The design studio of Art Lebedev, perhaps most well known for their pocket-melting Optimus OLED keyboard, has been working on some WiMax handset concepts for Scartel, a Russian wireless carrier with plans to blanket Moscow and St Petersburg in WiMax coverage by the end of 2008. Though it’s likely little more than an idea at this point, the penned out concept specs are drool worthy. Tucked behind a 850×480 screen (which is presumably touch) lays WiMax, WiFi, 3.5 mm audio, front/rear cameras, an A/V port, microSD, and tri-band GSM. Unlike a number of recent handsets, muting the phone appears to be done via a toggle button rather than a slider switch, which could prove a bit annoying if it’s not recessed enough to prevent accidental presses on its way in and out of your pocket. No word yet whether this beast-in-beaut’s-clothing will make its way off the drawing pad. We certainly hope so. [Via Pocket-lint UK] → Read More
The WiMAX rollout should be right ’round the corner and Motorola is here with the USBw 100 adapter just in time. The companies first WiMAX device is coming in three tasty flavors – 2.3GHz, 2.5GHz and 3.5 GHz – to ensure a compatible version is available for your network’s frequency range. Thanks to multiple antenna technology and some Motorola wizardry, the USBw should provide seamless WiMAX network access. Pricing wasn’t announced, but Motorola at least let us know that it’s coming before the end 2008′s fourth quarter. → Read More
Instead of being stuck behind some A-hole driving 20 miles per hour under the speed limit while talking on his cell phone, you’ll soon be stuck behind a very similar A-hole trying to balance a laptop on his dashboard. According to Twice.com, Chrysler’s parts division will begin selling “a Mopar car cellular/Wi-Fi hot spot, expected to be the first of many Internet offerings from the car companies” starting August 25th. The hotspot device will be compatible with all 2009 Chrysler vehicles and certain earlier-year models. Customers will be able to order new cars with the device installed or bring compatible cars into Chrysler dealerships to have it retrofitted. The router will cost $499 and will grab EVDO signals as well as WiMAX signals. The CEO of Autonet Mobile, the company that supplies the device to Chrysler, says that the router can be converted for use on all cellular networks. I’m assuming since Chrysler’s pushing EVDO, this will either be a Sprint or Verizon affair. Interestingly, the monthly service charge will only be $29. That actually seems reasonable. Again, the device itself costs half a grand and you’ll need to fork over $35 to $50 for installation, followed by a $35 activation fee. The service will be sold by Chrysler as “Uconnect Web” starting at the end of the month. → Read More
After being delayed and delayed again, Sprint appears to finally be ready to roll out its high-speed WiMAX network, XOHM. The service will be offered to consumers in Baltimore starting in September. It’s been tested in Chicago and the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area but September will be the first month that XOHM will be commercially available to everyone. Chicago and Washington D.C. will get the service officially as well, likely not long after Baltimore. Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse said that the two cities would get XOHM later this year, according to InfoWorld. It’d stand to reason that a more widespread rollout would ensue early next year. Sprint claims speeds of 2-4Mbps per user on the XOHM network. I’ll be most interested to see how it’s priced. If the monthly fees are aggressive enough, we might just see people ditching their cable and DSL connections altogether. → Read More
They’re saying WiMAX is the future, and it may well be, and many are gambling thusly. Flyvo is doing just that with this WiMAX-enabled handheld gaming system, the G100. Featuring a 4-inch touchscreen and powered Windows CE (!?) Pro 5, the machine’s outfitted to play many games already available at sites like PocketGear. It has WiFi and Bluetooth as well for multiplayer gaming and 4GB internal memory, not bad at all. It’s hitting SoKo first, but we should see it here by next spring. If it takes off, it could be the first mass market casual gaming device that could take on the coming iPhone wave. → Read More
Centrino 2 has finally seen the public, as Intel is previewing its next-gen wireless chipset this week at Computex. The chipset, known alternately as Montevina, features optional WiMAX connectivity as well as Wi-Fi and other wireless standards. Intel is previewing the chipset in an Asus laptop and showing the WiMAX networking as it applies to gamers. Intel’s hoping to ship the chipsets at the end of summer. WiMAX is the future of connectivity, and Intel know it. With service already available from companies like Clearwire, and others like Sprint promising nation-wide networks this year, Centrino 2 is going to be a hot seller for Intel. → Read More
Ready for worldwide, wireless Internet access? Keep dreaming! You remember FON, right? There’s a small piece in the International Herald Tribune that tries to explain why the hippie-sounding service hasn’t taken off yet. Whereas, to be successful, FON needs millions of users spread around the world, each sharing their Internet connection wirelessly, so far only 830,000 people have signed up; only 340,000 hot spots are currently in operation. If not enough people run a hot spot, FON dies, as does the idea of free, worldwide wireless Internet access. → Read More
Sequans Communications just announced their new sixth WiMax chip, the SQN1170. It packs baseband, RF, and memory into one tight package, squeezing in at about the size of a penny. Read more… → Read More
Intel doesn’t want you to know, but the FCC made this public anyway. That company they call Chipzilla is releasing a new Wi-fi/WiMAX combo card with the same form factor as the one in current MacBooks — you know, the ones due for a refresh soon. Coincidence? At the moment, these cards have no way of functioning in OSX because there are no compatible drivers. That can be fixed quickly by Apple and Intel, and my guess is that a driver release is how we’ll find out whether the new MacBooks will have ‘em. → Read More
Sprint’s finally giving the thumbs up to its Xohm service, currently being tested in the DC area. Xohm is Sprint’s deployment of WiMAX, and it has spent millions getting it ready as a 4G network to replace the current 3G system. WiMAX is widely regarded as the successor to current generation cellular service, and Sprint’s the first one out of the gate with implementation. Look for devices to start appearing this summer as it starts turning on the service in markets across the country. → Read More
Cablevision, a regional ISP here in the north-east, will roll outwireless broadband coverage over the next two years. Unlike Comcast and Time Warner’s similar Clearwire venture, which uses WiMax, Cablevision’s uses Wi-Fi. Wonderful. The good news for current Cablevision subscribers is that the service will be free when it launches; non-subscribers will be able to get the Wi-Fi service totally independent of regular broadband. No word on how Cablevision plans to implement Wi-Fi on such a large scale. Rumors suggest Batman will be involved in some capacity. → Read More
As expected, Clearwire and Sprint have announced that they’ve merged to become a $14.55 billion wireless comms company. The newly formed company will be called Clearwire with Sprint Nextel having a 51 percent stake while Clearwire will control 27 percent. Another 22 percent goes to Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks in return for their $3.2 billion investment. Clearwire hopes for a US WiMAX deployment of 120 million to 140 million people by 2010. The boards of all companies have signed off on this deal and should be sealed in Q4. Clearwire’s current CEO Benjamin Wolff will continue to lead the pack while Sprint’s CTO Barry West will serve as president. → Read More
Speaking of Xohm, Sprint’s WiMAX initiative, rumors are swirling around Wall Street that Sprint will announce a partnership with Clearwire tomorrow, unifying their two disparate networks as one nationwide WiMAX network. This is fantastic news for WiMAX fans and a step in the right direction if the technology is going to take on competitor LTE, or Long Term Evolution, a wireless standard backed by AT&T and Verizon, among others. The partnership would also include Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Intel and would likely take the form of a joint venture. It could be announced as early as tomorrow morning. Sprint needs to trim some fat, but at the same time it needs to get its WiMAX network, which it’s already spent billions of dollars on, on its feet. Clearwire’s already in operation in many markets across the country, and by joining together both the networks and billing, it can do both. → Read More
Sprint’s Xohm WiMAX networks is facing another delay, though this one’s not because of faulty technology or delays in development, but because the T1 lines carriers traditionally use as the backhaul, or landline connection, aren’t adequate to support the base stations. In other words, Xohm is just now realizing that a 1.5Mbps T1 doesn’t have the throughput, or even a fraction of the throughput, needed for this kind of network. This means that new connectivity to the Sprint network, and thus to the Internet, will have to be put in place at all Xohm WiMAX base stations before it can be turned on. The problem isn’t the technology, but rather licensing and zoning. There are also problems with the billing system, but really until the data is there to be used, it’s a moot point. → Read More
We told you how much it would be a month ago, but some people just don’t listen. We’re off by a few dollars, but we were correct in our initial claim. I don’t understand how it’s already sold out, though. Are there that many people in Chicago and DC that want this thing? I guess I’d buy one if I were in an active WiMAX market. → Read More
The cost of your next notebook might just be subsidized by a wireless carrier. Acer today announced the Aspire 5920 notebook, which will contain a WiMax chipset and will be sold by upcoming WiMax providers like Sprint along with service packages, much like mobile phones are sold. The notebook is currently being manufactured by Taiwan’s Quanta Computer and will actually be available to all WiMax operators (not just Sprint), but they won’t be for sale “until Sprint or other companies start selling the devices with their WiMax services,” according to IDG News Service. → Read More
While Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and Chicago are currently basking in WiMAX service, the rest of the country will have to wait even longer due to a delay by Sprint. Don’t jump the gun, folks. Sprint just wants there to be more WiMAX enabled devices to accompany the rollout. Sprint Nextel spokesman Jeff Chaltas anticipates “several more mobile WiMAX devices will be available at commercial launch, making for a better experience and a wider range of devices for our XOHM customers.” The snafu in Australia also has nothing to do with the delay here in the States, says Chaltas. The technologies and how they are implemented are comparable to apples and oranges. Chaltas says the following is the main reason for the delay, → Read More
