Google Inc. and T-Mobile USA today unveiled the highly anticipated smart-phone G1, the first in the industry to be based on Android, Google's operating system for mobile phones. Currently available for T-Mobile customers only, the T-Mobile G1 combines full touch-screen functionality and a QWERTY keyboard with a mobile Web experience that includes popular Google services such as Google Maps Street View, Gmail, YouTube and others. The T-Mobile G1 is also the first phone to provide access to Android Market, where customers can find and download unique applications to expand and personalize their phone to fit their lifestyle.
A team of Scientists in Pisa, Italy are reported to have set a new world record in wireless data transmission speed. Italian researchers from Sant'Anna University along with the Japanese Waseda University and the National Institute of Information and communication technology in Tokyo, for the "first time in the history of telecommunications" achieved throughput speeds of above 1.2 Terabits per second. Previous record, set in Korea, had been160 Gigabits per second.
The WiMAX Forum has released an Interactive Deployment Database, providing a resource of more than 300 WiMAX deployments across the world. Available for public use, this tool includes detailed information on each of the operators, stage and type of deployment, as well as spectrum utilized. The database is planned to be updated quarterly with the latest information.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a ban on some wireless microphones and other low-powered devices that operate in the 700-MHz band after the digital TV transition in February, next year. This is part of an attempt to clear any potential interference with the "white spaces" spectrum which will be fully available for "public safety as well as commercial wireless services".