Bug Labs and AT&T partner for 3G-friendly home-built devices

Hey, Professor Szalinski! Aren’t you tired of not being able to make shrink rays that connect to AT&T’s 3G network? I know, tell me about it!

Fortunately, the era wherein GSM 3G functionality was accessible only to those with silly things like a knowledge of GSM 3G functionality is coming to an end.

Bug Labs, the open hardware development platform loved by garage-tinkerers everywhere, has announced a partnership with AT&T that allows for plug-and-play, no-certification-needed 3G on homebrewed hardware. It looks like interested parties will have to go through AT&T’s emerging devices program, presumably because they want to give developers some insight on how to not destroy their network.

Not familiar with Bug Labs? Don’t worry — it’s kind of a crazy concept. The goal is to get would-be hardware makers into the field by dramatically lowering costs and overall requirements, allowing those with coding talent to build cool hardware without having to actually build hardware. You buy an expandable “Bug Base”, and then slap a bunch of modules — a display, a GPS receiver, or this GSM/3G radio, for example. You supply the brains, they’ll supply the muscle.

This announcement follows a similar announcement between Bug and Verizon from September.

Now, someone go build me a practical jet pack.