Sprint unveils Spark, its ultra-fast 1Gb wireless service

Spark, which will start at 50 to 60 mbps and move to 1 Gbps, arrives in five markets to select Sprint phones, including LG G2 and HTC One Max.

The HTC One Max will be one of the phones to run Sprint Spark.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Sprint wants to get back into the network speed discussion badly.

The company on Wednesday unveiled Sprint Spark, its brand for the ultra-fast LTE service that eventually will offer a wireless connection capable of delivering data at a blazing 1Gbps. But initially, Spark will be able to deliver peak speeds of 50 to 60Mbps.

Sprint, which has fallen behind in its deployment of a faster 4G LTE network, is in desperate need of catching up with the competition. Sprint has been hampered by the shutdown of its Nextel network and complications with business deals, including the acquisition of former partner Clearwire and a takeover by Japanese carrier SoftBank. The company lags behind at a time when consumers are focusing more on the speed of their service.

Sprint earlier reported a return to profit in the third quarter, even as it lost 313,000 net customers, including a troubling loss of 360,000 contract customers. Its loss comes at a time when T-Mobile has thrown out promotion after promotion in an aggressive bid to win back customers, as Verizon Wireless and AT&T busily lock up their most valuable subscribers.

Spark is part of Sprint's bid for comeback, but it's more promise than a full-fledged service. CEO Dan Hesse demonstrated the network's ability to deliver a peak 1Gbps connection at the company's lab in Burlingame, Calif. The service, however, won't be able to deliver that kind of speed anytime soon.

Spark is available today in five markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Tampa and Miami, Fla. Sprint also unveiled a new set of phones compatible with Spark: the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, Galaxy Mega, and LG G2 -- all of which launch on November 8. The Spark-compatible HTC One Max will be available "soon," the carrier says.

Spark is able to deliver higher LTE speeds because it juggles three spectrum bands, entailing Sprint's spectrum, spectrum from its now defunct Nextel network, and spectrum taken from its acquisition of Clearwire. Because the three swaths of spectrum run at different frequencies, it was seen as a potential mess for Sprint. But the company's Network Vision upgrade plan allows its infrastructure to handle all three bands. The four new phones will be the first wave of tri-band-compatible devices.

(Credit: Sprint)

The Galaxy S4 Mini and Galaxy Mega will get a software update for tri-band compatibility shortly after launch, while the G2 will get its software update early next year.

The company said the new phones -- once updated -- would be able to get peak speeds of 50 to 60Mbps on a limited basis in those markets. However, given that this is the theoretical peak, the connection speed will likely be significantly slower. Still, it would be much faster than the standard speed of around 10Mbps that customers would see on rival LTE networks.

Sprint said the network could increase the speed over time and that it is technically possible to deliver a peak speed of 2Gbps over the air.

The company plans to deploy Spark in 100 of the nation's largest cities over the next three years. It already said it expects to cover 200 million people by the end of the year. Sprint has bumped its estimate to 250 million people by the end of 2014.

During a conference call earlier today, Hesse hinted at an announcement that would tie in with its unlimited-for-life offering. The "for life" part could be significant for customers who hang on to get Spark. Because for many people, it will be a long wait.

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Drive in Google Glass, get a ticket

(CNN) -- In what might be a first, a woman in California received a traffic ticket for wearing Google Glass while driving.

Cecilia Abadie was pulled over for speeding on Tuesday in San Diego and given an additional citation for driving while wearing her Google Glass. The officer considered the head-mounted display a monitor that was visible to the driver. Shocked, Abadie posted a copy of the ticket on Google+. Traffic laws vary state by state, but many now have broad distracted-driving laws or bans on certain monitors that could easily apply to Google Glass. The California law cited in Abadie's case is meant to prevent people from watching television while driving. V C 27602 prohibits televisions and similar monitors from being turned on and facing the driver. There are exceptions for GPS and mapping tools and screens that display camera feeds to help the driver navigate. If a device has a safety feature that limits its display to approved uses while driving, it can be allowed.

"I think the law is broad enough to say it violates the law," said San Diego attorney Mitchell Mehdy, also known as "Mr. Ticket." Mehdy has been working in traffic law for 25 years and said this is the first case he's heard of involving Google Glass. Abadie says her Google Glass was not turned on when she was pulled over, and that the officer said the screen was blocking her view. The Google Glass display is located slightly above the right eye, not directly in front of the eye. Google does warn users about running afoul of traffic laws in its Google Glass FAQ: "Most states have passed laws limiting the use of mobile devices while driving any motor vehicle, and most states post those rules on their department of motor vehicles websites. Read up and follow the law!" However, in another section on navigation, it says Glass can give turn-by-turn directions, "whether you're on a bike, in a car, taking the subway, or going by foot." Glass fans defended the technology in comments on Abadie's post, saying that a voice-activated screen close to the eye could actually be safer than trying to check a smartphone or other monitor while driving. "Glass is far safer than any other means of information delivery. It is out of your view and not distracting," said Aaron Kasten, who compared it to checking speed and other information on a car's dashboard, which requires taking your eyes off of the road. The turn-by-turn directions on Glass can be turned on with a voice command. The display will show a map view, but for extra safety the screen can be turned off while driving so there's only voice navigation.
A Google Glass spokesperson didn't address the ticket directly but emphasized responsible Google Glass usage, saying, "As we make clear in our help center, Explorers should always use Glass responsibly and put their safety and the safety of others first. More broadly, Glass is built to connect you more with the world around you, not distract you from it." Abadie could take the case to court and try to get the Google Glass portion of the ticket dismissed.
"How can this officer prove that this display was being activated or was actually on at the time and what kind of signal she's getting?" said Mehdy. State laws are always adapting to new technology, and Google Glass is still a somewhat rare sighting. The device is only available as part of a beta program and is not yet sold commercially. According to Mehdy, new technology is a tempting target for law enforcement looking for new ways to bring in money. "There's a wealth of revenue to be generated from technology. The traffic law enforcement is coming and saying wow, we've got this new incredible device and we want our piece too," said Mehdy. With a mandatory minimum fine in California is $162, this is just the beginning of more tickets for Google Glass wearers according to Mehdy. Law enforcement is increasingly enforcing distracted driving laws. During the month of April, there were more that 57,000 distracted driving tickets issued in California as part of Distracted Driving Awareness Month, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety.

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Google expands Google Glass sales, lets early users invite 3 friends each

Mountain View: Google is relying on a little social networking to put its Internet-connected glasses on the heads of more people. The expanded sales of the device known as Google Glass will come as part of an invitation-only program announced Monday. The roughly 10,000 Glass owners who began testing the device earlier this year will each be allowed to invite up to three people to buy the device. The early Glass users are primarily computer programmers and winners of an online contest conducted earlier this year.

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Growing Up Poor Changes Young Brains

Exposure to poverty in early childhood was associated with smaller brain structures later in life, but nurturing seemed to offset poverty's negative effect, researchers found.

MRI scans showed that impoverished children had smaller white  and gray matter volumes compared with normative values in early adolescence, according to Joan Luby, MD, of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues.

Poverty was also a significant predictor of left hippocampus volume (P=0.02), and left amygdala volume (P=0.01), they reported online Oct. 28 in JAMA Pediatrics.

The association of poverty with volumes of the right hippocampus and right amygdala only approached statistical significance (P=0.09 for both).

However, supportive parental language during a laboratory task conducted while children were preschool age positively influenced left and right hippocampus volumes later in life.

In addition, stress in a child's life negatively influenced brain development, but only the volume of the right hippocampus.

Regarding the influence of parental education on brain development, researchers found no effect.

"This work adds to our growing awareness that early adversity can powerfully influence human development throughout a life span," wrote Charles A. Nelson, PhD, of Boston Children's Hospital, in an accompanying editorial.

"Exposure to early life adversity should be considered no less toxic than exposure to lead, alcohol, or cocaine, and, as such, it merits similar attention from public health authorities," Nelson concluded.

There is evidence that children exposed to poverty have poorer cognitive skills, but neurobiological data in humans is sparse, Luby and colleagues said.

They investigated the effect of poverty on brain development in a group of children, ages 6 to 12, who were followed since preschool. The 145 children were recruited from a larger group of children who participated in a preschool depression study.

Parents were evaluated annually regarding stress during preschool years. After age 9, both children and parents were interviewed.

The assessment of supportive or hostile parenting was made after evaluating parent/child interactions during a task.

"The finding that the effects of poverty on hippocampal development are mediated through care-giving and stressful life events further underscores the importance of high-quality early childhood care-giving, a task that can be achieved through parenting education and support, as well as through preschool programs that provide high-quality supplementary care-giving and safe haven to vulnerable young children," the authors concluded.

The authors noted limitations of the study including an oversampling of children with depression in the original cohort, the absence of earlier imaging that would have allowed bidirectional mediation modeling, and the absence of more detailed aspects of poverty such as nutrition, parental psychopathology, and genetic factors.

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Teenagers more interested in Twitter than Facebook, study says

Facebook is starting to see a lot less face time.

About 23 percent of 8,650 teenagers surveyed in Piper Jaffray’s 26th Semi-Annual “Taking Stock with Teens” Market Research Project cited Facebook as the most important social media platform, down from 42 percent the year before.

Twitter was cited as the most important.

But Bruce Floyd, UF’s social media specialist, said he’s skeptical about the research provided in the study and needed to examine it before agreeing with the trend.

“What (teenagers) say they like is different from what they use,” he said.

Anna Cesarotti, a 19-year-old UF sociology and sustainability studies sophomore, said she hasn’t had a Facebook account for more than a year.

“I was overwhelmed by Facebook,” she said.

Cesarotti said she felt keeping up with Facebook was too much like maintenance, so she choose to delete her account before starting college.

Although the study shows teen Facebook users are down, some UF students still think there is a need for it to stay connected on campus.

Lizbeth Ramos, an 18-year-old UF exploratory freshman, said she recently reactivated her Facebook after not having one for almost three years because she felt it was necessary for college.

“Everything is done through Facebook,” she said.

Ramos said most of the organizations at UF use Facebook to advertise events, meetings and other information. Without it, she wouldn’t be able to stay up to date.

“I don’t want it to socialize. I want it for school purposes,” she said.

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