After spending the whole day running constant LTE speed tests, today is a bit different. In places that normally have 4G coverage by Verizon, we are lucky to be getting any data connection at all on our Galaxy Nexus. 3G is working fine for the most part in Silicon Valley around the Googleplex, but the same cannot be said in other parts of the country.

This is not the first time Verizon admitted to having data troubles. In fact, exactly a week ago today, Verizon’s 4G LTE network was having the same troubles like the ones today. But rest assured, Verizon is working hard to fix the problem, and you should start seeing your fourth “gee” again soon.

Engadget reports that Verizon’s statement on the issue is as follows:

“We are investigating reports of some customers experiencing trouble accessing the 4GLTE network. The network itself continues to operate and all customers continue to be able to make calls, send text messages and utilize data services. 3G devices are operating normally.”

As of about 10PM Pacific Time, my Galaxy Nexus is picking up 4G once again. Therefore, I presume that the Silicon Valley and Bay area are back online with 4G LTE.

Are you having the same data troubles? Or are you back to getting 4G coverage? Let us know in the comments below.

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During my trip to New York City over the weekend, I was sure that my Galaxy Nexus would be picking up LTE speeds. Using Ookla’s Speedtest.net application, I tested my data download and upload speeds numerous times. The results varied depending on my location, but no matter where I was, it was easy to see difference between 3G and 4G. More specifically, once you hit a 4G zone, your almost guaranteed speeds over 3 mb/s. Therefore, going from page to page in your browser, downloading apps and video, and going on Facebook, all become quicker and easier. Now, with 4G speeds, the only thing holding back your phone from being instant, is you processor. So without further ado, below is a list of the 7 tests I ran on my way into the city and in the city.

Latitude and Longitude

F – 40.90577 -74.09794
E – 40.75933 -73.98077
D – 40.74953 -73.98814
C – 40.73021 -73.99228
B – 40.73362 -73.99356
A – 40.73060 -74.00219

Are you getting 4G speeds? Compare your results to mine in the comments below.

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Three has a very exciting announcement for our UK friends that are using or thinking about switching to Three. Today, Three announced they will be rolling out a 42.2mbps HSPA+ network by the end of 2012. They also announced they have already deployed their 21.1mbps HSPA+ network over the majority of their 3G network, and plans to roll it out to all of their 3G network by early next year.

Some of the other UK carriers have not made as much noise about their HSPA+ networks, but they have been rolled out on other carriers already, like T-Mobile UK and Vodafone. This is especially exciting for those with HSPA+ capable phones like the Galaxy Nexus and Samsung Galaxy S II.

Three also said in their blog post – which you can read by hitting the source link – that after the 42.2mbps HSPA+ network is rolled out they will be moving on to LTE. Now that is some exciting news.

Are you a Three customer? Let us know how excited you are about getting up to 42.2mbps speed on your Android phone.

Via: Three UK

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It has been just under 6 months since Motorola released the Droid 3, and it has become clear that the fourth device in the Droid series is on its way. Of course, yesterday, December 22nd, was the rumored date of release. However, the day has come and gone without any definitive word from Verizon or Motorola.

Despite the lack of info from big red, a piece of informations, shown above, has escaped from Verizon’s headquarters. It is pretty clear that the Droid 4 will be landing in Verizon on or around February 2nd, 2012. This quick change of release dates should not come as a shock after the agony Verizon put Galaxy Nexus fans through. However, at least there is a date set for the release.

As of now, the rumored specs suggest that the Droid 4 will carry a 1.2GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM, a 4-inch qHD display, a full QWERTY keyboard, LTE connectivity, 8 MP rear shooter, 1080P video capture, possibly an HD front facing camera, and almost definitely Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. In fact, Android 4.0 may be the reason Verizon is holding back the Droid 4. This way, Droid 4 buyers would be able to get the newest version of Android straight out of the box.

Are you looking forward to the slimmest full QWERTY LTE phone? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: PocketNow

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For a while now, AT&T has been making some noise about their 4G network. And no, we’re no longer talking about their fake “4G” HSPA+ network. We are talking about big league connectivity, aka LTE (Long Term Evolution). On their website, AT&T states that they will cover over 70 million Americans and 15 cities by the end of 2011. John Stephens, the wireless provider’s CFO / SVP, announced at the UBS 39th Annual Global Media and Communications Conference that they are currently testing their LTE network in New York City.

Although there is no official date set for the release of the LTE network in the Big Apple, expect to get blazing speeds on your HTC Vivid, Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket, and Nitro HD very soon.

As for the other 14 planned cities, AT&T’s LTE network has already gone live in San Francisco. As you can see in the image below, the speeds are crazy fast. But beware, just because your phone can download data insanely fast, simply means you should keep a watchful eye over what you do choose to download.

Already getting LTE speeds in New York? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to tip us in the comments!

Source: Engadget, AT∓T

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Just recently, we wrote an article about all of the U.S. LTE wireless providers. It was easy to tell that Verizon had a firm grip on the LTE market in America. However, almost every other provider behind Verizon was either working on an LTE network, or building upon its current 4G network. However, Sprint, America’s third most popular wireless provier, was not working on an LTE network to our knowledge at the time of the article’s publication. Instead, Sprint had decided to lengthen their WiMAX deal with Clearwire. As soon as you think that Sprint is going to stay with WiMAX forever, their CFO begins to tell the public otherwise.

Sprint CFO Joe Euteneuer said, “We’re talking about covering 120 million [people] by the end of 2012 — we’ve accelerated this because we believe LTE is really key to our future”. Now that Sprint has announced that they will be stepping into the LTE world, why did they make a deal with Clearwire to extend the life of WiMAX? Since Sprint’s LTE network will not cover all of America yet, they will be keeping their WiMAX network alive until 2015.

As for LTE coverage, Sprint will cover 120 million Americans before the end of 2012. As for their competition, Verizon claims that they are already covering over 186 million Americans and should be covering 2/3 of the entire U.S. population by the end of 2012.

To accompany the new LTE network, Sprint will surely be rolling out some new LTE-capable devices very soon. Stay tuned, and expect to hear more from Sprint come CES 2012.

Source: Engadget

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If you’re planning to get a new AT&T smartphone for yourself this holiday season, you may want to check out the all new addition to their lineup: the LG Nitro HD. One of the key features this phone boasts of is a stunning high definition touchscreen display which lets you enjoy uber fast speeds of both LTE and 4G networks. As for its mainframe, the phone is packed with a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. With this capability and AT&T’s mega speed networks, it is no wonder why it has been dubbed as the superphone.

If you’re fond of multitasking on your phone, you will find this particular unit a lot of help to you since it lets its user do so. Not to mention, it contains 8-megapixel HD camera so you can capture True HD memories and store them in the 20GB total memory of the device. You can also easily share multimedia files through its wireless HD content streaming options.

One reason why this phone lives up to its role of a superphone is because it is backed by 4G systems that make use of both LTE and HSPA+ technologies. This is something AT&T proudly boasts of as they are the only US carrier that has been able to provide this, so far.

Other features you may enjoy from the LG Nitro HD:

• 4.5 inch 1280×720 AH-IPS display
• Android 2.3 (most likely upgradable to ICS)
• 1GB RAM

The Nitro will be available in AT&T stores and online sites today (December 4) at only $250 following a two-year contract. Are you getting one?

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As soon as you turn on your TV nowadays, chances are you are going to get blasted with tons of 4G or LTE commercials from all of the best wireless providers. Therefore, you are probably wondering which provider has the best 4G “LTE” network. First, we think it would be nice to define the terms “4G” and “LTE”:

4G: is the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards. It is a successor to the 3G and 2G families of standards.

LTE: This is also known as “3GPP Long Term Evolution”. Because LTE does not comply with the 4G standards, it is considered a pre-4G technology. However, the peak download speeds are quite incredible:

Peak Download 100 Mbit/s
Peak Upload 50 Mbit/s

Current LTE Networks

Upcoming LTE Networks

Verizon

Currently, Verizon claims to be covering 186 million US customers. Furthermore, they state that they will be covering 2/3 of the US population by 2012. Finally, they estimate that they will have LTE coverage in all of the areas that are currently covered by 3G by year 2013. For a coverage map and full list of current and upcoming locations, click here.

Metro PCS

Metro PCS has recently been making a lot of noise about their LTE network. Despite not being extremely detailed about their overall coverage, they show that they have LTE coverage in the following cities:

• Atlanta
• Boston
• Dallas/Ft. Worth
• Detroit
• North Florida
• Central Florida
• South Florida
• Las Vegas
• Los Angeles
• LA/Bakersfield
• New York
• Philadelphia
• Sacramento
• San Francisco

Sprint

Although Sprint has not released an LTE network yet, they previously released their WiMAX network with Clearwire.

WiMAX:(Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. Peak bit rates are 40Mbit/s.

Sprint does not have a full map of their coverage, and they seem to be a bit behind in the 4G race. However, they have paid Clearwire almost $1 billion to ensure access to WiMAX through 2015. Finally, rumor has it that Sprint will be paying Clearwire around $350 million to gain access to their LTE network. Although it is not official, Sprint should be rolling out 4G LTE around June of 2013.

AT&T

On their website, AT&T boasts of having coverage for over 200 million Americans on their 4G network. However, directly after that statement, they say that they only have 15 cities covered under 4G LTE and will have 70 million Americans covered with LTE by the end of 2011.

For clarification, when AT&T states that they are covering over 200 million Americans, they are referring to their HSPA+ network. HSPA+ is another standard for 4G and offers 84 Mbit/s (download) and 22 Mbit/s (upload) theoretical peak speeds. CLearly, LTE is a better technology (HSPA+ is 4x faster than 3G and LTE is 10x faster), but, HSPA+ is nice to have while waiting on LTE to roll out.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile and AT&T’s 4G networks are almost identical. T-Mobile also claims to cover over 200 million Americans, and their network is just HSPA+ for the time being. Furthermore, not much is known about whether or not T-Mobile will go for an LTE network.

Wrap-Up

Although LTE looks like an incredible upgrade from 3G, there is already something new to look forward to– Long Term Evolution Advanced, or just LTE Advanced. Download speeds peak out at:

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Looks like AT&T is trying to bring out their big guns, announcing two Android powered phones that are LTE compatible – which is basically their 3.5G network. First we have a second, yes a second, Galaxy S2 on AT&T. The Skyrocket looks pretty awesome with even more awesome specs. Which one reaches higher?

Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket

• 4.5-inch 480 x 800 SuperAMOLED Plus display
• 1.5GHz dual-core processor
• 8MP rear shooter, 2MP front camera
• 16GB built-in storage, microSD card slot
• Android 2.3.5

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Last night T-Mobile announced the Samsung Exhibit II 4G smartphone which features a 3.7-inch display, and Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It’ll be available from Walmart beginning October 27th, and at T-Mobile stores starting November 2nd. It’s T-Mobile’s first no-contract phone and will sell outright for $199. If you prefer to sign away two years, khowever, you can snag the phone for just $29.99 (after $50 rebate).

Full Specs List:

• 3.7″ WVGA Display
• 3MP Rear Camera
• VGA Front Camera
• 1GHz Processor

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