On Thursday, February 14, 2002, at 02:09 PM, Eric L. Strobel wrote:
> I've seen this "3G" thing mentioned on the list a few times but I've
> never
> heard of it anywhere else. What is it? I assume its some sort of
> enhanced
> cellphone service.
What luck! David Pogue's (of The New York Times, formerly of Macworld)
email column today describes exactly what you ask about, and when we can
expect to see it in the US! Here it is, to shed some light on the issue:
sj
--------------------------------
I always work hard on the State of the Art column, but the
cellphone features roundup in today's paper (see the link
below) became the project that ate New York.
Part of the challenge was to demystify the conflicting
claims of the various cellphone companies. Cellphone
carriers are hyper-competitive. Names of technologies,
cities and timelines fly like feathers in a pillow fight.
In case you find yourself on the receiving end of cellphone
company propaganda, then, here's what I've been able to
figure out about the future of cellular in the U.S.
(Warning: The acronyms you're about to read will make your
eyes glaze over, which is why the cell companies usually
hide them from you, substituting their own cute, trademarked
names for these technologies.)
Right now, the biggest carriers use one of three rival phone
technologies in the U.S., each of which requires a certain
kind of phone and a certain kind of network. (Nextel uses
its own, proprietary fourth type.)
First, there's CDMA, the predominant system at the moment.
Verizon, Sprint and Alltel are CDMA networks.
Second, there's TDMA, an older network used by AT&T and
Cingular. But this won't be on the test: Both AT&T and
Cingular are about halfway through a massive, long-term
switch to the third, up-and-coming network type, something
called GSM.
Because it's the sole standard in 170 other countries,
including all of Europe, and offers a lot of technical
advantages, GSM is rapidly catching on in the States.
(VoiceStream is already a fully GSM network.) One benefit:
If you choose a GSM phone (a tri-band model, because
overseas frequencies differ from this country's), you can
use it in Europe without even changing your phone number.
Cellphone companies believe that the next big thing is data,
not voice calls. Every company is rushing to introduce high-
speed Internet options, which involves upgrading their
network equipment. The CDMA camp (Sprint, Verizon) uses a
technology called 1XRTT to achieve this aim; the GSM gang
(VoiceStream, AT&T, Cingular) uses something called GPRS.
At the moment, 1XRTT and GPRS can each reach speeds in the
lab of over 100 Kbps; in the real world of buildings, trees
and weather, you get about 40 to 60 Kbps. (Compare with
real-world speeds of, say, 45 Kbps on your PC's "56K"
modem.)
But that's only the first phase. By 2004, the big carriers
hope to have true 3G (third generation) networks in place,
capable of 384 Kbps data speeds -- and then a year or two
after that, speeds of 2 or 3 megabits per second. You'll
feel like you've got a cable modem or DSL on your cellphone.
Cellphone companies practically pant when they describe the
possibilities: you'll be able to send pictures and even
videos between cellphones, play Nintendo-like games against
other 3G customers, and so on.
Until then, don't buy the propaganda that says 3G cellphones
are here, or even imminent. The promised land of solid
connections and wireless video is still years away -- and
that's one call that's easy to make.
Visit David Pogue on the Web at: http://www.davidpogue.com
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