Timothy Butler over at OFB did some sleuthing and found that AT&T is downgrading its EDGE/2G service to the weaker 1900 MHz band. Their response to those with newly-lousy service? Buy a new phone.

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AT&T users can now snap up the AT&T USBConnect Quicksilver, one of the smallest 3G HSPA-capable devices out there. The tiny little hub weighs 34 grams and uses the new Icera Livanto chipset, which handles GSM/GPRS/EDGE/3G data. That'll give you 70 to 135kpbs downloads on an EDGE network, and 700kbps to 1.7 Mbps downloads on HSPA. Best of all, it's free (if you get it with a two year contract and mail in the $US100 rebate). [CrunchGear]

AT&T was calling me to set up an interview with their CTO, but all I could hear was garbled noise on my AT&T iPhone. "I can't really hear you!" I shouted, as if volume would clear the channel. It's always been like this, in my home in San Francisco.

While the howls of iPhone 3G reception issues get louder and louder, I've always wondered if it was the network's fault, as some Swedish scientists and journalists have recently suggested. Maybe it's just new AT&T customers making the bulk of the noise. From my experience, the phone isn't blameless, but the network is a major part of the issue.

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Just in time for the new iPhone's imminent release, AT&T said today that it will upgrade its 3G network to run at speeds over 20 megabits per second in 2009. That's more than five times the current limit of... Read More »

This is the IdeaPad U8 from Lenovo. With Intel's Atom chip inside it, the Mobile Internet Device has an optical mouse to let you fiddle one-handed, supports 3G and EDGE, has GPS, a 4.8-inch touchscreen, a Paul Smith-esque striped back (hope that stays) and an annoying ambient bongo player (either that goes or I do.) Video after the jump.

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Nokia Siemens Networks announced today that they have successfully doubled the speed of EDGE (to 592 kbps) using a software-based solution that is feasible for existing networks. Expected in the third quarter of 2008, Nokia will follow up with EGPRS 2, offering 1.2 Mbps and uploads reaching 473 kbps.

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We've been hanging out for the iPhone for, like, forever! Even though we were told that we wouldn't be seeing it officially released in Australia until some time this year, the past 12 months have been an agonising wait for Apple's handset.

And that's why we're ready to pounce on this rumour and hope that it's true — The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that Thailand's biggest network, AIS, is in negotiations to bring the iPhone to the whole Asian (and Pacific) region. Apparently AIS is working with SingTel and Optus to make our dreams of owning a locked iPhone a reality.

Seeing how AIS is partially owned by SingTel, the company that just happens to own all of Optus, there could be some meat to this rumour. If it is true, though, and if it happens before a 3G iPhone is released, we're going to be stuck on Optus's standard 2G network — only Telstra has the 2.5G EDGE network available in Australia.

The other thing is that Telstra have openly stated that they have been in negotiations with Apple to be Australia's iPhone distributor. So what does it all mean? Essentially that we're no closer to really knowing when we'll see the iPhone released in Australia. We just hope it happens soon...

[Sydney Morning Herald]

Remember last week when we reported that the new Nokia N95, with the bigger battery, can run on a 3G network for one hour less than its predecessor could run on EDGE? At the time, I asked the cellular pirates ninjas at WirelessInfo.com if they were going to do an EDGE to EDGE comparison. They did, and guess what? The new N95 smokes the crap out of the old one, with a time of 9 hours and 14 minutes. Of course, it does have the larger battery, but still, it's impressive. If you want to take advantage of the battery life, WirelessInfo.com tells you how to set your 3G N95 to run on EDGE, even when more bandwidth is available. [WirelessInfo.com]

Sharing a 3G connection via a wireless router is nothing new, but in the past it has required a bland, sterile box built to look like a WiFi access point. That certainly isn't the case with Top Global's Phoebus, which draws its engineering innovation from the greatest engineers of all, the ancient pharaohs. Though you won't find many precious goodies buried in this little Luxor, you will find an 802.11b/g router that will share your standard 3G card (EV-DO, EDGE, etc.) with your neighbors. If internet access is scarce and your crew needs to hit MySpace in a hurry, drop your pyramid on the table and have at it. $289 is a small price to pay for something inspired by real slave labor construction. [3G Phoebus Wireless Router via Technabob]

Here's the Zante, up close and lustrously yours. Today we got plenty of fresh technical information about this Motorola-flavored Sidekick plus two new pretty pics. One of them above, the other after the jump, showing its funky purple sliding keyboard. After seeing it, I want to lick it.

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