Samsung Intercept Android Phone Goes NASCAR

What’s exciting, compelling, and goes so fast you can hardly keep up with it?

How about NASCAR? Certainly true. But that also applies to the Samsung Intercept Android phone. Oddly enough, both are connected.

The Samsung Intercept M910 for Sprint is a dual phone. It has the large 3 inch touch screen display you expect in a smartphone. But it also has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard that gives you real keys large enough for efficient texting and other typing.

Yes, this is an Android phone. It runs Android 2.1. You can choose from thousands of apps from the Android market to customize this phone as your own.

What other goodies are included? How about a 3.2 Megapixel digital camera that takes high resolution still photos but also doubles as a video camera? It has that plus support for streaming media so you can watch live TV and video on demand with full motion video and vivid sound. Catch the latest news, sports, weather and entertainment while you are on the go with Sprint TV. Who wants a TV that’s tied to the wall anymore?

You can connect with colleagues, friends and family via text, email or instant message. You can listen to your voicemail in any order and manage your inbox without calling-in by using visual voicemail. You’ll also be connected to work with the ability to view Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents. Or just ignore them and face the wrath of your boss later. What you really want to do is tweet, and access to Twitter is built-in. So is Facebook access. I guess you really don’t have time to look at those Excel spreadsheets after all.

The Samsung Intercept has GPS services support for location-based services like Google Maps. It also sports a full HTML Web browser so you can surf the Web at will. But will you have enough speed to do so? You’ll will with Sprint’s 3G EV-DO data network. You can also save your minutes by using WiFi access when you are in a WiFi hotspot.

This all sounds great, but what’s the connection with NASCAR? Oh, that’s easy. NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile instantly connects you to the world of NASCAR. Once you have that, other cell phones seem so.... s-l-o-w.

If this sounds like the smartphone you’ve been waiting for, learn more and order your Samsung Intercept for Sprint online, where it is free after instant discount with free shipping via FedEx included. You were going to stand in line at a cell phone store, why?

Of course, there are many other excellent cell phones available free and at deep discount. Check out Today’s Special Deals at Cell Phone Plans Finder now.

4G Wireless Broadband Wars This Year

Later this year, the battle for 4G domination will begin in earnest.

4G? Has 3G really finished deployment yet? Actually, 3G wireless networks are pretty well out there. The big players, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, have upgraded most of their tower sites in populous areas. Many 3G smartphones and wireless modem aircards are available. While user awareness and adoption of 3G is still early on the learning curve, there's seemingly no time to waste for the carriers. It's on to 4G!

What's the big hurry? Part of it is an increasing sophistication in mobile applications with a corresponding increase in bandwidth demand. Some is good old fashioned competition. Think of it something like the space race or the building of the transcontinental railroad. The real value of these 4G networks is less about what's absolutely needed now and what they will enable in the future.

The 3G competition is based on two competing incompatible standards. The CDMA networks of Verizon, Alltel, and Sprint have developed EVDO technology. GSM networks, including AT&T, T-Mobile and foreign carriers have developed UMTS broadband, notably EDGE and HSPA.

The 4G competition is also dividing along two lines. First out of the gate is WiMAX, a worldwide standard for fixed and mobile broadband. But building steam is LTE, which is oddly enough being embraced by both Verizon and AT&T. Who's pushing WiMAX? Sprint and a fixed wireless player, Clearwire.

Is this going to be something like the ongoing DTV transition where one technology goes dark and the other immediately takes its place? No, not really. Both 3G and 4G will co-exist for a long time to come. WiMAX is being deployed in the 2.5 GHz band using the combined channel licenses owned by Sprint and Clearwire. Verizon and AT&T will use 700 MHz spectrum acquired in the recent telecom auction that was formerly the domain of analog TV broadcasting. That allows 3G cellular broadband to continue on the existing cellular bands as long as it makes economical sense.

One question is how much additional bandwidth we'll get from 4G wireless. During the run-up to the WiMAX standards approval, it was widely touted that a single WiMAX tower would have a range of something like 30 miles with bandwidth anywhere from 30 to 70 Mbps near the transmitter. In practice, Sprint was offering 2 to 4 Mbps download speeds on its Xohm service in Baltimore. The Xohm name has been retired, as Clearwire is taking over management of the combined Sprint and Clearwire channels. Clearwire has upped that to 4 to 6 Mbps on its Clear (tm) 4G wireless service for Portland, OR.

LTE hasn't been deployed yet, but peak data rates of 60 to 80 Mbps have been observed in tests. Verizon has suggested that average LTE data rates of around 8 Mbps are likely in actual service, although that may be conservative. Since there is a tradeoff between bandwidth, number of users per transmitter and distance from the tower, it seems likely that both LTE and WiMAX could be scaled up to provide speedier service as customer demand and the competitive environment dictate.

WiMAX has a lead in the race to the 4G wireless marketplace, with systems already in commercial service. Verizon's LTE has an advantage of frequencies lower in the electromagnetic spectrum, which should translate into greater ability to penetrate into buildings. Verizon expects to have 2 markets served by LTE by the end of this year. In 2010, Verizon expects to launch around 25 to 30 markets with LTE service. WiMAX will likely have a similar service level. There are now 50 markets in the U.S. and Europe with a pre-market version of WiMAX service.

4G wireless will likely reach a tipping point in 2011 or 2012, depending on the economy. Both mobile and fixed location services will be available, offering competition to DSL and Cable modem service as well as powering smartphones and netbooks. What will all this bandwidth be used for? You can bet that video will be the proverbial "killer-app", along with cloud computing and interactive everything.

iPhone Getting its Video in a Sling

Mobile video is developing along multiple lines, including carrier specific formats such as Verizon's VCAST and Sprint TV, and channel specific formats such as MediaFLO. Now Sling Media is entering the fray with a SlingPlayer for iPhone. This is potentially a game changer because it puts control of content back in the hands of the user.

Sling Media is best known for the Slingbox, a set top box that connects to your satellite receiver, DVR or Cable box, and a broadband connection. DSL or Cable broadband is used as a conduit to control the Slingbox and receive video from it on a computer located just about anywhere. It's as if you could pick up your TV set and carry it with you everywhere without trailing a collection of wires behind. The Slingbox and a WiFi hotspot take the place of those wires.

Alternatively, you could simply view IP video streamed or downloaded from Web sites while you are on the go. But this is currently a hit or miss proposition. Some networks offer full length programs after they've aired. Others only give you short teasers. Many popular satellite and cable channels don't offer the same content for Internet viewing. But with a Slingbox it doesn't matter. You input what you are already subscribing to and view it wherever you happen to be.

This isn't Sling Media's first foray into mobile video. They already have support for Windows Mobile, Palm OS or Symbian cell phones and PDAs. The iPhone version should hopefully be available soon. What the iPhone offers is a large and very high quality video display. The new iPhone with 3G data network capability will let you watch video content literally anywhere you can get a decent cellular signal. With the original iPhone you need the high bandwidth of a WiFi hotspot connection to enjoy the experience.

Corporate users aren't out in the cold, either. You might just want to access the business or news channels between customer calls or at lunch. But the ability to pick up any video without the need to first convert it to IP streaming, gives the Slingbox applications for video conferencing, security cameras, and pre-recorded videos from the home office or customer submissions.

As the iPhone advances to support corporate email, 3G and later 4G cellular data networks, Apple aficionados will have more ammo to lobby for the iPhone as an accepted business tool.