FCC Speed Test Android app launched, runs in the background

The US Federal Communications Commission, lovingly known as the FCC, has just unveiled its FCC Speed Test app that will enable users to reliably assess their mobile broadband speeds. It’s even released as open source! That is all well and good, at least you read a bit of the fine print.

The FCC Speed Test app is described as an open source, crowdsourcing program. That last part is due to the fact that, aside from simply telling you about your mobile Internet performance, both 3G and Wifi, it sends the data back to the FCC as part of its Measuring Broadband America program that will help consumers, service providers, and the government gain an insight into mobile network performance throughout the whole country. In fact, the FCC plans to launch next year interactive maps that will do just that, in a more presentable and visual style.

That alone might not be much of an issue except for the fact that the app will periodically run in the background to test network speeds, whether you know it or not. The implications of this is quite myriad, but the more immediate concern is data usage. The FCC promises that not more than 100 MB a month will be used by the app for its testing purposes. Fortunately, they also provide a way to change those settings, which, of course, are all enabled by default.

The biggest promise that the FCC makes, however, is that the no personal or uniquely identifiable information will be collected, that all data will be anonymous. It’s not like other companies or speed test tools do not do this as well. But given the government’s rather stellar track record, the question is how many users will use the app? And consequently, if too few users participate in this data harvesting mission, the FCC’s assessment of the nation’s mobile broadband situation will hardly be representative or reliable.

SOURCE: FCC

Nexus 7 2: browse without limiting the speed of 4 G LTE!

By Jean-Louis Petrod on June 18, 2013

More recently than the GSM version of the nexus 7 2identifies the ASUS K009 should visibly networks 4 G LTE by US operators AT & T, Verizon and T-mobile support. This of course would not interest to us dar, if the shelf does not also with French networks were compatible, but it will of course case with regard to the specifications referred to in the last report of the FCC, the authority responsible for the validation of mobile devices in the United States.

Of course in the light of the current market, it was expected that nexus 7 2 supports 4 G LTE networks, a detail was not clear, however: the degree of compatibility. And at this point, it seems that the device supports the three frequency bands used in the United States. In other words, it is a multi-band device and compatible for all of the global 4 G networks, thing that happens every day.

The nexus 7-compatible 4 G LTE.

According to the information which we have, the nexus 7 2 supports the bands 2, 4, 5, 13 and 17 and therefore has the necessary components to connect with three 4 G LTE networks, the operators mentioned. It is now almost certain that it will be compatible with French networks.

3 G, ASUS K009 is compatible with the bands frequencies 850 MHz and 1900 MHz will be the most networks 3 G and 3 G +, as was already the case of his predecessor.

More generally, the official announcement of Google tablet should intervene in July and it seems that there should be a 7 screen inch full HD 1980 x 1200 pixels to develop, a Snapdragon S4 Pro processor supported by graphical bullets of Adreno-320 and 2 GB RAM and a storage capacity of 16 GB or 32 GB, the Tower hit around €230.

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