UK mobile broadband falls short

The boom in UK mobile broadband sales during recent years is over as consumers now realise the technology falls short of the hype and providers like O2 have had to reduce their promises, reports eWeek Europe.

UK mobile broadband price comparison site, Broadband Expert, claims there has been a 57% drop in the number of people signing up for mobile broadband in the past 12 months. In addition, sales have crashed by over 50% year-on-year.

Rob Bamforth, principal communication, collaboration and convergence analyst at IT researcher, Quocirca says: “There are stresses in the radio element, the base stations, the backhaul and the core, especially the IP internet protocol part where, operators have more experience with the demands of voice circuits than packets of potentially really rich media data traffic.”

Next month, Verizon will unleash the Motorola Droid X smartphone, which will run Google's Android software, states TMCnet.

Like the HTC Evo 4G, the Droid X touch-screen interface measures 4.3 inches diagonally and has an eight-megapixel camera with dual flash, can record high-definition videos and can connect to a TV.

"Nine months ago, we made a commitment to our customers to bring the openness of Android to the Verizon Wireless network," says John Stratton, executive VP and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. "Droid X takes that commitment to another level with exclusive content, faster processing speeds, and, the reliability of our network."

Dell is talking with Google about the possibility of using the search giant's Chrome operating system on its laptop computers, says Tech News World.

Amit Midha, Dell's president for greater China and South Asia, confirmed talks between his company and Google were under way, but he declined to make any definite announcements.

Dell, meanwhile, has already been actively working with the Android operating system through devices such as its Aero smartphone and the Android-based Dell Streak, which is expected to debut next month.