Now the cat is finally out of the bag. It looks like the network didn’t just go large, it went for the supersized option. The current roster of releases under the new EE brand is as follows:
The Nokia Lumia 920 with its 1280×768 pixel PureMotion HD+ display, weighing in at 25g heavier than its little brother, the Lumia 820. The Lumia 820 is no slouch either. It’s using the Clearblack display technology of its 900 predecessor, and the screen is 800 by 480 pixels, nudging the scales at 160g.
It can’t be understated how important it is for Nokia that these phones do do well. Ever since they went all in on Windows Phone, killed off Symbian and Meego became Jolla, their fortunes haven’t been exactly rising. They have a huge stake in putting these phones in everyone’s hands, and a higher than normal subsidy may just do the trick. There’s no word on pricing as of yet, but a free or cheap handset on a full-monty type of tariff would certainly encourage adopters to choose one of the excellent Lumia handsets.
Huawei have also stepped up to the plate: two dongles are coming to EE: the E392 Mobile Broadband Stick and its E589 MiFi unit. Alongside that, they’re also releasing the LTE version of the Ascend P1, currently out on Vodafone.
Of course, there’s the Samsung SIII gorilla: it’s the hottest android phone out there right now, and the sales figures to prove it. We don’t expect the LTE version to be a slouch in the speed stakes.
Not to be left out of the party, HTC has beefed up the HTC One X to provide the HTC One XL. Whether this is yet another stablemate of the HTC 8X, and the One X+ or it’s a rebranding of one of these hasn’t been made clear yet, but when we know, you will.
Don’t forget, in order to use these new handsets on the fastest network the UK will have to offer for some time, you’ll need to have a ‘4G’ sim card and a ‘4G’ tariff, as well. I just wonder how EE will market its network when the LTE Advanced standard becomes available. 4G+? Super 4G?
Hit the EE website for more information at the source, and be very very glad if you live in Belfast, Birmingham. Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Sheffield or Southampton. @EE is also posting to Twitter already.
Obviously we don’t know whether the iPhone5 will be hitting EE tomorrow, but if it doesn’t have LTE 1800, there’ll be a lot of people who will have to choose between the next generation of mobile apple goodness and the next generation of network tech. If that is the case, which do you choose?
This will all depend on cost of course, also where you live.
There is no point having a 4g contract if you can’t get 4g speeds, I live in an area where 3g is patchy at best, so the liklyhood of getting 4g this year or even next is extremely slim.
Both Orange and T-Mobile have been pretty poor in offering true unlimited data bundles. How will they fare with 4g, I mean if it’s 5 times quicker, people will use up a limited download data bundle much quicker than on 3g. Will EE allow people a much larger download allowance to go with the faster speeds, or will they start throttling once you have hit the FUP?
The coverage is an unknown quantity at the moment as it used to be a part of the spectrum previous used by 2G.
RE: Data limits, the theory there is that you won’t be using any more data than usual. If you watch a YouTube video for example the video is the same size irrespective of how fast it downloads.
Hmmm, really? What if you are in a poor 3g reception area and watch the low res you-tube video? The you get 4g so can watch the full HD version? Same size file? Nopers.
Same with iPlayer, if there is a HD version of the programme available you are gonna watch it in HD over 4G aren’t you? on a slower 3g connection you are not.
I mean how long is a 500meg bundle gonna last over 4G?
That would be the users own choice to download the higher bitrate versions of those files. They are still capable of using the devices in the same way they are just now, all be it at a faster speed.
What? that is just utter pish.
If you stream videos to your device at the moment using 3g but the speed is not enough to watch the HD stream and you are happy, what is the point in paying extra for 4g and watching exactly the same stream?
Currently my home broadband is a paltry 1.5 – 2meg due to the line length, there are plans to fibre up our village which means we’ll all get proper high speed broadband. Currently, iPlayer is just about watchable, some time there are a few pauses due to buffering, sometimes none, it is liveable, I never ever even try to chose a HD version of a stream from anything, youtube videos stay at 480, never go to 720 or 1080 unless I start it off and go make a cup of tea while it loads. I use nearly all of my 40g allowance every month. Once we get FTTC and I have at least 10meg I will be chosing the HD streams all the time and my useage will go up. It will be the same for people who chose 4g, makes no sense otherwise.
I’m not saying they won’t do that, all I’m saying is it is their choice. Users will still have to manage their bandwidth.
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Question, if person X has already got the SGSIII on orange, does it already have the LTE chip ready to be used on the new 4G network, or will they be stuck on 3G for the next 2 years? I guess the same goes for all those people who have upgraded the past month, will they be able to move also with new handset?
If the iphone5 does not support EE 4G, well I will eat my hat.
Yeah you’re pretty much stuck with the SGS3. Maybe if you go and speak to Orange they could help? They’ll have more than a couple of people in the same situation!
Yeah you’re pretty much stuck with the SGS3. Maybe if you go and speak to Orange they could help? They’ll have more than a couple of people in the same situation!