AT&T has officially released a statement about why some users have been experiencing sub-par (and we do mean sub-par) upload speeds over the past several days. The statement reads:

“AT&T and Alcatel-Lucent jointly identified a software defect — triggered under certain conditions – that impacted uplink performance for Laptop Connect and smartphone customers using 3G HSUPA-capable wireless devices in markets with Alcatel-Lucent equipment. This impacts less than two percent of our wireless customer base. While Alcatel-Lucent develops the appropriate software fix, we are providing normal 3G uplink speeds and consistent performance for affected customers with HSUPA-capable devices.”

So there you have it, a software issue. Let us know your thoughts on the matter in the comments.

Although it’s having a bit of a hard time looking after its own finances, that didn’t stop Nokia from splurging on some gold and subsequently gilding the crap out of one of its most popular phones in the 6700 classic. Come Q1 2010, 370€ ($546 USD) will be the magical amount of money one will have to part with in order to get their hands on the 6700 classic Gold Edition. Of course it might be wise for one to spend the same amount of money on something more capable like a smartphone, but let’s be honest: this is about as close as you’re likely to come to owning something as opulent as one of Snopp Dogg’s pimp chalices. Or one of Pharrell’s toys.

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As it currently stands, Bell is the only major Canadian wireless carrier that doesn’t have at least one Android handset in its line-up, but if the latest rumors are to be believed, this will only be the case for another couple days as Bell is said to be getting the Samsung Galaxy i7500 on December 10th. Because it’s received little attention Statesi… er Province-side, we think it’s worth quickly running over the specs: 3.2″ HVGA AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash, Wi-Fi, GPS, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, 528MHz processor, 8GB internal memory and it’s running Android 1.5 “Cupcake”. Pricing is still a mystery, but hey — Bell users have had plenty of time to save up.

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Nokia has announced two new entry level 3G sliders, the Nokia 6700 slide and Nokia 7230. Both are set to launch in Q1 2010. The Symbian-powered Nokia 6700 slide features a 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and Carl zeiss optics, 2.2 inch QVGA display, HSDPA/HSUPA connectivity, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, an FM radio and  microSD expansion slot. Available in a rainbow of colors as shown above, the 6700 slide will retail for EUR 160 ($239 USD). Less flashy but equally attractive is the Nokia 7230, a slim slider that features a 2.4 inch QVGA display, 3.2 megapixel camera, FM radio, Bluetooth, microSD expansion lot, with Symbian S40 being the OS of choice. Look for the Nokia 7230 to retail for an affordable EUR 100 ($149USD). One more shot after the break.

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Could today have been a more exciting day? AT&T certainly thinks so, which is why it just announced it’s informing both Apple and the FCC of its network’s readiness and willingness to allow VoIP apps to operate over its 3G network. IPhone included. Wow. That’s a pretty awesome move, and totally out of left field. Hit the jump to check out AT&T’s press release.

AT&T EXTENDS VOIP TO 3G NETWORK FOR IPHONE

DALLAS, October 6, 2009 – AT&T today announced it has taken the steps necessary so that Apple can enable VoIP applications on iPhone to run on AT&T’s wireless network. Previously, VoIP applications on iPhone were enabled for Wi-Fi connectivity. For some time, AT&T has offered a variety of other wireless devices that enable VoIP applications on 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi networks. AT&T this afternoon informed Apple Inc. and the FCC of its decision.

In late summer, AT&T said it was taking a fresh look at VoIP capabilities on iPhone for use on AT&T’s 3G network, consistent with its regular review of device features and capabilities to ensure attractive options for consumers.

“iPhone is an innovative device that dramatically changed the game in wireless when it was introduced just two years ago,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility & Consumer Markets. “Today’s decision was made after evaluating our customers’ expectations and use of the device compared to dozens of others we offer.”

AT&T allows customers to download or launch on their wireless devices a multitude of compatible applications directly from any lawful Internet website. Additionally, because AT&T uses GSM technology, the most pervasive and open wireless technology platform in the world, we support customers using any GSM phone that works on AT&T’s frequencies.

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Not super excited about the November launch of Bell’s HSPA network? Fair enough, but we think you’ll change your mind once we tell you what The Globe and Mail is reporting: both Bell and TELUS are going to be selling the Apple iPhone next month. Apple, Bell and TELUS declined to speak to the matter when asked, but the fact remains that not only does this make sense considering the fact exclusivity deals are already starting to fizzle out in the UK, but for the simple fact that if The Globe and Mail says its going to happen you can confidently bet your bottom dollar that it will happen 99 times out of 100. If not, we’re going cancel our subscription for our Canadian office. Rogers, we are awaiting emails from your PR people.

Thanks, Scott, and everyone else who sent this one in!

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You know as soon as you hear the name ‘Corby’ that you’re not in for the most exciting handset, but it appears that what was once thought to be a single device — the Corby S6350 — is actually an entire line. Early this morning, Samsung announced both the CorbyTXT B3210 and the CorbyPRO B5310. The CorbyTXT, available in Europe this month, touts a full-QWERTY keypad, 2 megapixel camera, 3.5mm headphone jack, and interchangeable faceplates while the CorbyPRO (available in November) sees the TXT’s specs and raises it a touchscreen, sliding QWERTY keypad, 3 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and 3G. No word on availability here in the Wild West but we have a feeling no one will be losing any sleep waiting for Sammy to ship these guys across the pond.

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In the run up to the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5, manufacturers and carriers are trying to tantalize fan bases with new and exciting products. Unfortunately there really hasn’t been anything we would deem “wow worthy” up to this point (announced officially, that is), though Samsung seems to think its short-term strategy is all that. First off, Sammy finally got around to announcing the OmniaPRO B7330, a low-end full-QWERTY number with a 320×320 display, 3 megapixel camera, FM tuner and 7.2Mbps HSDPA/2Mbps HSUPA connectivity. Second, it announced that the OmniaLITE B7300 will ship with WinMo 6.5 as with all Omnia models shipped after 6.5 goes live. Third and lastly, Samsung announced that later on in the year at a time not specified, Samsung will release WinMo 6.5 upgrades for the Omnia II i800, OmniaPRO B7320, and OmniaPRO B7610 alongside “a set of customized strategies to differentiate and expand sales of each model by appealing to a broad spectrum of user groups.” We haven’t a clue what Samsung has in mind in terms of customization, but we do have this nagging feeling that it won’t exactly knock anyone’s socks off.

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Well boys and girls, welcome to the final installment of Carrier Wars — the series of features in which we call upon our readers who represent each of the four major US wireless carriers to report the 3G speeds they’re experiencing across the country. It’s been quite a trip but the fourth and final carrier, T-Mobile USA, is now accounted for, which means its time to line everyone up side by side and see where the chips fell. So sit back, relax and hit the jump to see how your carrier stacks up against the competition.

To quickly recap where we’re at right now: AT&T was first up and recorded a pretty respectable average download speed of 933kbps, besting next in line, Verizon Wireless, by a solid 232kbps. The nation’s number three carrier, Sprint Nextel, was next to bat and it knocked one out of the park. Sprint set the bar quite high with an average download speed of 1361kbps, leaving T-Mobile with quite a hill to climb should it manage to register an upset. Tmo has the newest 3G network with the least amount of congestion however, so number four could definitely swoop in and surprise us all, Right? Right? Yeah, not so much.

• Average download speed: 786kbps
• Median download speed: 748kbps
• Average upload speed: 177kbps
• Median upload speed: 136kbps

According to the speeds experienced and recorded by our readers, T-Mobile slides into the number three slot having bested Big Red by 85kbps. On the upload side of things, T-Mobile comes in dead last with an average speed of 177kbps, just short of the equally pathetic 180kbps put up by AT&T. Of note, T-Mobile was definitely the most consistent carrier our readers tested — the speed test results were very level compared to the sharp peaks and deep valleys found in other carrier’s test results. In fact, trimming the download data to omit oddities as we did with the three other carriers barely affected T-Mobile’s numbers at all: Dropping the top and bottom five results left us with a download average of 767kbps and cutting the top and bottom 10 yielded 773kbps.

All things considered, Tmo has poured a lot into its 3G network — despite being insanely late to the party — so these results are somewhat disheartening. Subscribers shouldn’t despair, however. T-Mobile has no intention of getting caught with its pants down twice and it is already hard at work developing its 4G network, which will reportedly be deployed not long after the big boys’ LTE setups get the green light.

Let’s take a quick look at everything lined up nice and pretty:

Average Download Speed

1. Sprint: 1361kbs
2. AT&T: 933kbps
3. T-Mobile: 786kbps
4. Verizon: 701kbps

Average Upload Speed

1. Verizon: 322kbps
2. Sprint: 267kbps
3. AT&T: 180kbps
4. T-Mobile: 177kbps

There you have it folks — the final act of Carrier Wars is officially a wrap. While these numbers shouldn’t be considered absolute or scientific, they certainly give an accurate representation of each carrier’s 3G network speeds as experienced by our readers. So what does everyone think? Did the carriers’ performances land where you thought they would or were you surprised by our findings? Hit the comment section and be heard.

Again; for those interested, here is the data collected for T-Mobile.

Disclaimer: The results of these tests are not collected in a controlled environment and therefore should not be considered to represent a concrete indication of the above carriers’ 3G network speeds and/or performance in general. These results merely provide the average 3G network speeds of the above carriers as experienced by those readers who performed speed tests and shared their results. Stop whining.

It’s Saturday and we’re in the midst of a company picnic that involves copious amounts of alcohol and plenty of good old fashioned debauchery, but we thought we’d take the time to let all the BlackBerry lovers out there know that Canada’s Bell now allegedly has the BlackBerry Bold 9700 in its system. Upon seeing the handset in inventory, it’s easy to jump to conclusions and assume that the new Bold is about to ship to dealers (and that Bell’s HSPA network overlay is about to have its switch flicked). We should caution you though, that it’s pretty standard for all Bell devices to show up in the inventory system as many as four months ahead of launch. Translation: sit tight and keep the faith.

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Ever since it was first announced at CES, people have been clamoring for a GSM version of the Palm Pre. About a month back we got our wish, but unfortunately the GSM Pre as we knew it did not include US 3G. We say ‘knew’ because the Wi-Fi Alliance recently certified a new variant of the Palm Pre, the P100UNA, complete with 850/1900MHz UMTS/HSPA. Wooo. Ordinarily we would assume this is a good indication that the Pre will be hitting up AT&T or Rogers after Sprint and Bell’s respective exclusivity periods are over, but considering that TELUS is about to make the move to HSPA we can’t help but wonder if perhaps the Pre will be one of its first smartphones.

[Via PreCentral]

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What a long strange trip it’s been, mobile fans. Our Carrier Wars series has managed to tons of conversation surrounding the state of wireless carriers here in the US. Sure a lot of it is senseless banter, but beyond that there are legions of subscribers who are genuinely interested in learning what kind of performance BGR readers from across the country experience on their respective carriers. We told you each of the big four here in the US would be covered and sure enough, here we are at the last stop: T-Mobile USA. While T-Mobile’s 3G network is still in its infancy — albeit horribly late in the game — subscribers are often quick to sing Tmo’s 3G performance praise. Well T-Moblers, it’s your time to shine. If you have a 3G-ready handset and happen to find yourself in a covered region, we want to know what kind of speed you’re seeing. Remember, an ideal report includes handset model, AVERAGE download speed, AVERAGE upload speed and a link to a screenshot of your test. Feel free to throw your maximum speed numbers in there as well but they don’t concern us. Ok — hit the comments section and get to work!

Well the numbers are in folks, and we’re pretty surprised to reveal that AT&T’s 3G network might not be the travesty many thought it was. Don’t get us wrong — it is in fact abysmal in countless areas across the country. According to results recorded by our readers however, it’s also pretty solid in many areas. Some quick background: Yesterday, we posted about how terrible AT&T 3G is for us in the NYC area. We then asked readers to let us know where they are, what phone they’re using and results of an AT&T’s 3G speed test. Many complied — so why not take a look at the numbers?

After going through the comments and weeding out speed tests from other networks and chatter, we were left with about 200 results as of just after 11:30am this morning. Readers posted from all around the country using a variety of different phones. Generally, the bulk of the results came from iPhones and BlackBerrys, and locales were in and around major cities for the most part. Here’s what we found:

• Average download speed: 933kbps
• Median download speed: 840kbps
• Average upload speed: 180kbps
• Median upload speed: 215kbps

As you can see, things might not be so bad after all. An average download speed in the mid-900s is actually pretty respectable, comparatively. Upload speeds are a disaster on the the other hand, but we know they’re limited for the time being so not much can be done there.

Truth be told, we were blown away by some of the results. Several users posted download speeds above 2,000kbps with the fastest result skewing our data a bit at 3,663kbps (from Austin, TX) [UPDATE: the commenter who posted this result made a mistake, as pointed out below (he was on Wi-Fi). The numbers have been updated with his 3G speed test results]. Speaking of skewing, we did notice that the median download speed was noticeably lower than the average speed, so we decided to trim the results a bit and see what would happen:

• Average download speed, top and bottom five results discarded: 920kbps
• Average download speed, top and bottom 10 results discarded: 914kbps

Dropping the top and bottom 10 results delivers an average speed that is slower by almost 20kbps. Long story short, there were definitely more people on the low end of the spectrum than on the high end.

So in the end, what have we learned? There are areas where AT&T’s 3G service is definitely solid. There are even areas where it’s blazing fast. Unfortunately, it looks like there are many more areas where the carrier’s 3G service is less than adequate — we had several results in the double-digits which is flat out atrocious. People complain far louder than they praise of course, so until AT&T can step up its game in major cities where service is lacking we’ll continue to hear about how bad things are far more often than we hear about how good they are.

As for the iPhone 3GS actually seeing anything close to 7.2Mbps any time soon… Yeah, we’re not holding our breath.

Here is the data, if anyone else wants to play with the numbers. [Updated data now available]

Disclaimer: The results of these tests are not collected in a controlled environment and therefore should not be considered to represent a concrete indication of the above carrier’s 3G network speeds and/or performance in general. These results merely provide the average 3G network speeds of the above carrier as experienced by those readers who perform speed tests and share their results. Stop whining.

Since the iPhone 3G was released over a year ago, AT&T customers in many regions have experienced the slow and painful decay of what had once been an incredibly solid 3G network. The bottom line is that AT&T’s network is now so congested in many populated regions that it’s become a sick, laughable joke. Now, don’t get us wrong. In many areas AT&T’s 3G service is still rocking and rolling according to countless subscribers — we just wish we could find those areas. Here in and around NYC, continued woes have prompted us to perform several speed tests over the past few weeks to get a handle on exactly why calls are constantly dropped (if they’re even connected to begin with) and why data seems to be moving at a snail’s pace. The screenshot above shows the results of one such test. Arrows and cheeky thumb’s up aside, the image is not doctored. 38… kilobits… per… second… average… download… speed. Imagine a carrier with the cojones to advertise “the nation’s fastest 3G network” when even one speed test result could be that abysmal.

To be fair, the screen capture above represents the worst result we saw during our tests. What was the best, you might be wondering? 384kbps. Yes that’s kilobits, not kilobytes. Our typical results were in the low 300s — still quite pathetic — and all of our tests were performed with either an iPhone 3GS or a BlackBerry Bold. These results, mind you, follow AT&T’s claim to have recently added 75 new cells in the NY Metro area. Now, when you’re a carrier whose flagship handset includes an “S” for “speed” in its name and it’s capable of download speeds up to 7.2Mbps, you better be on top of your game — especially in a densely populated region like NYC and the surrounding area. 384kbps isn’t going to cut it and 38kbps most definitely isn’t going to cut it. Yet the company continues to carry on about current network speeds and its plans to roll out 7.2Mbps HSPA.

So now, people, it’s time for roll call. If you’re on AT&T we want to know where you are, what phone you’re using and what kind of speeds you’re getting when you test. Extra points if you link a screenshot. Oh and just for fun, this is from an iPhone 3GS on Rogers earlier this afternoon: