Friday June 27, 2008
- Le WiMAX joins forces with Femtocell - Lionel - 23:29:04
Source : Ars Technica
Comcast, an American Internet operator, announced its intention to use WiMAX associated with Femtocell access points in order to cover the agglomerations more easily.To recall, Femtocell technology is a small cellular base station, typically designed for use in residential or small business environments. It connects to the service providers network via broadband (such as DSL or cable); current designs typically support 2 to 5 mobile phones in a residential setting; thus it is possible to create a dense grid without having to develop a specific infrastructure that is infinitely more expensive.
The American operators are now in a hurry to find solutions to deploy their network (on the 5 GHz band), knowing Intel hopes that with via centrino 2 platform to propose a sufficient base of products to make the operation profitable.
The latest news is that Free (in France) does not hope to push ahead its WiMax licence before the beginning of the next decade knowing that their waveband, around the 3,5 GHz, will in any event not be compatible with the equipment marketed by Intel.
[translation by crispin]
- Mitsubishi Unveils Laser TV - Lionel - 12:48:39
On a market where plasma TV will slowly disappear to be replaced exclusively by LCD TV as OLED-based TV is not available yet, Mitsubishi launched a totally new product, and most likely surprised all major manufacturers. The company announced a Laser TV for Q3 2008.
According to the company, the LaserVue will bring a totally new dimension and defined a new quality standard for HD as this technology will be able to display twice more colors at 120 Hz than the current LCD panel. The other main advantage is its low power consumption, three times less than plasma, and 2 times than LCD TV of similar size. Last but not least, the laser TV will not have limitations in size today faced by LCD-based panel, and to demonstrate it, the first two models of Laser TV to be released by Mitsubishi will be a 65 and a 73" models.
[translation by Linathael]
- Panasonic DMP-BD30: First Region-Free BD Hack - Lionel - 12:48:11
It seems that the migration from DVD to BD does not things for users willing to get region-free video media player. The first firmware update to allow turning a BD standalone player as a region-free device was released and is dedicated to the Panasonic DMP-BD30. Unlike previous system where only a firmware update was required, here one had to add a chips. bluraymods.com offers either the already hacked Panasonic DMP-BD30, or the region-free kit. It allows you to play automatically all DVD region 1,2,3,4,5,6, as well as manually all Blu-Ray region A,B,C. The region-free kit is priced 89 , while the ready-to-use Panasonic costs 499 . It is supposed to resist future official firmware updates. It seems that a new business is also launched.
[translation by Linathael]
- Orange Wants to Squeeze iPhone 3G Customers as Lemons in France - Eric - 12:40:49
It is now official, the iPhone 3G will be launched in France on July 17th. Despite the fact that Orange could subsidize the iPhone to make it cheaper, the French carrier does not really promote the Apple-branded mobile phone as the price remains much higher in France than in Germany or even in countries were Orange will also distribute the iPhone 3G...
So, the iPhone 3G 8 GB model will cost 149 , while the 16 GB model will be priced 199 when associated with Orange subscription plans: "Orange for iPhone", Origami Star (3 hours and more), First and Jet. The cheapest plan associated with the iPhone will cost 49 per month and include: 2h+2h calls, 50 SMS, 10 h free WiFi access from Orange Hotspot and unlimited data. With cheaper monthly fee, the iPhone 3G 8 GB and 16 GB will be even more expensive, respectively 199 and 249 . Same prices will be offered to Orange's customers willing to change their mobile phone to an iPhone, including a new 24 months subscription plan.
For Orange's customers already owning the iPhone 1G, they will be offered a migration to the iPhone 3G for 99 , including a new 24 months subscription plan.
To be fair and compare it with T-Mobile offer, the German carrier have the iPhone for 60 with the mid-range monthly program, while it is priced 1 with the expensive monthly plans.
It seems that Orange is using its monopoly position in France to make money on the iPhone while not really promoting the device, considering iPhone owners or potential customers as lemon and squeeze them as much as possible
