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

I am so sick...

[tswinzig]

...of the primary 3G usage example being "watching video over your phone."

NO ONE is going to watch video over a phone for long periods of time, even if the battery could handle it.

However, how would you telecommuters like to be able to work from ANYWHERE in the world without sacrificing your high-speed, always-on connection to the internet?

IT is a cool invention, but 3G really could change the world.

Sounds like a start (but:What's the deal w/clips?)

[McNally]

Sounds like a fantastic start, but I want to know more. In my opinion, speed is only one of the major variables in the wireless networking equation. It balances against cost, coverage, and openness. A high speed, reasonable cost, general purpose network with nationwide coverage would be a dream come true. A high speed, high cost, proprietary network that only works in major cities doesn't interest me much.

As an aside, though, am I the only one who wonders about the weird fixation cellular network planners seem to have with video clips? Honestly, if you asked me the top 25 things I'd want to do with a high-bandwidth portable personal communications device it wouldn't even occur to me to put "watch video clips" on my list. Am I the one who's out of touch here, or are they?

Why Video on a Cell Phone is good...

[BluePenguin]

Okay, if you want an idea why you could possibly want vide on your cell phone, drop the idea of watching movies/TV Shows/other entertainment.

Now, think about a small video camera in your phone. 3G is the bandwidth to speak to eachother Face to Face (well sort of) over a cell phone. Add a little cradle for the thing (so you can sit and look at it) and you can put a face on the other end of the line. IMHO, that would be a worth while use of video on a phone.

But if that wasn't good enough, imagine calling 911, getting patched to an Paramedic with a video phone, and being able to pass video data to mdical techs on their way to the scene (they may even be able to help provide instructions for emergency care). Useful stuff if you ask me.

Think OUTSIDE the box, please.

[tswinzig]

Watching movies on my phone is dumb -- I'd rather watch them on my home theater or in a real movie theater.

Reading/writing email on my phone is dumb -- I'd rather do that on something with a _real_ keyboard, thanks.

Relax, their will be PC/PCI cards that use 3G technology to provide you with internet access just like your ethernet and WiFi cards today.

If we can make wireless devices that actually have a _use_ (think wireless Newton), then maybe we're getting somewhere.

The SprintPCS Visor phone springboard module actually has built in support for 3G, so that when sprint turns on their 3G support (now in testing), the visor phone will be ready for it. (Although it only supports the lower ISDN-like speeds of 3G, which is what Sprint PCS will roll out first.)

In fact, I daresay Sprint PCS is closer to rolling out 3G than Cingular, since they already have an all digital CDMA network laid out across the nation, and have been testing 3G for quite some time.

http://www.sprintpcs.com/aboutsprintpcs/Cdma_3g/ in dex.html

High-speed wireless.

[Lemmy Caution]

I'm going to dissent from the naysayers and say that this is a good thing. The ability to move large amounts of data on small, easy to carry devices is going to have a lot more consumer penetration than some of the other geek-fantasies will. Moving video around will have somewhat limited usefulness (although the newswires have done amazing things with the bulky satellite video phones; this will make reporting from remote areas even easier). But the complaints about the video display miss the point entirely: once the video data is flowing, you can output to a number of interfaces; imagine piping that video stream to a sunglass-display, for example. (Remember, not everyone drives to work, which is why this sort of thing is more popular in mass-transit oriented countries like Japan and Europe.) Think of the ability to set up remote monitoring of facilities, video conferencing and the like.

It's a little bit of a leap for some geeks to move from the productivity-centered focus of desktop computing and its derivations to the idea of communications-oriented socializing technologies, but for most people the latter is usually more exciting.

Media Overload Will Robinson! Danger, Danger!

[linuxrunner]

This sounds to me like a simple case of media overload! I mean, how much information do we really need at once? And where's the application for this?

"sarcastic voice"

oooo, ooooo look streaming video

"/sarcastic voice"

Really, so what? What can the average person do with this except maybe the I'm-late-for-a-bored-meeting (board purposely spelt incorrect). or a new twist to phone sex and 1-900 numbers.... After that, what would the average person want with this..... Sorry CMDTACO... You are not the average person so you're allowed to want this....

I have no need for this, nor would I wish to pay for such a device
Any ideas how much extra this would cost?
Heck, I can't even reason with paying for wireless internet access anymore. It was a great novelty at first, and maybe checking my stocks or e-mail at the beach...

But really, do we all need to be THAT connected?