iPhone LTE Edition In Testing As Apple Reports Record Q4

Tuesday, 24 November 2009

Should we really be surprised by either of these?

Rumours first and Apple is said to be currently testing a new LTE version of the iPhone on US telco Verizon's fledgling LTE ([linkout:http://www.trustedreviews.com/networking/news/2009/06/13/Interview--UMTS-Forum-Talks-LTE--the-Future-of-3G/p1 Long Term Evolution) network. LTE will be the final iteration of 3G (it is also known as 'Super 3G') and will massively increase bandwidth from the current 7.2Mbit limit to 140Mbit in its first roll-out then 340Mbit in phase two. As with 7.2Mbit, this is shared between users at each cell site, but it should guarantee far better levels of minimum service.

Quite frankly if Apple isn't testing its next generation handsets with a standard that will revolutionise mobile broadband over the next few years then I'd be more shocked than if it were.

Back to solid fact time and the company has also put out its fourth quarter financials, revealing yet more record results. Profits hit $1.6bn (£1bn) for the three months up to 26 September - a whopping 47 per cent rise on the same period last year, sales also leapt 25 per cent to $9.87bn.

Perhaps most interesting however is how this cash was earned. Mac sales grew by 17 per cent, iPhone sales by seven per cent and iPod sales dropped eight per cent. If that isn't a sign the dedicated MP3 player market is in considerable decline then I don't know what is.

"We are thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs.""We've got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010."

source: www.trustedreviews.com

Acer neoTouch S200 Smartphone

Acer is a name most people associate with laptops rather than smartphone, but the company purchased the Glofiish brand in 2008 and released its first batch of handsets this year. These early offerings were a bit of a mixed bag. While the F900 was quite impressive, the X960 and M900 looked outdated before they had even hit the shelves. However, Acer is back with four handsets built on the new 'Windows Phone' (v6.5) operating system. We'll be taking a look at these phones in more detail over the coming weeks, but first up is the rather speedy neoTouch S200.

One thing is for sure, no one can accuse this handset of being under specified. For starters, it's only the second device, after Toshiba's TG01, to hit the market with a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Of course, clock speed isn't everything when it comes to processors, but the Snapdragon really is a seriously fast CPU and the extra speed it offers is definitely noticeable here.

The processor is helped along by a decent amount of memory. There's 512MB of ROM (of which around 220MB is free) and 256MB of RAM (with 100MB free). Plus if you need more storage space you can add it via the microSD card slot which is slightly awkwardly placed under the battery cover (although mercifully you don't actually have to remove the battery to swap cards).

Acer hasn't skimped when it comes to the screen either. The display is quite large at 3.8in and, although it uses resistive rather than capacitance technology, it feels much more responsive than the screen used on Acer's F900 handset. The display also has a relatively high resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, which makes it ideal for viewing web pages, and as it's bright and produces really strong vibrant colours, videos and photos look ace.

Naturally, all the connectivity bases are covered off nicely. The phone is quad-band and supports HSDPA for fast data access on the move. There's also Bluetooth 2.1 EDR and Wi-Fi Wireless B and G (sadly N is not supported, but then it's hardly needed on a smartphone). As with most of today's smartphones the handset also has onboard GPS. There's no navigation software included, but Google Maps is preloaded and the GPS chip worked fine with this. However, it was a tad slow to lock onto satellites and determine our position from a cold start.

source: www.trustedreviews.com