Recently in Obligatory reposts Category

The AP has a story about Sprint updating its HTC Mogul smartphone to run on the EV-DO Rev A network.  This is the fastest-available CDMA data access speed.  So far, this connection speed has been reserved for laptop aircards only.

 

Here's the entire AP article

 

NEW YORK - Sprint Nextel Corp. is upgrading one of its cell phone models so that it can connect to a faster data network, doubling its download speeds and boosting upload speeds by about eight times.

Both Sprint and Verizon Wireless operate so-called EV-DO Rev. A networks, but have used them only for laptop cards. Their fastest phones have used the older and slower EV-DO Rev. 0 network.

Sprint said Monday it was releasing a software update for the Mogul phone, made by HTC Corp. of Taiwan, that will enable the phone to connect at Rev. A speeds. Downloads speeds should be 600 kilobits per second to 1,400 kbps, up from a range of 400 kbps to 700 kbps with Rev. 0. It will be capable of uploads of 350 to 500 kbps, up from 50 kbps to 70 kbps.

Sprint said its broadband network now covers 234 million people, and the vast majority of it has been upgraded to EV-DO Rev. A, short for Evolution-Data Optimized Revision A.

The Mogul is a smart phone that runs Windows Mobile software and can be used as a modem for a laptop. It costs $199.99 with a two-year contract and went on sale in June. The software update will be available immediately from HTC's site.

Verizon Wireless has not announced a phone using Rev. A. Spokeswoman Brenda Raney said the main advantage of Rev. A is higher upload speeds, which is important to laptop users but less so for cell-phone users.

AT&T Inc. already sells phones that use its fastest network technology, known as HSDPA, for High-Speed Downlink Packet Access. Its listed download speed is the same as EV-DO Rev. A, with a slightly higher upload speed.

 

As for why Rev A has been limited to aircards until now, well, there are a few possibilities.  The only one that makes sense is that Sprint and Verizon wanted to do as much as possible to boost aircard sales and activations.  If you can say that it offers your absolute highest connection speed, that'd be a good way to do that.  Now that Rev A has been around on the cards for quite some time maybe they feel like they can boost sales is other areas (ie smartphones) by applying the same technique - now enabled with the highest-possible connection speed available.

 

I'm excited to see what handsets can take advantage of Rev A next.  Like BlackBerrys.  Please?

Yeah, I know this has been on /. since this morning, but I'm going to talk about it anyway. First, since I already brought up Google and my thoughts on what MSFT-YHOO means for them, here is EE times predictions for the Googlephone. Definitely GPS, maybe Opera, but nothing about how it will get your mail or keep your calendar. I still don't see why I should care, yet. 

Meanwhile, longtime FCC watchers need to get a life wouldn't be surprised that the two Democratic members of the Commission don't believe we have a National Broadband Strategy, but President Bush sure thinks so! Authored by the good folks at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a small agency at the Department of Commerce that you've never heard of, and who are also the same idiots running the DTV Coupon Program which you can guarantee will receive some space here in the future, released their report entitled Networked Nation: Broadband in America. If I had caught this earlier I would have written about it, but instead here is Ars Technica's summary.