“Lost a planet Master Obi-Wan has. How embarrassing.”
– Yoda

Yota, the Russian mobile broadband operator, has switched on its first LTE network in the Russian city of Kazan. It is thought to be the country’s first live LTE network.

The firm said today that the trial network is up-and-running. Yota says it has invested US$20 million in building the Kazan network, which covers the city’s population of more than 1 million people with 147 base stations.

Kazan is Russia’s third-largest city and the capital of the Tatarstan region. MegaFon – Russia’s third-largest mobile operator – has also earmarked Kazan as the location of its first LTE network and is expected to launch services soon.

Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) is the largest mobile operator in Russia and CIS, with over 91.33 million subscribers as of July 31, 2008, according to Wikipedia.

Yota entered the Russian market in June 2009. The company won 600,000 customers in a year and its WiMAX was expected in five of Russia’s main cities – Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ufa, Krasnodar and Sochi – which have a total population of 25 million.

Yota’s new LTE network was constructed in just two months. Yota announced in May that it was switching from WiMAX to LTE and planning to invest around US$100 million rolling-out LTE networks in the five Russian cities this year.

Today’s launch suggests that Yota has been allowed to launch LTE-based services using its current license.

Samsung provides WiMAX base stations to Yota in Nicaragua and Belarus. Samsung’s U-RAS Flexible base stations can be used as a common platform for Mobile WiMAX (802.16e), Mobile WiMAX 2 (802.16m), as well as both FDD-LTE and TD-LTE deployments.

Launched in 2007, Yota has almost 600,000 customers in Russia and is also active in several other countries, including Belarus, Peru and Nicaragua. Skartel, the company operating under the Yota trademark, has already announced plans to create its own LTE smartphone. Yota recently opened an office in London and is entering foreign markets.

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Today Samsung unveiled its new 7″ tablet, called the Galaxy Tab. It will be available in Europe in October, and later this year it will go on sale in the U.S. Currently it uses the GSM standard (used by AT&T and T-Mobile in the United States). No word yet on how much it’ll cost. You might expect a relatively low price with a contract obligation from a cellular carrier. No word on whether a 3G-less version will be available.

The 7″ Galaxy Tab is powered by a Cortex A8 1.0GHz processor, runs Android 2.2. The seven-inch TFT-LCD screen has 1024 x 600 pixels, compared to the iPad’s 9.7 inches, with 1024 x 768 pixels. The Tab includes 16 GB or 32GB of internal storage and 32 GB MicroSD expansion, with various hubs for media and music, plus an e-reader for downloaded books and other content.

It can use both the Android Market and Samsung App Store. Engadget has a preview of the Galaxy Tab.

The Tab is well connected with 3G, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. It includes a 3 megapixel camera on the back with a flash and auto-focus, and a 1.3 megapixel user-facing camera. It can shoot HD video at 720p and has a full HD video player with DivX HD video playback. It comes with a beefy 4,000 mAh battery, good for up to 7 hours of video playback.

Surprisingly, Samsung isn’t using the same home-grown Hummingbird 1GHz processor that it is using in its Galaxy Android phones, says Information Week.

Google’s Tablet-friendly version of Android, 3.0 “Gingerbread,” isn’t ready yet, so the Tab runs a version of Android 2.2 Froyo that Samsung has customized for the device’s larger screen and 1040 by 600 resolution.

According to Samsung’s head of planning, “depending on our international partners, we’ll be working to upgrade from Froyo to Gingerbread.”

Meanwhile, the Toshiba Folio is now official. Here are the official details from Gizmodo:

Toshiba’s Android-powered Folio 100 runs Android 2.2, powered by the Nvidia Tegra 2, with a 10.1-inch 1,024 x 600 multitouch display and the usual networking options: Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, wireless 802.11 b/g/n and, like the iPad, 3G connectivity in some of its models. Unlike the iPad—the inevitable standard reference—the Toshiba Folio has already a webcam, a mini HDMI port, USB 2.0 (it can be both client and host) and SD/MMC card reader built-in.

Its battery life is 7 hours with 65% of web, 10% video playback and 25% stand-by, compared to the typical 11 to 12 hours of video playback you can get on the iPad. At 760 grams, and 281mm x 181mm x 14mm, it’s also heavier and larger than Apple’s tablet.

The Folio 100 is due to roll out across Europe, Middle East and Africa during the fourth quarter of this year, with a suggested retail price of €399 ($512).

Digitimes reports that Motorola, Verizon, and Google are working on a deal to create an Android tablet with a 10.1-inch screen, and based on the Tegra 2 platform from Nvidia. The panel will be thinner than the iPad’s, but not as bright, says Digitimes.

Under pressure from stockholders, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA — the third and fourth largest U.S. mobile phone carriers, respectively — are reported to be discussing the possibility of T-Mobile investing in Sprint’s Clearwire operation, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal says Sprint’s directors are debating allowing T-Mobile to invest in its Clearwire unit, which needs additional financing to complete the nationwide rollout of its 4G WiMax network. With a 54% ownership stake, Sprint controls Clearwire.

Sprint has the lead now with the country’s only 4G network via Clearwire. But it will face competition later this year from industry leader Verizon Wireless and next year from AT&T using LTE. Roaming might be easier if everyone used LTE, although Verizon and ATT are using a different frequency band.

Sprint controls Clearwire, with a 54% ownership stake. An investment in Clearwire by T-Mobile could involve the Deutsche Telekom unit in Clearwire’s TD-LTE trials planned for Arizona later this year.

“The trials are designed to fully utilize our spectrum footprint,”Dr. John Saw told Light Reading Mobile. The company has the spectrum to offer FDD-LTE services using the doubled 20MHz channels across the nation.

“We own an average 120 to 150MHz of spectrum in our markets,” explained Saw.

Clearwire owns most of the 2.6 GHz spectrum in the United States in a hodgepodge collection (above).

T-Mobile might also get 4G spectrum from satellite provider Lightsquared. That company probably needs the cell towers of T-Mobile to create its nationwide terrestrial network. Cricket, MetroPCS and Virgin Mobile are more “virtual networks”. They might use Clearwire’s spectrum for LTE. Meanwhile Verizon, AT&T and Comcast are sitting on vast reserves of AWS they could always tap if they need spectrum.

Clearwire plans to conduct LTE tests in the fall and throughout early 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona (see DW: Clearwire to Test LTE ). During the trials, Clearwire will collaborate with Beceem, and other partners, to determine the best methods for enabling end-user devices to take advantage of a potential multi-mode WiMAX/LTE network.

• FDD LTE: Clearwire will conduct FDD LTE (Frequency Division Duplex) tests using 40 MHz of spectrum, paired in 20 MHz contiguous channels, of its 2.5 GHz spectrum. Clearwire expects real-world download speeds from 20-70 Mbps. This is expected to be significantly faster than the 5-12 Mbps speeds currently envisioned by other LTE deployments in the U.S., which will rely on smaller pairs of 10 Mhz channels or less.
• TDD LTE: Clearwire will concurrently test TDD LTE (Time Division Duplex), in a 20 MHz configuration, which is twice the channel size currently used in its 4G WiMAX deployments.
• WiMAX and LTE: Clearwire will also test WiMAX co-existence with both FDD LTE and TDD LTE to confirm the flexibility of its network and spectrum strength to simultaneously support a wide-range of devices across its all-IP network.

Beceem’s newest chip, the BCS500 supports both WiMAX 16e and the faster 16m standard, as well as LTE. The BCS500 chip supports both TDD and FDD LTE and 802.16m. No word on WiMAX devices using Beceem’s WiMAX/LTE chip. But it fits Sprint’s game plan. And Sprint owns 54% of Clearwire.

In Boston, Clear’s WiMAX network is delivering 3-6 Mbps, roughly double the speed of T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network which is delivering about 2 Mbps in real world speeds, reports the Boston Globe.

TeliaSonera uses 20 MHz wide LTE channels, twice the bandwidth of Verizon’s 700MHz system. It uses the 2.6 GHz band – same as Clearwire’s WiMAX in the United States. Clearwire’s Phoenix LTE test will use Huawei gear, the same vendor that TeliaSonera is using.

TeliaSonera’s LTE network began commercial operation in Stockholm and Oslo in December 2009. They have three nation wide 4G/LTE licenses; in Sweden, Norway and Finland.

Mobile data traffic now surpasses voice and it will continue to grow indefinitely. Data will soon take 80% of traffic. Everyone knows that. The four three major U.S. mobile operators control 90% of the market.

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Amazon.com’s new headquarters in Seattle is equipped with an interactive, touch-screen transit kiosk that shows real-time public transit information and local amenities. It uses OneBusAway, a suite of tools to make using public transit easier for King County riders.

People can view “real-time arrival times for Metro bus routes, find streetcar stops and arrival times, as well as pinpoint nearby restaurants, shops and services on an interactive neighborhood amenities map.”

The 40-inch, map-based kiosk combines the accessibility of touch-screen technology with neighborhood amenity information and real-time arrival information for transit.

The kiosk taps into live data feeds from the popular OneBusAway application, King County Metro, Sound Transit and the Seattle Streetcar, as well as a comprehensive, updated database of South Lake Union amenities.

Perhaps your nearby solar-powered, Wi-Fi enabled, bus stop will sprout $300 touch-screen tablets. You’d think newspapers would be all over on it.

Low power Organic LEDs, flexible, efficient CIGs solar, tablet computers, 4G wireless, and WiFi-enabled smartphones are the new urban environment. Now. Today.

Juniper Research says the combined revenues from pay apps, value-added services, subscriptions and advertising is expected to rise from just under $10 billion in 2009 to $32 billion in 2015.

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Mobile phones have become a staple of daily life, so much so that most consumers can hardly imagine going through the day without one by their side, says eMarketer.

eMarketer predicts mobile content revenues will rise from less than $1.15 billion in 2009 to more than $3.53 billion in 2014, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 20% over the period.

The fastest growth will come from mobile music, the percentage of mobile listerners and moble phone users more than doubling by 2014.

The mobile video audience will increase threefold between 2009 and 2014, with the increase in mobile broadband and the emergence of viewing options outside the carrier networks. That will help boost revenue growth to a CAGR of more than 25% from 2009 to 2014, says eMarketer.

The prospect of a national, free, but low-bandwidth wireless broadband network, promoted by M2Z Networks, has been killed by the FCC, reports Wireless Week.

The main objection was that signals in the AWS-3 spectrum (2155-2180 MHz) that M2Z proposed to use, would interfere with signals in the AWS-1 band (2110 to 2155 MHz). The FCC conducted interference tests and said interference was unlikely, but T-Mobile and its allies argued the testing did not support the conclusion.

M2Z, whose backers include Charles River Ventures, Kleiner Perkins and Redpoint Ventures, had petitioned the FCC back in 2006 to create the service.

M2Z planned a free nationwide broadband wireless system, paid in large part by advertising. Ad revenue would support the free service, using local geo-tagging. M2Z would charge for a premium (unfiltered) service at speeds of 6 mbps. It would use a WiMAX system to deliver the service.

“The FCC’s decision to delay the use of this valuable spectrum forgoes the consumer welfare and economic stimulus that would result from putting new spectrum into the marketplace,” said John Muleta, CEO of M2Z Networks, in a statement.

“A new nationwide broadband entrant that provided a free broadband service would have created tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs throughout the country while giving all Americans an equal opportunity to participate in the digital economy. Despite the spectrum crisis facing the U.S. as documented by the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, the AWS-3 spectrum will continue to lie fallow, providing no economic value to American consumers.”

In its national broadband plan, the FCC is proposing to auction the AWS-3 spectrum auction as part of an effort to free up 500 Mhz of spectrum for commercial wireless broadband.

The United States and Canada have a good model in the 3.65 GHz band, which uses light licensing (registering your radio frequency). This allows smaller operators to enter the service market without the outlay of substantial costs for spectrum licenses that only a few, nationwide carriers can afford.

That same approach might be applied to the 20 MHz of AWS-3 spectrum (2110 to 2155 MHz). It might be restricted for use with smart grid applications or municipal city networks. Using WiMAX, the AWS-3 band would be more reliable than the congested unlicensed WiFi band, while providing better coverage than the higher 3.65 GHz band.

Solectek was granted approval to operate its WiMAX products in the full 50 MHz channel allocated for WiMAX operations in the US and Canada, in the 3.65 GHz band. Operation in the upper 25 MHz channels require compliance with stringent protocol specifications that cannot be addressed with standard WiMAX solutions.

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The new Apple iPod touch, announced today, includes the retina display from the iPhone 4, an Apple A4 core, 3-axis gyroscope, and FaceTime support thanks to the addition of a front cam.

The rear cam is capable of HD video — but it will cost you: $229 for 8GB, $299 for 32GB. They’re available next week.

In iTunes 10, Apple announced Ping — a social network for music. Ping is for social music discovery. You can follow people and you can be followed.

The new AppleTV box is small — a 4th of the size of the current ATV.

It’s got HDMI, USB, optical audio and Ethernet. “It’s all rentals and you don’t store anything on it — you just rent them.” TV shows are $.99.

The OpenBTS-based cellular network at Burning Man has the power to change the world, says Network World. The super low-cost, solar or wind powered base station, provide free cellular service to anyone with an ordinary GSM cell phone.

This is the third year that the low-cost, open source cellular network has offered free cell phone service to the 50,000-ish attendees at Burning Man, which began August 30, in Black Rock City, Nevada.

“We make GSM look like a wireless access point”, says one of the project’s three founders, Glenn Edens.

It costs pennies on the dollar and it’s completely legal, explains their FAQ (Slide Share Presentation).

The technology starts with open source software, OpenBTS. It is built on Linux and distributed via the AGPLv3 license. When used with a software-defined radio like GNU Radio, which provides the signal processing runtime and processing blocks to implement software radios, it works with any standard GSM cell phone.

It uses open source Asterisk VoIP software as the PBX to connect calls, explains founder David Burgess. Two of OpenBTS’s three founders are a duo of wireless design gurus that make up Kestrel Signal Processing: David Burgess and Harvind Samra. The third is industry luminary Glenn Edens, the same Edens who founded Grid Systems, maker of the first laptop in the early ‘80s.

GSM operates on licensed bandwidth, so for any U.S. installation, the OpenBTS crew always obtains a FCC license and works with the local carrier to coordinate frequency use.

When attendees get into range and power up their phones, the system sends them a text that says “Reply to this message with your phone number and you can send and receive text messages and make voice calls.”

“You can also make phone calls to any number, but you can’t receive them, except from other people at Burning Man. Calls from people out of range from Burning Man will go to voicemail … but you can check your voicemail.”

The system is only “as big as a shoebox,” Edens says, and requires a mere 50 watts of power “instead of a couple of thousand” so it is easily supported by solar or wind power, or batteries. It performs as well as any other GSM base station which has a maximum range of 35 kilometers and a typical range of 20 kilometers.

Like other GSM cell networks, OpenBTS networks can connect to the public switched network and the Internet. Because it converts to VoIP, it “makes every cell phone look like a SIP end point … and every cell phone looks like an IP device. But we don’t touch anything in the phone … any GSM phone will work, from a $15 refurbished cell phone all the way up to iPhones and Androids.”

“After the Haiti earthquake, we sent a system that was installed at the main hospital in Port Au Prince. They had it working an hour after unpacking it from the box. The hospital PBX was down. They used it as their phone system for about two weeks”, Glenn Edens told Network World.

Kestrel Signal Processing has sold about 150 units, hardware and software, since last January, with trial systems installed in India, Africa, the South Pacific and a number of other countries. The team has also done a few private installations like oil fields, farms, and ships at sea.

Because OpenBTS relies on licensed bandwidth, the team hasn’t been targeting enterprises wanting private campus-wide cell phone networks, though that’s not out of the question, says Network World. Still, Edens says there’s plenty of work to be done for the 60% of the world’s landmass and the 40% of the world’s population that don’t have service, he says. Carriers such as Telefonica to T-Mobile have expressed interest.

It was ten years ago at Burning Man that Matt Peterson and friends built one of the world’s first large scale community LAN networks. They used Cisco Aironet and Lucent ORiNOCO gear. Matt Peterson’s PlayaNet which provided wireless connectivity to Burning Man in 2001, demonstrated that Wi-Fi had untapped potential.

Matt Peterson and his friends, including Tim Pozar and others, took their Wi-Fi field experience back to San Francisco and started the Bay Area Wireless Users Group. BAWUG’s PlayaNET Archives, beginning in April of 2000, contain the genesis of grass-roots community networks.

Burners Without Borders was a spinoff from the Burning Man innovations. They used mobile access points in New Orleans.

Archos just released five new gadgets ranging from small phone-size devices with 2.8- and 3.4-inch screens to higher-end 4.3-, 7- and 10.1-inch tablets (pdf). All will ship with Android 2.2 “Froyo” and will include accelerometers, while only some have capactive touchscreens, front-facing cameras and 1GHz processors.

There are three Android tablets, with 4.3″ to 10.1″ screen sizes. They feature a 1 GHz processor, WiFi-n, an adjustable kickstand, HDMI TV output, and Android support for Adobe Flash™ 10.1 player. Engadget has hands-on videos.

Price and availability

• ARCHOS 28 internet tablet
  Available in September at 4GB, with a recommended retail price of $99.99. Features an 800MHz ARM Cortex A9 processor, graphics accelerator, built-in mic, USB Host, and multiple audio and video codecs

• ARCHOS 32 internet tablet
  Available in September at 8GB, with a recommended retail price of $149.99. Features 3.2-inch resistive 400 by 240 TFT LCD touchscreen, in an 8GB version at a suggested $149 and adds 3.2-inch resistive 400 by 240 TFT LCD touchscreen, 720p HD video storage up to 30 fps, rear-facing VGA camera/camcorder and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

• ARCHOS 43 internet tablet
  Available this fall at 8GB with a recommended retail price of $199.99. Features 4.3-inch resistive touchscreen, UPnP to stream content from a wireless-networked PC, MicroSD slot, 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, built-in speaker, rear-facing 2-megapixel 720p HD video camera and mini-HDMI output.

• ARCHOS 70 internet tablet
  Available this fall with a recommended retail price of $274.99 (8GB) and $349.99 (250GB). Features a 7-inch 800 by 480 screen with capacitive multi-touch capability. The 8GB version retails for $275 and the version with 250GB hard drive will be $349. It adds stereo speakers and front-facing VGA camera/camcorder for webcam use but lacks an HD video camcorder.

• ARCHOS 101 internet tablet
  Available this fall with a recommended retail price of $299.99 (8GB) and $349.99 (16GB). Features 10.1-inch 1,024 by 600 capacitive multi-touch touchscreen, webcam, front-facing VGA camera/webcam and USB Slave as well as USB Host. It lacks an HD video camcorder. The 8GB version will retail for a suggested $299, and the 16GB version will be $349.

Archos says all of its tablets are scheduled to be released about September and October, and each tablet will have Android 2.2 installed.

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Borders will cut prices on two of its electronic-book readers by about $20 on Wednesday, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Border’s Kobo reader, powered by Canada’s Kobo, in which Borders has an equity stake, will drop to $129.99 from $149.99 and its Aluratek Libre reader will go to $99.99 from $119.99.

The devices aim to compete with more popular Amazon Kindle ($139), Barnes and Noble Nook ($149) and the Apple iPad ($499). It follows price cuts on the Nook and Kindle earlier this summer.

Borders also announced preorders for their color ebook readers, the Velocity Micro Cruz Reader R101 (right) and The Cruz Tablet T103 for $199 and $299, respectively.

The two color Cruz Readers are based on the Android operating system and 7 inch color displays. The Cruz Reader has a resistive touchscreen while The Cruz Tablet has a capacitive touchscreen display. The higher priced Cruz Tablet also has more memory and is more focused on the media experience. They can both be used to view pictures and browse the web.

Borders also announced some changes to its Rewards loyalty program and you can now choose from one of two programs. A free program includes 30% off list price of hardcover bestsellers and free shipping for online orders of $25 or more. The Rewards Plus program includes 40% off hardcover bestsellers, 20% off select hardcovers, 10% off most everything else and free shipping on all online orders.

Borders kicked off the low price ebook reader wars with the Kobo eReader launching at $149 and then Barnes & Noble and Amazon followed by dropping the price of their more capable ereaders down to $149 and $139.

A rescue plan is being implemented to salvage the U.S. military’s billion AEHF communications satellite after a serious malfunction knocked out its main engine and stymied the craft’s maneuvering ability, reports SpaceFlightNow.

The Advanced Extremely High Frequency 1 spacecraft was launched into a preliminary orbit by an Atlas 5 rocket on August 14 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

AEHF 1 was expected to reach its on-orbit testing location at 90 degrees West longitude over the equator within 105 days of liftoff.

But those plans were thwarted a day after launch during the initial orbit raising burn when the satellite’s main engine shut down shortly after ignition for still-unexplained reasons. Another attempt tried August 17 also ended immediately when the engine again failed to generate the expected acceleration.

Built by Lockheed, it’s the successor to the currently-operational Milstar system.

AEHF will consists of three geostationary satellites plus a possible on-orbit spare. When the constellation is finished, the satellites will be also able to communicate with one another directly as well as provide spot beams on Earth.

There are three AEHF communication services: a new one providing data rates up to 8.192 Mbit/s per user, and the previous Milstar Low Data Rate (LDR) services (75 – 2400 bits per second) and Milstar Medium Data Rate (MDR) services (4.8 kbit/s – 1.544 Mbit/s).

Military satellites seem prone to years of delays and multibillion-dollar cost overruns. TSAT, the Transformational Satellite communications system, cost U.S. taxpayers $2.5 billion before Secretary Gates pulled its plug.

AEHF was expected to cost $5.6 billion in 2001 when the program was getting under way, but today the price tag is more than $10 billion for fewer satellites, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

There is also the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), a group of four infrared satellites designed to warn of missile launches and perform other reconnaissance operations. This 1996 program has ballooned from about $ 2 billion to more than $13.6 billion today. A Lockheed Martin-Northrop Grumman effort, SBIRS is eight years late. Two satellites have been launched so far, but hardware defects have since been discovered on the first one, the GAO said.

LightSquared plans to launch its wholesale LTE network in as many as nine U.S. markets in 2011, reports Fierce Wireless, and could expand that list to 20 markets in 2012, according to company documents unearthed by Bloomberg.

The documents show the company will offer 4G service largely in the middle of the country first and then expand to the coasts, says Bloomberg.

LightSquared is a satellite phone company that plans to reuse its 2 GHz (MSS) frequencies terrestrially, on cell towers. It plans to launch in Chicago, Dallas and Minneapolis in 2011, and could expand to Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in 2012, according to the documents.

The company expects to add 300 base stations this year, 5,000 by the end of 2011, and around 13,000 base stations in 11 more metropolitan areas in 2012. The company has inked a $7 billion deal with Nokia Siemens Networks, which is designing and building the network.

LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja confirmed to Bloomberg that the documents are authentic, but said some details have been changed. However, Ahuja said LightSquared is on track to begin constructing its network in December.

LightSquared hopes to compete with Clearwire and Verizon for 4G services in the United States. Clearwire now offers 4G service to roughly 56 million people, and plans to serve over 100 million by year’s end. By the end of 2010, Clearwire will expand to Boston, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Verizon’s is expected to turn on their initial LTE service sometime this November. “Verizon’s LTE service will be in 25 to 30 markets covering roughly 100 million people by year’s end,” said Tony Melone, senior vice president and chief technical officer at Verizon Wireless.

The three companies approach 4G differently. Clearwire has more 4G spectrum than all the U.S. cellular operators combined – some 120 MHz in big cities. Clearwire’s 2.6 GHz band doesn’t travel as well as the 700 MHz band that Verizon is using. Verizon will use fewer cell towers to cover more people on less spectrum. Verizon’s LTE service is therefore likely to be more ubiquitous, but slower and more expensive than Clearwire’s WiMAX service.

Geosynch satphone providers include:

• TerreStar’s satphone service: Now operational. It features dual-band operation, working with AT&T’s cellular network for ubiquitous service throughout North America. Uses 20 MHz in the MSS Band: (1.7/2.1 GHZ). Now operational with a single satellite, but service has not begun commercially. Dual-band phones can use AT&T’s cellular service and the MSS band using ATC. The 18 meter Harris antenna focuses 2 GHz spotbeams on the United States and Canada in order to provide enough signal strength.
• Skyterra satphone service: Same deal but operates in the lower “L Band” (1.5/1.6 GHz). May be available later this year, after their satellite launches. SkyTerra1 and SkyTerra2, based on the Boeing 702 design, are scheduled for launch during 2010. It will combine both terrestrial 700 MHz Public Safety networks and satellites.
• Inmarsat: Uses mobile terminals for Internet access but does not provide voice service from handheld phones. Operates in the “L Band” (1.5/1.6 GHz).
• Thuraya: Covers the middle East and adjoining areas. A 12 x 16 meter reflector, 128 element L-band antenna supports up to 200 separate spot beams.
• ICO: Provides MSS coverage over the United States with a huge spotbeam antenna. The planned mobile multimedia service has not yet been offered even though the satellite has been operational for nearly two years.

FCC rulemaking permits Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) licensees in the 2 GHz (1990-2025 MHz and 2165-2200 MHz) bands (where ICO and Terrastar operate), the L-band (1525-1544 MHz/1545-1559 MHz) and 1626.5-1645.5 MHz/1646.5-1660.5 MHz) bands (where Inmarsat and Skyterra operate), and the “Big LEO” (1610-1626.5 MHz and 2483.5-2500 MHz) bands (where Globalstar and Iridium operate).

Harbinger Capital Partners has dropped Clearwire from its stock portfolio and cut its stock holdings in Sprint Nextel, according to a regulatory filing.

LightSquared (which now owns Skyterra and most of TerraStar), has one big problem. They need a partner with cell towers who wants to play. Perhaps an Asian or European cellular company would be their best bet. Or, hey, how about Craig McCaw?

Related DailyWireless Space and Satellite News includes; LightSquared: Phase 1, LightSquared Announces LTE Network, FCC Okays Terrestrial LTE for SkyTerra, TerreStar Successfully Launched, AT&T/TerreStar Ready Satphone Service, TerreStar Phones Home, Motorola + SkyTerra Team for 700 MHz/Sat Radios, TerreStar’s 60 Ft Antenna Deployed in Space, TerreStar Successfully Launched , Satphones Maneuver, WildBlue: $30M, Shovel-ready, Alvarion, Open Range To Build 17 State Net, WiChorus Ropes Open Range, Satellites Collide, AT&T/TerreStar Ready Satphone Service, Godzilla SatPhones WiMAXed , WiMAX and/or Satellite, Clear Puck: Hat Trick?.

The Samsung Epic 4G, Sprint’s second WiMAX phone, hits the streets today. The Sprint version of Samsung’s Galaxy S includes 4G (WiMAX) connectivity and a slide-out keyboard.

It costs $249.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. However, you can also pick up the phone at Best Buy and Radio Shack to get an instant $100 savings and avoid the hassle of a mail-in rebate. Even better, Walmart and Amazon are currently offering the phone for $199.99, notes C/Net.

Unlike the other Samsung Galaxy S models, the Epic 4G features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a front-facing camera, an LED flash, and of course, WiMAX. It comes with Android 2.1. Samsung says it will be upgradeable to Android 2.2 shortly.

Like all Galaxy S phones, the Epic 4G has a large SuperAMOLED touch screen, a 1GHz Hummingbird Cortex A8 processor, and it will have access to Samsung’s upcoming Media Hub store. The slide-out keyboard, front-facing camera, LED flash, and support for Sprint’s 4G WiMax network make it unique. It’s the second 4G phone in the U.S. after the HTC Evo 4G.

Samsung’s Media Hub is basically Samsung’s answer to iTunes. It will let users rent or buy movies and TV shows from their phones.

The phone has 4.0-inch Super AMOLED display, a front-facing VGA camera and a back-facing 5.0-megapixel camera, which can record video in 720p, an LED flash, a 3.5mm headset jack, a Micro-USB port and DLNA output (rather than EVO’s HDMI) for wireless connection to a big screen.

Sprint will charge Epic 4G owners $69.99 per month for voice and data service and $10 more per month as a ‘premium data add-on’ for a total of $79.99. As with the Evo 4G, Sprint charges a mandatory $10 per month extra for 4G. According to Sprint, the price is justifiable because of the faster speeds, unlimited data, and the use of it as a mobile Wi-Fi hot spot — although the mobile WiFi costs an additional $29.99 a month.

AT&T charges iPhone owners $69.99 a month for voice service alone. Additional texting and data support costs $20 and $25 each per month — for a capped 3G data service. Sprint’s 4G phone provides truly mobile video chat – the iPhone 4G requires a WiFi connection. Rooting an Android phone may be risky, but it provides full access to its system files allowing you to modify the phone’s firmware and install third party apps, themes and custom ROMs.

Here’s the Sprint pitch, comparing the EVO with the Epic 4G:

Samsung says that it has already shipped 1 million Galaxy S phones to the US. AT&T and T-Mobile have Galaxy S phones out; while Verizon’s is due September 8th. Only Sprint offers “4G”. Verizon isn’t expected to offer a 4G phone until next year.

Reviews are available from C/Net, Android Community, InfoSynch, Engadget, Gizmodo, and Boy Genius Report.

In related news, today, T-Mobile USA, announced its HSPA+ broadband network reaches 100 million Americans in more than 55 major metropolitan areas. T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network – which offers theoretical peak throughput speeds of 21Mbps – is now available in Boston, Mass.; Erie, Penn.; Fresno, Palm Springs and San Diego, Calif.; Miami, Fla.; Richmond, Va.; Spokane, Wash.; and Topeka, Kan.

Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members. Mark Lubell is currently the Managing Director of Magnum. Back in 2004, he launched the Magnum’s digital magazine “inMotion” and since then redeveloped Magnum’s brand and strategy on the Internet.

Founded in New York, in 2004, Magnum In Motion is the multimedia digital studio of Magnum Photos. In Motion assembles visual narratives for online and offline platforms, including screenings in museums, festivals, and workshops.

It’s linked from an NPR feature: Is photojournalism dead?

Photographer Gerald Holubowicz interviewed a variety of publishing professionals about the future of photojournalism.

Stephen Mayes talks about his new VII Magazine and goes further to explore the state of the photojournalism and its future.

C/Net has a Guide to essential free apps for back-to-school laptops.

The back-to-school 2010 edition includes suggestions based on reader feedback from previous free app roundups, including 7-Zip for opening compressed files, and the popular free antivirus software Avast. Several of these app have free Mac versions as well.

C/Net’s suggestions include:

• The Firefox Web browser
• Google Chrome browser
• AVG Free, good free antivirus program.
• Norton and McAfee removal tools – since preloaded antivirus software has become about bugging you to register (and of course, convert to a full paying customer).
• WinDirStat – makes it especially easy to zero in on huge video and game files that might be making your new laptop feel cramped.
• OpenOffice.org – We’re keeping Open Office on this list, even though our word-processing and spreadsheet tasks have largely migrated to Google Docs.
• Audacity – audio editing
• Digsby – Instant-messaging client that combines IM, Gmail, FaceBook, and Twitter in a single, easy-to-use app.
• ImgBurn 2.5 – free CD/DVD-creation
• VLC Media Player – a simple media player app that works with virtually any file format and has a mercifully small footprint.
• 7-Zip – create and open ZIP, TAR, GZ, and other compressed data formats.
• Avast – free security software has a slick-looking interface and includes real-time shields for Web, mail, and even instant messaging

The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) has published an update to its Evolution to LTE report which says that 101 firm LTE network deployments are in progress or planned in 41 countries.

The number of network commitments is 71% higher than GSA reported in a similar survey six months ago, reports the 3G/4G Wireless Blog (Slide Share document).

Meanwhile, the WiMAX Forum says in their August Newsletter that as of the end of 2009, WiMAX covered more than 620 million people across the world, and that number is estimated to grow to 1 billion by the end of 2011.

On August 20th, WiMAX Forum published a WiMAX Product guide featuring over 280 WiMAX end-user devices. Each one of these devices is available today.

Ceragon Networks today announced that it has received new orders for its FibeAir backhaul gear from a leading Indian operator.

Ceragon’s equipment will be deployed in a number of circles to facilitate the operator’s network expansion.

With more than 110 million users added in the first half of 2010, India’s mobile subscriber-base has grown to over 635 million. According the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) more than 94% of telephony services in India are passed over wireless networks.

Alcatel-Lucent is also in negotiations with Indian wireless companies to provide equipment for planned wireless broadband networks, according to reports from Reuters and The Economic Times.

India’s top mobile firm, Bharti Airtel, No. 2 Reliance Communications, Vodafone, Tata Teleservices and Idea Cellular spent a combined $23 billion to grab licences in recent auctions of 3G and 4G wireless radio airwaves in the fastest-growing cellular market.

Reliance Industries, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, returned to the telecom business with the $1 billion acquisition of Infotel Broadband, the only company to win a nationwide licence for broadband wireless spectrum in the government auction.

Reliance Industries plans to invest about $5 billion in the venture over the next two years.

Qualcomm said that Global Holding Corp. and Tulip Telecom Ltd. will be the initial investor partners in its TD-LTE broadband wireless access venture in India, reports Light Reading.

Related Dailywireless articles include; India’s Broadband Auction: It’s Done, Yota Dumps WiMAX, Clearwire: New Mobile Hotspots, Clear: No Limits, WiMAX Forum: Not Dead Yet, WiMAX Forum: In Trouble?, Sprint’s WiMAX Phone Launched, SK Telecom Buys 25% of Packet One, Compare “4G” Carriers in the U.S., LTE for Sprint? and MIMO: The Paper War

Clearwire today unveiled their pay-as-you-go 4G mobile broadband service. Branded Rover, it is available in all of Clearwire’s 49 4G markets across the U.S. at rover.com.

The flagship device is Rover Puck, which lets 8 users share the WiFi connection. The Rover Puck is available today for $149.99. It features Wi-Fi b/g/n and can simultaneously run 2 SSIDs—but it does not offer 3G connectivity.

The Rover Stick, a dongle, is not a WiFi sharing device, but provides WiMax access on a pre-paid plan.

The Rover Stick costs $99. It looks similar to Clear’s $79 dongle.

Rover prepaid plans cost $5/day, $20/week, or $50/month for unlimited 4G internet usage. Depending on the retail channel, customers will be able to purchase a Rover Re-Up PIN code or physical Rover Re-Up card in $20 or $50 denominations. Rover is also available at CLEAR stores, Best Buy stores and select independent wireless dealers in Houston and St. Louis. It will work anywhere in Clear’s 4G network.

Rover’s initial communications will target the 18-24 year old market with their www.evology.com campaign.

No official announcement with their wholesale customers, but Clearwire executives hinted that wholesale customers will likely follow with similar service. No word on LTE or follow-on products for Clearwire’s Arizonia LTE test.

Other Clear Spots don’t offer the pre-paid plan. The Rover however, only uses Sprint’s 4G network – no 3G fallback like Clear’s $224 Clear Spot 4G+.

Sprint subsidiary Virgin Mobile USA has announced an all-you-can-eat 3G data plan for $40 per month. Virgin Mobile says the plan will replace existing $20, $40 and $60 monthly offerings.

The $10 for 100MB over 10 days plan will still stay, but the earlier choices are being phased out. Of course “unlimited” probably means 5GB/month. The plans go into effect on August 24th. It works with their MiFi 2200 mobile WiFi hotspot and a USB dongle.

Meanwhile, Comcast announced it is launching a 4G wireless Internet service in Jacksonville and Orlando starting Tuesday. The service, called High-Speed 2go, uses WiMax. Comcast is offering the service bundled with one or more of its Internet, phone and cable television products. The combination of cable modem and WiMAX service runs around $55/month (with lots of asterisks).

Intel today announced a $1.4 billion acquisition of Infineon Technologies AG’s wireless unit. Infineon’s Wireless Solutions (WLS) business provides baseband processors, radio-frequency transceivers, and power management integrated circuits (ICs) for wireless devices.

It comes less than two weeks after Intel announced it would buy McAfee for $7.68 billion. The Infineon buy, however, is a hardware deal. Infineon’s unit makes chips for Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Android-based Galaxy S phones.

Infineon is Europe’s second largest maker of semiconductors. The unit, officially known as Infineon’s Wireless Solutions Business, will go to Intel in an all-cash deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2011.

According to a statement from Intel, it will operate as a stand-alone business and its technology will be used in Intel’s Core processor-based laptops and various Atom processor-based devices, including smartphones and netbooks.

“As more devices compute and connect to the Internet, we are committed to positioning Intel to take advantage of the growth potential in every computing segment, from laptops to handhelds and beyond,” Otellini added.

Clearwire will announce a pay-as-you-go service this coming Monday, says Unstrung, based on a pocket-sized mobile hotspot called “Rover Puck” that will link a number of WiFi-enabled devices to a WiMax signal.

The company had been widely expected to unveil a new pay-as-you-go service. The new round “Rover Puck” will link a number of WiFi-enabled devices to a WiMax signal.

The small size and design of the device suggests that it could be used for portable connectivity on the move.

It uses a Beceem BCSM 250 WiMAX chip (pdf) also used by Sierra Wireless for their AirCard W801 mobile hotspot available from Sprint as the Overdrive 3G/4G.

Beceem’s latest chip, the BCS500 supports both WiMAX 16e and the faster 16m standard, as well as the 3GPP-LTE, based on Release 8 specifications. In addition, it supports both TDD and FDD configurations for LTE and IEEE 802.16m. No word on that.

Clearwire plans to conduct LTE tests in the fall and throughout early 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona (see DW: Clearwire to Test LTE ). During the trials, Clearwire will collaborate with Beceem, and other partners, to determine the best methods for enabling end-user devices to take advantage of a potential multi-mode WiMAX/LTE network.

• FDD LTE: Clearwire intends to conduct FDD LTE (Frequency Division Duplex) tests using 40 MHz of spectrum, paired in 20 MHz contiguous channels, of its 2.5 GHz spectrum. Clearwire expects to confirm the capability to produce real-world download speeds that range from 20-70 Mbps. This is expected to be significantly faster than the 5-12 Mbps speeds currently envisioned by other LTE deployments in the U.S., which will rely on smaller pairs of 10 Mhz channels or less.
• TDD LTE: Clearwire will concurrently test TDD LTE (Time Division Duplex), in a 20 MHz configuration, which is twice the channel size currently used in its 4G WiMAX deployments.
• WiMAX and LTE: Clearwire will also test WiMAX co-existence with both FDD LTE and TDD LTE to confirm the flexibility of its network and spectrum strength to simultaneously support a wide-range of devices across its all-IP network.

Clearwire announced earlier this month the CLEAR iSpot, a mobile hotspot with dedicated support for Apple’s line of mobile devices, including the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone. The iSpot uses Clear’s WiMAX network. You get unlimited data and 4G speed for $25/month.

The iSpot is made exclusively for Apple mobile products. iSpot users can share Wi-Fi with up to eight Apple mobile devices, without a long term contract.

The CLEAR Spot 4G, like the iSpot, requires a monthly fee. They support 802.11b/g, and come with batteries, a USB connection, and an optional 12v DC cigarette lighter adapter. The CLEAR Spot 4G supports devices other than iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, but it requires a $40/month service fee. WiMAX delivers (true) unlimited 3-6 Mbps WiMAX service.

The CLEAR Spot 4G+ includes Sprint’s 3G network and is similar to the Sprint Overdrive. There’s no 3G capability integrated in the iSpot, or the Clear Spot. Whether the new Rover Puck will include 3G support remains to be seen.