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Japan to get LTE network by December
Japan’s NTT DoCoMo began testing on Tuesday of a new cellular data network that should ensure Tokyo remains one of the fastest places on the planet to send and receive data via cell phone. The new network is scheduled to go into operation in December this year and should initially deliver upload speeds of up to 25 Mbps (bits per second) and downloads of 75 Mbps. The speeds are respectively 5 and 10 times faster than NTT DoCoMo’s current fastest service. The new network is based on a technology called LTE (Long-Term Evolution), an IP-based system seen as a replacement for 3G-based HSPA (High Speed Packet Access).
Google search gets Caffeine fix
Google has introduced a new Web indexing system to provide users with more up-to-date search results, the company said Tuesday. The new system, called Caffeine, delivers results that are closer to “live” than Google’s previous system. Previously, Google would crawl a fraction of the Web each night, index it and push it out in its results. With Caffeine, as Google crawls the Web and finds new information, it indexes it immediately.
UK mobile carriers must cut roaming fees, court says
Four U.K. mobile network operators must obey a 2007 European Union regulation ordering them to cut charges for mobile phone calls made while roaming, the European Court of Justice ruled Tuesday. The ruling comes as the Commission is considering further regulation of roaming charges for data traffic. The Commission’s goal is to eliminate the difference in price between national calls and roaming calls by 2015. Vodafone, Telefónica, Orange, and T-Mobile had asked the U.K.’s High Court of Justice to rule whether the European Commission had the right to order U.K. networks to cap roaming charges. The High Court referred the matter to the European Court of Justice for clarification.
Qualcomm buys camera lens maker
Qualcomm’s European venture capital fund has invested in Anteryon, a Dutch maker of miniature camera modules, the companies said on Monday. Terms of the investment have not been disclosed, but it was the way Anteryon manufactures camera modules that piqued Qualcomm’s interest, according to a statement. The company has developed a manufacturing technology that starts with an 8-inch glass wafer from which Anteryon can get up to 4,000 camera lenses.