CapMac iPhone SIG

In major boost for the rapid deployment of nationwide 4G mobile service – the Federal Communications Commission [FCC], on Friday gave Broadway theaters, sports franchises, and other public entertainment forums until June 12th to change the radio frequencies they use for their wireless microphones, and communications.

The FCC in a new order (PDF) set out the road to 4G data by banning the sale of all current devices that use the 700MHz band. The measure has a “sunset period” until June 12th to ease the transition but will demand that everyone either stop using equipment on those airwaves or have it modified to use a non-offending space. Most of the affected devices will be wireless microphones.

Most of the devices in the frequency range were cleared out with the digital TV transition in June of last year.

All of the steps are meant to clear the 700MHz space in time for public safety uses but also for cellular services. In the US and most other countries, the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard for 4G will run on the newly freed bands, which are ideal for mobile data as they both carry over longer distances and are much more capable of penetrating indoors than 3G does today.

Verizon will be one of the first carriers to use 700MHz LTE and expects to have commercial 4G active sometime in mid-year. AT&T and T-Mobile are making their own transitions in 2011, while Sprint is for now still focused on its 2.5GHz WiMAX network.

The overall objective for LTE is to provide an extremely high performance radio-access technology that offers full vehicular speed mobility and that can readily coexist with HSPA and earlier networks. Because of scalable bandwidth, operators will be able to easily migrate their networks and users from HSPA to LTE over time.

LTE assumes a full Internet Protocol (IP) network architecture and is designed to support voice in the packet domain. It incorporates top-of-the-line radio techniques to achieve performance levels beyond what will be practical with CDMA approaches, particularly in larger channel bandwidths.

LTE capabilities include:

• Downlink peak data rates up to 326 Mbps with 20 MHz bandwidth
• Uplink peak data rates up to 86.4 Mbps with 20 MHz bandwidth
• Scalable bandwidth up to 20 MHz, covering 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz in the study phase
• Reduced latency, up to 10 milliseconds (ms) round-trip times between user equipment and the base station, and to less than 100 ms transition times from inactive to active
• Improved service for both mobile and fixed-location users

LTE will address the market needs for at least the next decade, after which time operators might deploy IMT-Advanced or fourth generation (4G) networks using LTE-Advanced technology with work already in progress at 3GPP in Release 10.

Use of much of that spectrum has been licensed for around $20 billion by major wireless carriers – including Verizon and AT&T.

Complete details at our iPhone meetup on Thursday, January 21st at BB Rovers.

A new iPhone application from an Austin developer – ATX Innovation, promises to take the wait and confusion out purchasing food and drinks at leading establishments.

TabbedOut [ iTunes, FREE ]  enables users to pay restaurant and bar bills using mobile phones. The company is initially launching its smartphone application in Austin, Seattle and Dallas.

Although just formally launched this week – the number of participating restaurants is expanding rapidly. CEO Rick Orr expects 20 more locations by the end of the month.

Instead of surrendering your plastic credit and debit card to a server – software installed an the establishment’s point-of-sale terminal syncs with the customer’s smartphone and tracks what has been ordered. The customer can then add a tip before closing out the tab from card information stored on your phone.

There is no enrollment process, and patrons can use their existing debit or credit cards.   [Read how it works]

The goal of TabbedOut is to provide users with convenience, security and accuracy. Also, it eliminates the time-consuming handling of debit and credit cards, Orr said.  “For restaurants, it’s about speed,” he said. “It’s a cumulative effect.”

As a prompt to forgetful patrons, an upcoming TabbedOut version would include a global positioning system-based feature that would remind patrons to close out when they get farther than a certain distance from the point-of-sale terminal.

Orr expects to target iPhone users 21 to 35 years old and business travelers who want to track expenses electronically. Also, he expects to attract as customers high-volume restaurants and bars that will subsidize user fees to generate additional business.

We’ll demo TabbedOut at  iPhone meetup – and hopefully have BB Rovers online soon.

Feeling the pressure from similar price cuts by Verizon early today – AT&T rolled out new unlimited plans for all devices on its network, including the iPhone – hours later.

Under the new plans taking effect on Monday, iPhone customers can sign up for unlimited voice and data for $99.99 per month, although texting packages remain separate for an additional fee. The unlimited voice and data plan represents a $30 discount from the previous unlimited plan for the iPhone.

All smartphone customers, including iPhone customers, may now buy unlimited voice and data for $99.99. For smartphone customers with Family Talk plans (prices assume 2 smartphones), unlimited voice and data is now available for $179.99. Texting plans remain unchanged at $20 for unlimited plans for individuals, $30 for Family Talk Plans.

Existing customers will be permitted to change to the new plans as of Monday via AT&T’s website, with no monetary penalty or extension to contract terms. It is unclear at this time whether there will be any adjustment to AT&T’s non-unlimited plans to reposition its pricing tiers in relation to the new, lower unlimited price.

Complete details at our next iPhone meetup on Thursday, January 21st at BB Rovers.

Apple today released a new iPhone app that allows users to directly view photos and videos hosted on Apple’s MobileMe service on their iPhone or iPod touch.

MobileMe Gallery [iTunes link, FREE] allows users select an album with a tap and flick back and forth through photos, pinch to zoom, or rotate into landscape view. The software also automatically stores photos that have been viewed, so they can be accessed again even without a network connection.

Publicly shared content from a friend’s MobileMe account can also be accessed by selecting their name from contacts or entering their MobileMe member name. A scrolling sampler at the top that gives users access to recent photos.

Features of the software, according to Apple, include:

• View your entire gallery including password protected and hidden albums
• Flick through photos and pinch to zoom in for more detail
• Rotate iPhone to see photos in landscape
• View your friends’ gallery photos and movies
• Access previously viewed photos when offline
• Easily share a link to an album from iPhone

Users must enter their MobileMe member name and password to see their list of published movies and photos.  The free, 0.7MB application requires iPhone OS version 3.1 or later. A MobileMe subscription is required.

North Carolina’s Pamlico County Board of education is purchasing 131 Apple iPod Touchs for use by many of the county’s primary school students. The popular devices are intended to help students with math and reading: specifically vocabulary, phonics, comprehension, language skills, and fluency.

The money for purchasing the iPods, along with other Apple products, came from a $1.25 million grant from the Reinvestment Act and Enhancing Education Through Technology programs.

As more schools and colleges adopt the mobile platform to assist with class work, and even administrative functions like access to grades, class and school schedules, and even social media – it’s easy to see how these smaller devices may have been used as a ‘proof-of-concept’ for Apple in the development of a larger format device.

What are your thoughts on trading paper for pixels?

Many reports indicate that Apple has delayed iPhone OS updates, to keep internal code referencing the new tablet under wraps until the product is announced.  The 3.1.3 iPhone OS build has been rumored ready for imminent release, possibly in tandem with the tablet announcement.

More details and speculation at our next iPhone meetup on January 21st at BB Rovers.

For years, control freaks have been unable to find a simple, elegant way to replace the plethora of remote control devices that clutter homes everywhere.  Well, rejoice – there is now a solution – and an app for that!

L5 Technology, a leading developer of smartphone peripherals, has announced a new tiny accessory and free application that able to turn your iPhone or iPod touch into a universal remote control.

The L5 Remote was demo’d last week at the huge Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas – and provides a powerful alternative for multiple and often-confusing remote control devices, controlling thousands of devices, including televisions, cable boxes, stereos, DVD players, ceiling fans, air conditioners, audio equipment and more electronic devices that come with an infrared remote right on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Key Features of L5 Remote:

• Replace a coffee table full of remotes with the portability and simplicity of your iPhone
• Drag and drop to design your first custom remote control
• Fast and easy setup without the need of batteries, WiFi and wall plug
• Infrared technology supports range up to 30 feet
• 100,000 button or 1000 remote capacity
• Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, and iPhone, iPod touch (generation 1 and 2) OS 3.0 or later

“With the fast pace of innovation in the smartphone market, handhelds are becoming the consumer electronics platform of choice, causing disruptions across many markets. We see peripherals that connect smartphones to the physical world as key components in the revolution,” commented Wade McNary, founder and CEO of L5 Technology. “Leveraging the power, versatility, and portability of handheld devices, and following Apple’s philosophy of design elegance and simplicity, we have solved a common problem. This one small device reverses a long trend toward complexity in remote controls.”

The new L5 Remote hardware is scheduled to be available next month  for a MSRP of $49.95, while the L5 Remote app is available as a free download from Apple App Store.

Google is quickly learning that press releases do not an iPhone Killer make. Support forums have been swamped with  folks needing help for problems with their new Nexus One phones. Support and answers are so scarce that even Google can’t find them.

The volume of complaints points to a problem that Google faces now that it has decided to try to push a new cell-phone-buying model in the U.S. Since most people buy subsidized phones from a mobile operator, they turn to the operator when they have problems.

Google is selling the phone directly to end-users – leading many users are turning to turn there first, only to discover that Google, is a search giant – and not capable of providing the type of customer support that mobile-phone users are accustomed to.

Google appears to be only accepting e-mail customer queries, to which it pledges to reply in one to two days—far too long, say most people who are complaining online.

Many people are also turning to T-Mobile and HTC, but getting little help there. T-Mobile is often referring people back to either Google or HTC for answers to questions. HTC is often referring people back to T-Mobile, according to complaints online.

Thousands of users, finding no solace elsewhere have turned to web forums. One user known as ‘SouthFlGuy’ was also sent back and forth between HTC and T-Mobile after finding no help from Google. “I guess I was under the wrong impression but I thought Google would handle the service on the phone,” he wrote.

Several people on one thread regarding poor 3G performance on the phone report being told by HTC customer service people that the Nexus One doesn’t support 3G, although the phone does. Another got an e-mail response in five hours from Google suggesting that the user try restarting the phone to see if that solves the problem.

One thing for sure – if Google’s Nexus One and Android are future iPhone killers – they obviously have a lot to learn. Apple consistently leads the industry in the quality and speed of its customer service.

Google, T-Mobile and HTC have not replied to requests for comment.

With tens of thousands attending the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show [CES] at the Las Vegas Convention Center this week – many carrying iPhones – you can imagine the data demands, and problems facing AT&T.  Reports the 3G network being slow or unavailable are rampant.  Including a report by Cecelia Kang in today’s Washington Post.

Since all eyes and rumors at CES seem to center on Apple’s iPhone and forthcoming products of interest, any network problems add further weight to existing criticism of Apple’s current exclusive carrier – AT&T.

Seth Bloom of AT&T responded to my request for comment:

In preparation for CES, we optimized our network in Las Vegas by significantly augmenting our network capacity. However, at an event such as CES, where large numbers of people in a dense area are using smartphones over finite spectrum, periods of network congestion can occur. Our network engineers on site continue to take steps to optimize our network as needed for the large number of mobile broadband customers at CES.

I would hope that by now, AT&T understands what is stake here:  customer loyalty, goodwill, and lots of income. Let’s face it – AT&T’s stock has been languid at best.  Without the charisma and cash as the exclusive iPhone carrier – their fortunes will shrink smaller than weightlifter jewels in a blizzard.

If AT&T can’t provide acceptable quality of service to VIP’s at a communications event of this importance – no PR or ad campaign will be able to repair the damage…