" technologies.
The Iphone is a good phone. It's easy to use, quite capable, reasonably reliable, reasonably fast, but it is simply not as good in any category as a top of the line Android phone.[/QUOTE]
This is the most preposterous thing I've ever heard. I know this because I made the mistake of switching to an EVO due to my frustration with AT & T. If this is a top of the line ANdroid phone, no thanks.
I go through 3 batteries a day. Even with 4G turned off, you can almost watch the battery drain. The touch screen is horribly unresponsive. When I post anything that requires text input-- twitter, facebook, email, texts-- the number that have misspellings on Android are about 3-1 from anything from my old Iphone , ipod touch or ipad due to the ineffective spell check and unresponsive screen. The phone send texts messages in the middle of the night-- a known issue when using a 3rd party battery, which is required since you're lucky if you can get 3 hours with average use from one battery. Google maps, while wonderful, crashes about once a week for me. Double Twist, the supposed Itunes killer for android, copies your playlists every time you sync. I now have 3 of every playlist-- I'd have more except I stopped using it. I'm sure there is a setting to turn this ridiculous setting off but like all thing Android, it's impossible to find. So I just stopped using it. I went through 7-- that;s tight 7!!-- podcast apps trying to find ONE that can play a podcast all the way without crashing-- no luck...I can go on and on here.
The only good thing about this phone is the 4g service when it is available. Fast and with the hotspot capability, I can run my touch and ipad off it. In fact, I run most apps off one of those two devices instead of the phone. Another laughable example of the horrible performance of android is that some apps actually run better on the ipod touch using the EVO"s bandwidth than their android counterpart-- i.e ESPN radio app crashes and rebuffers on the evo wi minutes. The IOS app can run for hours using the EVO bandwidth without a hiccup. I don't know which Google/android employee Captbilly is but having used both devices, trust me, there's no comparison and Android isn't the winner...
i went from a 3GS to HTC Inspire. the GPS is always losing connection and it's a joke by now with my wife. especially when it does so in NYC
You have to realize that unlike Apple with it's Iphone, in the Android world there is a very large range of phones, some great, some good, some garbage. My only experience with Android phones is the HTC EVO 4G, EVO 3D and the Nexus S (I have 4 of those to use in europe). The GPS on the EVOs has been very good, as have the Nexus phones, but there are situations in which GPS is likely to have trouble. NYC has very tall buildings which block the view of the satellites, which is likely to occasionally cause any GPS to lose lock. Unfortunately, since the satellites are always moving you can never be sure when and where you will lose lock with a particular GPS. I have never used any GPS unit that would always stay locked under every placement of satellites and obstructions ( as a military pilot I have been using GPS since the 80s).
I was all over Europe this summer, using 6 different GPS units (phone, tablets, stand alone), and every one of them occasionally lost signal in the narrow streets of Paris, Rome, Budapest and London. I don't know if your problem with your Inspire is a bad GPS receiver, or impossible satellite conditions. But a top of the line Android phone will do at least as well as any other phone GPS.
But in addition there are a bunch of things that you can do with the Android phones that you just can't do with the IPhone.
Yeah. Like you can get hacked. You can get a virus. You can lose all your data. You can steal software and movies and music. You can get totally confused and frustrated.
Well there's only two possibilities here really. Either the phone will automatically switch to and from 4G when needed, or there will be a switch in the settings to turn it on and off. In both case the battery will be fine and those that don't need it won't have to use it. I don't see what the problem would be.
It would confuse lots of users to have to fiddle with arcane settings in order to get acceptable battery life. Then they would complain to Apple Care and cost all of us more money. Not to mention that it would make the iPhone more expensive to begin with. Those all would be totally unacceptable. Geeks think that they "need" 4G. But Apple knows that we don't. It is not ready yet.
Yes, these handsets are programmed to fall back to another connection type if the fastest one isn't available.
LTE > HSPA+ > HSPA > EDGE/GPRS
Right now, the LTE chip is separate from the chip that covers the other technologies. That's why 4G LTE handsets are bulkier and have poor battery performance (more silicon = more power).
Some speculate that an LTE chip that can incorporate the other technologies (HSPA+/HSPA/EDGE/GPRS) would be a more suitable candidate for handsets. The only problem is they aren't available in volume. Qualcomm, one of the cellular chipset leaders is scheduled to sample their next gen LTE chip in late 2011, with volume shipments starting in early 2012. "Sampling" is offering a small quantity of pre-release parts for manufacturers to create prototypes with.
That would put the technology in a prototype sometime in Q4.
If Apple is imminently ready to ship the iPhone 5, it is way too late in the design timeline to play around with new components. The engineering phases are typically: prototype, Design Verification Test (DVT), Engineering Verification Test (EVT), Process Verification Test (PVT)/ramp, and steady state production.
If Apple is announcing a new handset in September, by now the hardware components have been finalized and the software team is finalizing iOS 5 so there can be a production ramp of several weeks/a month to build up sufficient inventory for launch.
The availability of LTE chipset samples in "late 2011" would dovetail nicely in the design schedule of the iPhone 6 (a device that would presumably ship sometime next year).
Of course, that does not promise that the iPhone 6 will have LTE, just that a more appropriate chipset will be available during the prototyping phase. If other LTE chipset manufacturers have their own solutions, Apple is likely to test those out as well. Each component is probably evaluated based on a number of criteria (price, availability, size, features, performance, etc.) and it is entirely possible that some or none of the offerings are acceptable to a given handset manufacturer (Apple, HTC, Samsung, RIM, etc.).
Great post, but to be fair, you are exaggerating the amount we know about the timeframe vis a vis the availability of that new chip or the availability of the next iPhone itself. It all depends on that timing and we don't really know enough about that to be certain one way or the other.
It certainly seems odd that Apple would release their next big phone just *before* all their competitors are able to release 4G phones that actually work well. It would make Q4 2011 the possibly the worst time to release the new phone they could have chosen, if merely waiting for Spring would give them that chip.
I concede the point that my post contains a fair amount of speculation.
However, I still defend my stance that Apple would need access to engineering samples of an LTE chip pretty early in the development phase.
Apple probably had a specific reason(s) for letting the fifth-generation iPhone slip from its historic summer release timeframe. Whether that's hardware or software related, we don't know. Was it to include LTE? I'm still doubtful, mostly because LTE has spotty deployment here in the U.S. by one carrier and limited deployment in much of the rest of the world.
Will Apple change its formerly conservative M.O. of sticking with well-deployed and proven cellular network technologies and jump aboard the bleeding edge bandwagon? It's possible, but the handset's performance would have to be awesome because Steve-o isn't gonna let the iPhone off its diet, nor is he going to squander battery life.
Can anyone explain what that equipment does? Why would an Apple store need such hardware?
Assuming that that is what the equipment in fact was and not tied to internal wifi needs, it is possible that some of the stores (particularly the larger ones) if not all have ATT and Verizon microcells in their stores to help avoid connection errors when they are selling phones. They loathe to the point of simply not allowing anyone to leave the store unless a member of the staff sees that the phone has connected to the carrier that initial time. If there's trouble connecting then that is a royal pain in the tush and pisses off customers. So . . .
Quote:
Originally Posted by rtm135
Who's this "we" you're talking about? My job requires frequent internet access so I do need and want it.
Speak for yourself.
Your argument would be better if you had not quoted only half the original. That statement was basically 'at this point LTE is more of a problem than a vital feature. It sucks up battery and there's spotty carrier support. Better to just leave it out at this point'
And given that your job probably also requires you to have a phone that can make and receive calls because the battery isn't being sucked dry in a couple of hours and internet access out in the field that actually works cause there's an appropriate antenna (which at this point will be 75% if not higher as 3g) you should be agreeing with the OP. Not playing cute and trying to diss him as an idiot
Does 4G scale back to 3G if 4G is not available? Or, as I assume, the chip sets are different, so you have to get one or the other? Thanks in advance.
Yes, not only Android phone scales back to 3G if 4G is not available, but you can also manage when you want to have your 4G/3G/GPS/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/XYZ on or off.
Or you can let your phone do it. I have an app which allow you to save all these setting as a mode "work", "home", "car", "night" etc. You can even set automatic schedule for these modes and forget it - just like thermostat. Also some Android phones have super AMOLED screens with lower power consumption and higher capacity standard size batteries (up to 1900mha).
I do want 4G. I want to have this choice and I don't want some manufacturer to limit my choice or decide what Apple fans want. It looks like by the time iPhone will have 4G, HTC and Samsung phones will have 5G/2GhZprocessor/etc and Apple will keep making another excuse about battery consumption.
As a side note, once you have used Google maps on Android you will find every other GPS guidance system clunky and outdated. I just bought a new BMW (M3) with the BMW GPS system, and I simply cannot stand to use it. I just park my phone in the armrest and use Google Maps instead. By the way the BMW GPS cost me over $2,000, my phone $500 without contract $200 with contract.
Very true. My EVO GPS is easier to use vs. my Mercedes ML GPS. On EVO I can just google location and it comes up on the map.
Quote:
Originally Posted by captbilly
The Iphone is a good phone. It's easy to use, quite capable, reasonably reliable, reasonably fast, but it is simply not as good in any category as a top of the line Android phone.
Very true. While the iPhone is a good phone, styling is the only iPhone's advantage (matter of taste anyway). For everything else: network speed, processor speed/RAM, usability, features, choice of screen sizes, versatility - Android easily wins.
Comments
Yes, these handsets are programmed to fall back to another connection type if the fastest one isn't available.
LTE > HSPA+ > HSPA > EDGE/GPRS
Right now, the LTE chip is separate from the chip that covers the other technologies. That's why 4G LTE handsets are bulkier and have poor battery performance (more silicon = more power).
Some speculate that an LTE chip that can incorporate the other technologies (HSPA+/HSPA/EDGE/GPRS) would be a more suitable candidate for handsets. The only problem is they aren't available in volume. Qualcomm, one of the cellular chipset leaders is scheduled to sample their next gen LTE chip in late 2011, with volume shipments starting in early 2012. "Sampling" is offering a small quantity of pre-release parts for manufacturers to create prototypes with.
That would put the technology in a prototype sometime in Q4.
If Apple is imminently ready to ship the iPhone 5, it is way too late in the design timeline to play around with new components. The engineering phases are typically: prototype, Design Verification Test (DVT), Engineering Verification Test (EVT), Process Verification Test (PVT)/ramp, and steady state production.
If Apple is announcing a new handset in September, by now the hardware components have been finalized and the software team is finalizing iOS 5 so there can be a production ramp of several weeks/a month to build up sufficient inventory for launch.
The availability of LTE chipset samples in "late 2011" would dovetail nicely in the design schedule of the iPhone 6 (a device that would presumably ship sometime next year).
Of course, that does not promise that the iPhone 6 will have LTE, just that a more appropriate chipset will be available during the prototyping phase. If other LTE chipset manufacturers have their own solutions, Apple is likely to test those out as well. Each component is probably evaluated based on a number of criteria (price, availability, size, features, performance, etc.) and it is entirely possible that some or none of the offerings are acceptable to a given handset manufacturer (Apple, HTC, Samsung, RIM, etc.).
GASP! I need medical attention! Some one just posted a completely logical post, explaining clearly why logic dictates that Apple will not release an LTE phone in 2011!!!
All sarcasm aside, great post, I agree wholeheartedly. I also think that the iPad 3 will be the first iDevice with LTE. They have a wildly successful product (iPad) to test out certain design and engineering changes with they did not have in 2008/2009... One that, since it is not a phone with the inherent need a phone has, literally gives Apple more room to work with and try new things.
The EVO 4G does use a bunch of power when in 4G mode, if it cannot find a 4G source that it is expecting to find.
And it seemed I needed to carry around a 12V car battery to make it through the day. The battery life was simply atrocious. That was about 9 months back so maybe they fixe the bugs finally.
Beyond that, it was a pretty, but very unpolished, UI. There were lots of areas where the UI did not handel things correctly (like caustic shaders that would hard-code the height of a button or cell). The navigation, while not too bad, was ho-hum and far less convenient than my cars built in system (much smaller screen/not nearly as visible in daylight/power-cord issues...). The Google maps were more out-of-date than what the car came with.
I was a long time IPhone user until last summer when I bought 4 EVO 4Gs for the family. I never would have believed at that time that Apple would still not have a 4G phone on the market.
I now own a couple of EVO 3D phones (with 4G) so I can give you the rundown on 4G. Just like 3G vs older mobile technologies, a 4G phone will switch back to 3G or whatever other wireless data is available. The EVO 4G does use a bunch of power when in 4G mode, if it cannot find a 4G source that it is expecting to find. Power use in 4G mode when there is no 4G service available is much like leaving your phone on when traveling on an airliner; the phone constantly searches for cell towers but does not find them, so it uses more power than usual. If your phone's list of 4G service (cell towers with 4G) is up to date then the phone is much less likely to end up searching for 4G that isn't actually available. On my much newer EVO 3D the power use in 4G is much lower, I can't be sure why, so it just isn't an issue on a new well designed phone. Of course both EVOs allow the user to turn 4G on or off at will (a button on the first screen to the left of home) so you can always use it as a 3G phone if you like.
I really liked my IPhones. I resisted buying an Android phone but my son (teenagers know everything) said that I really should, so I finally gave in and got the EVOs. It took all of about 30 minutes to get really comfortable with the Android phone, and once I did I realized that a top of the line Android phone is, to put it bluntly, as good as an IPhone when comparing things that both phones can do. But in addition there are a bunch of things that you can do with the Android phones that you just can't do with the IPhone. Also, apps are generally free, and even the ones that you must pay for are much cheaper than IPhone apps with similar functionality.
As a side note, once you have used Google maps on Android you will find every other GPS guidance system clunky and outdated. I just bought a new BMW (M3) with the BMW GPS system, and I simply cannot stand to use it. I just park my phone in the armrest and use Google Maps instead. By the way the BMW GPS cost me over $2,000, my phone $500 without contract $200 with contract.
The Iphone is a good phone. It's easy to use, quite capable, reasonably reliable, reasonably fast, but it is simply not as good in any category as a top of the line Android phone.
i went from a 3GS to HTC Inspire. the GPS is always losing connection and it's a joke by now with my wife. especially when it does so in NYC
IThe Iphone is a good phone. It's easy to use, quite capable, reasonably reliable, reasonably fast, but it is simply not as good in any category as a top of the line Android phone.
fair and balanced reporting, just like fox news.
want me to respect your well written piece? don't bias it so much.
This isn't the first time I've seen this. Why the odd nomenclature of referring to one by its frequency and the other by it's common acronym? 700MHz = SMH and 1700MHz = AWS.
Isn't that 1700MHz band the one used by T-Mobile? Is AT&T assuming their acquisition will be allowed?
I don't want 4G in a phone yet (for the reasons stated above), but I'll be ready for a 4G iPad next spring.
Yes I can imagine the iPad gaining more from LTE than the iPhone. After all, LTE is a data focussed technology and it is only just getting it's act together on voice.
I was a long time IPhone user until last summer when I bought 4 EVO 4Gs for the family. I never would have believed at that time that Apple would still not have a 4G phone on the market.
I now own a couple of EVO 3D phones (with 4G) so I can give you the rundown on 4G.
A CDMA phone with WiMax data falling back to CDMA data is quite a different beast to an LTE phone. Don't confuse them just because they're both marketed as "4G". I would have put WiMax as about the same as 3G-HSPA - and at worst, LTE leapfrogs WiMax. So you can't use your experience to understand an LTE phone - BUT you are right that phone makers will ensure that LTE devices fall back to 3G and probably 2G.
In Australia our big WiMax network is upgrading to TD-LTE and our UMTS networks are moving towards FD-LTE - both will be big upgrades. Then they'll be similar in many ways - though our WiMax network currently has more bandwidth to play with. Back in 3.75G world, 2 reviews I see from the US (middle of last year) had the iPhone 4 pretty well at the same speed as the EVO 4G. (see
EVO 4G and iPhone 4). You'll get people here question your claims, but in most places people might just accept the marketing.
I look forward to ongoing upgrades to the iPhone, but our current 3G (dual carrier HSPA+ at maximum 42Mbps) is PLENTY fast... if that's the next iPhone upgrade. And still not 4G, though our marketing can be a bit dodgy at times too.
edit:
Looks like T-Mobile calls their HSPA+ at 42Mbps "4G" too. This has NOTHING to do with an LTE iPhone. The next iPhone will probably have these "4G" technologies.
([URL="http://www.slashgear.com/t-mobile-usa-boosts-4g-hspa-42mbps-coverage-47-new-markets-16159635/"]T-Mobile/URL]). The iPhone 4 chipset maxes out at 7.2Mbps download and 5.8Mbps upload - and AT&T supports the technologies up to 21Mbps at present. In fact... the iPhone 4 Verizon chipset already has the 14.4Mbps technologies for AT&T's network (if it had a SIM card)
This is the most preposterous thing I've ever heard. I know this because I made the mistake of switching to an EVO due to my frustration with AT & T. If this is a top of the line ANdroid phone, no thanks.
I go through 3 batteries a day. Even with 4G turned off, you can almost watch the battery drain. The touch screen is horribly unresponsive. When I post anything that requires text input-- twitter, facebook, email, texts-- the number that have misspellings on Android are about 3-1 from anything from my old Iphone , ipod touch or ipad due to the ineffective spell check and unresponsive screen. The phone send texts messages in the middle of the night-- a known issue when using a 3rd party battery, which is required since you're lucky if you can get 3 hours with average use from one battery. Google maps, while wonderful, crashes about once a week for me. Double Twist, the supposed Itunes killer for android, copies your playlists every time you sync. I now have 3 of every playlist-- I'd have more except I stopped using it. I'm sure there is a setting to turn this ridiculous setting off but like all thing Android, it's impossible to find. So I just stopped using it. I went through 7-- that;s tight 7!!-- podcast apps trying to find ONE that can play a podcast all the way without crashing-- no luck...I can go on and on here.
The only good thing about this phone is the 4g service when it is available. Fast and with the hotspot capability, I can run my touch and ipad off it. In fact, I run most apps off one of those two devices instead of the phone. Another laughable example of the horrible performance of android is that some apps actually run better on the ipod touch using the EVO"s bandwidth than their android counterpart-- i.e ESPN radio app crashes and rebuffers on the evo wi minutes. The IOS app can run for hours using the EVO bandwidth without a hiccup. I don't know which Google/android employee Captbilly is but having used both devices, trust me, there's no comparison and Android isn't the winner...
i went from a 3GS to HTC Inspire. the GPS is always losing connection and it's a joke by now with my wife. especially when it does so in NYC
You have to realize that unlike Apple with it's Iphone, in the Android world there is a very large range of phones, some great, some good, some garbage. My only experience with Android phones is the HTC EVO 4G, EVO 3D and the Nexus S (I have 4 of those to use in europe). The GPS on the EVOs has been very good, as have the Nexus phones, but there are situations in which GPS is likely to have trouble. NYC has very tall buildings which block the view of the satellites, which is likely to occasionally cause any GPS to lose lock. Unfortunately, since the satellites are always moving you can never be sure when and where you will lose lock with a particular GPS. I have never used any GPS unit that would always stay locked under every placement of satellites and obstructions ( as a military pilot I have been using GPS since the 80s).
I was all over Europe this summer, using 6 different GPS units (phone, tablets, stand alone), and every one of them occasionally lost signal in the narrow streets of Paris, Rome, Budapest and London. I don't know if your problem with your Inspire is a bad GPS receiver, or impossible satellite conditions. But a top of the line Android phone will do at least as well as any other phone GPS.
Speak for yourself.
We don't need it, and we don't want it.
But in addition there are a bunch of things that you can do with the Android phones that you just can't do with the IPhone.
Yeah. Like you can get hacked. You can get a virus. You can lose all your data. You can steal software and movies and music. You can get totally confused and frustrated.
No thanks.
Well there's only two possibilities here really. Either the phone will automatically switch to and from 4G when needed, or there will be a switch in the settings to turn it on and off. In both case the battery will be fine and those that don't need it won't have to use it. I don't see what the problem would be.
It would confuse lots of users to have to fiddle with arcane settings in order to get acceptable battery life. Then they would complain to Apple Care and cost all of us more money. Not to mention that it would make the iPhone more expensive to begin with. Those all would be totally unacceptable. Geeks think that they "need" 4G. But Apple knows that we don't. It is not ready yet.
Yes, these handsets are programmed to fall back to another connection type if the fastest one isn't available.
LTE > HSPA+ > HSPA > EDGE/GPRS
Right now, the LTE chip is separate from the chip that covers the other technologies. That's why 4G LTE handsets are bulkier and have poor battery performance (more silicon = more power).
Some speculate that an LTE chip that can incorporate the other technologies (HSPA+/HSPA/EDGE/GPRS) would be a more suitable candidate for handsets. The only problem is they aren't available in volume. Qualcomm, one of the cellular chipset leaders is scheduled to sample their next gen LTE chip in late 2011, with volume shipments starting in early 2012. "Sampling" is offering a small quantity of pre-release parts for manufacturers to create prototypes with.
That would put the technology in a prototype sometime in Q4.
If Apple is imminently ready to ship the iPhone 5, it is way too late in the design timeline to play around with new components. The engineering phases are typically: prototype, Design Verification Test (DVT), Engineering Verification Test (EVT), Process Verification Test (PVT)/ramp, and steady state production.
If Apple is announcing a new handset in September, by now the hardware components have been finalized and the software team is finalizing iOS 5 so there can be a production ramp of several weeks/a month to build up sufficient inventory for launch.
The availability of LTE chipset samples in "late 2011" would dovetail nicely in the design schedule of the iPhone 6 (a device that would presumably ship sometime next year).
Of course, that does not promise that the iPhone 6 will have LTE, just that a more appropriate chipset will be available during the prototyping phase. If other LTE chipset manufacturers have their own solutions, Apple is likely to test those out as well. Each component is probably evaluated based on a number of criteria (price, availability, size, features, performance, etc.) and it is entirely possible that some or none of the offerings are acceptable to a given handset manufacturer (Apple, HTC, Samsung, RIM, etc.).
Great post, but to be fair, you are exaggerating the amount we know about the timeframe vis a vis the availability of that new chip or the availability of the next iPhone itself. It all depends on that timing and we don't really know enough about that to be certain one way or the other.
It certainly seems odd that Apple would release their next big phone just *before* all their competitors are able to release 4G phones that actually work well. It would make Q4 2011 the possibly the worst time to release the new phone they could have chosen, if merely waiting for Spring would give them that chip.
However, I still defend my stance that Apple would need access to engineering samples of an LTE chip pretty early in the development phase.
Apple probably had a specific reason(s) for letting the fifth-generation iPhone slip from its historic summer release timeframe. Whether that's hardware or software related, we don't know. Was it to include LTE? I'm still doubtful, mostly because LTE has spotty deployment here in the U.S. by one carrier and limited deployment in much of the rest of the world.
Will Apple change its formerly conservative M.O. of sticking with well-deployed and proven cellular network technologies and jump aboard the bleeding edge bandwagon? It's possible, but the handset's performance would have to be awesome because Steve-o isn't gonna let the iPhone off its diet, nor is he going to squander battery life.
Can anyone explain what that equipment does? Why would an Apple store need such hardware?
Assuming that that is what the equipment in fact was and not tied to internal wifi needs, it is possible that some of the stores (particularly the larger ones) if not all have ATT and Verizon microcells in their stores to help avoid connection errors when they are selling phones. They loathe to the point of simply not allowing anyone to leave the store unless a member of the staff sees that the phone has connected to the carrier that initial time. If there's trouble connecting then that is a royal pain in the tush and pisses off customers. So . . .
Who's this "we" you're talking about? My job requires frequent internet access so I do need and want it.
Speak for yourself.
Your argument would be better if you had not quoted only half the original. That statement was basically 'at this point LTE is more of a problem than a vital feature. It sucks up battery and there's spotty carrier support. Better to just leave it out at this point'
And given that your job probably also requires you to have a phone that can make and receive calls because the battery isn't being sucked dry in a couple of hours and internet access out in the field that actually works cause there's an appropriate antenna (which at this point will be 75% if not higher as 3g) you should be agreeing with the OP. Not playing cute and trying to diss him as an idiot
Question:
Does 4G scale back to 3G if 4G is not available? Or, as I assume, the chip sets are different, so you have to get one or the other? Thanks in advance.
Yes, not only Android phone scales back to 3G if 4G is not available, but you can also manage when you want to have your 4G/3G/GPS/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/XYZ on or off.
Or you can let your phone do it. I have an app which allow you to save all these setting as a mode "work", "home", "car", "night" etc. You can even set automatic schedule for these modes and forget it - just like thermostat. Also some Android phones have super AMOLED screens with lower power consumption and higher capacity standard size batteries (up to 1900mha).
I do want 4G. I want to have this choice and I don't want some manufacturer to limit my choice or decide what Apple fans want. It looks like by the time iPhone will have 4G, HTC and Samsung phones will have 5G/2GhZprocessor/etc and Apple will keep making another excuse about battery consumption.
As a side note, once you have used Google maps on Android you will find every other GPS guidance system clunky and outdated. I just bought a new BMW (M3) with the BMW GPS system, and I simply cannot stand to use it. I just park my phone in the armrest and use Google Maps instead. By the way the BMW GPS cost me over $2,000, my phone $500 without contract $200 with contract.
Very true. My EVO GPS is easier to use vs. my Mercedes ML GPS. On EVO I can just google location and it comes up on the map.
The Iphone is a good phone. It's easy to use, quite capable, reasonably reliable, reasonably fast, but it is simply not as good in any category as a top of the line Android phone.
Very true. While the iPhone is a good phone, styling is the only iPhone's advantage (matter of taste anyway). For everything else: network speed, processor speed/RAM, usability, features, choice of screen sizes, versatility - Android easily wins.