Anritsu Co. announces that its ME7873LA LTE-Advanced RF Conformance Test System has obtained the world’s first LTE 3CA PTCRB certification. By obtaining PTCRB certification for 3CA, the ME7873LA supports deployment of LTE 3CA downlink, expected to be available in North America by the end of the year.
Read more…: World’s first LTE 3CA validation achieved by Anritsu RF conformance test system
Last week when iOS9 came out I upgraded my Apple iPhone 6. It worked. In fact, things went so well that this morning I upgraded an iPhone 5S and an iPad. Big mistake. That’s when I was hit by an Apple tidal wave so big it would make the Titanic feel like it was just caught in a sun shower. So should you update now or wait a while for the bugs to be worked out? That’s the $1 million question. Let me share with you what I learned after spending hours at the Apple store this morning.
I have lost all my data and apps on my devices. That’s a tragedy, but Apple says it’s not lost. It’s just unreadable. They tell me when a fix is created I will get them back. That’s better than losing all that information. However, the next question is how long will that take?
Bottom line, if you are currently using iOS8, then chances are better you will have a successful update to iOS9. However, if you currently use iOS7 or older, don’t even think about updating. Not until Apple creates and releases a fix for the massive problems this creates.
It would be nice if Apple would have warned us about this, don’t you think?! I updated an iPhone 6 and an iPhone 5S, which both used iOS8. They both upgraded without problem. The problem came when updating an iPhone 5S and iPad using iOS7. When I did this, suddenly the phone didn’t talk to my cloud any longer.
What that means is the iPhone and iPad became a brick. After bringing it to an Apple store they got it working again, but it was a blank device. I still have to manually install everything. Even then I won’t have any data. Basically all I had was a brand new and blank iPhone.
The entire story was a lot more aggravating. It took a trip to an Apple store and spent several hours there earlier this morning. We had to forcefully update my iPhone and iPad several different times each. It seemed to work well until I tried to access my iCloud data. That’s when it froze and I had to update all over again.
There were many other people there complaining about the same thing. There was a big problem and there was no solution. I was there long enough that I think I understand what is going on.
So the new update to iOS9 seemed to work well when updating from iOS8. However, if you are using iOS7 or older, don’t even try. You will freeze your system and have to spend hours just getting the device to work again.
According to the Apple staff, they now understand the problem and are working on a fix. When that fix comes out, it should solve the problems and you can go back to normal. Until that point, you are stuck. When will the fix come out, tomorrow, next week, next month?
So if you don’t need to update your operating system, play it safe and DON’T!
If you do want to update it, make sure you are currently at least using the most updated iOS8 version. And make sure you update everything before you update. Without that you are walking into a trap.
Either way, there are certain devices, which should not be updated yet like those that use iOS7 or older that are connected to iCloud.
The culprit seems to mainly be around the iCloud. If you don’t use the iCloud you may not have this problem.
I never upgrade quickly. I always wait months before upgrading. I know there will be problem and don’t want to get caught in the chaos and lose my data. As a wireless analyst I get lots of smartphones and tablets to test and compare from carriers and handset makers. These are the devices I typically update quickly to experience the thrill of the high-speed wipe out. What a rush!
However the wipe out is never that bad since these are only test devices and not my primary phones and tablets and such.
Last week I heard the iOS9 was ready to go so, without thinking, I updated my primary smartphone. Unfortunately, I realized too late that I never update one of my primary devices for this very reason.
Fortunately it worked. I say fortunately because I was travelling last week and would have been very angry if all of a sudden I couldn’t make a phone call, send a message or us an app.
I realized this was a mistake and highly risky after pressing the OK button. At that point there was no way to stop the update. Fortunately I dodged a bullet with that one. However the other devices I updated this morning were a year older.
If Apple knew this and failed to warn users then they should be ashamed of themselves. Job number one should be to protect the user. After all, they are the reason for your success. Apple always talks about how many of us update the iOS. That always sounds impressive. What they don’t tell us is whether it works.
So if you didn’t update yet, stop. If you did and you dodged a bullet, congrats. If you did and you are now suffering, sorry. All you can do is wait for the Apple fix.
So while that does not help anyone until the fix comes, at least we didn’t lose everything. At least we hope not. This is a helluva position for any of us to be in however isn’t it. We have to remember a chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link.
Let’s hope Apple gets the fix out ASAP.
The post Kagan: Upgrade to Apple iOS9 or wait? appeared first on RCR Wireless News.
Read more…: Kagan: Upgrade to Apple iOS9 or wait?
Swedish telecom equipment vendor Ericsson and South Korean mobile operator LG Uplus, have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the development of “5G” and “Internet of Things” technologies.
The terms of the agreement stipulate the deal will initially run until 2020. The MoU covers four key areas: IoT infrastructure, including narrow-band LTE; software-defined networking and network-function virtualization to make the core network 5G ready; global content delivery networks; and IoT-Advanced technologies.
Ericsson and LG Uplus said they will establish technology and frequency strategies and jointly work together to prepare a roadmap for long-term network development. The companies will cooperate in a broad range of areas including research, testing and result sharing, as well as the development of technology and equipment.
“By enabling essentially unlimited access to information anywhere and anytime, 5G can deliver enormous benefits to people, business and society. Realizing this transformative vision requires a strong industry ecosystem, we are delighted to partner with LG Uplus to lead the development of both 5G and IoT platforms,” Ericsson’s CTE Ulf Ewaldsson said.
Kim Suntae, LG Uplus’ CTO, said, “We will prepare for the 5G era based on a combination of our network management know-how and Ericsson’s strong technological power. The two companies will lead network evolution by introducing advanced network technologies to domestic and overseas markets through close collaboration.”
LG Uplus has offered LTE-A nationwide since July 2013, through network infrastructure provided by Swedish vendor Ericsson.
The operator ended the second quarter of 2015 with 9.1 million subscribers in the LTE segment, up from 7.8 million subscribers in Q2 2014.
According to the telco’s latest quarterly report, LTE technology accounted for 79% of its overall subscriber base. By the end of 2014, LTE represented 75% of LG Uplus’ overall customer base.
LG Uplus, fully owned by LG Corp., is South Korea’s third-largest mobile operator behind SK Telecom and KT Corp.
RCR Wireless News recently took a close look at Ericsson 5G initiatives, including a test device operating in the company’s Texas office, as well as an interview with Hakan Andersson, head of 5G strategy for Ericsson’s radio business unit.
The post LG Uplus, Ericsson make deal for 5G, IoT development appeared first on RCR Wireless News.
Read more…: LG Uplus, Ericsson make deal for 5G, IoT development
The pace of change is accelerating across the public Wi-Fi ecosystem. Last year’s report on the state of the Wi-Fi industry detailed some quite significant shifts, but the contrasts being seen this year are even more dramatic. These are driven by several overall trends:
These big shifts mean that the three themes Chairman J.R. Wilson outlined for the Wireless Broadband Alliance in his 2020 Vision statement are equally applicable to all Wi-Fi stakeholders. Vendors, service providers, regulators and industry alliances need to:
In this rapidly changing landscape, as Wilson outlines in his interview, the role of the WBA will be central in driving and enabling progress, and helping to secure Wi-Fi, and its stakeholders, a pivotal role in the new wireless world. That will present challenges as well as opportunities for the WBA and its members. In particular, at a time of significant change, there is a difficult balance to strike between continuity – building on what has already been achieved and consolidating successful platforms and services – and looking ahead to new, but less certain, horizons like the IoT and 5G.
Both elements are seen in this year’s snapshot of the Wi-Fi ecosystem, in which companies are building mainstream commercial platforms on foundations laid in earlier years – such as NGH/Passpoint deployments – while also starting to deploy or develop new technologies.
We will be providing more insights ahead of the release of the new report on carrier Wi-Fi sponsored by the Wireless Broadband Alliance to be released at the Wi-Fi Global Congress next month.
The post Analyst Angle: Wi-Fi trends in 2015 appeared first on RCR Wireless News.
Read more…: Analyst Angle: Wi-Fi trends in 2015
Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on the sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Industry veteran Stanton in favor of AT&T/T-Mobile USA deal, with conditions
Few industry veterans can provide the sort of perspective as John Stanton, who through his years in the mobile space has been involved with wireless carriers both big and small. (For those not familiar with Stanton, he was instrumental in the founding of McCaw Cellular, before going off on his own to found Western Wireless Corp. and VoiceStream Wireless Corp., before more recently joining Clearwire Corp.) And with that perspective in mind, Stanton told attendees at this year’s Rural Cellular Association Fall Expo that he was in favor of AT&T Mobility’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc. – a position not taken by RCA – but that his position was dependent on a set of strict conditions that would allow smaller players a chance to remain competitive. … Read More
Recent rumors could spell opportunity for equipment, tower space
Not that the mobile industry ever sits still, but AT&T Inc.’s pending $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc. has to an extent paralyzed the industry as the outcome of the deal will likely impact just about every inch of the space. Should the deal go through as described by AT&T, the mobile industry will gain a new No. 1 operator with size and scale yet unseen in the domestic space. While at the same time it will lose a feisty No. 4 operator that despite its size disadvantage has aggressively attacked the market from a network and marketing perspective. … Read More
Meg Whitman’s challenges as new CEO, president at HP
Hewlett-Packard Co. named former eBay Inc. CEO and candidate for California governor, Meg Whitman, as its president and CEO. Whitman replaces Léo Apotheker who held the position for 11 months. HP also reported that Ray Lane has moved from non-executive chairman to executive chairman of the board of directors, and the board intends to appoint a lead independent director. In a statement, Lane admitted that HP is at “critical moment and we need renewed leadership to successfully implement our strategy and take advantage of the market opportunities ahead. Meg is a technology visionary with a proven track record of execution. She is a strong communicator who is customer focused with deep leadership capabilities. Furthermore, as a member of HP’s board of directors for the past eight months, Meg has a solid understanding of our products and markets.” … Read More
Cooperation the name of the game for rural players
A hot topic at the recent Rural Cellular Association’s Fall 2011 Expo was getting rural operators, that have historically been very competitive, to cooperate for the common good of their survival. Several speakers, including RCA Chairman Hu Meena, noted that such collaboration could be vital for smaller operators to remain viable outlets for equipment vendors. Meena is also president and CEO of Cellular South. In addition, there was mention that on the device side this collective could provide a more attractive option for device makers to provide attractive mobile phones compatible with the spectrum bands controlled by smaller operators. This has become a significant issue for rural players looking to deploy LTE technology in the 700 MHz band as current deployments from Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility are not using bands that are available to smaller players and thus current devices are not compatible. … Read More
RIM looks cheap, but is there a buyer?
Even before Canada’s Research in Motion Ltd. lost almost a quarter of its market valuation in the wake of last week’s Q2 earnings report, some investors were wondering if the behemoth that once dominated the smart phone market might be a takeover target. Hopeful buyers of RIM’s shares point out that although market share and margins are declining, the company still has some valuable assets and no debt. BlackBerry is still the handset of choice for many corporate customers, and unlike other handset makers RIM still gets monthly revenue from corporate subscribers who use its proprietary network for email and other data transmission. Patents are another part of the picture. RIM was part of the consortium of six companies that recently purchased patents from Nortel Networks, adding new patents to the 2,000-plus that it has already filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Investors became keenly aware of the value of patents when Google Inc. agreed to pay a 63% premium last month to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., which holds more than 15,000 patents by some estimates. … Read More
Global Tower Partners to acquire GS Cell Site Holding
Global Tower Partners is making another big acquisition this week, sealing a deal to buy GS Cell Site Holding LLC from GS Global Infrastructure Partners. GS Cell Site Holding LLC owns more than 1,600 communications sites, including rooftop easements, ground easements, land beneath third party towers, and easements of third party structures on which wireless carriers’ telecommunications equipment is located. … Read More
AT&T Mobility’s LTE network off to a fast start
AT&T Mobility’s recently launched LTE network posted robust throughput speeds during drive tests over the past weekend, according to a report from Signals Research Group L.L.C. (Obviously, the speed tests were conducted on a extremely uncluttered network as the carrier has just begun offering the service commercially.) The firm noted that testing in the Houston area using a Sierra Wireless Inc. wireless modem showed average download speeds of 23.6 megabits per second, with peak download speed of 61.1 Mbps. The testing also showed that speeds exceeded 40 Mbps 8.6% of the time, 21 Mbps 38.2% of the time and was greater than 5 Mbps 95% of the time. … Read More
NII Holdings changes Nextel’s brand, but keep community approach
In the midst of rolling out its 3G network throughout Latin America, NII Holdings L.L.C. said today it plans to alter its Nextel brand identity across the region. The changes will include a new logo, tagline and graphic design. However, the “club” approach, such as its advertising slogan “Welcome to the club,” will be kept. “The concept of community is a really important part of our brand,” said Greg Santoro, NII Holding’s chief marketing officer. The company said the new logo is designed to support the company’s growth strategy based on its 3G network and focus on working through channels. Besides the 3G network, which will allow Nextel to bring new products and services to its customers, another growth pillar is to have new channels of distributions. “Since our customers are coming more from individuals we want to invest in channels such as retail, new and more places where people can interact to our services,” the company explained. … Read More
MetroPCS says small size helps it create big value for money
Being a small carrier is a key advantage in the wireless space according to Metro PCS’ senior vice president of corporate development, Doug Glen. “We are very entrepreneurial even if we’re small. We make decisions quickly and we pick partners who are committed, Glen told the audience at the Telecom Council’s TC3 event in Silicon Valley on Thursday. The firm’s small size has even facilitated the decision to effectively skip a generation and move directly to 4G LTE, with a testbed already up and running in the San Francisco area. … Read More
Score one for Microsoft in patent wars
Microsoft shareholders can thank the company’s lawyers for another deal that should boost the bottom line. For the seventh time in 3 months, Microsoft has won the right to collect royalties from sales of another company’s products. Samsung, the world’s number two smartphone maker after Nokia, has agreed to pay Microsoft a licensing fee for patented technology that is part of the Android operating system. That means Microsoft can collect a payment from Samsung every time Samsung sells an Android smartphone or tablet. The companies did not disclose the exact terms of their settlement. But after Microsoft reached a similar deal with Android-based smartphone maker HTC last year, one analyst reported that HTC will pay Microsoft $5 for each smartphone it sells. … Read More
Check out RCR Wireless News’ Archives for more stories from the past.
The post #TBT: AT&T and T-Mobile merger rumors swirl … this week in 2011 appeared first on RCR Wireless News.
Read more…: #TBT: AT&T and T-Mobile merger rumors swirl … this week in 2011
Anite, a global leader in wireless equipment testing technology, announced that PTCRB1 has approved Anite’s LTE data throughput test cases for device certification testing. Users can easily access these test cases (approved at the PVG#70 meeting in Sweden earlier this month) from Anite’s Conformance Toolset. The approved test cases enable device and chipset manufacturers to verify the data throughput performance of new devices prior to market introduction.
Read more…: PTCRB approves Anite’s LTE data throughput test cases for device certification testing
AT&T is skeptical of Verizon’s plans to unveil “some level of commercial deployment” of 5G by 2017. Verizon’s plans are significantly ahead of most industry estimates that don’t foresee the next generation of wireless technology coming to fruition until around 2020.
“We’re not at a point to be making promises or commitments to customers as to what 5G is,” Glenn Lurie, chief executive of AT&T Mobility, said in an interview at the CTIA Wireless industry trade show last week. “We as an industry have been really good at overpromising and underdelivering when it comes to new technology.”
Verizon Wireless said last week it is working on establishing network environments, or “sandboxes” at its Waltham, Mass., and San Francisco Innovation Centers to “foster compelling applications faster.” The carrier said the move will see it begin technology field trials beginning next year.
“5G is no longer a dream of the distant future,” Roger Gurnani , EVP and chief information and technology architect for Verizon said. “We feel a tremendous sense of urgency to push forward on 5G and mobilize the ecosystem by collaborating with industry leaders and developers to usher in a new generation of innovation.”
AT&T points out that it is still too early to even know what 5G is exactly as standards are still being defined and that process is expected to continue through 2018.
“Let’s make sure that before we start hyping what it’s going to be, that those standards are agreed to,” AT&T’s Lurie said.
“Innovation happens when you’re willing to look at things a little differently than others, and you’re willing to put in the hard work to make your vision a reality,” a Verizon spokesman responded.
This is not the first time Verizon has tried to be the first out of the gate to try to advance a new technology. The launch of 4G was very similar. In 2008, Verizon was the first to put out a version of LTE.
Other industry heavyweights such as Ericsson, Nokia, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems, Samsung and Qualcomm are along for the ride with Verizon on its 5G push. These companies have been testing 5G technologies since earlier this year.
“We are all aligned with Verizon to ensure the success and leading position for the US,” said Rima Qureshi, chief strategy officer for Swedish telecom supplier Ericsson.
The post AT&T responds to Verizon’s 5G plans appeared first on RCR Wireless News.
Read more…: AT&T responds to Verizon’s 5G plans
