new phone

Synyster Shadow

Need new phone mines all broke up have a Sony Ericsson arc s at the moment. Was lookin at the new iphone 5 but not heard how people are finding them the other thing is I'm into android phone's so not sure I should switch from them to an iphone

Any thoughts or suggestions

Shzm

Go for it. Got the iPhone 5 for xmas after owning 2 Android phones previous.. love it, and wouldn't go back to an Android phone.

Synyster Shadow

Shzm wrote: »

Go for it. Got the iPhone 5 for xmas after owning 2 Android phones previous.. love it, and wouldn't go back to an Android phone.

And how do you find the market? Are there free apps or do ya gotta pay for them all? Would love to use one for a day

guil

It's called the App Store for iOS but there is lot of free apps as well as paid

Shzm

Much better. Apps are vetted before they make it on to the market, so it generally weeds out most of the crap. You also run in to far less compatibility issues. There's loads of free apps out there, so no need to worry about that. If you download itunes to your pc and create an apple ID, I'm fairly sure you can have a browse of the market without needing a phone.

Synyster Shadow

Well that's starting to make them sound a lot better. A lot of people say there bad purely because they heard somethin from someone but they never had one themselves. Am really wanting to try somethin new. Think this is the way to go

Solair

One thing to be ware of though.

Ireland's LTE (4G) networks will start launch starting sometime in January and it's not clear whether the iPhone 5's current model will support them very well.

The current iPhone 5 is available in 2 versions, one has LTE fine-tuned for the US market and the other for South Korea.

So far, Apple haven't released a version that's focused on European networks which could mean you end up with a phone that either just never supports Irish 4G or, will support it in a very limited way.

Personally, I'd wait a few months as I think Apple are going to have to release a revised iPhone 5 for European LTE frequencies as more networks go live in Europe.

Vodafone, O2, Meteor and 3 all bid for and signed up for LTE/4G spectrum back in November and so far most of them are expecting to launch it fairly soon.

Gumbo

Solair wrote: »

One thing to be ware of though.

Ireland's LTE (4G) networks will start launch starting sometime in January and it's not clear whether the iPhone 5's current model will support them very well.

The current iPhone 5 is available in 2 versions, one has LTE fine-tuned for the US market and the other for South Korea.

So far, Apple haven't released a version that's focused on European networks which could mean you end up with a phone that either just never supports Irish 4G or, will support it in a very limited way.

Personally, I'd wait a few months as I think Apple are going to have to release a revised iPhone 5 for European LTE frequencies as more networks go live in Europe.

Vodafone, O2, Meteor and 3 all bid for and signed up for LTE/4G spectrum back in November and so far most of them are expecting to launch it fairly soon.

That's the first time I heard of 4G being launched in 2012 in Ireland mare you sure about that?

Another bad note about 4G in Ireland is that we are not set up for it tariff wise generally. I mean people sometimes only have 250mb packages etc and that will be ate through in a minute or 2!

Synyster Shadow

Solair wrote: »

One thing to be ware of though.

Ireland's LTE (4G) networks will start launch starting sometime in January and it's not clear whether the iPhone 5's current model will support them very well.

The current iPhone 5 is available in 2 versions, one has LTE fine-tuned for the US market and the other for South Korea.

So far, Apple haven't released a version that's focused on European networks which could mean you end up with a phone that either just never supports Irish 4G or, will support it in a very limited way.

Personally, I'd wait a few months as I think Apple are going to have to release a revised iPhone 5 for European LTE frequencies as more networks go live in Europe.

Vodafone, O2, Meteor and 3 all bid for and signed up for LTE/4G spectrum back in November and so far most of them are expecting to launch it fairly soon.

Yep that's somethin I'm gonna have to think bout. We have the new 3 router and it's great and set up for the 4g they were sayin from Feb this year there starting to put it in certain cities then expand throughout in the next year but never thought bout the iphone been a problem just never entered my head cause my Sony will work fine

Solair

It's a really big problem as none of the frequencies that have been licensed for 4G here are the same as the USA.

That's not ComReg's fault, rather Apple have just not released a European-friendly version of the iPhone 5.

I think Apple will have to do a re-release that supports if fully. It's just a very minor tweak of the radio chipset. There's already a version for the South Korean market that's different from the US in terms of LTE frequencies.

Ireland's following European standards (logically enough) for all this stuff. So, it's really up to Apple to recognise this is one of the world's largest markets i.e. EU & all of the markets that also use EU/ETSI standards is absolutely HUGE i.e. most of the world almost.

Dades

I wouldn't be holding my breath for 4G anytime soon, tbh.

Synyster Shadow

Solair wrote: »

It's a really big problem as none of the frequencies that have been licensed for 4G here are the same as the USA.

That's not ComReg's fault, rather Apple have just not released a European-friendly version of the iPhone 5.

I think Apple will have to do a re-release that supports if fully. It's just a very minor tweak of the radio chipset. There's already a version for the South Korean market that's different from the US in terms of LTE frequencies.

Ireland's following European standards (logically enough) for all this stuff. So, it's really up to Apple to recognise this is one of the world's largest markets i.e. EU & all of the markets that also use EU/ETSI standards is absolutely HUGE i.e. most of the world almost.

Where will that leave people who already bought the iphone 5??

What's there solution?

Solair

Synyster Shadow wrote: »

Where will that leave people who already bought the iphone 5??

What's there solution?

I'm not sure, it might be firmware upgradable, or might not.

They claim they never said the iPhone 5 supported 4G in all markets...

You might want to check the specs:

GSM model A1428*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE** (Bands 4 and 17)
CDMA model A1429*: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900, 2100 MHz); UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE** (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25)
GSM model A1429*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE** (Bands 1, 3, 5)
802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology

Seems there are more bands now there then there once was.

Band 3 will be supported here (1800MHz)

Irish operators also have 800Mhz & 900MHz LTE ...

Looks like Band 20, Band 8 and either Band 2 or 3 (not entirely sure).

Table of bands:
http://niviuk.free.fr/lte_fdd_spectrum.php

Irish Allocations :
Frequencies here :http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/30238-comreg-reveals-4g-auction-r/

Neither model looks ideal for this market.

Synyster Shadow

Solair wrote: »

I'm not sure, it might be firmware upgradable, or might not.

They claim they never said the iPhone 5 supported 4G in all markets...

There always covered anyway. Somethin to think bout. But not too much longer till I need a phone this ones goosed just a matter of time now.

Pitty the iphone looks really neat and compact compared to the Sony arc s

Gumbo

But I think we will see iPhone 6 or 7 before 4G becomes available properly here IMHO.

Solair

kceire wrote: »

But I think we will see iPhone 6 or 7 before 4G becomes available properly here IMHO.

Don't think so.
It'll roll out quite fast as a lot of it can be done on the same infrastructure that handles HSPA+ Minor bit of tweaking needed. In some cases, the gear only needs a software update on the latest HSPA transmission equipment !

So, you might see coverage VERY rapidly appearing.

Synyster Shadow

Solair wrote: »

Don't think so.
It'll roll out quite fast as a lot of it can be done on the same infrastructure that handles HSPA+ Minor bit of tweaking needed. In some cases, the gear only needs a software update on the latest HSPA transmission equipment !

So, you might see coverage VERY rapidly appearing.

I hope so I bought the router a week before Christmas on that basis. My area is really bad for broadband on any network this was my lifeline already the router is better and the wifi modem I had but I want it to be a bit more constant

Gumbo

Solair wrote: »

Don't think so.
It'll roll out quite fast as a lot of it can be done on the same infrastructure that handles HSPA+ Minor bit of tweaking needed. In some cases, the gear only needs a software update on the latest HSPA transmission equipment !

So, you might see coverage VERY rapidly appearing.

I hope your right but I have 2 mates that are network engineers, one with meteor and one with Vodafone. Both of them say 4G is not appearing anytime soon. Unless of course they are sworn to secrecy

Synyster Shadow

kceire wrote: »

I hope your right but I have 2 mates that are network engineers, one with meteor and one with Vodafone. Both of them say 4G is not appearing anytime soon. Unless of course they are sworn to secrecy

Lets just believe it's the secrecy policy!! I'll feel better that way

Solair

You don't spend tens of millions on licences then sit on them.

Vodafone is already pre-announcing 4G on their website. Google Vodafone Ireland 4G.

It's not very informative, but they're definitely starting the marketing.

Once one of the 4 networks puts something on air the others will have to jump
It's a fairly viciously competitive market!