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  • Machine Gun Etiquette

    • 8 out of 10
    • The Damned
    • Punk rock is mostly associated with three chords and a bad attitude, but the Damned were one of the few bands of the era bent on bringing musicianship and a good sense of humor to the scene. And while
  • Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

    • 8 out of 10
    • Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
    • When I first got hooked to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the only place I could get their debut album, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, was through the band's Web site. I listened to the two tracks a

  • An Evening with George Shearing & Mel Torm�

    • 10 out of 10
    • Mel Torm� & George Shearing
    • Of the three men who taught me how to sing, the last was Mel Torme. Apparently, Mel Torme is a joke to anyone more than a decade older than me, a living parody of a Vegas crooner. But I stumbled on th
  • Pressure Chief

    • 6 out of 10
    • Cake
    • Pressure Chief, Cake's latest album, didn't immediately grab me. In fact, it took perhaps half a dozen listens before I started truly enjoying it. Any

  • So Jealous

    • 8 out of 10
    • Tegan and Sara
    • So Jealous is the third album from these sisters, and easily the one to single out for an introduction to their music. Some people may not get on board with their vocal styles, which are slightly

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New Mobile Phone Technology Leapfrogging iPhone

Mobile phone technology is moving fast. So fast that decisions Apple made six months ago may impact the success of the iPhone three months from now, according to The Economist on Friday.

A few months ago, we were fawning and drooling over Apple’s iPhone. But the phone that’s catching people’s attention now is the "Ocean" from Helio, another newbie in the business.


Apple iPhone

"In many ways Helio has out-Appled Apple. The start-up�launched less than a year ago as a joint venture between SK Telecom of South Korea and Earthlink, an American internet-service provider�caters to young trendsetters who appreciate ease of use and cutting-edge design," The Economist said.

At the recent CTIA show in Orlando, the Ocean won praise for is ingenious design and functional integration. What’s more, with a separate processor to display media, the Ocean claims 15 hours of playing time.

But that’s the least concern for Apple. What’s changing is the wireless technology that the Helio phone utilizes, called Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO). This technology, according to the article, "renders Apple�s iPhone an also-ran. Mobile experts have been mystified by Apple�s decision to use Cingular�s EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) network when far better wireless communications methods abound."

EDGE is capable of about 75 to 135 Kbps while EV-DO networks used in Japan as well as Verizon and Sprint in the U.S. offer about 450 to 800 kbps. The lower speed of EDGE means that iPhone users will have to depend on Wi-Fi for anything but a phone call or e-mail. Qualcomm has been testing on EV-DO enhancements that could bring 3 Mbps down the road.

All this, however, pales in comparison to WiMAX (802.16) which is a 4G technology capable of about 100 Mbps. Intel, Sprint, and the European Union are throwing their weight behind WiMAX, and the momentum is building for this new and very inexpensive technology compared to other systems.

That has left the author wondering: "Why Apple should have hitched its wagon to so fading a star shows how quickly even the most talented of companies can be blinded by today�s blistering pace of wireless innovation."

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