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lilotimz

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Blog Entries posted by lilotimz

  1. lilotimz
    by Tim Yu
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Wednesday, July 8, 2015 - 08:51 AM MDT
     
    Mid summer has arrived in the northern hemisphere, and that means the harvest of fall flagship handsets is just getting underway. (The exception are Apples, which are planted and picked all in one afternoon in September.)
     
    The past two weeks brought our first crop. A new authorization for a Motorola device in the FCC OET (Office of Engineering and Technology) database arrived yesterday. Just about in time for Motorola's expected August/September launch of its flagship (read: Moto X) devices.
     
    Prior to that, S4GRU staff discovered a Motorola device filing last week with FCC ID IHDT56UC2, approved for LTE bands 2/4/5/7/12/17/25/29/41 in addition to the standard W-CDMA and GSM bands. Quick staff analysis of the filing lead to the conclusion that it was a either a fully unlocked version or a T-Mobile variant -- due to onboard VoWi-Fi and intra band band 4 carrier aggregation, both of which T-Mobile is pushing hard.
     
    But other tech media discovered and wrote articles on the handset filing -- with some speculating that it was for Sprint as well, due to the inclusion of LTE bands 25/41. Did they overlook that band 26 and any CDMA2000 capability were absent? We know very well that Sprint devices must have LTE bands 25/26/41 and CDMA2000 band classes 0/1/10 at the minimum.
     
    So, we waited with watchful eye for any new authorizations from Motorola, expecting a Sprint variant soon. Indeed, Motorola delivered FCC ID IHDT56UC1.
     
    Fully Sprint CCA/RRPP and VZW/AT&T/T-Mobile compatible
     
    This handset is fully certified for the Sprint network and those of its CCA/RRPP partners. It also completely covers VZW and T-Mobile network capabilities, mostly for AT&T, too, though lacking Ma Bell's emerging LTE bands 29/30.
     
    For a full rundown, it supports:
     
    LTE bands: 2 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 25 / 26 / 41
    CDMA Band Class: 0 / 1 / 10
    W-CDMA Band: 2 / 4 / 5
    GSM: 850 / 1900
     
    So, Sprint Spark? Got it. VZW XLTE? Got it. T-Mobile band 12? Got it. This handset does almost everything -- including carrier aggregation.
     
    Sprint Band 41 Carrier Aggregation Capable
     
    The device is a category 6 UE and supports all of the myriad FDD carrier aggregation combos present in the unlocked or T-Mobile variant detailed earlier. But this variant also includes Sprint's LTE Advanced implementation of TDD carrier aggregation on band 41 -- aka 2x CA band 41 or B41+B41. For reference, S4GRU confirmed activation of carrier aggregation and wrote about it a few weeks ago.
     
    Now, this is the seventh announced device to support Sprint's band 41 carrier aggregation, joining the ranks of the Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, HTC One M9, LG G Flex 2, and LG G4.
     
    Edit: There may be issues with MXPE's B41 carrier aggregation compatibility with the Sprint Network.
     
    To wrap things up, I am not conclusively declaring that this is the 2015 Moto X nor that it is definitively headed to Sprint postpaid -- we all know what happened with the Sprint variant 2014 Moto X. But the band 41 carrier aggregation support screams Sprint and the FCC authorization timing comes spot on for an August/September device launch, as historically has been the time when Motorola has launched its flagship devices.
     
    So, you be the judge...
     
    Source: FCC
  2. lilotimz
    by Tim Yu
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Monday, August 18, 2014 - 8:14 AM MDT
     
    [update] Sprint has announced the Sharp Aquos Crystal which confirms our findings and theories this certified device is indeed the Sharp Aquos Crystal.
     
    While rummaging through recent FCC OET (Office of Engineering and Technology) authorizations on a hot evening in late July, S4GRU staff noticed a curious new entry. It was a smartphone that supports the full spectrum of tri band LTE for Sprint Spark and, of course, CDMA2000 capabilities for native and roaming CDMA1X/EV-DO networks. However, tri band LTE has become commonplace among Sprint handsets over the past year. That was not the interesting part.
     
    Rather, what was most intriguing about this entry was the manufacturer: SHARP CORPORATION.
     
    Sharp, as a cell phone maker, is almost non existent in the North American market. Sharp doesn't even come across the public's mind when people think of an Android smartphone, but here it was -- confusing and exciting at the same time. S4GRU staff raised numerous questions and theories on what exact device it was until just a few hours ago when Sharp, along with SoftBank JPN, announced the Aquos Crystal smartphone in Japan. Additionally, tomorrow August 19th in New York, Sprint is holding a "Take the Edge Off" event, which S4GRU has been covering in The Forums since around the time of the FCC OET filing discovery late last month. How could both developments not be connected?
     
    The FCC authorization documents for this Sharp smartphone show a cross section diagram and diagonal of 14.5 cm that measure extremely close to that of the 5.0" display model, making it highly likely that this mystery Sharp smartphone is indeed the recently announced Aquos Crystal smartphone.
     

     
    The Japanese version is being released on August 29th. Below are its specs:
     
    Dimensions: 67 mm x 131 mm x 10 mm
    Weight: 140 g
    OS: Android 4.4.2
    SoC: MSM8926 1.2 GHz (Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad core)
    Display: 1280 x 720 (LCD)
    ROM: 8 GB, expandable to 128 GB (mSDXC)
    RAM: 1.5 GB
    NFC compatible
    SoftBank LTE FDD * AXGP (i.e. LTE TDD band 41)
     
    For the Sprint variant, the FCC OET docs make no mention of hardware (e.g. processor, display, memory), as that is not the RF purview of the FCC. But the hardware specs are likely to be the same as those of Japanese version, the primary differences being the band/band class support for Sprint. And below is a cursory look at the Sprint variant maximum ERP/EIRP figures:
    LTE FDD band 25 (LTE 1900): 25.82 dBm LTE FDD band 26 (LTE 800): 19.72 dBm LTE TDD band 41 (TD-LTE 2600): 25.43 dBm CDMA2000 band class 0 (CDMA1X/EV-DO 850): 18.62 dBm CDMA2000 band class 1 (CDMA1X/EV-DO 1900): 23.28 dBm CDMA2000 band class 10 (CDMA1X/EV-DO 800): 18.98 dBm It's nice to see Sharp coming back into the game in the North American market, and what better way to do so then by taking the edge off and using it to cut into the competition.
    Sources:
    FCC
    SoftBank JPN
    Pictures
    Sprint
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