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AT&T Looking to Add '4G' Network Indicator to iPhone 4S Status Bar
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Correct, but that doesn't say one thing or another about my post. Currently, ITU considers HSPA+ as 4G, that's all that really matters.
Video. Wouldn't it be nice to not have YouTube etc. look like crap outside wifi?
Which would make it dual channel HSPA+ then I gather. Ok, got it. Edit: apparently this is also not the same, it's a feature of release 8.
Of interesting note, AT&T is claiming the phone is HSPA+ in the specs section here. I didn't notice this posted in this thread yet.
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/packages/packages-details.jsp?q_package=sku5370394#
So now the question is, who is right? Presumably both Apple and AT&T have tested the phone, and AT&T would be able to tell on their equipment what mode the iPhone was running in.
Chip makers can cripple their chips to make them cheaper. It's likely this is the option Apple chose for the 4S. The HSPA+ functionality will be a battery drainer. Apple cripples everything just to keep the battery usage down.
Saying HSPA or HSDPA are the same thing as HSPA+ is basically like saying 802.11g is the same as 802.11n. It's that simple.
14.4Mbps is not a specified HSPA+ speed. It's the top end of HSDPA... and HSDPA stops there. HSPA+ tends to start at about 21Mbps from most network providers. If the 4S was capable of HSPA+, Apple would state that because it is real, it is ratified and it is recognised. Unlike 4G which officially doesn't exist yet.
Saying HSPA or HSDPA are the same thing as HSPA+ is basically like saying 802.11g is the same as 802.11n. It's that simple.
14.4Mbps is not a specified HSPA+ speed. It's the top end of HSDPA... and HSDPA stops there. HSPA+ tends to start at about 21Mbps from most network providers. If the 4S was capable of HSPA+, Apple would state that because it is real, it is ratified and it is recognised. Unlike 4G which officially doesn't exist yet.
HSPA+ supports up to 168 Mbit/s theoretical peak rates. In the future it may reach close to around 600 Mbit/s. 600 Mbit/s is well above 3GPP LTE requirements. This is all done using MIMO technology of multiple-RX and TX instead of SISO with a single-RX and TX.
But that's the future. 14.4 Mbps is no where near LTE or LTE advanced (which can be treated as 4G capable).
I thought "3G+" too. And I think you are dead right about the iPhone 5 thing. That will be a major selling point in addition to a new form factor. Technically speaking, the moniker of "4G" has become nearly meaningless. There are versions of LTE that are "true 4G", but the carriers have not implemented them. Personally, I don't care what the moniker says so long as it gets faster and faster. It would be good to have a symbol on the status bar indicating my connection speed in addition to my signal strength, whether that is "3G+" versus "4G" or just a number of Mbps that would be fine. I'm sure AT&T does not want a number showing your download speeds since then they could not tout the 14.4Mbps max throughput when in every day use you only get like 1 to 6 Mbps.
So an indicator would be nice, but clearly AT&T is not afraid of misleading their customers. (Neither is T-Mobile, Sprint or Verizon).
Don't know why AT&T would want a 4G symbol on the 4S when all their other pseudo 4G phones (HSPA+) have an H+ in the status bar?
As for the people reading Wiki articles and claiming they know what the 4S has or does not have, you will have to wait to get your hands on it and inspect the firmware.
The MDM6600 is an HSPA+ "capable" radio.
Whether it is configured to utilize HSPA+ standards is yet to be revealed.
This depends on whether Apple implemented HSDPA Release 5 or HSDPA Release 7.
If it's Release 5, it's HSPA, if it's Release 7, it's HSPA+.
I believe it's Release 7 (HSPA+) since they're claiming it's capable of 14.4Mbps down and 5.6Mbps up.
HSDPA Release 5 can't do 14.4Mbps. period.
And no, they can't be using dual HSDPA 7.2Mbps channels over MIMO either since it isn't part of the Release 5 standard.
MIMO came about with Release 7.
As for the people reading Wiki articles and claiming they know what the 4S has or does not have, you will have to wait to get your hands on it and inspect the firmware.
The MDM6600 is an HSPA+ "capable" radio.
Whether it is configured to utilize HSPA+ standards is yet to be revealed.
This depends on whether Apple implemented HSDPA Release 5 or HSDPA Release 7.
If it's Release 5, it's HSPA, if it's Release 7, it's HSPA+.
I believe it's Release 7 (HSPA+) since they're claiming it's capable of 14.4Mbps down and 5.6Mbps up.
HSDPA Release 5 can't do 14.4Mbps. period.
And no, they can't be using dual HSDPA 7.2Mbps channels over MIMO either since it isn't part of the Release 5 standard.
MIMO came about with Release 7.
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Love for you
At&t is just seeking to express it's continuous corporeally corporative love for you, their loyal consumers.
They know you'll long for the warmth expressed, near your flattened ears, by the glowing promise of "4G".
Live long and prosper. Also, do not exceed your data cap. Just a loving reminder.
At&t is just seeking to express it's continuous corporeally corporative love for you, their loyal consumers.
They know you'll long for the warmth expressed, near your flattened ears, by the glowing promise of "4G".
Live long and prosper. Also, do not exceed your data cap. Just a loving reminder.
Real 4G is non existent at the moment. MIMO technology is being used to have higher speeds but LTE and LTE Advanced are way too far at the moment. It's going to take a number of years to actually reach 4G or 4G-like speeds.
All it says is that the chip has this functionality. t does not mean that Apple enabled it. I would trust Apple and they said that the phone is HSDPA.
That's not enough proof. There is nothing to say Apple hasn't got a special cut down version of this chip in order to reduce it's cost and power consumption. It wouldn't be the first time Apple has done this. Lots of chip vendors do this. Intel especially.
Unfortunately, it's not my phoneIt's some dude in Washington State (Link). I get 2Mbps on my AT&T phone (which seems to be what most people get on AT&T these days).
I'm on AT&T and I just got 5.30 Mbps on the speedtest.net app. It really depends on your area.
There is no true 4G. 4G has not been finalised by the powers that be. There is a candidate technology for 4G and it's called LTE Advanced. Not the same as LTE.
We are talking in layman's terms here
Since the definitions do vary, I think most people would agree that Verizon's LTE is pretty close to 4G or even already there.According to the table at the link below, release 5 is capable of 14.4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Speed_Downlink_Packet_Access#User_Equipment_.28UE.29_categories
I still think its probably HSPA+. Other 14.4 advertising phones like the Atrix 4G claim to be HSPA+.
I don't think anyone even "needs" a smartphone, we seem to have done fine without them in the past.
It's all about want, and I can tell you I for sure want those speeds.
That's like saying nobody "needs" electricity or access to clean water or a car or trains or airplanes, because people lived without them in the past. These days, I could not be productive at my job without a smartphone. That's the thing about technology -- it has a way of worming into our lives, and becoming essential, even when yes, technically, we could live without it. But I'm not looking forward to living in The Road Warrior any time soon -- I'd prefer my near-future dystopia to be more along the lines of Snow Crash or Neuromancer, thank you very much!
According to this chart, HSDPA can indeed do 14.4 down in Release 5:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hsdpa
Note, it's not on the very bottom of the Release 5 specs, despite being the fastest downlink speed listed as being possible with Release 5.
Mostly the fact that it doesn't seem at all clear that the iPhone 4S has HSPA+ -- just because the AT&T network does haver this capability, you still need a phone with an HSPA+ capable/enabled chipset to actually be using HSPA+.