“The tablet’s little brother, the iPhone, has already shown how an explosion in data usage can overload a network, in this case AT&T’s,” Sheth reports. “And the iPhone is hardly the kind of data guzzler the tablet is widely expected to be… ‘Clearly this is an issue that needs to be fixed,’ says Broadpoint Amtech analyst Brian Marshall. ‘It can grind the networks to a halt.'”
“Verizon, which touts its network as more dependable than AT&T’s, could prove better at handling data traffic. But ‘frankly, it hasn’t seen a device like the iPhone saturating its network,’ says Kaufman Brothers analyst Shaw Wu,” Sheth reports. “Apple is expected to unveil the yet-to-be-named tablet next Wednesday.”
Read more in the full article here.
If there is a tablet, it would be smart of Apple to make it WiFi 802.11n with the capability to allow Verizon, Sprint, AT&T;or whoever to sell a plug in (USB or other) tether for cellular 3G or 4G access.
Ideally, the iPhone would be able to function as the tether for a tablet so that an iPhone owner wouldn’t have to have separate data plans.
The tablet would be more often connecting to large data streams indoors, simply as a function of its size. It will most likely handle most of its large downloads indoors and likely near a wifi signal. While that won’t happen all the time, I think it will end up not saturating the networks quite as much as the always on, “let’s look up the site of that restaurant” iPhone.
My take.
I’m a PC, and I’m a loser.
Shaw Wu is sure pimping VZ. I wonder why? Does he or his company hold a position?
Could Verizon Wireless handle Apple’s tablet traffic?
Short Answer – No
Long Answer – No chance in hell. No one carrier can.
Verizon & Sprint + CDMA = Dead Technology. Limited to the US.
AT&T;and T-Mobile + 3G = Worldwide standard
Next up? 4G. Who’ll have it first?
No, I’m a PC . . . and Steve Ballmer was my idea.
again, shut the hell up with the speculation. Wait and see, then you’ll all find that all these analysts have wasted their lives trying to crack the apple code as to what is coming. Get a life and a real job.
Ah the speculations never end… Just wait until Apple announces the big anouncement. Its gettim to the pont that swatting flies aremore enjoyable han reading this specualtions anymore.
The only reason I want to see iP and iS on Verizon’s network is to watch them go down in flames when their crappy 3G wannabe network slows to a crawl
Prepare for inconveniences in the short term. For those of you old enough to remember the early days of television, your parents were constantly cursing lost signals, and in their frustration, and entire generation of boys were dispatched to the roof of their homes to adjust the TV antenna. Today, we barely think of that with TV.
Cellular networks of today were hardly designed for the flood of data that is about to be pulled through them. Even 3G is woefully obsolete. WiFi is nice for a home or short distances in an office, but it was never really designed for the era of portable devices such as the iPhone or, if rumors pan out, a tablet.
In the not too distant future, we will see entirely new networks take their place: 4G, 5G cell networks, LTE and WiMax might finally take root. Perhaps now you understand why Google kicked up so much dust with last year’s spectrum auctions, knowing what was to come. In the next 10 years, expect to see new networks arise, based on technologies we have not yet heard of, to handle the explosion of digital data.
Maybe now you understand why Apple is investing in a vast data center in the southeastern US. And that is only the beginning.
My forecast is for a few years of whining about dropped or slow signals as we make the transition to a world where portable computing devices far outnumber laptops or desktop Macs or PCs, and a world where high-speed connectivity is a given, not a dream.
The catalyst for all of this will be coming on January 27. It will be Steve Jobs who will kick the snowball that starts an avalanche. Even if we’re frustrated or disappointed at first, I won’t mind. Because I know that the future will be great.
Thanks, Steve!
Maybe I can tether my iPhone to my Tablet through my Mac to my Home Network, to my dog. And then I can drag them all around in my Hovercraft. Just speculating.
“Could Verizon Wireless handle Apple’s tablet traffic?”…
If they can’t boy could AT&T;have a field day with their television commercials!!! I know I would!
Map for that! We’ll see!
Obama should do like Ike and create the National Highway System by using defense funding…
Wasn’t the National Highway system created so the armed forces could freely have access to any part of the country in a time of crisis and war?! Why can’t Obama hire all those unemployed people and create a cellular 4G network second to none found in Europe and Asia! Just a thought…
I’m a PC and I’m retarted
I’m a PC and I’m stupid!
It would make a lot of sense for Apple to have a tablet with wifi/wimax plus the ability to tether to ANY cellphone, whether CMDA or GSM for data and/or phone.
That way the tablet would be great, and all the bandwidth problems and subscription resentment would be on the carrier…not Apple.
“Could Verizon Wireless handle Apple’s tablet traffic?”
Not without a snappy pair of white gloves and one of those bitchin’ whistles.
An even more important question is whether owners of a Verizon iPhone or tablet would be satisfied with Verizon’s 3G speeds which are typically as slow as Edge on AT&T;.
Another question is how much Verizon thinks it can charge for tablet data service to a target audience that is likely already paying for an overpriced iPhone account on AT&T;(typically $100+/mo. after taxes and fees)…
If they think people will happily pay an extra $50-60/mo. for this thing, in addition to any subscription fees for newspapers, magazines and or TV programming, I think they’re in for a rude awakening.
I agree with Rotn’Apple. Leaving coverage and speed up to the likes of AT&T;and Verizon isn’t working and it’s only going to get worse.
The Tablet is going to be more of a device used where wi-fi is going to generally be available. It will be something used in homes, schools, and businesses – not something you will carry with you everywhere you go. Mainly because it’s not going to fit in your pocket. Yes it will be a revolutionary product, but it’s not going to have the same portability as an iPhone or a touch.
It is very clear that no-one outside Apples “cone of silence” really has any idea whatsoever as to what is going to be introduced in less time than a week. But we can speculate about the functionality of the maybe-to-be-introduced “Tablet”, which is fun. No way to speculate about it’s impact or success, since the specifics is up in the air.
So, for fun:
I hope for a energy-efficient P.A. Semi SoC, multi-core modern ARM core, with all the necessary (low-power) support logics and a strong graphics core (one particular brand, already Apple-used pops up).
Decent memory
All sensors already in the iPhone (not so sure about what type of imaging-capture sensors)
Good screen. But maybe 10 inches is somewhat to big.
Some connector connectivity.
WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity in the Soc, or at least built in.
RT wireless communications processor built in, but no radio hardware built in. Instead, plug-in modules for different wireless frequencies and protocols (i.e. one for CDMA, another for UTMS, fitting different service providers) including plug-in for provider chips and so on.
it wont have 4g or 3g