'3G Phone on a Chip' From Broadcom

[trainrx]

Not sure where you came up with this... could you point to your source? The article states that it could be anywhere from 3 to 6 months after the sampling, or around 2nd quarter of 2008 if Apple decides to grab it up pretty quick...

"The chip is shipping in small quantities now - called "sampling" - to Broadcom's best customers. The price in quantity will be $23 per chip when it ships, at a date not yet announced, but which is typically a range of 3 to 6 months following sampling in the chip industry.

I don't need to spell out too much how such a chip would affect Apple's plans, which would put a 3G phone into the second quarter 2008 timeframe should Apple decide this chip has the features it needs and can engineer around it rapidly."

And we all know that Apple likes to engineer things rapidly

Right, it says "...we anticipate that HSUPA phones targeting the mid-tier price market using the part will be on sale during the first half of 2009..." - key words being "mid-tier" price market.

The iPhone is not part of the mid-tier price market, it is part of the high-tier price market (at least in the US).

I would expect the chip to be used in the iPhone long before it appears in the Razrs and such.

 

[dvkid]

My hunch is that since Steve was willing to talk about his issues with 3G he's already got a chip company working on the hardware. That would mean that even if this is the right chip Apple is already working with them and has been for some time. It would seem to me that Apple would get first pass on these from some company.

 

[Lord Sandwich]

You just happened to have a ***** phone. There are many 3G phones (maybe not as slim as an iphone though) that get 5+ hours of talktime and at least 5+ days of standby. On another note, I believe EVDO is used for voice/standby/waiting for a call where as with the GSM track a 3G phone can use standard GSM for voice/standby/waiting for a call and only use UMTS/HSPA for data services, thus being even more efficient than EVDO.

EVDO is for data services only; you can disconnect it and voice services will work just fine. Part of the problem really lies with Windows Mobile, since it idles on the connection for a very long time (I think it was an hour or so) before disconnecting--which will NEVER happen if you check your mail at reasonable intervals. In some ways this makes sense since the handshake on EVDO takes 30 seconds or so, but it's still a major drain on the charge.

On my HTC Apache (aka 6700), hacking the registry to turn off EVDO dramatically extended battery life, and I think that's where the quoted times for most 3G phones come from. But then what's the point in having data services at all?

BTW, the Mogul has slightly better battery life, but only because it comes with a higher-capacity battery (1500MaH vs. 1250 on the Apache).

 

[Rocketman]

Slashdot posted recently:

http://www.blackfriarsinc.com/blog/2007/10/why-edge-versus-3g-less-than-you-think

Which said in part,

"Because the Nokia processor/OS/software combination was simply slower at moving bits than the iPhone is. The result: even with a 54 megabit WiFi network -- a network several times faster than the fastest 3G network -- the Internet experience on the Nokia was significantly slower and poorer than that of the iPhone. The phone just couldn't keep up."

and

"The bottom line: Carriers, analysts, and consumers alike have an unhealthy obsession with bandwidth to the exclusion of other important factors that affect the user experience with a phone. Just as the computer industry finally figured out that more gigahertz wasn't necessarily better for users, the phone industry is going to discover the same point (and for the same reasons). And companies that use limited bandwidth in smarter ways to deliver a better user experience -- like Apple -- are going to have a leg up on their competitors no matter what network they use."

Rocketman

 

[irahodges]

how possible is it to have both EDGE and 3G chips in the next iPhone?

I am excited about faster data, but EDGE is everywhere. I took a cross country roadtrip from NC to CA this summer and the EDGE on the iPhone picked up almost everywhere I went. I'm worried that the 3G is not going to be in as many places as EDGE, hence my question. I assume it would retreive 3G data rates with only the 3G chip consuming power when it connects to a 3G signal, and change to EDGE when there is no 3G. Any thoughts?

 

[MUrhino]

3G upgrade clarification?

So, am I correct in assuming the 3G upgrade to the iPhone is a hardware upgrade and not simply a software issue? Just wondering how long I have to wait before a 3G comes out so I can buy one!

Is the issue w/ 3G right now simply power consumption vs. speed? That is to say that a current 3G iPhone would drastically reduce battery life, but the speed would be faster? Is that Apple's reasoning behind holding off on the 3G or was it a heat issue? Thanks in advance for the insight!

 

[Lord Sandwich]

So, am I correct in assuming the 3G upgrade to the iPhone is a hardware upgrade and not simply a software issue? Just wondering how long I have to wait before a 3G comes out so I can buy one!

Is the issue w/ 3G right now simply power consumption vs. speed? That is to say that a current 3G iPhone would drastically reduce battery life, but the speed would be faster? Is that Apple's reasoning behind holding off on the 3G or was it a heat issue? Thanks in advance for the insight!

Yep, 3G is a whole different chip so you won't be upgrade an existing iPhone. And power consumption and heat are pretty much two sides of the same coin; the more electricity flowing through the silicon, the more heat you create.

I wouldn't expect Apple to release a 3G phone anytime soon, and even then the 2G phones will likely have better battery life. But hey, miracles do happen.