20Mbps 4G will soon be available in 10 cities across the UK, including Sheffield, doubling the current speed.

The current 4G, with speeds averaging around 8-12Mbps was unveiled last year by EE, owner of Orange and T-Mobile.  The network operator said it has seen a huge shift in the way people are using their phones since the 4G launch, including the use of video, maps and sat-nav applications.

The new speed will allow people to upload and download high resolution pictures and video whilst on the move without delay.  It will mean 4G will be up to seven times faster than the current 3G.

Whilst this is great news for users of app-filled smart phones, users should be cautious of the potential for large data-bills.

EE, the first UK operator to offer 4G has spent millions on the launch of the service, including adverts fronted by Kevin Bacon and the amazing light show at Battersea power station.  With many of the latest smartphones being 4G enabled, rival operators O2 and Vodafone have promised to launch in the next few months.

The 10 cities where 4G speeds will be doubled by EE include Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bristol, Birmingham, London, Cardiff and Liverpool.

The existing 4G service is now available in 50 towns and cities across the UK, and was recently extended to the rural Northern Fells in Cumbria.

We at 3Squared believe this is great news for app lovers and businesses that rely on mobile communications and are looking forward to the other network operators releasing their own versions in the summer.

Mobile shopping is already riding the crest of a wave having risen 55% compared with a year ago but even this double digit growth is likely to look paltry next to future gains.

At present the sector is being held back by speed and connectivity problems with current generation handsets but with the arrival of 4G this barrier is being lifted, contributing to a possible 115% uplift in the coming 12 months.

Conlumino based their findings on the expectation that 98% of the UK population will be served by 4G over this period, adding £1.8bn to the UK economy of which £1bn is attributed to new users.

Neil Saunders, a director at Conlumino, said “Retailers today must take every chance to engage consumers, giving them every possible opportunity to buy and interact with their brands. An ‘omnichannel’ approach is key to making this happen and retailers can’t afford to stand still.”

3Squared are specialists in creating apps and mobile pages for businesses wanting to engage and trade with consumers via smartphones.  With the cost of smartphones reducing and 4G to soon be used across the country, more and more people are browsing and shopping on the move with their mobile phones.

Don’t get left behind, contact us today to find out how we can help your business become more mobile-friendly.

The Drum

The primary target user for the phone will be the young middle class in BRIC countries.

Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge, told the Telegraph: “One of our sources claims that Apple’s iPhone prices remain too high for most mainland Chinese customers — the iPhone 5 hardware alone starts at $849 there, versus the iPhone 4 at $500, in a country where the average annual salary is around $3,000 per person.”

“The source has said that mainland Chinese iPhone 5 sales are already tapering off as a result of the pricing, which is higher than in Hong Kong. A budget iPhone model would help sales in populous but underdeveloped countries to grow.”

The budget phone is rumoured to cost around £220.  Whilst the main markets will be the likes of India and China, it will also be interesting to see the effect it will have on sales in Europe and the US, where Apple already dominates the phone market.

Will users care about the material of the phone, as the majority of existing users put the phone in a protective case anyway?  For the sake of saving £300, probably not.  But it will surely make the iPhone accessible for a lot more people, which we at 3Squared believe can only be a good thing.

The launch follows the drop of the iPhone 5′s estimated shipping times to one week just a few days ago. The unlocked GSM models are available for $649/$749/$849 for the 16/32/64 GB models and also have an estimated ship time of one week. In the U.S., the unlocked models will work on both AT&T and T-Mobile.

The unlocked iPhone includes all the features of iPhone but without a wireless contract commitment. You can activate and use iPhone on the supported GSM wireless network of your choice, such as AT&T in the United States. The unlocked iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 will not work with CDMA-based carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint.

If you don’t want a multiyear service contract, or if you prefer to use a local carrier when traveling abroad, the unlocked iPhone is the best choice. It does not come with a micro-SIM card for iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, or a nano-SIM card for iPhone 5, so you’ll need to get one from any supported GSM carrier worldwide. To start using it, simply insert the card into the slot on your iPhone and turn it on by pressing and holding the On/Off button for a few seconds. Then follow the onscreen instructions to set up your iPhone.

Apple will begin selling an unlocked version of its iPhone 5 through its online store as soon as 9 PM tonight, according to our retail sources. The unlocked iPhone 5 price range will likely be $649, $749, and $849 depending on a choice of either 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of storage.

While unlocked devices are the norm in many of Apple’s markets, Apple typically restricts sales in the U.S. during an initial time period after launch to devices locked to specific carriers. For the iPhone 4S, it took less than one month for Apple to begin selling unlocked models to U.S. customers, but it has already been over two months since Apple began U.S. sales of the iPhone 5.

Apple is also said to be expanding its Personal Pickup program for the iPhone 5, allowing users to reserve a device at any time for pickup the following day rather than having to wait until 10:00 PM when the stores have closed for the day to place their reservations.

Now Merrill Lynch’s Scott Craig is out with a note reporting that “speculation is heightening” that Deutsche Telecom (DT) will announce a deal to bring the iPhone to its U.S. subsidiary at next week’s analysts day (12/6-7).

It makes sense. The carrier recently beefed up its iPhone-compatible high-speed HSPA+ network in 10 metropolitan areas, allowing some of the 1.5 million T-Mobile customers already using unlocked iPhones to enjoy something better than GSM download speeds.

As T-Mobile has worked to refarm its spectrum to move its fastest data services over to iPhone-compatible frequencies, the carrier has started a “Bring Your Own iPhone” program to help users move their unlocked iPhones to the carrier.
T-Mobile previously stated that the spectrum refarming would make the carrier ready for the iPhone by the end of 2012, and has acknowledged on a number of occasions that its lack of the iPhone has cost it customers and revenue.

But while it seems clear that T-Mobile would like to carry the iPhone and has been reconfiguring its network to be able to support it, there has been essentially no direct evidence or sources claiming that the device will be coming to the fourth-largest carrier in the United States.

Vendors in China often start selling new handsets within weeks of approval by China’s Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center. [...]

The regulator said in two posts on its website that it had approved licenses for an iPhone supported by China Telecom and one supported by China Unicom.

China Telecom chairman Wang Xiaochu had previously stated that the iPhone 5 would be launching on the carrier by early December, and the carrier has reportedly started taking pre-orders in recent days.

Apple has been placing a strong focus on the Chinese market, which now accounts for15% of the company’s revenue and and saw revenues rise 78% to $23.8 billion in fiscal 2012.

Still, Apple’s product launches in China have typically lagged behind those in the company’s other major markets, leading to a booming gray market for devices brought in from Hong Kong and elsewhere while also leaving the company more vulnerable to competitors. But with Apple’s goal of bringing the iPhone 5 to at least 100 countries before the end of 2012, the company is clearly working hard on compressing its worldwide rollout timetables.

Fadell is widely known as the godfather of the iPod, and he formerly served as the senior vice president of the iPod division and as a special advisor to Steve Jobs.

After Fadell left Apple in 2008, there were rumors that Forstall and Fadell butted heads on more than one occasion. A 2011 profile of Forstall suggested that he was difficult to work with and had fought with Fadell over the operating system for the iPhone, which eventually led to Fadell’s departure from the company.

The interviewer asked about Forstall’s personality and personal problems that Fadell had with Forstall, but Fadell declined to comment further and simply reiterated his previous statement.

“I think what happened just a few weeks back was deserved and justified.”

When asked about Apple, Fadell said that he thought the company was in a “great place” but mentioned that there had been cheering in Cupertino when Forstall was ousted.

Currently, Tony Fadell is the CEO of Nest, the company that has created the popular Nest Learning Thermostat. Scott Forstall is serving as an advisor to Tim Cook and will be leaving Apple in 2013.

The newest version of iTunes was expected to be released at the end of October. Instead the software was delayed with a new release date pegged at the end of November, and The Wall Street Journal believes it will come out as soon as tomorrow. The reason for the delay was reportedly due to engineering issues.

This week, Mr. Cue faces a test of how well Apple can keep up in online services with the launch of a new desktop version of iTunes, which is expected as soon as Thursday.

The new iTunes has been delayed a month by engineering issues that required parts to be rebuilt, according to people who have seen it.

iTunes 11 is expected to feature a redesign of the user interface in addition to enhanced iCloud integration.

The article goes on to detail Mr. Cue’s role as “Mr. Fix-It” at Apple. Cue has taken over some of the most troubled projects at Apple, most recently taking responsibility for Maps and Siri.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, comments: “The last time we saw iOS overtake Android in the US was when the iPhone 4S was released and Apple managed to retain its lead for three consecutive periods. This time we predict that Apple will beat its previous high of 49.3% and achieve its highest ever share of the US smartphone market within the next two periods.”

Apple has, however, found stiffer competition from Android internationally, with Android holding 60-80% share in most other markets tracked by Kantar Worldpanel. Notable areas of weakness for Apple include Brazil (0.4%) and Spain (4.0%), but the company continues to perform fairly well in countries such as the the United Kingdom (32.7%) and Australia (29.4%).

The firm’s surveys of U.S. iPhone customers finds a healthy 60/40 balance between upgrade buyers and new users, suggesting that Apple is continuing to see loyal customers while also attracting new users with the iPhone 5. According to the report, 92% of current Apple users indicate that they will purchase an iPhone as their next phone.