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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Hey you guys. I have a bold statement. One that may shock and amaze the entire technology subculture made of blog readers, blog writers, and kids that surf our site looking for references to Miley Cyrus. And here it is.
This WiMAX thing might just catch on.
Yes, I said it. Can you believe it? It also might be “big” and whatever other buzzwords (like “big”) that the major media conglomerates want to slather across its deliciously fat techno-belly. But I digress. Take a look at the above video for more.
Got a chance to play around with the WiMAX-enabled Nokia N810 that’ll be coming out soon. It’s basically the same deal as the currently-available N810 with the added convenience of being able to glom on to WiMAX networks.
Nokia had a “Sky Cafe” rigged up to a gigantic crane that hoisted what basically amounted to a metal platform with an island bar and seat-belted swivel chairs. Since there’s no actual WiMAX network set up in Vegas yet, the device was using a regular Wi-Fi connection. It’s still a fun device to play with and once WiMAX is more widespread, it could make a killer mobile internet doodad. Check out how fast it boots up (towards the end of the video). I have the old N770 and it takes quite a while to get going. The N810 is quite a bit nimbler.
Hey, guess what? Remember all the rumors that were floating around about the WiMAX edition of the Nokia N810? Well, Nokia officially took the wraps off of it and I thought I’d tell you. The N810 is pretty much unchanged other than the addition of WiMAX. It comes with a Sprint XOHM account creation wizard to make the transition easy and fast. The N810 will seamlessly switch between Wi-Fi and WiMAX so you’re always connected.
The first WiMAX enabled device, the N810, will become available this summer for $449.
Read More
As we quick approach zero hour for CTIA this year, let’s look at what we can expect from the big boys in the months to come. This week’s trade show, CTIA Wireless, is the “business” head of the CTIA hydra and where most of the big handset announcements for U.S. carriers happen. Notice I italicized U.S. Because of our backward and Soviet-style carrier system here in the U.S., we very rarely get cool phones. This is why, on the hole, every phone we have here pales in absolute comparison to even a nicely outfitted Nokia N95, let alone the iPhone.
That said, don’t expect any crazy NTT DoCoMo phones with a built-in robot dog. Instead, set your sights on something like a pink RAZR with a special Gwen Stefani charm hanging from it and you won’t be disappointed.
Here’s what else to expect from this show of shows.
Read More
A link to Nokia Europe shows a Nokia N810 tablet with WiMAX capabilities. It appears to be a standard issue N810 and we can only assume it will appear at CTIA this year.
In order for Sprint and Clearwire to really get this WiMax thing underway nationwide, they’re going to need some pretty substantial moolah — like $3 billion.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, would put up as much as $1 billion, while No. 2 Time Warner Cable would add $500 million” along with smaller cable operator Bright House Networks chipping in another $100 million to $200 million. Google’s another possible funding source as well.
Read More
The CEO of Buzz Broadband just shuttered his WiMAX network and, in a conference in Bangkok, called the technology worthless. He complains that out of line-of-sight with the antenna WiMAX degrades horribly, resulting in network failures. He is now using a number of standards including TD-CDMA to get about 10Mbps and will not be using WiMAX.
Gulp! And we just bought a huge transmitter for the whole family.
Australian WiMAX pioneer trashes technology as “miserable failure” [Commsday]
This is entirely based on conjecture, but Intel has revealed pricing for its upcoming Wi-Fi and WiMAX/Wi-Fi modules for the Montevina-based chips, which will begin to roll out in June. The rumor floating around the other week said that Apple would refresh the MB line with Montevina-based chips in June as well. Both modules are 802.11n compliant so the addition of either is more than likely, but what if Apple did include the Echo Peak module? There’s a fat chance in hell this would ever happen, but a WiMAX-enabled MB would be phenomenal, right? RIGHT?!
However, Sprint’s XoHM network is rolling out very soon so this could happen, but the price of the WiMAX modules is nearly double that of the Wi-Fi module. I know I’d pay a little extra for WiMAX. What about you?
Intel unveils prices for notebook WiMAX/Wi-Fi modules [Digi Times]
Intel has developed a way to transmit a standard Wi-Fi signal some 60 miles. Created for rural areas and the developing world, the technology, called rural connectivity platform, or RCP, works its magic primarily in software. An Intel manager said that while regular Wi-Fi access points are coded to time out if a signal isn’t received within a certain amount of time, RCP rewrites the rules so that the receiving access point doesn’t freak out because it’s waiting for the signal.
Read More
