Despite AT&T’s current lack of 4G branding, the carrier announced Monday that its mobile broadband network is currently the fastest in the U.S. The new claim comes on the back of a “comprehensive third-party drive test” performed by Global Wireless Solutions (GWS). The findings show that AT&T’s wireless network delivers the fastest average download speeds in the country compared to other major wireless carriers. According to a nice color-coded graph that helps AT&T dance around having to name its competition, we can see that Verizon Wireless’ network was found to be a whopping 60% slower, on average. Sprint had the next fastest network according to GWS, but it was 55% slower than AT&T. T-Mobile’s “4G” network fared better but it still delivered download speeds that were an average of 20% slower than AT&T. Hit the break for the nifty color-coded chart that helps illustrate GWS’ findings while also helping to keep AT&T out of hot water.

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AT&T might not call its HSPA+ network “4G” like T-Mobile does, but trust us when we tell you… AT&T’s enhanced 3G network can move. The screen shot above, taken just outside New York city on Wednesday afternoon, shows an iPhone 4 enjoying download speeds of 5Mbps on AT&T’s HSPA+ network. According to AT&T CTO John Donovan, 80% of AT&T’s network is now covered by HSPA+, though he did not elaborate on average speeds are experienced in various regions. Donovan also discussed the growth rate of data traffic on the carrier’s network, which is up 3,000% over the past three years — from approximately 1 billion MB in Q3 2007 to a staggering 30.3 billion MB in Q3 2010. Growth has slowed in recent months, from 50% growth in Q2 of this year to 30% in Q3, but the carrier isn’t expecting its data growth rate to continue decreasing. AT&T is currently preparing to launch an LTE network next year that will be even faster than its HSPA+ network, which has a theoretical downlink limit of 21Mbps. AT&T has not publicly stated firm speed expectations for its LTE network.

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We’ve known for quite some time that AT&T was planning to step up its 3G network in a big way over the coming months, but we didn’t exactly think it would be as big of an improvement as Engadget and Gizmodo are reporting. Apparently AT&T’s Operations CEO John Stankey was at a Reuters event in New York City and mentioned AT&T is going to more than double the speeds of its current 7.2Mbps 3G network by the time we’re all chucking out our 2010 calendars. AT&T’s made great strides in fixing its network in the past few months, and while we don’t expect it to be anything like T-Mobile’s 21Mbps network, but we’d be pretty happy if it meant that all of the 250 million people Stankey had a network with theoretical speeds hovering around 14.4Mbps.

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Torontonians looking to save some money on their wireless bill should take note that a new carrier will be up and running as of tomorrow morning. Formerly known as DAVE Wireless, Mobilicity is looking to crack the local market provider business with plans that are far more competitive than its closest competition, WIND Mobile. We’ve got all the details about the company — and a little more thanks to our chat with Mobilicity’s Dave Dobbin — so hit the jump for all the deets.

The cheapest plan offered by Mobilicity is $15. It offers unlimited texts to North America and free in-network calling. Moving up to more suitable plans for anyone but text-crazy teens, an unlimited local talk plan is available for $25 per month with a unlimited local texts being another $10. If you want unlimited everything — data included — then you’ll definitely want the $65 plan is what you’ll need. It offers unlimited North American calls and texts calls, unlimited data in addition to voicemail, call forwarding, 3-way calling and call waiting.

Just in case you haven’t clued in, Mobilicity is not pretending to be a national carrier. It has its own AWS 3G towers in the markets it serves, and roaming agreements with a “national GSM provider” in the markets it doesn’t. Yes, if you leave your home service area you’ll have to pay 20¢ per minute for voice calls, 10¢ per text and $5 per megabyte of data, but Mobilicity isn’t phased (we should add at this point that you pre-pay a set amount of your choice prior to roaming in order to prevent “bill shock”). According to Dobbin, “Mobilicity is for people that live, work, and play” in one city. In fact, he even went to far as to say that anyone with a penchant for travel should really stick with either Bell, Rogers or TELUS. But just because your roots are firmly implanted in your home city doens’t mean you can’t connect with people who live elsewhere.

Sure to please much of Toronto’s diverse population, Mobilicity has monthly calling plans for East Asian and South Asia. Both priced at $20, one offers unlimited calls to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Vietnam, while the other is good for India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. If you have family elsewhere, calls to landlines in countries like England, Italy, Germany and France are 10¢ per minute. We asked how Mobilicity will be able to profit from these plans and why other carriers aren’t doing something similar, but all we were told is that it would be impolite to comment on the affairs of other carriers. Moving on…

Mobilicity will offer a data stick for $99.99 and hook you up to all of the 3G data you can consume for $40 per month. We were curious to see if this plan has a hidden cap or will be throttled past a certain point. Dobbin was up front and said the only thing that is throttled are P2P connections, which, in fact, are completely blocked.

Speaking of hardware sales, Mobilicty’s line-up will include the BlackBerry Bold 9700 ($499.99), HTC Snap ($199.99). Nokia 5230 ($169.99), Sony Ericsson TM506 ($99.99) and more. If you’re not down with that selection, any device you bring to the network can be hooked up so long as it supports AWS 3G.

Mobilcity officially launches tomorrow in Toronto, with service for Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa scheduled to kick off “later this year. Let’s hope it delivers.

Well lookie what we have here. One of our ninjas just hit us with the skinny on a big announcement from up North scheduled to hit the wire tomorrow. How does a 7.2Mbps HSPA embedded netbook for $299.99 CAD with a 2-contract sound? That’s right, Rogers is apparently ready to announce its first 3.5G embedded netbook offering tomorrow and it’s all set to attack that fresh (kind of) new HSPA network. The netbook, an HP Mini 110, will feature an Intel Atom processor, up to 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and a keyboard that is 92 percent the size of a standard laptop keyboard. It will also require a data plan of course, starting at $25 CAD per month plus fees. If you decide to snag one of these puppies however, we definitely recommend going for one of the bigger monthly plans as $25 only gets you 500MB per month. At 7.2Mbps, or somewhere close at least, that’s just not going to cut it. Hit the jump for the full release.

Rogers Introduces Canada’s First 3.5G Embedded Netbooks

Rogers mobile Internet ready netbooks offer built-in mobile broadband technology for the ultimate access to your online world

TORONTO, ON – July 10, 2009 – Another innovation first from Rogers was announced today with the launch of mobile Internet ready netbooks.  Canada’s fastest network is now the mobile Internet service provider for the first 3.5G embedded laptops in Canada – exclusively from HP.

The HP Mini 110 netbooks now available include embedded mobile broadband technology to connect to the Web over Rogers 3.5G wireless network across Canada – three times faster than any other – offering customers the freedom to choose when and where they enjoy a true broadband Internet experience. With download speeds up to 7.2 Mbps, Rogers mobile Internet ready netbooks deliver the ultimate convenience and productivity for work or play online with just a few clicks – no need to search for WiFi or wired access.

“Just as voice communications have long expanded beyond finding a pay phone or waiting until you get home to make a call, as the Internet evolves from a source of information to an enabler of communication, mobile Internet ready netbooks are the perfect companion to our richly connected lives,” says Mansell Nelson, Vice President of Business Product Management, Rogers Wireless. “Rogers is proud to lead this innovative new product category and now offer our customers an even wider selection of wireless products to meet their mobile needs.”

The HP Mini 110 is available for $299.99, exclusively at Future Shop and Best Buy stores across Canada with a two year plan. Wireless data plans for Rogers mobile Internet ready netbooks start at just $25.00, plus $6.95 system access fee and other fees a month for 500 MB.

HP Mini 110 Series PC

• Featuring a 10.1-inch display and a keyboard that is 92 per cent the size of a standard notebook PC, the HP Mini 110 starts at 2.57 pounds and measures just over one-inch thick.Powered by an Intel Atom Processor, the HP Mini 110 supports up to 1 GB of memory and comes equipped with a 160 GB hard drive.

“Whether it’s for business or personal use, Canadians want a fast connection to the Internet whenever and wherever they happen to be,” says Jeff Cates, Vice President of Consumer Marketing at HP Canada. “Through this first-of-its-kind offering in Canada, HP wants to continue to deliver the technology our customers need to meet the needs of their increasingly mobile lifestyles.”

The Rogers 3.5G HSPA network is now available in more than 25 of Canada’s top markets from Victoria to Halifax, reaching more than 75 per cent of the population. For more information on current coverage areas, please visit www.rogers.com/coverage.

OQO UMPC owners, it’s official: You now own a collector’s item. After running into OQO SVP of sales and marketing Bob Rosin, GottaBeMobile is reporting that the company can no longer afford to support its products in any capacity, let alone build new units. From Rosin:

We are sad to report that due to financial constraints, OQO is not able to offer repair and service support at this time. We are deeply sorry that despite our best intentions, we are unable to provide continued support for our faithful customers. Please accept our sincerest apologies.

Rosin went on to say that OQO is currently working on a deal with a parts vendor that might keep its team and — perhaps more importantly for OQO fans — its technology alive to some extent. For the time being however, the only certainties are that OQO is done building and supporting UMPCs, and its stock is depleted so it’s done selling them as well.

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More bad news for OQO fans we’re afraid, as a recent conversation with Senior Vice President Bob Rosin basically confirms worries that had been circulating regarding the longevity of the UMPC maker. Long story short, the company is in dire need of a knight in shining dollars. Regarding a recent rumor that suggests OQO is canceling pre-orders from vendors, Rosin had this to say:

While we haven’t canceled the orders, it is unlikely that we will be able to produce additional model 2+ units, so it did not seem worth trying to police that story, as it is accurate in a long-term sense.

Ouch. You can’t bring home the bacon if you can’t keep building a product, but OQO’s woes are hardly all off in the distance. In fact, the company seemingly can’t even afford to support its products right now. Rosin confessed that support services were currently unavailable, leaving current OQO owners to fend for themselves, but stated “there will be a solution to that available soon.” The shame of it all is that OQO’s evolutionary model 2+ was shaping up to be quite an exciting UMPC, albeit pricey. If the company can’t find a way to turn things around soon, it looks like very few people will ever get the opportunity to find out just how exciting it really is. We’ve also independently confirmed the above with OQO, but what we’re still not clear about is if any or how many OQO 02+ models have been already manufactured.

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By now it is painfully obvious that AT&T and Apple will announce at least one new iPhone model this coming June; heck, even analysts jumped on board with bloggers a few months ago in stating that a new iPhone model this Summer is imminent. Back in March, we ran through some exciting details laid out by an AT&T exec and among them was the note that Apple’s new handset would support faster HSDPA to the tune of 7.2 Mbps. Well here we are in April and Scott McElroy, VP of Technology at AT&T Mobility, has confirmed the company is currently working on software upgrades that will boost 3G downlink speeds to… You guessed it… 7.2 Mbps. Despite the fact that we’re lucky if we can get 400 Kbps in the New York area right now, AT&T’s current 3G network supports speeds up to 3.6 Mbps so the upgrades being performed will double that speed. We have to admit, we’re a little scared to think of what network performance is going to be like when the new iPhone drops and increasing download speeds isn’t going to help resolve current issues. It looks like we may be in for a bumpy ride leading up to AT&T’s migration to HSPA+ in late 2009/early 2010, and the subsequent launch of AT&T’s LTE network.

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News from OQO has been a bit scarce since the company unveiled its model 2+ at CES earlier this year. In the UMPC market, however niche it may be at this point, the model 2+ was essentially positioned to be a game changer — the specs speak for themselves: 5-inch WVGA OLED touchscreen display, Intel Atom processor (up to 1.86 GHz), 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, global HSDA and EV-DO along with up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM and a 60GB, 120GB hard drive or a 60GB SSD. So what’s the problem? We’re in the midst of a recession and the model 2+ — a luxury device that certainly wouldn’t be a necessity for anyone really — starts off at $999 and tops out around $3,100. Apparently, even those who indulge in the UMPC market are hesitant and interest is dwindling quickly. This, from an OQOTALK forum moderator:

I have been told by a few people in the know and also just from watching whats going on with OQO from reports on this forum. OQO is attempting to sell the company. It lacks the funds to keep going, cash is tight and work hours have been reduced. One has to wonder if it can still meet warranty claims as it starts to buy stock to build the 2+. I’m sorry to say this, but the 2+ might be the last OQO we see made. I don’t even think we will see it.

To compound matters, major retailer Expansys has apparently made the decision to remove OQO products from its site and is currently canceling pre-orders. Not good. We’re big OQO fans here at BGR so we hope the company finds a way to pull through but we’re also realists… The market for luxury items like this wasn’t that big to begin with and now that people wake up each morning wondering if they still have a job, the market is basically non-existent.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

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Who knew that dropping a “0″ and adding a “+” could have such an impact on a portable PC. Ok, ok – maybe there was a tiny bit more work that went into updating OQO’s latest handheld, but oh wow was it worth it. It wasn’t exactly a complete surprise thanks to prototype demos and a Digital Experience email, but OQO officially unwrapped its model 2+ this morning at CES and it really is a thing of beauty. Talk is cheap – let’s move right to the specs:

While select market testing has been going on for well over a year, today Canada’s Rogers Wireless officially announced that it has a 3.5G 7.2Mbps HSPA network up and running coast-to-coast. So far the only devices that Rogers sells that are capable of taking advantage of the new speeds are the HTC Touch Diamond and the LG Vu, but these figures will hopefully take a turn for the better in the next few quarters (there are also two data cards by Novatel that can reach speeds of up to 7.2Mpbs). The extra .5G is great to have, but since the upgrade process began there have been some serious problems that have popped up and that refuse to go away. Subscribers in many large markets have complained that since 3.5G went the network has become rather unreliable. Dropped calls have increased, 3G reception has been sketchy and has developed a habit of going down now and then, and a lot of calls are going straight to voicemail for absolutely no reason. There’s no doubt that congestion is playing a major role here, but we’d really have preferred it if Rogers had fortified its 3G network before throwing some serious dollars at a 3.5G upgrade.

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Mio, maker of popular consumer GPS products, is reportedly developing its own 3.5G Windows Mobile touchscreen handset. Going head to head with the Garmin Nuvifone, Mio’s offering is expected to come to market in Q1 2009, slightly ahead of the Nuvifone. Details on the presumably GPS-centric phone include a 3.5G chipset from Qualcomm, the proprietary “Spirit” touch user interface and a 3.2MP auto-focus camera. This is not Mio’s first attempt at a GPS PDA phone as it already has a few of Windows Mobile handsets like the recent A502 and 702. This latest phone however, may push Mio’s handset line forward as it will rock 3.5G connectivity instead of Mio’s previous EDGE-only offerings. Mio is also expected to launch a GPS-enabled MID (Mobile Internet device) by the end of Q1 2009. If it can meet its expectations and not encounter any unexpected delays a la Nuvifone, then Mio will will definitely be making some big early-09 moves that may help its market share while posing a serious problem for Garmin.

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Fujitsu’s U2010, the ultra-portable convertible tablet PC, can now add integrated 3.5G to its long list of features – having just made its debut by way of Fujitsu Singapore, Fujitsu Hong Kong and Fujitsu Philippines. According to the specs, the integrated 3.5G will support tri-band UMTS (HSDPA): 850, 1900, and 2100 MHz and Quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz. The UMPC itself boasts the following specs:

• Intel Centrino Atom processor Z530 (1.6GHz, 512 L2 Cache, 533Mhz)
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium or  Windows Vista® Business
• 5.6-inch SuperFine WXGA TFT10, 1280 x 800 pixels, Passive Touch Panel
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500
• 1GB DDR2 533MHz
• 60GB HDD/ 64GB SSD
• Bluetooth    v2.1 + EDR
• Atheros XSPAN 802.11n 3 with dual antenna
• 1.3 Mega Pixel camera
• 2-cell Li-Ion 2900mAh battery (Up to 3.5hrs on SSD)
• Approx 171mm (W) x 135mm (D) x 26.5 – 33.0mm (H)

No pricing or release dates for this Asian Pacific model but a similarly equipped US version, the U820, is expected in Q1 2009. Sweet!

[Via Pocketables]

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Not wanting to be extremely late to the show like they were with 3G devices for GSM networks (bringing up painful memories, anyone?), the folks over at RIM HQ recently decided to create a work team that’s been specifically entrusted with the task of creating an LTE BlackBerry. The intention of the RIM execs is to have an LTE BlackBerry ready at approximately the same time that LTE begins worldwide deployment, something that could come as early as late 2009 if Motorola has their way. Motorola’s seemingly overly zealous ambitions aside, 2011 is the year when LTE is generally expected to be available with the major carriers of the world. In case some of you are wondering what the hell LTE is, it’s also known as 4G network technology and is the heir to 3G and 3.5G networks. Think of it as an IP-based network in which voice and data connections are streamed together without distinction and are broadcasted through a ridiculously fast connection that has up to four-times the efficiency at delivering data-packets than the 3.5G networks of today. As with all of our scoops, we’ll be sure to keep monitoring this situation and keep you updated with the latest news.

Thanks SaxMan!