Comments on: Samsung: Galaxy SIII Headed to “Fastest LTE and HSPA+” U.S. Networks This Summer (Updated)

By: Dshim83

Dshim83 — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:04:00 +0000

Well, at least you’re right on the grandfathered data thing.

By: Jon

Jon — Sun, 13 May 2012 04:20:00 +0000

I’m not going to wait till June. I’m going to upgrade from my Bionic to a Galaxy Nexus in about a week.

Honestly, if the Samsung Note were available on Verizon, I would totally go for it. The reality is that I am much better off with a Nexus that I know for sure will be updated quickly. Waiting for proper ICS on my Bionic has really exhausted my patience with slow updates.

By: Conan Kudo (ニール・ゴンパ)

Conan Kudo (ニール・ゴンパ) — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:56:00 +0000

For LTE, it’s even worse than that:
Americas: TDD 2.3-2.6GHz (Clearwire only), FDD 700MHz, 750MHz (VZW-only), FDD 800MHz, FDD 850MHz, FDD 1.7/2.1GHz, FDD 1.9GHz
Europe: TDD 2.3-2.6GHz, FDD 800MHz (incompatible with US 800MHz), FDD 1.8GHz, FDD 2.6GHz.
Mainland Asia: TDD 2.3-2.6GHz, FDD 850MHz (Korea only), FDD 1.8GHz, FDD 2.1GHz, FDD 2.6GHz
Japan: TDD 2.3-2.6GHz, FDD 850MHz, FDD 1.4GHz, FDD 1.5GHz, FDD 2.1GHz
Australia: TDD 2.3-2.6GHz, FDD 1.8GHz, FDD 2.6GHz
Future Asia-Pacific: FDD 700MHz (incompatible with US 700MHz).

While it looks like TDD 2.3-2.6GHz will be the best option, each region will divide up the spectrum differently, making them all incompatible.

LTE is going to suck ass unless a rebanding is done to simplify this whole mess.

By: Greyhame

Greyhame — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:46:00 +0000

I’m not insisting they were Samsung’s idea. Those were all Google. But they work so well. IMO, it was a mistake to go back to hardware buttons and lose the flexibility. But, to each their own.

By: George Adams

George Adams — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:19:00 +0000

There’s a competition to win a Galaxy S III going on at the moment! It’d be so great to get one for nothing!

By: blix247

blix247 — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:36:00 +0000

I like that the screen is fully dedicated to content. Apparently the screen has to stop a half inch short of the bottom of the phone, so you might as well use it for hardware buttons and save screen real estate. I would prefer the screen to extend the entire height of the phone, but I guess thats still not possible.

By: Gasai Yuno

Gasai Yuno — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:37:00 +0000

Isn’t T-Mobile that weird carrier with 3G on non-standard 1700MHz?

By: Gasai Yuno

Gasai Yuno — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:34:00 +0000

Why do people insist that soft keys were Samsung’s thing? I still think it was Google requesting to use those, not Samsung.

So Samsung just sticks to their good old ways.

By: Gasai Yuno

Gasai Yuno — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:33:00 +0000

Hey, why change something if it fits and looks nice? I can still wear my skirts from my uni days (and I was 14 back then), and they fit and look perfectly fine!

Fashion is for bandwagon hoppers, yo.

By: Gasai Yuno

Gasai Yuno — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:30:00 +0000

The European markets do have LTE. At the very least in Scandinavia and the Baltic States. And by the end of 2013 Western Russia will probably be 70-80% covered too, using the same bands as Europe (there are LTE networks running in Siberia at the moment).

By: Gasai Yuno

Gasai Yuno — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:28:00 +0000

Well, Europe and Russia will expand on that by 2015. The problem being, they don’t use the same bands as Verizon and the likes. They’re all going for roaming capabilities and sticking with a fixed set of bands so everyone could roam everywhere within EU and RU.

By: Gasai Yuno

Gasai Yuno — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:25:00 +0000

Well the GSM version is a global phone. Because it works almost everywhere. Even in Japan (albeit only on Softbank Mobile).

By: Gasai Yuno

Gasai Yuno — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:24:00 +0000

Well, there’s a small problem with CDMA. It’s also present with GSM but not so much; it’s called bands and standards.

CDMA is a very broad term. Verizon and Sprint use different bands, right? Then there are all those other CDMA carriers around the world who also don’t quite stick to one particular frequency — often due to government regulations and whatnot. A lot of carriers outside the USA use RUIMs with their CDMA devices; RUIM is a UICC, just like the GSM USIM (usually referred to as SIM) cards.

So how are you going to make a global CDMA device if you have to support about 4 different radio standards in combination with multiple bands and RUIM handling for some of the carriers?

GSM at least has that quad-band+tri-band 2G+3G set that works almost universally. With the exception of T-Mobile USA. (4G is worse; Europe, Asia and Russia prefer the 2.4-2.6 TDD bands, while the USA proudly stands afar with 700 and 2100.)

By: michael arazan

michael arazan — Fri, 04 May 2012 07:54:00 +0000

The way it sounds that US carriers will downgrade the device.

By: TH1S GUY!!!

TH1S GUY!!! — Fri, 04 May 2012 03:04:00 +0000

Does he say December? 2:38 mark.
http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/samsung-galaxy-s-iii/4505-6454_7-35243707.html?tag=TOCcarouselMain.0