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Phone News: Note 2, Jelly Bean and 4G
2:30
As the window for summer holidays winds shut, let this week’s Phone News take you on a trip around the world. We start off in leafy Albion with good news for a British 4G network, then head to Germany to meet a Note-worthy film director, and finally fly to Finland for a record-breaker in the field of flinging phones.
Here in our green and pleasant land Ofcom has given the green light for Orange and T-Mobile to launch their next-generation 4G network before any of the other phone companies. The two networks, now united under parent company Everything Everywhere, have been given the go-ahead by the telecoms watchdog to use a part of their spectrum for next-generation LTE data transmission.
It’ll take Everything Everywhere a while to get a 4G network up and running, but Orange and T-Mobile will still have a massive headstart over other networks, which have to wait until Ofcom auctions off the spectrum earmarked for 4G early next year — much to the other networks’ consternation.
Next, we dart across the channel to Germany — Berlin to be precise. That’s where the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 will be unveiled next week, at annual technology trade show IFA. Samsung has recruited legendary German arthouse auteur Wim Wenders to give us a hint of what’s to come with the Note 2, which mainly involves wandering about and gazing at the sky. Er, it’s art?
Speaking of art, we’ve updated our in-depth review of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, to find out if Jelly Bean tastes as sweet as the name suggests. Check out the new review to find out if features such as slicker graphics and mind-reading Google Now make the Nexus even neater.
And finally, we nip up north to meet some phone-flinging Finns. In an athletic feat rivalling the likes of Phelps, Wiggins and Bolt, one Ere Karjalainen has smashed a new world record by throwing his phone a whopping 333 feet. Which just goes to show: telecommunications are what you need if you want to be a record breaker.
Have you ever been tempted to throw your phone? Should Orange and T-Mobile get a 4G headstart? And will the Note 2 be a tablet worth taking note of? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
