Thanks for your help.

yawn,

Don't disagree with your views, just to say that subscribers need flexibility, choices and solutions--and US CDMA networks are lagging.

Since the i730's debut in late Q2 '05, VZW has offered WM-based subscribers only the following: 1) Treo 700W/wx, 2) Sammy i830, 3) HTC XV6700, 4) Moto Q, and 5) Pantech PN-820. Of these, only the 700w/wx and XV6700, along with a few user-upgraded i730s, can be considered WM5 PPCs. Sprint's done even less.

The i760 may prove a reasonable PPC, but it doesn't show technical leadership and seems to be configured only with a cam (mediocre at that). Many prospective PPC users aren't even permitted to rock a cam.

So, unlike the i730 for the WM03SE era, the i760 cannot, and will not, occupy the pole position in the WM6 era.

In any event, there's a new rumble underway: quad-band GSM devices are starting to appear with little or no carrier commitment, especially in the US (e.g., HTC Advantage/Athena). What makes speculative handsets viable is the vast global GSM subscriber base and the premise that SIM cards make them impulse-worthy and universal.

Expectations are that such carrier-independent GSM devices--available unlocked from third-party sources, will soon account for meaningful market share. At risk to CDMA carriers, of course, are the service agreement lock-ins on which they're so dependent. Over time, the evolution to 'free-market distribution' may ease the tyranny that alienates people like our very own Mark_A_K.

Unfortunately, the much smaller population of CDMA users can't quite support speculative devices, and carrier activation restrictions on 'foreign' units further frustrate the prospect of greater choice for CDMA folks.

The bottom line: 3G GSM world-phones will increasingly pressure CDMA carriers to innovate in order to contain churn. Better devices, and more of them, will be required.

--BAM

Seems like CDMA was way ahead depoying G3 compared to GSM.

CDMA is much more elegant than GSM based on TDMA.

__________________
Brian
Smart Phones for Dumb People

You're right, maxnix.

Only referring to the abundance of GSM devices, not to network technology.

--BAM

I stopped my the local Verizon store in Minneapolis yesterday. The rep there stated that they'd start receiving the phones by mid-June, but stated they wouldn't go on sale until mid-July (she looked a bit dumbfounded when I asked her this question so take it with a grain of salt)

could they possibly be referring to the htc s720 (utstarcom 5800)??? that is certainly not an iPhone killer but definitely a decent multimedia handset...

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Lou
What is next???

One more small step toward release:
Samsung i760 hands-on - Engadget Mobile

Am I missing something? That is dated January 2007...

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Managing Director
HyTek Hosting, LLC
www.hytekhosting.com

You're not missing anything. That article is very old.

Traditional GSM yes, but "3G GSM" as you call it is actually UMTS, which is based on WCDMA (Wideband CDMA) technology.

In equivalence of 1xEVDO data on top of CDMA, HSDPA over UMTS has reached theoretical speeds of 14.4 MBps on the downlink, where as EVDO is still at 3.1 MBps theoretical with rev. A.

Cingular/AT&T has already deployed the 7.2 MBps flavor of HSDPA, but to further counter the EVDO rev. A imminently being readied by Sprint & Verizon, they are planning on launching HSUPA to increase the uplink speeds to 5.76 MBps (assuming they go all the way to category 6) -- see reference below:

High-Speed Uplink Packet Access - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
AT&T to add HSUPA this year - Engadget Mobile


Now when it comes to handsets, it will probably a while before HSUPA Windows-based PDA/phones come out, whereas the i760/XV6800 will be out some time this summer (we hope) with EVDO rev. A.
So for "power" users who tether and/or send relatively large amounts of data from their handsets, rev. A currently makes more sense than the higher HSDPA download speeds.
However, HSDPA being based on UMTS which is an evolution of GSM, UMTS handsets still include GSM bands which makes them "world" phones.

Having stuck with Samsung since the i700, followed by the i730, I will take a close look at the i760 when it's finally tangible.
However, I am very tempted by the iMate ultimate line - as others should rightfully be, given the high-end specs being delivered.

As I see it, the bottom line is: there is probably a close competition between EVDO-rev.A-capable and HSDPA-capable PPCPE handsets today (assuming today includes the following 2-3 months), however I see the UMTS handset market growing way beyond CDMA in the near future.

I'm sure this echoes many other users' feelings here

-Marc

Aside form simultaneous data useage and phone (available with 3g or EDVO)which is nice, dowload speeds are nearly inconsequential for regular browsing / email on a PDA phone. The bottlenecks are not with download speeds but with Processor / bus speeds of the phones.

You could open up a 3 TB pipe for your 6700 and your download speeds on web browsing will be nearly identical to what it is now. So while more speed is nice for the few times I'm downloading a big file, which is rare given the memory constraints of the devices its really not going to help much in day to day use. Regardless your phone will still be slow as hell writing all that info to the SD card or memory. Again the bottle neck is the phone not download speeds.

I was at the Cingular store the other day playing with the 8525 and i had my WX with EDVO coverage. The 8525 was about 4 seconds or less slower on edge loading very large sites, like Foxnews.com orsm.net. Thats edge vs edvo. 4 seconds or less slower, fully downloaded and formatted. Sometimes edge