The new Galaxy S 4 Advanced will utilize LTE-Advanced 4G technology, which will provide data speeds double that of current 4G LTE networks. The Galaxy S 4 Advanced will be powered by Qualcomm chips, and aside from a different processor will tout the same specs as previous versions of the device.

“S4 sales remain strong. It’s selling far stronger than the (Galaxy) S III … and the new LTE-Advanced (4G) phone will be another addition to our high-end segment offerings that ensure healthy profit margins,” – J.K. Shin, Co-Chief Executive of Samsung

Samsung is working with various telecoms across the globe to increase the rollout of 4G LTE, which is still unavailable in many parts of the world. Samsung is working with all major South Korean carriers, Sprint Nextel in the U.S., Japan’s KDDI Corp. and Hutchison Whampoa’s British counterpart. Samsung is still working on China, where three mobile companies are working on improving China’s data networks.

The Galaxy S 4 Advanced is expected to be released later this month in South Korea, and will more than likely carry a slightly higher price tag than the current Galaxy S 4.

[Via: Reuters]

“A combination of American entrepreneurship and innovation, private investment, and smart policy has positioned the United States as the global leader in wireless broadband technologies. Expanding the availability of spectrum for innovative and flexible commercial uses, including for broadband services, will further promote our Nation’s economic development by providing citizens and businesses with greater speed and availability of coverage, encourage further development of cutting-edge wireless technologies, applications, and services, and help reduce usage charges for households and businesses. We must continue to make additional spectrum available as promptly as possible for the benefit of consumers and businesses. At the same time, we must ensure that Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial governments are able to maintain mission critical capabilities that depend on spectrum today, as well as effectively and efficiently meet future requirements.” – White House Fact Sheet

The Obama administration will be pumping $100 million into the development of better spectrum sharing, with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) tasked with working more closely with the private sector to develop advanced communications technologies. The FCC will continue to develop and promote “efficient, innovative, and flexible use of spectrum, including by imposing network build-out requirements or other conditions to guard against wasteful spectrum warehousing.”

[Via: White House Fact Sheet , Office of Science and Technology]

According to the report, Google will be working with local telecommunication firms to develop the networks and will help to create the proper business models to support them. Google is planning on using parts of the spectrum reserved for television broadcasts, which typically operate at lower frequencies than cell networks. The lower frequencies will allow wireless signals to travel easier across large distances, and penetrate through obstacles.

Another technology Google may use is currently being tested in Cape Town, South Africa. The technology involves a wireless base station which transmits a signal to wireless access points that then transmit the signal on a smaller scale. The use of micro-cells could be utilized as well, which would utilize television airwaves to broadcast a signal equivalent to that of 3G and 4G networks.

How Google deploys its wireless networks will depend largely on already established laws and deals with television providers, meaning that Google will have to tailor a solution to each individual location.

How and when Google rolls out its wireless networks in emerging markets remains to be seen, we will surely be seeing more news of Google’s development plans soon.

[Via: Wall Street Journal]

As of the first half of 2013, Netflix accounted for almost a third (32.5 percent) of downstream traffic on US fixed line networks, followed closely by YouTube (17.11 percent), according to the latest Sandvine Networks Internet Phenomena Report. Median monthly consumption jumped 56.5 per cent compared with the previous report, to 18.2GB per month.

BitTorrent’s share as a proportion of traffic continues to fall, with the pirated content file sharing technology accounting for a mere 5.57 per cent of downstream traffic.

Interestingly, the situation was different in Europe, where BitTorrent still accounted for 12.22 percent of down traffic, and Netflix didn’t appear in the top ten at all. HTTP took the top spot and YouTube came in second at 21.27 percent.

“In Europe, countries with lower Real-Time Entertainment share typically have higher Filesharing traffic, which leads us to believe that subscribers are likely using applications like BitTorrent to procure audio and video content not available in their region,” Sandvine wrote.

“We believe that Filesharing’s share of traffic may have finally reached its peak in terms of traffic share and will begin to experience a steady and significant decline, as paid OTT video services continue to expand their availability throughout the region.”

2 years ago, Netflix surpassed Bittorrent in the United States for the first time, gaining 24.71 percent versus BitTorrent’s 17.23 aggregate traffic. Now Youtube and Amazon have become major streaming contenders as well and Torrent traffic is on a major downslope.

[Via: The Register]

Without Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone our site wouldn’t exist and neither would the fancy gadget you carry around in your pocket. The first telephone call was made by Bell in 1876. After spending years working on electromagnetic voice recording, Bell spoke into a rudimentary microphone to his assistant in another room. The vibrations of his voice were carried through a wire to the other room where his assistant heard, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” Mr Watson heard Bell’s voice clearly and was able to respond, and thus the telephone was born. While it would take several years of refinement before telephones were reliable enough to be available to the public,  Alexander Graham Bell’s historic call marked the first practical telephone, and he later patented the device.

Audio Recording was a major part of Bell’s life. Bell’s father, grandfather, and brother had all been involved with work on elocution and speech, and both his mother and wife were deaf. He began experimenting with sound at a young age, driven by his desire to help the deaf to hear. As the Smithsonian notes, Bell made hundreds of recordings over the years and donated them to the Smithsonian later in life.

“Today, however, a dramatic application of digital technology has allowed researchers to recover Bell’s voice from a recording held by the Smithsonian—a breakthrough announced here for the first time. From the 1880s on, until his death in 1922, Bell gave an extensive collection of laboratory materials to the Smithsonian Institution, where he was a member of the Board of Regents. The donation included more than 400 discs and cylinders Bell used as he tried his hand at recording sound.”

The piece goes on to describe in detail the painstaking recovery process the Smithsonian scientists are using to glean the audio data from the ancient discs. You can read all about it, watch a really cool video, and hear the voice of the man who made the first telephone call on their page. Basically, they’re using super high resolution optical scans of the discs and converting them to audio files with computers.

So take a listen to the recording. However muffled, it’s a direct line to the past and a time of major technological innovation. The reproduction of audio and the ability to converse instantaneously with folks not in the same room changed things in a fundamental way. The line of technological achievements that followed can be traced all the way up to the touch screen device you might be reading this on right now.

[Via: Smithsonian Magazine, Wikipedia]

The infrastructure was rolled out by Transit Wireless, which has a reseller agreement with Boingo Wireless, who provides the Wi-Fi connectivity. Transit Wireless also has agreements with AT&T, T-Mobile, with agreements with Sprint and Verizon in the works. Currently, subterranean cell service is limited to those on AT&T and T-Mobile, but service to Sprint and Verizon customers will be popping up soon.

“This goes beyond providing cell service underground, it brings our customers a new level of security – with the ability to dial 911 in an emergency,” said Acting MTA Chairman Fernando Ferrer. “Customers now know that when they see something, they can now say something using their device to call 911.”

Wi-Fi had been available for a few stations in Chelsea, and the new rollout is just part of MTA’s master plan to rollout Wi-Fi and cellular service to its stations. In phase two of the rollout, Wi-Fi and cellular service will be coming to queens and midtown by 2014, followed by the Bronx and the East Side. The MTA expects all stations to be connected by 2016.

[Via: Cellular News] [Image: Columbus Underground]