Apple sneaks new cellular technology into iOS 4.2

[iuerg87yerg879e0rg9erugjer]

In a blog post, Nokia Siemens Networks reveals that Apple's iOS 4.2 released last week supports new technology known as Network Controlled Fast Dormancy (NFCD) that can reduce strain on cellular networks while also improving battery life for devices. The technology allows devices to remain in an "intermediate state" instead of constantly alternating between active and idle states when sharing information with cellular networks.All this disconnecting and reconnecting takes time and can cause a frustratingly slow network response. On the other hand, leaving the smartphone in an active mode all the time drains the battery very quickly.

To overcome the problem Nokia Siemens Networks introduced a method that, instead of putting the handset into idle or keeping it always active, keeps the handset in an intermediate state. From here, a smartphone can wake up much more quickly and needs to send far fewer signals to and from the network to start a data connection. You get a fast network response and a longer battery life.

The report notes that Nokia implemented the technology in its smartphones earlier this year, and with Nokia and Apple together accounting for half of all new smartphone sales on a global basis, the change is now widespread enough to be contributing to noticeably improved user experiences and cost reductions for cellular providers.

The post specifically references the network of one Middle Eastern cellular provider that has seen smartphone devices reach an average battery life of 11 hours on its networks, compared to six hours on competing networks. Meanwhile, testing in North America has shown reductions in signaling between smartphones and networks of up to 50%.

The technology does, however, require that Nokia Siemens' network equipment be used in order for the improvements to be possible, and it is unclear which regions and carriers have embraced the company's products. For example, AT&T noted earlier this year that upload issues being experienced by iPhone users were caused by software problems in network equipment from Nokia Siemens competitors Alcatel-Lucent. Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson have also been selected to provide equipment for AT&T's next-generation LTE (4G) network.

Via Macrumors

very sneeky apple.

[spartyjohnson]

And? How is this sneaky? You make it sound as if they are trying to do something wrong. As far as the article reads this is a win/win.

[iuerg87yerg879e0rg9erugjer]

And? How is this sneaky? You make it sound as if they are trying to do something wrong. As far as the article reads this is a win/win.

not saying its a bad thing at all, its defiantly a win/win here, but if apple mentioned this new tech in the developer preview of 4.2 i would not have thought that 4.2 was another useless update D:

[_neutrino Veteran]

Rather nifty, I wonder if this tech is going to find its way into other wireless devices as well.

[Malisk]

Nice to hear, although odd that Apple didn't boast about this more.

[MR_Candyman]

Nice to hear, although odd that Apple didn't boast about this more.

It's probably because no networks use this tech yet, so it is useless right now

[iKenndac]

not saying its a bad thing at all, its defiantly a win/win here, but if apple mentioned this new tech in the developer preview of 4.2 i would not have thought that 4.2 was another useless update D:

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Practically every iPhone update has fixes/improvements to the low-level communication layers of the device. It's not mentioned specifically because it comes under the "Performance enhancements and improvements" header.

What you're saying is that the "Performance enhancements and improvements" in 4.2 weren't good enough for you because you didn't know what they were, but now you know it's that specific one the update is suddenly better? Please...

[iuerg87yerg879e0rg9erugjer]

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Practically every iPhone update has fixes/improvements to the low-level communication layers of the device. It's not mentioned specifically because it comes under the "Performance enhancements and improvements" header.

What you're saying is that the "Performance enhancements and improvements" in 4.2 weren't good enough for you because you didn't know what they were, but now you know it's that specific one the update is suddenly better? Please...

N/A, replaced by 4.2.1 ^[55]For iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad

• Bug Fixes

• Birthdays Calendar does not display Birthdays starting more than 77 Years ago ^[56]

• AirPlay (replacement of AirTunes, AirPlay will offer stream video, music, and photos over Wi-Fi) ^[57]
• AirPrint Wireless Printing with Print Center (select models)^[57]
• Import .ics calendar files directly for events
• Improved Battery Performance
• Birthdays icon has been changed in calendar
• Updated Carrier Settings (US is AT&T 9.0, UK is O2 9.1, Germany is Deutsche_Telekom 9.0)
• Text search on web pages ^[57] (not on iPhone 3G)
• 2 new fonts for Notes in Settings (Helvetica and Chalkboard)
• Safari 6533.18.5, WebKit 533.17.9
• Added support for Chinese URL over Safari ^[58]
• Added an indicator in the App Store which shows if an App supports Game Center
• Support for CoreMIDI
• YouTube voting ^[59]
• Minor improvements in UI graphics
• New Parental Controls for deleting Apps, changing mail accounts and location services^[59]
• The fontsize of text in Calendar can now be changed in the Accessibility settings ^[60]
• Security fixes ^[61]
• Network-controlled fast dormancy implemented in baseband to improve battery life and reduce network congestion^[62]

4.2 was just to mainly introduce and fixed updates to Facetime, AirPrint, AirPlay and to also bring the iPad up to date, now seeing that i don't have a iPhone 4 or iPad Facetime and multitasking is nothing new, dont have anything that supports Airplay, dont have a printer so airprint is also crossed off, soooooo yep another useless update for me :D