Just wondering, how fast 3G is compared to an average wi-fi connection and if it's likely they'd make the Music Store accessible over 3G?
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iTunes 3G Music Store?
- Thread starter Mobile923
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It is possible as 3G will supposedly bring wifi like speeds to your phone. The issue is if your mobile provider wants all that added traffic on their network. We will have to wait and see.
It's possible but not definite. AT&T's 3G network might not be robust enough to support that kind of bandwidth, and Apple would cover for them by saying WiFi is faster anyway (which it is. 3G has very fast peak capacities, but in practice is usually only 2-3 times faster than EDGE).
Also AT&T may request that iTunes store not use 3G because it would eat into bandwidth. Remember 3G's total bandwidth is a finite pipe and if everyone was to start downloading songs it would slow to a crawl.
Why of course? After all, it is called the iTunes WiFi Music Store.
That being said, Steve Jobs did mention the App Store will be accessible via 3G or even EDGE, but then again, apps will generally be about 5MB or so where as a whole album from the music store could be in the 100MB region. So I still wouldn't say of course, but I guess we'll all have to be patient and see...
Of corse because they are making money through the iTunes Music Store. Maybe if it is bought through 3G ATT will get some of the profits. They want to make it as easy as they can for you to give them money.
Did you miss the part about the possible technical limitations of downloading with 3G on AT&T's network versus WiFi? That's why NO ONE can say of course or for sure except Apple and AT&T.
Come on, use your thinking cap. Apple is not going to segregate different phone features for different connections, they go for simplicity. Verizon and Sprint have been selling full length songs over 3G for years. Apple stands to make money from it- just like Safafi and the other apps it will use Wi-Fi when available, but if not one will be able to use AT&T's data service.
Um, did you actually read my posts? Not once did I say it won't happen. I'm saying to those that claim it will happen no matter what, or in their words, "Of course" that nobody will know (except Apple and AT&T) one way or the other until it actually comes out. Here it is again since obviously you read into things the wrong way:
Man, today is just a day full of really dim posts from people. Please take the time to actually read and understand kiddies...
Best not be calling my post dim. I read and re-read your comments, and what I said earlier still stands.
Um, they already do segregate different phone features for different connections. Note that you can't buy iTunes songs over EDGE, though you can over WiFi. And they will keep doing it, for the App Store they specifically require that developers don't do anything bandwidth-heavy over the cell network, though they don't care about WiFi. And they allow Voice over IP over WiFi as well, but not over cell network.
As for how fast 3G is, the iPhone averages around 250kbps over Edge (based off the speed thread on here), while my 3G cellphone gets 1500kbps.
Here in the UK there are other 3G Phones with music downloads that work over 3G and there doesn't seem to be any bandwidth issues.
Also remmeber this is not 3G - its 3.5G we are talking 7.5Mbps potentially depending on the network and the chip in the phone. It has the potential to be faster than most wired/cable broadband services and therefore faster than wi-fi for those people.
Also remmeber this is not 3G - its 3.5G we are talking 7.5Mbps potentially depending on the network and the chip in the phone. It has the potential to be faster than most wired/cable broadband services and therefore faster than wi-fi for those people.
I don't own an iPhone and wasn't aware that iTunes was only for Wi-Fi. However, both 3G networks here in NZ have their own music download services, so I expect that iTunes could work without any bandwidth issues too. Of course, the situation may be different in the US.
It has little to do with speed, since you could download it via the EDGE network (but it would take a while). But it's not going to happen because the 3G network will take a massive traffic slam this summer in the US, one which may choke it.
As far as speed, WiFi doesn't have a set speed. I would assume most hot spots are 802.11g, which is max 54 Mbps. But some may be N-capable, which is about 130 in a mixed g/n mode. Any very-old 802.11b hot spots would be up to 11Mbps.
Of course little of that matters because the Internet service is most likely going to be slower, more likely 1.5Mbps on average. That's way faster than 3G will be.
As far as speed, WiFi doesn't have a set speed. I would assume most hot spots are 802.11g, which is max 54 Mbps. But some may be N-capable, which is about 130 in a mixed g/n mode. Any very-old 802.11b hot spots would be up to 11Mbps.
Of course little of that matters because the Internet service is most likely going to be slower, more likely 1.5Mbps on average. That's way faster than 3G will be.
Why are people saying "WiFi" is faster than 3G? Surely that depends on your connection. The speed of WiFi (a/b/g/n) only dictates how fast the data gets from the device to the router. Thats it. From there on its about how fast your line is. That may be faster or slower than 3G/3.5G