Open Signal, a company that specializes in mapping wireless coverage, conducted a study of LTE mobile network speeds in more than 80 countries around the globe, including the United States, and the results are eyebrow-raising but not really shocking.
4G
You can now download App Store apps up to 200MB over cellular networks
Apple has raised the over-the-air cellular download data limit from 150MB to 200MB.
Security flaws in both 4G and 5G networks let attackers intercept calls & track locations
New security flaws that have been discovered in both 4G and the upcoming 5G cellular networks make it easy for an attacker to eavesdrop on your phone calls and track your location.
Intel unveils its first 5G modem that could power 2020 iPhone
Intel today announced their very first 5G baseband processor.
Verizon launches unlimited data plan with 10GB of LTE tethering, offers free iPhone 7/Plus
Verizon is no longer the only major US carrier without an unlimited data plan. As announced yesterday, the carrier's newly launched Unlimited plan gives you unlimited 4G data, texts and minutes on a single smartphone or tablet in exchange for $80 per month, or $45 per month for four lines ($180 total).
Those prices entail paper-free billing and AutoPay and exclude taxes. It's unclear if Verizon's access fees of $20 per month per smartphone and $10 per month per tablet apply to the new plan.
Like with other carriers, you don't really get truly unlimited data: consume more than 22 gigabytes of 4G LTE data per line in any given month and the system begins prioritizing usage behind other customers in the event of network congestion. For a limited time only, the big red carrier is offering a free iPhone 7/Plus, Google Pixel or another flagship smartphone to those who'd switch to the new plan.
Apple sues Qualcomm over withholding $1B as ransom in Korean legal investigation
Apple on Friday announced it's suing iPhone modem supplier Qualcomm, which owns many wireless patents, “after years of disagreement over what constitutes a fair and reasonable royalty”. The suit argues Qualcomm withheld nearly $1 billion in payments it owes to Apple as retaliation because Apple cooperated with the Korea Fair Trade Commission. Last month, Korean regulators slapped Qualcomm with a $850 million fine over its patent-licensing practices.
Apple's suit, filed in federal district court in the Southern District of California, accuses Qualcomm of charging royalties for technologies “they have nothing to do with.” Responding to the complaint, Qualcomm called Apple's claims groundless and said they “misrepresented facts”.
Qualcomm denies FTC’s claims it bribed Apple into using its modem chips
Yesterday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged Qualcomm with monopolizing baseband modems used in smartphones, basically saying the company bribed Apple into not making a WiMAX iPhone in exchange for better royalties. The chip maker in a subsequent press release denied any wrongdoing, saying the FTC doesn't really understand how the mobile industry works.
Qualcomm under fire from FTC over allegedly forcing Apple to use its baseband modem chips
Now we know why Apple has made the controversial decision to dual-source baseband modem chips for iPhone 7 from both Intel and Qualcomm. Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged Qualcomm with monopolizing baseband modems used in smartphones, saying the firm's leveraged its position to force Apple to use its baseband chips in exchange for lower patent royalties.
Apple denies throttling LTE performance of Verizon iPhone 7
Bloomberg today shared research conducted by Twin Prime and Cellular Insights in a story suggestively headlined “Apple's Chip Choices May Leave Some iPhone Users in Slow Lane” which asserts Apple may have throttled LTE performance of the Verizon iPhone 7 handsets to make them perform about as well as the AT&T iPhone 7 models.
Apple in a statement shot down the report and denied throttling, insisting there's “no discernible difference” in wireless performance between various iPhone 7 models.
How to use less cellular data in the Instagram app
Learn how to set the Instagram app on your iPhone or Android phone to use less cellular data if you're on a capped plan or roaming internationally.
Sprint’s new tablet-exclusive unlimited plan degrades your video, music and gaming streams
I don't trust “unlimited” wireless plans because they're all but unlimited and often come with a bunch of caveats one needs to consider carefully. The latest example: Sprint's newly announced data plan for tablets which promises unlimited 4G LTE data in exchange for $20 per month. So far so good, but the devil—as always—is in the detail.
If you take a closer look at the fine print, you soon realize that the plan limits video streaming to DVD-like 480p resolution, music streaming quality to 500kbps and your online gaming streams to up to 2Mbps.
How to optimize the Spotify app to use less cellular data
In this tutorial, we'll show you how to configure the Spotify app on your iPhone so you can use it to your liking without blowing through all of your cellular data.