DOWNSIDE TO 4G...NO ROAMING

Several companies are hopping on the LTE bandwagon, but it's turning out to be more isolating an experience than we hoped. According to PCMag, a Verizon spokesperson confirmed that its fourth-generation broadband network won't be compatible with other carriers in the US. As it turns out, Big Red and AT&T each own a separate block of 700MHz spectrum with only a fraction of overlap, leaving little room for phones on both networks to mingle with one another. There's not much hope for roaming on MetroPCS or LightSquared, either, as their waves of LTE run at 1700MHz and 1500MHz, respectively. This smattering of frequencies means it'll be near impossible to get roam on other companies' 4G networks nationally.

What's worse, the ITU has approved twelve bands for LTE use around the world, so don't count on a wide selection of global devices -- and you thought sorting through international 3G was bad, didn't you? We're still a long way from learning our LTE roaming fate, but it appears the largest carrier in the US won't make the journey any easier on us.

SONY LAUNCHING NEW PS3 MODEL WITH PS2 COMPATIBILITY

Microsoft is set to introduce a new model Xbox 360 Slim. The benefits of the hardware update include the CPU, GPU, memory, and logic all being on one piece of silicon. That in turn means less power consumption, less heat, and a smaller power brick.

Sony in turn has announced a hardware update for the PlayStation 3, but this one could potentially be a lot more popular than Microsoft’s update. The reason why? PlayStation 2 compatibility is mentioned, although remains far from being a definite feature.

The new PS3 carries the model name CECH-3000B. It will come in both 320GB and 160GB models with the former weighing 2.6kg (down from 3.0kg). Externally it looks exactly the same except for the power and eject buttons getting a slight design tweak.

Specifics as to what Sony has changed internally are not available, but we suspect a similar silicon shrink to the Xbox 360 as Sony has managed to cut power consumption from 230 to 200 watts.

vMost intriguingly, the translated official Sony information page for the updated machine mentions PlayStation 2 compatibility. Specifically it says in the notes at the bottom of the page that:

“This product, “PlayStation 2″ are having a compatibility with proprietary software.”

It could be a mistranslation, or it may be Sony bringing back backwards compatibility now that they’ve figured out how to do it in software.

PS2 compatibility came as standard on the original PS3 due to the inclusion of the Emotion Engine chip. But with the slim redesign that chip was dropped and with it went PS2 game compatibility.

RUMOR: iOS 5 TO ONLY RUN ON iPHONE 4 OR HIGHER

Eldar Murtazin is a Russian mobile phone guru with an uncanny knack for getting his hands on unreleased phones. While most of Murtazin’s information and scoops have involved non-Apple products, Murtazin recently tweeted that the next major iOS update, iOS 5, will only run on the iPhone 4 and the next-gen iPhone. In other words, iPhone 3GS users are out of luck.
“Just one comment. Apple iPhone 3Gs wont be upgradable to iOS 5.x. iPhone 4 will”, the tweet reads.

While Apple has typically made new iOS updates extremely backwards compatible, arguably to a fault, an iOS update that excludes iPhone 3GS owners would mark a departure from Apple’s efforts to keep previous owners with the most up to date mobile OS. Note that iOS 4, released last June, was backwards compatible going back two generations to the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 3G.
While Murtazin’s tweet should be taken with a grain of salt, he does have a good track record and it is worth nothing that iOS 5 is largely believed to be a major and significant iOS update. That said, it stands to reason that Apple would only want its upcoming OS update to run on hardware powerful enough to deliver the high level of performance and user experience iPhone users have grown accustomed to.

Apple will take the final wraps off of iOS 5 in the coming weeks at WWDC scheduled to kick off on June 6. While specific features remain murky, iOS 5 is rumored to be heavily focused on location and cloud-based services along with significant voice recognition integration.