3G Network Coming to America

Not2Bryt64 writes: "Reuters has a story about Cingular building a nationwide 3G network. According to Cingular it 'will deliver mobile users data at rates of up to 470,000 bits a second -- fast enough to watch video clips over phones.'" I just hope it doesn't mean that we have to see more annoying Cingular commercials. But I want my video cell phone!

Comments

Re:So what?

[Cutriss]

Well, I think you probably know the whole reason that wireless providers in America are doing this: $$$

In Asia, wireless devices are utterly *booming*. They're functional, stylish, and most importantly, useful. Companies over here see how much our youth and tech-savvy individuals respect and revere the wowing technology and products they have over there, and figure that they can give us some knock-off crap and we won't know the difference. The problem comes from the fact that Asians have long had exposure developing and using handheld devices like what are sold overseas. Here, with the solid exceptions of the Psion/Palm/Newton devices, nobody likes handhelds. Take a look at how many people like those little Casio organizers - They're cheap $30 plastic devices that break in no time. They reek of feature creep, and their PC connectivity it pathetic - Output to a CSV file? You're kidding, right? Marketers just don't have a clue about the American audience of personal/home technology buyers compared with the eastern markets.

Unfortunately for them, we're a lot smarter than they think we are, so we won't fall for it. Unfortunately for us, though, the odds are reasonably good that it'll get crammed down our throats whether we like it or not (Anyone try to get service for a Motorola Lifestyle analog cellphone these days?). At the end of our contracts, they'll transition us all to the stupid new phones they'll make, and they'll declare 3G a success because millions of people use it, regardless of the fact that they were forced into it.

Re:I am so sick...

[moonboy]

Surely you don't think that video over a mobile phone is being pushed merely to watch movies.

Please!!

The reason for video over a phone is simply to improve communication (oh and of course to show you advertisements so the companies can make more money ;). With "video phones" another dimension will be added to distance impaired personal communications. Actually seeing the person you are talking to (their facial expressions) is what makes face-to-face communication so desireable, but when that is not possible, video-phones will be the next best thing.

I work for a broadband provider and one of the big products being developed is video conferencing over an IP/VPN. People want to see the people they are talking to. It's the next logical step after standard voice communications.

Check out this article at USAToday. See the small picture. There is a small video camera in the hinge of the phone. This is what video phones will/should be used for. Not movies.