A few things have happened of recent to make me think that the release date of the next iPad will actually be early March, with some saying the 4th.

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• We already predicted it!
• Certain stores are now selling discounted iPad 2’s
• Other retailers such as Carphone Warehouse and Orange are stating that they are running out of iPad 2’s
• Reliable sources at iMore say the same…so it has to be true….;)

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So with all this in mind what is all this we hear about 4G on the iPad 3?

Will the iPad have 4G capabilities?

With some 38 or so frequencies that 4G will run on internationally, it is not as easy as manufacturers would like to simply offer 4G connectivity globally, yes it can be done but it currently comes at a price, so with this in mind and the alternative being a domestic 4G device that only works within your own territory what is the likelihood of the next iPad having international LTE 4G capabilities?

Well it seems that the iPad will certainly be 4G enabled in the US as the WSJ has confirmed suspicions that AT&T and Verizon will be host to the new 4G enabled iPad 3. Wether this extends to being global 4G connectivity is doubtful but perhaps an option will emerge at a price.

Unfortunately and rather annoyingly for the UK, the delays that have presented themselves in the roll out of 4G will mean that this new technology will not be available on mass for a few years, so we will probably be on the iPad 4 or 5 by the time this becomes truly relevant in the UK.

New apps means new screen?

It is likely that the much touted retina display will finally get a showing and new Apps being developed will make the most out of the 2048 x 1536 display, processor wise things are a little unclear with reports of an A6 quad core and an improved dual core ARM Cortex A9, which, if any, make the grade I am unsure of.

With a very late review of the iPad 2 coming soon, it is nice to look at news of the new iPad 3 and speculate on what areas it will improve on its older brother.

The iPad 3 is due for release in March, and Bloomberg seem to think that the new device will have a sharper screen courtesy of a High Def display and also feature LTE access which we expected anyway.

A speed increase will be delivered via a quad core chip, and while suppliers are not named in the article, it has been rumored that the ramp up in production will mean February is a key time period in the pre-iPad 3 calendar as full steam will be well and truly ahead on the production lines.

With Apple now selling more than 40 million iPads globally, the tablet has brought revenues of some $25.3 billion into Apples coffers.

LTE key to future of mobile devices:

With space running out on conventional network bandwidth, and a boom in smartphone and tablet use putting ever increasing pressures on data transfer via the traditional internet networks, LTE will bring two important new areas to mobile devices:

Speed and increased efficiency of data transfer.

Both will work together in helping the globe go more mobile, and stop further clogging up of the networks as more of the populations of the US, Europe, Asia and the world go mobile crazy and demand more bandwidth while out and about.

With China having their Lunar New Year holiday in February, and Foxconn being the main assemblers of the iPad 3, it is thought that the device will start being delivered to customers in March at the earliest.

With news on an Apple event to be held next week related to education, we are not expecting to hear the above information from the horses mouth any time soon.

So does this kind of news excite you about the new iPad or are they simply beefing up an already capable tablet PC, and if so, what do you think they should be looking at including in order to cement their status as the manufacturer of the best Tablet PC on the market?…Arguably.

The UK’s shadow minster for media Helen Goodman has been sharply critical of the UK governments handling of the UK 4G auction that is expected at the end of this year.

UK taxpayers losing out:

The Labour Councilor claims that UK taxpayers are losing out the longer the auction drags on, According to Goodman, money raised form the auction should be bringing in some £2 billion and £4 billion in capital, and with license fees expected to bring in some £300 million per year, the UK is seemingly short changed the longer this process drags on.

There is also a knock effect to the UK economy with improved communication and speeds meaning increased productivity and associated revenues.

In a statement related to the issue, the minister said,

“The auction could have taken place in 2010 but this government decided not to give Ofcom the backup to go ahead with the sale of 4G,”

She then went on to state that with so many mobile and internet users in rural areas looking for improved communication options, the delay was not helping these people either get online with faster speeds or have an improved mobile device that will help to bring them more freedom with communication but also more revenue for the government.

Networks to blame:

It is thought that that the battle to gain the best possible license between the networks is at the heart of the delays coupled with the delayed responses from government, as a result it looks likely that one of the biggest countries in Europe will actually be the last country to gain a 4G spectrum option.

Kettle black?:

This statement could be construed as sounding pretty rich, coming from an ex government who got some £23 billion from the sale of the 3G spectrum and to which the UK taxpayer now seems to be pretty seriously in the red despite….who cares about a few hundred million now…!?

With the demand for mobile data expected to increase by 500% over the next five years in Western Europe, 4G is seen as the next step in offering speed and efficiency in delivering the kind of services we all expect for our mobile devices.

With the UK going pretty much fully digital by the end of this year, spectrum in the currently used 800MHz range is now becoming free, and along with a 2.6GHz band, will be auctioned off in Q4 of this year to networks to help facilitate 4G mobile services.

Ofcom amend original ideas about 4G:

Ofcom have amended their 4G spectrum coverage quota to include coverage to at least 98% of the UK population.

Could this finally mean that the UK eventually gets a 4G network that the globe can admire, while the UK currently languishes behind with pilot projects and can only look at areas such as the US and Asia with anticipation, Ofcom aim to bring 4G mobile to the masses some time soon.

Speaking about the decision an Ofcom spokesperson states:

“We are proposing a significant enhancement of mobile broadband, extending 4G coverage beyond levels of existing 2G coverage – helping to serve many areas of the UK that have traditionally been undeserved by network coverage.”

So how will Ofcom do this?

Ofcom want to be seen to promote two things;

Competition in the marketplace, and coverage for UK citizens who want access to high speed mobile internet.

Instead of forcing network operators to deliver the originally proposed 95% coverage to the UK population, which was the original guidelines for at least one of the networks who gained access to the 800MHz frequencies.

Idea number 1:

Ofcom will now possibly extend that requirement to a larger 98% UK coverage stipulation, this aims to make networks continue to build infrastructure in less economically viable areas which will benefit those who are living in such regions.

The extra coverage requirement comes on the back of a donation made by the UK government of £150 million to build extra infrastructure in these “hard to reach” or “economically less viable” areas, so Ofcom are hoping to make the networks add to this original percentage rather than take from this seemingly helpful situation.

Idea number 2:

This idea could be used in conjunction with the above proposals and would mean that one of the 800Mhz operators would have to provide 4G coverage that at least matched 2G coverage but also extended into the less viable areas.

Ofcom want current competitiveness to stay the same:

“The UK benefits from being one of the most competitive mobile phone markets in Europe. This means that consumers pay less for mobile communications services and have the choice to shop around for packages that suit them best. As the UK enters a new generation of mobile communications, Ofcom’s objective is to promote effective competition and to stimulate both investment and innovation.”

Ofcom believe that the UK need at least four network wholesalers of mobile services need to be in the UK marketplace to ensure that the price stays competitive in the marketplace.

Everything everywhere unhappy:

In the new proposals, Ofcom have also halted plans to reserve some of the sub 1GHz spectrum for Everything Everywhere, one of the three big wholesalers of mobile services in the UK.

Everything everywhere has said that they are unhappy that Ofcom have failed to realise the importance of the sub 1GHz spectrum which they say could be used to

“The importance of sub 1GHz spectrum, which delivers service and cost benefits, has been recognised by other regulators across Europe and supported by economic analysis. All of the regulators bar Ofcom have made vigorous efforts to support healthy and sustainable competition by ensuring that the imbalance of sub 1GHz holdings is redressed.”

Ofcom also stated that the are looking into reserving some of the spectrum from a fourth national wholesaler other than, Telefonica, Everything Everywhere, Vodafone.

A Three spokesperson said:

“Today’s proposals appear to be a pragmatic step towards bolstering the prospects of a competitive market for mobile data which would benefit all UK consumers.”

A Vodafone spokesperson said:

“We welcome Ofcom’s revised proposals, which bring the UK closer to a fair and open auction that will benefit the wider economy, increase competition and ultimately lead to the creation of innovative and exciting new services for consumers.”

An O2 spokesman said:

“It is good to see Ofcom’s latest publication, which details modifications in its terms for the forthcoming spectrum auction. This comes as a result of the first consultation process, which we took the opportunity to contribute to.”

4G will mean money for the Government:

The UK government is expected to make around £3-4 billion from the new eventual auction of the spectrum available late this year or early next year.

Ofcom is also no longer looking at reserving some of the 800Ghz spectrum to a 4th bidder in the most valuable of spectrum spaces on offer.

What would you think if you received a Xmas card with a picture of a Nokia Lumia 800 or 900 on it for Xmas?

Well, if you are in the UK and suspect it to be a Lumia 800 from your local phone shop then you know that they are just being friendly and keeping in touch with you after you have perhaps bought one of the new Nokia Windows phones, or perhaps are due an upgrade, in which case, have you seen the new Nokia Windows 800’s?

Either way, make no mistake, the shop does not care about your Xmas but would like to sell you a new device.

But what if you received this as a savvy US consumer and noticed that it had AT&T on it and a front screen camera!

If so, this could be more intriguing, is this a new device that is yet to emerge called the Nokia Ace?

Nokia Ace due at CES?

Americans usually need a name for their devices, and not a number, presumably on the advice of device manufacturers marketing departments.

So with a pinch of salt we wonder if this was a slip up by an over zealous Microsoft employee, or just a photo-shopped image that snaps together a few layers to create a perfectly good Nokia Ace rumour image.

Some noticeable features anyway:

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• AT&T Logo
• 4G Icon
• Front facing camera

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AT&T are on schedule to release three LTE enabled phones this year one of which will be the Nokia Ace, but exactly what the Nokia Ace will be is another story best left to rumor right now, it could even be Tango and not Mango that is used as its operating system.

The other two LTE enabled phones due for release will be the Samsung Mandel and HTC Radiant.

What do you think to this picture? A hoax? Or, nicely timed rumor picture that will get people talking?

Your comments as always greatly appreciated.

We have already done a comprehensive review of the Samsung Galaxy note and found that the half tab, half smartphone was a big boy indeed, and perhaps not one for certain ladies, but we liked it by and large…pun of course intended.

So it is intriguing to see that despite a no-show in the US currently, the Galaxy Note smartphone, that masquerades as a tablet when it needs to, has actually shipped a whopping 1 million units globally, which seems pretty incredible considering the amount of competition it faces in the overall smartphone market.

Samsung Galaxy Note at CES?

It is thought that the Consumer Electronics Show in January could be the perfect US showcase for the mobile device to start wooing US buyers, and for the device to then start appearing on AT&T shortly after, with an expected support for LTE to be offered.

With a 5.3 inch screen and 1280 x 800 pixel resolution display, we think it will appeal to quite a few Americans who still swear that big is most definitely best!

What do you think of the device? Are you looking forward to the new release of the Samsung Galaxy Note in the US?

Here is a half decent Samsung promo video for the Galaxy Note, when compared to the hilarious videos they released for the Samsung S2 which have now been pulled:

Please let us know your thoughts on the Galaxy Note in the comments, are you a Note owner already who likes or loathes the device? Tell all.

Nikkei Business seems to have news on Apple’s future product lines.

In a recent article the newspaper has reported that the iPad 3 release will not be hitting shelves as soon as many would have liked, and unlike past versions of the iPad, a spring released is likely to be altered to a summer release for the new iPad 3.

iPhone 5 release:

And if the rumours source is to be believed then Apple’s iPhone 5 is going to be released, like its predecessor the iPhone 4S, in the fall.

Both will support LTE:

In important news for lovers of future proofing, both new devices are rumoured to be shipping with support for the new wave of wireless connectivity LTE.

This technology, in theory, should offer improved speeds and durability in terms of signal loss, and also provide end users with a faster and extremely mobile range of Apple devices.

This is once carriers are through arguing about 4G (LTE) in the UK and an overall roll out becomes more widespread globally.

With trials of 4G in the UK currently being trialled by o2.

Verizon and some other carriers in the US and globally already offer 4G, but it is not currently widespread by any means.

Apple to take the hit for redundant technology:

Now if the devices were to be shipped with full support for LTE, would Apple be happy to include this as standard when there is no clear roll out planned for much of the US, the UK and wide areas of Europe and Asia.

Would Apple really be happy sourcing the technology and including this as standard at a potential loss in profits, or would an optional LTE version be available for a price, meaning they could omit the new modem from the new range when not wanted, saving cash?

This much we can not tell. But it looks very likely that LTE will be a considered option which is good news for the new iOS range of devices and consumers.

LTE technology issues:

With various regions of the globe looking to deliver LTE on different frequency spectrum’s, Apple could have a tough time right now in making sure that their products work globally on every network when such variations occur.

Qualcomm LTE modem:

Though there could be a solution in the new Qualcomm LTE modem which is rumoured to be able to support every standard going and should therefore be a perfect modem choice for the new range of iOS and tablet devices.

The nine month long trial is starting this week and will run up until the summer of 2012 when the Olympics will be in town. The areas covered will be the most densely populated parts of the capital and will include: Canary Wharf, Soho, Westminster, South Bank and Kings Cross. This will take in 25 base stations and will put O2 firmly on the map as pioneers for the UK in terms of a 4G LTE network.

O2 UK chief Ronan Dunne said in a statement.

“Today’s launch of the UK’s first 4G London trial network demonstrates our commitment to delivering 4G to our customers at the earliest opportunity, the work we are doing now will lay the foundations for our commercial 4G network when it launches in the UK.”

But is this really 4G or a “just passed version”?

LTE was not considered part of the 4G criteria until December last year when the ITU said that LTE and WiMax and “other evolved 3G technologies providing a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third-generation systems now deployed”.

Basically they were saying that until 4G proper comes along you can now market this technology as 4G, even though it is more closely related to improved 3G.

LTE 4G a bit of a con?

Unlike LTE advanced which will offer around 100mbps and should be able to work “in motion” the o2 trial of LTE in London starting this week will only offer half those speeds and will still struggle “in motion”….this basically means that using the connection while walking or travelling in your car will be problematic in the main.

Those who are involved in the trail will be using mobile dongles from Samsung: model: B3730 which are supposed to support speeds up to a huge 100 Mbps. Portable hotspots and headsets will also be trialled, they will utilise the 2.6Ghz spectrum which is said to be capable of delivering speed of up to 150 Mbps.

Mobile Vidoecalls and HDTV to the masses?

With the pressure on data rates being pushed all the time, there are current limitations that occur for the average user when they are out and about. One of the main power hungry platforms is video. The move to improve the amount of data that can be transferred on a mobile connection will be welcome news to TV lovers and networks.

4 year delay caused by disagreements between networks including o2:

4G was suppose to be available in the UK in 2008, yes 4/5 years ago, and it still looks like the spectrum will not be put on the wholesale market for another year or more after these tests and other issues between mobile networks are resolved.

Who is involved in the trial?

The O2 trial will use technology from Nokia Siemens and also Cambridge Broadband Networks and NEC, with other smaller “trials” already taking place in the UK in Cornwall and Slough earlier this year it is not until the London trials really bring in some hard data that companies can finally see how the technology has worked on a mass scale in a dense urban environment where its ability to pass through buildings due to the particularly high bandwidth offered at this frequency will be of serious interest to businesses and consumers.

The trial will bring in the John Lewis department store, members of the institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) and people visiting the o2 arena in London’s Docklands.

UK behind on 4G and costs business nearly £1 Billion a year

With the UK languishing behind the US, Australia and Germany with the 4g roll out, an Open Digital study has claimed that UK businesses are losing out on more than £730 million a year in productivity due to the slow introduction of 4G to the UK.