What is 3G?

3 generations of mobile phones have emerged so far, each successive generation more reliable and flexible than the last:

1. Analog: You could only easily use analogue cellular to make voice calls, and typically only in any one country.
2. Digital mobile phone systems added fax, data and messaging capabilities as well as voice telephone service in many countries.
3. Multimedia services add high speed data transfer to mobile devices, allowing new video, audio and other applications through mobile phones- allowing music and television and the Internet to be accessed through a mobile terminal.

With each new generation of technology, the services which can de deployed on them becomes more and more wide ranging and truly limited only by imagination. We are reaching that stage with 3G.

During the first and second generations different regions of the world pursued different mobile phone classicals, but are converging to a common classical for mobile multimedia called Third Generation (3G) that is based on CDMA technology. Europe pursued NMT and TACS for analog and GSM for digital, North America pursued AMPS for analog and a mix of TDMA, CDMA and GSM for digital. 3G will bring these incompatible classicals together, and the aim of this paper is to discuss the optimal migration path for mobile network operators to get from their existing 2G digital systems to the 3G world.

The Third Generation of mobile communications systems will soon by implemented. Following on the heals of analog and digital technology, the Third Generation will be digital mobile multimedia offering broadband mobile communications with voice, video, graphics, audio and other information.

The NPD Group: One in Three iPhone 3G Buyers Switched from Other Carriers to Join AT&T (Centre Daily Times)

According to a new report from The NPD Group, the leader in market research for the wireless industry, 30 percent of U.S. consumers who purchased Apple's new iPhone 3G from June through August 2008 switched from other mobile carriers to join AT&T, the exclusive mobile carrier for the iPhone in the U.S. By way of comparison just 23 percent of consumers, on average, switched carriers between June ...

Turmoil slows 3G (Bangkok Post - Thailand's English news)

The fate of third-generation (3G) commercial services in Thailand is now uncertain as the country's two largest mobile operators, AIS and DTAC, have deferred or scaled back full-scale network investments in light of the financial crunch.

The NPD Group: One in Three iPhone 3G Buyers Switched from Other Carriers to Join AT&T (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.----According to a new report from The NPD Group, the leader in market research for the wireless industry, 30 percent of U.S. consumers who purchased Apple's new iPhone 3G from June through August 2008 switched from other mobile carriers to join AT&T, the exclusive mobile carrier for the iPhone in the U.S.

Valuable Patents with Broad Applications in the 3G and WiMax Arenas to be Sold at October 30th Auction (PRWeb via Yahoo! News)

Carlson Wireless Technologies, Inc. will be offering for sale three patents with broad application in the WiMax and 3G arenas at The Ocean Tomo Live IP Auction in Chicago on October 30. US Patents 5,959,982; 6,693,890; and 5,745,480 are all directed to the field of telecommunication and will be offered as Lots 59, 60 and 61, respectively.

Hands-on with Pantech's sleek new C610 for AT&T (Mobile Burn)

Today Pantech and AT&T announced the immediate availability of the Pantech C610, a high-fashion folder phone. The C610 supports a wide variety of AT&T multimedia functions in addition to high speed HSDPA data on AT&T's 3G network.