Tech Shout!

T-Mobile’s third-generation wireless network has now gone live in New York City, announced the network operator on Monday. However, the twist in the story remains that the 3G network, as of now, is available only on a limited few handsets.

T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, further confirmed that the 3G coverage will be reaching several other major cities in the coming months of 2008.

T-Mobile USA has been rather late in rolling out 3G wireless broadband, as compared to its competitors such as AT&T, Cingular, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, owing to the fact that it had access to less of the radio spectrum. In fact, it has stressed on devices that go well with slower cellular data services with Wi-Fi.

T-Mobile’s 3G offering employs UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) and HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology. It offers support to voice and data services “consistent with available service and handset offerings,” noted the No. 4 U.S. mobile service.

Owners of the chosen phones - Nokia’s 3555 and 6263, and Samsung’s t819 and t639 will now be able to browse the internet and download content like ringtones at a double pace with the 3G functionality.

By the end of 2008, T-Mobile plans to offer handsets that make optimum advantage of the 3G network, with data speeds that are four times that of existing non-3G models.

The pricing details have yet not been revealed.

Meanwhile, the other latest development in the story of the 3G iPhone is that T-Mobile Austria could be the lucky operator to test the latest version of the Apple wonder.