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We've been expecting AT&T to beef up its 3G network in the coming months, and now we have some details.

AT&T Mobility VP Scott McElroy says software updates will double the downstream speed to 7.2 megabits per second and are already being tested in two markets. The rest of the network is targeted for an upgrade thereafter.

But AT&T's looking past that and toward HSPA+, which will increase speeds to 21 Mb/s. And looking even further into the future, tests with the 4G LTE standard should begin sometime next year.

Acronyms and numbers aside, what does this all mean? Quite simply, be on the lookout for faster speeds on an AT&T network near you.

TelephonyOnline via Phonescoop

Join Dieter and Mal as they talk up the week's Windows Mobile News. Capacitive screens and Windows Mobile: when will they finally meet?

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If we had to pick being guilty of just two things here at WMExperts (yes, we know the list is much, much longer than that), it'd be a love of all things beta, and testing out new Twitter clients. And with that in mind we've been playing with Twikini, a rather lightweight client from Trinket Software (@twikini). It's just been released as a free beta.

Hit us up after the break for a lightning review.

Update: There were some issues running Twikini on the Moto Q. A new version has been released that fixes this and adds some other updates. Get it here.

Each week we bring you the best of what's happening in the smartphone world in our "Best of SPE roundup." Come take a look at what's news!

Last month Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer raised a bit of a ruckus (OK, when does he not) when discussing capacitive touchscreens and how he doesn't believe the iPhone uses them in a way that keeps the phone price economical.

Needless to say, many of you scoffed – nay, you were outraged – over the idea that Windows Mobile still doesn't support capacitive touchscreens simply because it costs too much. (And more than a few of you could care less, and that's OK, too.)

But fear not, loyal reader. We're here today to tell you that we believe capacitive touch is coming to Windows Mobile. We don't expect to see it with Windows Mobile 6.5, but it's probably coming thereafter. Our reasoning, after the break.

That's right, we just broke the first commandment of the all-new PreCentral.net – thou shalt not pun. But you'll forgive our excitement for our newest member of the Smartphone Experts family, who have been tirelessly poring over any and all news surrounding the rebirth of Palm. And they've backed up all the great content with more great design, and some Pre forums to boot.

So congrats to our PC frenemies. Job well done. Now, when's the Pre coming out? ;)

My dream job has always been either a professional basketball player or photographer. While my skills on the court negated the latter possibility, I did work my way through college as a newspaper photographer enjoying every assignment.  While my career path shifted after college, I've always kept a hand in photography and an eye for good picture sources. 

The Big Picture is a photo blog created by Alan Taylor for The Boston Globe. According to the Globe, "The Big Picture is intended to highlight high-quality, amazing imagery - with a focus on current events, lesser-known stories and, well, just about anything that comes across the wire that looks really interesting."  No arguments here.

The blog has one of the best collections of photographs I've seen in a long time. While this site more commonly accessed on a desktop/laptop, Kinoma Play is now offering it as a channel with zoom and pan capabilities that retains the high quality aspects of each photograph. The Big Picture is in the Kinoma Guide at Pictures and Podcasts>The Big Picture. The blog is updated every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Via Fuze Mobility

We'll freely admit that much of what developers do is a mystery to us, some sort of magical concoction of code and pixie dust that eventually becomes a working application. But we do understand the importance of APIs – application programming interfaces – and that's why we get a little excited for our dev friends when we hear that Microsoft will be making their lives a little easier.

From the same ZDNet story (and spotted by wmpu) that brought us the announcement of a Windows Mobile 6.5 "launch presentation" at TechEd also comes word of a session on APIs, specifically that there now is a "Windows Mobile Unified Sensor API to access hardware sensors," and an SDK to control the camera.

“The world of mobility has evolved. While keypads, stylus, and keyboards are all good and fine for device input, newer input methods have been popularized in recent years, such as accelerometers, touch screen gestures, capacitive touch screens, light sensors, and such. More than just gadgets and gimmicks, these next-generation input methods allow you, the mobile developer, to offer the best interface possible to your users on the road, enhancing their device experience. This session explores various input methods available on some of the latest Windows Mobile 6.1 and 6.5 devices and how to programmatically leverage them using managed APIs from Microsoft .NET Compact Framework-based applications. Topics covered include working with the Windows Mobile Unified Sensor API to access hardware sensors, controlling device cameras using the Windows Mobile SDK, capturing stylus and finger gestures on touch screens, detecting ambient light, making your device vibrate and sound-off, and more.”

In layman's terms? Whereas HTC writes its own code to access, say, the accelerometer on its phones, and Samsung has another for the Omnia – and the two didn't always play nicely within the same application – now there will be one API to rule them all, developed by Microsoft. And don't get too excited over the use of  capacitive touchscreens as an example up there. We're not expecting to see any capacitive screens with Windows Mobile 6.5.

But we're not just talking G-sensors here. Basically anything that makes your phone do anything will be standardized across the platforms, and that should make a better user experience for our code-loving friends, as well as the rest of us.

Update: Er, apparently there's no unified API framework as reported elsewhere and repeated here. Move along, folks. And thanks, Joel, for that heads up. (We're feeling a bit like ol' Michael Scott when he followed his GPS straight into the lake, but these things happen.)