The First True 3G Phone For The US

Wireless

RCR Radio News reports that the FCC has recently approved what appears to be the first true 3G mobile phone destined for the US. While other so-called 3G phones have actually been 2.5G based on their true data throughput, the EV-DO model from LG is capable of (laboratory) speeds up to 2.4Mbps. Real world EV-DO speeds in Korea hover around 700Kbps, but will likely average about 400Kbps in the US (due to larger cells and therefore lower radio link budget). Although the FCC, LG, and VZW are mum, it stands to reason that this phone will be destined for VZW’s BroadbandAccess network, since it is the only EV-DO show in town. The LGVX8000 offers a 1.3 megapixel camera, video, 3D graphics, and voice dialing, and may be available this summer. No word on whether there will be cables supplied as an accessory to connect a laptop to the fast EV-DO network through the phone. Verizon will offer an EV-DO PCMCIA card to directly address the laptop market. (Where the heck is Bluetooth in the CDMA world?)