network speeds

Around August of last year, Wired held a global survey in which iPhone 3G users around the world were asked to record the 3G network speeds on AT&T's network. The data was then mapped out on a Google map, and the results were fascinating. Now they're at it again, but this time it's open to all smartphone users.

Scott McElroy, AT&T Mobility vice president of technology realization, announced recently that the company is updating their 3G network nationwide to increase downlink capacity from 3.6Mbps to 7.2Mbps. The speed bump will be the result of software upgrades installed on the base stations. Further rumors suggest that the next upgrade after this one will bypass increasing speeds of the HSPA network and moving directly to HSPA+, which the next iPhone is rumored to support.
[via Telephony Online]

As the iPhone 3G launch grew nearer, people were pointing and shouting and jumping up and down at AT&T's sparse 3G US coverage map, and those Swedish scientists saying that it's not the iPhone 3G's fault has shifted the focus of everyone's attention away from hardware and onto reception. Luckily, AT&T CTO John Donovan knows that now is the time to improve, and shared his plan with Gizmodo's Brian Lam.

There's been a lot of talk about the Blackberry Bold and how it is one of the contenders some believe will be going head-to-head with the iPhone in the US and elsewhere as people chose which smartphone they're looking for. MobileComputer decided to test them head to head in a browser race, and record the results. Video after the break.

Apple's iPhone 3G ads tout the new iPhone 3G as being fast, but just how fast is it? The ads make it seem a little utopian, showing it loading webpages almost instantaneously. However, while almost everyone agrees 3G is an improvement, it's not nearly that fast in real life. Secondly, speeds differ for everyone. So, the only real way to find out how fast the iPhone 3G is is to ask people who use it in your area, and that's exactly what Wired is doing.