[Android and Me—Thanks, Slacker!]

Obviously T-mobile is attempting to expand their customer base through Project Dark, and part of the approach is to entice customers who would normally be forced to prepay monthly dues as well as full retail for a device:

“Even More Plus” will give those who would otherwise qualify for FlexPay the option to finance a phone. [...] Our sources tell us that the phones will not be subsidised and so there won’t be contracts for the devices, which means you pay the full retail price over the course of a set amount of time (up to 20 months is what we’re told). Not bad – for a $US500 device over that time is just $US25/month, as an example.

The next step appears to be offering the “Most Affordable Unlimited Rate Plans” in three flavours:

[U]nlimited voice, unlimited voice and text, and unlimited voice/text/data all priced at $US40, $US50 and $US60, respectively.

All unconfirmed rumours, of course, but moves like this could help T-mobile leap up from fourth place in the Great Battle of the Carriers. [Boy Genius Report]

There’s actually more to it, possibly: A new “Everything Unlimited” plan that’ll be $US50 for all-you-can-eat voice, SMS, MMS and data. Watch out, Sprint. Plus, T-Mobile employees will be getting a snazzy new uniform consisting of a black shirt and grey pants. We’ll see. [BGR]

The extended network – which is running on the 900MHz network has been flicked on today, so if you live in any of the towns listed below, expect a big speed boost – so long as your phone supports the 900MHz frequency for 3G. Vodafone reckon they have 18 handsets that will though, so it might be time to upgrade (or downgrade, depending on your handset). Still, considering they’ve jumped from 8% to 94% coverage, that new phone could be worth the cost if it’ll offer you a big boost in mobile speeds.

The full list of locations where the new service is available:

NSW: Sydney and surrounds, North Coast (from Newcastle to Evans Head), the Hunter Valley Region, Byron Bay, Lismore, Ballina, Kiama, Central North (including Tenterfield, Moree), Northern Rivers (including Lismore and Grafton), Northern Tablelands (including Armidale, Glen Innes and Inverell), the Blue Mountains, west to Orange, Bathurst and Parkes, Albury, the South West (around Goulburn and Yass), Snowy Mountains (including Comma and Perisher Valley), Central South (including Wagga Wagga, Yass and Young), Far South Coast (stretching from Sussex Inlet to Eden), Wollongong, Bowral, Nowra and Broken Hill
 
Victoria: Melbourne and surrounds, Geelong, Phillip Island, Mornington Peninsula, South Coast (around Colac, Lorne and Apollo Bay), Gippsland (around Sale, Traralgon and Stratford), Central West (around the Grampians, Horsham, Stawell and Nhill), West (around Warrnambool and Portland) and Central (around Shepparton, Seymour, Bendigo, Wodonga) and Bendigo
 
Queensland: Brisbane and surrounds, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, from Noosa to Gladstone, Caboolture, Ipswich, Cairns, Port Douglas, Townsville, Toowoomba, along the coast from Mackay to Cairns (including Rockhampton, Emerald) and Central Queensland (around Roma and Mt Isa)
 
Western Australia: Perth and surrounds, including Mandurah, south including Bunbury, Busselton, Dunsborough, Margaret River, Augusta, Albany and Esperance, east including Narrogin, Northam, Merredin and Kalgoorlie, north including Geraldton and West End, Kalbarri, Carnarvon, Karratha, Dampier, Port Hedland, Broome (including Cable Beach) and Kununurra.
 
South Australia: Adelaide and surrounds, the Barossa Valley, along the coast (from Mt Gambier to Victor Harbor), around the Spencer Gulf (including Whyalla), the Riverland (from Berri to Mildura) and the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula (including Port Lincoln)
 
Tasmania: Hobart and surrounds, Launceston, Wynyard, Devonport, Ulverstone, Exeter, Ross, Burnie and Deloraine
 
Northern Territory: Darwin and surrounds, Alice Springs, Uluru, Katherine and Jabiru
 
Australian Capital Territory: Canberra and surrounds

Like the 21Mbps figure, the 5.8Mbps is only a theoretical maximum – in the real world you’re more likely to get speeds of 300Kbps to 3Mbps in capital cities, or up to 1Mbps everywhere else. For comparison, Optus’s HSPA network has a theoretical maximum of 2Mbps uplink, with real world speeds in metro areas varying between 150Kbps and 1.5Mbps (or 1.1Mbps in regional areas). Telstra reckon that this speed boost makes uploading stuff about 3 times faster than before.

The uplink speed boost will work with the Telco’s 21Mbps HSPA modem straight away with a firmware upgrade available from Sierra Wireless’ website, while other NextG and BigPond customers will have the update made available in the coming weeks.

[Telstra]

The two did say that they’re going to be sharing Nokia’s HSPA/3G modem technology so Intel can put those into their own equipment, and that they’re going to be all up in the open source world. Other than that? Not a whole lot going on. Sounds to us like Nokia’s going to be making some more N800-like devices with Intel inside. [Nokia]

Slashgear says i-Mo is roughly the size of a small keychain fob, and also has a MicroSD slot for data storage. If you would rather have a direct connection between your device and the internet, you can also connect via mini USB cable (7.2mbps down/5.6mbps up). The 802.11b/g wi-fi can also be used to give internet access to other gadgets at the same time.

Price and release date are still unannounced, but I wouldn’t mind seeing AT&T or T-Mobile offering this up with a data plan. [Slashgear]

Since there was no elusive SIM card slot found like there was on the HP Mini 1000, the modder had to solder in her own. So the hack is not for the faint of heart, but it’s confirmed working. Check out the how-to and some photos of the action. [tnkgrl]

The router looks like any other Netgear device in design, but it has a USB port for the dongle and (presumably) you configure all the settings through the router page. There’s even an optional car power adaptor so you can take your show on the road. The 3G Mobile Broadband router will be available in Q1 of this year for $US130.

And for consumers and professionals on-the-go, NETGEAR’s 3G Mobile Broadband Wireless Router
(MBR624GU) creates an instant WiFi hotspot using 3G mobile broadband access service for broadband
access virtually anywhere, simply by plugging in any compatible 3G USB modem to the router. Mobile
users thus have the flexibility to create a WiFi network whether in a satellite office, construction site,
emergency centre, vacation home, at an offsite event or campsite, or even from a moving recreational
vehicle. The 3G Mobile Broadband Wireless Router features auto detection of compatible 3G USB
modems and associated mobile carrier networks to have broadband access almost instantly. It supports
SPI, intrusion logging and reporting, denial-of-service (DoS) protection, up to five IPsec VPN endpoints,
and NAT. With Push ‘N’ Connect with WPS, energy saving features, and an optional car power adapter
to power the router while on the move, NETGEAR’s 3G Mobile Broadband Wireless Router is ideal for
sharing a 3G broadband Internet connection practically anywhere with friends, colleagues and family
members. More information can be found at
(http://www.netgear.com/Products/RoutersandGateways/3GMobileBroadband/mbr624gu.aspx).

3G Mobile Broadband Wireless Router (MBR624GU)
•
Compatible with extensive range of 3G USB Modems and networks.
•
Four Ethernet ports for LAN connectivity; USB 2.0 Host WAN port.
•
SPI, DoS, NAT, and supports up to 5 VPN endpoints.
•
“Push ‘N’ Connect” button based on WPS.
•
WiFi on/off button and Power on/off button to save energy while not in use.
•
Auto detection and installation process for easy setup.
•
Repeater configurable and static routing feature.
•
Advanced application based on QoS.

But, at the company’s annual Investor Day briefing today, they unveiled a new modem produced in conjunction with Qualcomm, Ericsson and Sierra Wireless, to blow the current network’s 14.4Mbps speeds out of the water. The new modem will be capable of 21Mbps, which is the speed Telstra will be taking its NextG network to early next year, with trials starting next month.

The technology, called enhanced HSPA (or eHSPA), will not only offer much faster speeds than are currently available, but will also improve network efficiency and offer increased capacity for all the consumers that will flock trickle over to NextG.

Of course, knowing Telstra, when they do launch this super-fast modem, they’ll also price it beyond the reach of us mere mortals. But still, for wireless internet that covers most of Australia and offers near ADSL2+ speeds, you’d expect to pay a premium of some kind, wouldn’t you?

[Telstra]

Telstra boosts network speeds, unveils world’s fastest mobile device

Telstra today unveiled another world first for the Next G™ network – the fastest mobile broadband modem on the planet capable of reaching peak network downlink speeds of 21Mbps.

Speaking at the company’s annual Investor Day briefing, Mike Wright, Executive Director, Wireless Engineering and Operations, confirmed Telstra was on track to super charge Next G™ network speeds with the 21Mbps capability by the end of the year.

At the Investor Day, Telstra hosted its first public enhanced HSPA (eHSPA) data session, showcasing the enhanced network speeds and demonstrating the capabilities of the super-fast new modem. Trials of the 21Mbps mobile broadband modem will begin in December with a full commercial launch to follow early next year.

“This is truly game-changing,” Mr Wright said. “The new technology will unlock opportunities for many of our customers by bridging the gap between wired and wireless broadband connectivity.

“The surge in available data speeds will allow more Australians to work away from the office. They will be equipped to integrate new applications – including web conferencing, live high definition streaming video, high-speed web browsing and seamless virtual private network access – into the way they do business on the move.

“While for consumers, it means access to a whole new world of internet-hosted mobile applications and the mainstream adoption of the mobile phone as the preferred way to access and browse the Internet and email in Australia.

“Working with our partners Sierra Wireless, Qualcomm and Ericsson, we have developed the world’s fastest mobile broadband device – almost three times faster than the fastest devices currently available – which will push the speed barrier to levels not seen anywhere else on earth.”

The eHSPA upgrade will ensure the Next G™ network remains the most advanced national mobile network on the planet.

Mr Wright said that while the new, faster peak network speed was the headline benefit, eHSPA provides other critical enhancements to the Next G™ network.

“Apart from speeding up our already super-fast network, eHSPA gives us improved network efficiency to build capacity and maintain the quality of our service so we can continue to welcome customers to the Next G™ network,” Mr Wright said.

“Australia is seeing exponential growth in the demand for mobile broadband and this burgeoning popularity puts pressure on network operators to ensure network reliability is maintained and give consumers the fast experience they seek. Telstra has a proven and experienced engineering team to deliver just that.

“Peak network downlink speeds on the Next G™ network will have evolved from 3.6Mbps to 21Mbps in just over two years, providing extra speed, flexibility and productivity in the network footprint covering more than two million square kilometres and 99 per cent of the Australian populations.”

Speeds represented are peak network downlink speeds. Actual customer download speeds will be less and will vary due to network configuration, congestion, distance from the cell, local conditions, hardware, software and other factors.