Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition Now Available

Nokia was one of the first manufacturers to enter the NetBook market with their N800 and the latest edition is the N810 WiMAX Edition equipped to work with the new XOHM WiMAX network in the U.S. This little device connects to the internet via XOHM, or WiFi and utilizes the Internet Tablet OS: maemo Linux based OS2008 which provides seemless software updates and:

Web Browsing

• Browser powered by Mozilla with state-of-the-art web standard support including AJAX
• Page navigation with scrolling, panning or using hardware buttons, zooming in and out of web sites.
• Full desktop Adobe® Flash® 9 plugin, including video and audio streaming

Media

• In-built media player for viewing and listening to downloaded, transferred or streamed media content and easy-on-device management of media library
• Direct access to shared media over Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)
• Supported video formats: 3GP, AVI, WMV, H.263, H.264, MPEG-1, MPEG-4, RV (RealVideo)
• Supported audio formats: MP3, WMA, AAC, AMR, AWB, M4A, MP2, RA (RealAudio), WAV
• Supported playlist formats: M3U, PLS, ASX, WAX, WVX, WPL

Communications

• Internet messaging and calling with video
• Effortless and automated presence and contacts application for centralizing communication tasks
• SIP support and interoperability with industry standard services

Map

• Integrated GPS with pre-installed US and Canadian maps.
• Wayfinder turn-by-turn car navigation available on purchase.
• Car holder included in the sales pack

E-mail

• Browser access to familiar webmail services
• E-mail application with easy setup for personal e-mail usage with IMAP, STMP, and POP3 support

Images

• Full-screen image viewing and slideshow functionality
• Supported Image formats: BMP, GIF, ICO, JPE, JPEG, PNG, TIF/TIFF, SVG, Tiny, WBMP

RSS Reader

• Reader for subscribing, managing and keeping up-to date with web feeds
• Support for RSS 1.0/2.0 and Atom 1.0

Utilities

• File manager
• PDF reader

If you need more details about the hardware specs, here you go:

Display
- High-resolution 4.13” WVGA touch screen display (800 x 480 pixels) with up to 65,536 colors

Processor
- TI HS OMAP 2420, 400Mhz

Memory Functions
- DDR RAM 128MB
- Flash 256MB

Storage
- 2GB internal memory
- Support for compatible miniSD and microSD memory cards (with extender). Supports cards up to 8GB. (SD cards over 2GB must be SDHC compatible.)

Operating Times*
- Battery: Nokia Battery BP-4L
- Music playback: up to 10 hours
- Standby time off-line: up to 14 days

WiMAX operation times*
- Standby. always online: up to 2 days
- Internet browsing time: up to 3 hours

Wi-Fi operation times*
Standby, always online: up to 5 days
Internet browsing time: up to 4 hours

*Operating times may vary depending on the radio access technology used, network configuration and usage. The availability of the product and its features depend on your area and service providers, so please contact them and your Nokia dealer for further information.

Other characteristics
- Smooth slide with integrated QWERTY keyboard
- Built-in GPS receiver
- High quality stereo speakers and sensitive microphone
- High-resolution widescreen touch display
- Integrated desk stand
- Integrated VGA web camera
- HW key to lock touch screen and keys
- Ambient light sensor

Connectivity
- WiMAX 802.16e / 2.5GHz
- WLAN standard: IEEE 802.11b/g
- Bluetooth specification v.2.0 . +EDR (profiles supported: HID, FTP, DUN, GAP, SPP, ,SAP and OPP)
- USB high speed for compatible PC connectivity
- 3.5 mm stereo headphone plug (Nokia AV Connector)

According to one forum member over at internettablettalk.com this nifty little device is working on XOHM in Chicago.

I really want one of these! I wonder if it will work in Dallas now? There was a rumor that XOHM has been turned on in Dallas....

The Latest on XOHM

I was in the process of looking for an update on the XOHM WiMAX effort and found this new post on engadget.

Baltimore WiMAX Experience

Thank you for your interest in the Baltimore WiMAX Experience Program sponsored by Intel and XOHM. The XOHM WiMAX network combines broadband and mobility. You get the same broadband internet experience you get at home anywhere in the XOHM coverage area… even on the go. Think of it as the mobile version of the basic DSL or cable internet service.

Should you be selected to participate, you would be among the first to experience XOHM WiMAX service in the Baltimore area and you would be provided with a new Intel Centrino 2 processor technology notebook computer that would be yours to keep in exchange for providing feedback on you experience.
To see if you qualify for this exciting opportunity, please answer the following questions to the best of our knowledge. Please be assured that the information you provide be used only for this program, will be kept confidential, will not be provided to any third parties not involved in this experience program and will not be used for the marketing purposes.

Thanks Darren Murphy at engadget!

Nokia N810 Internet Tablet - WiMAX Edition

It's official Nokia has issued a press release documenting the U.S. launch of the new Internet Tablet (MID) the N810 with WiMAX.

Nokia N810 Internet Tablet WiMAX Edition unleashes an open Internet experience, demonstrating the mobile future of web services

Espoo, Finland - Ushering in the next generation of wireless broadband devices, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) today unveiled its newest Nseries device, the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet - WiMAX Edition, Nokia's first device engineered to take advantage of new wide-area high-speed mobile WiMAX networks. This pocket-sized device lets consumers enjoy an open Internet experience, allowing for access to the full Internet without barriers, while on the go. The Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition is the latest iteration of Nokia's popular line of Internet Tablet products. For the first time, the power and convenience of the Internet Tablet platform is combined with next generation wide-area wireless broadband capability, allowing users to easily and quickly access all of their favorite Internet services beyond local area hot spots. The Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition is expected to be available in the United States during the summer of 2008 in areas where WiMAX connectivity is available.

WiMAX is a standards-based wireless broadband technology that delivers an open Internet experience similar to that of fixed broadband technologies with typical data download speeds of up to 2-4 Mbps per user with peak download speeds of up to 10 Mbps. Unlike current single point local area technologies like Wi-Fi which have a range of a few hundred feet, WiMAX networks consist of a number of interconnected base stations, each with a radius of up to 2-3 miles, that allow for handoffs from one base station to another as users move about a region or metro area. Additionally, WiMAX networks integrate technology designed to maximize the quality of service for each subscriber.

"By delivering the kind of open Internet experience that consumers previously only expected on a desktop PC, the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition is a compelling example of how next generation broadband wireless technology will not only change the way people think about the Internet, it will change the very nature of the Internet itself," said Ari Virtanen, Vice President of Convergence Products for Nokia. "Much in the way that the evolution of the fixed Internet from dial-up to broadband enabled a host of new Internet services and changed people's expectations of what an Internet experience should be, the transition to a broadband Internet experience set free from the constraints of a fixed network will spark the next wave of new mobile Internet services, and will forever change the perception of what the Internet can be."

Along with a full featured web browser, powered by Mozilla, that takes full advantage of the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition's large 4.13 inch touch screen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a variety of popular web-based services are also supported. Many of these applications can be found on Nokia's dedicated OS 2008 User Site. To keep connected while on-the-go, a number of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Instant Messaging (IM) clients are available, including Skype(TM), Google Talk(TM), and Gizmo5, which can also take advantage of the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition's built-in web cam for video calls. A client for the popular Rhapsody online music service is also available, transforming the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition into a portable jukebox with millions of songs available to enjoy at a few taps of the screen. Beyond these well-known services, an active developer community has also emerged around the Linux-based Internet Tablet platform, creating additional applications - from games to productivity tools.

A number of additional features further enhance the utility of the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition. With built-in GPS, the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition can easily transform itself into a fully featured personal navigation device, complete with real-time on-screen maps. An integrated media player and 2 GB of internal memory, expandable to a full 10 GB of memory with the addition of an optional microSD memory card, allows the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition to store and play back a large library of music and video content. When not in range of a WiMAX network, the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition can also access the Internet over Wi-Fi or via conventional cellular data networks by pairing to a compatible mobile phone via Bluetooth technology.

Also being introduced with the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition is the newest Internet Tablet operating system. This new upgraded OS2008 introduces useful new features to the platform, including an enhanced e-mail client, support for Chinese character rendering in the browser and RSS feeds and Seamless Software Update functionality to eliminate manual software updates, making periodic updates of the operating system quick and easy. While standard on the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition, current owners of Nokia N810 and N800 Internet Tablets with earlier operating systems will be able to upgrade their device to the revised operating system for free during the second quarter of 2008.

Nokia cleverly embedded the images of the new device in Flash, so I can not include any images, but here's the link to the Nokia N810 gallery.

IT'S 2008

Last year I wrote about the new computer/mobile device genre created by Intel the Mobile Internet Device that provides laptop like features in a small form factor with either Windows Mobile, Linux, or Symbian. The first big name to release such a device is Nokia which launched the N810 in late 2007 and rumor has it that new versions of this device will be released at the CTIA Wireless 2008 show April 1 - 3 in Las Vegas. Other manufactures like Samsung, ASUS, Lenovo, HTC, and Aigo have either created prototype devices or have announced that they will be utilizing the Intel chipsets. I expect that we will also see a Sony Vaio MID that may support PSP games. Don't forget that a number of UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) devices are already on the market by Sony, Samsung and OQO to name a few. The UMPC utilizes Microsoft XP or Vista in most cases. Engadget broke down the difference between MID and UMPC.
Dan Monahan, Intel's Global Internet Segment Manager of Ultra Mobility. This is how it breaks down.

UMPC

• Business-class device for enterprise users
  
• Runs a "heavy" OS like Vista
• Optimized for office-use applications like Excel, Word, etc.
  

MID

• Consumer-class lifestyle device
• Runs a 'lightweight" OS with quick startup like Linux
• Optimized for things like media playback and web surfing
• In 2009 (or so) Moorestown-based devices will be classed as MIDs only

Another manufacturer that hasn't been documented for these devices is Palm. The failed Palm Foleo was pretty similar to a MID, but it didn't have a built-in wireless chipset, but if you add that then the Foleo would be a great device that could compete in the MID and UMPC genres and could even compete with the Mac Book Air. Hopefully CTIA will provide more details and more cool devices for us to anticipate and then we have to wait for the launch of the Xohm network to really utilize the full capabilities of these new devices.

Sprint Names New CEO

Those of you familiar with Sprint Nextel will recognize the name of the new CEO. He comes from former Sprint local phone carrier Embarq. Yes it's Dan Hesse. Here's an excerpt from the Sprint press release.

Hesse had been chairman and CEO since Embarq's inception in 2006. Prior to the formation of Embarq, he served as CEO of Sprint's Local Telecommunications Division for one year before the spin-off that created Embarq. Hesse previously has spent 23 years at AT&T, including serving between 1997 and 2000 as the president and CEO of AT&T Wireless Services, which was then the United States' largest wireless operator.

Mr. Hesse you better get busy because there is a lot of work to do. I wonder if you can make the iDEN network work better or speed up the iDEN to CDMA transition by which I mean the implementation of Qchat? As a shareholder I'm looking forward to seeing what the new vision will be and what it will and will not include. Just don't cancel or scale back that Xohm implementation and launch! Good luck!

XOHM Roll Out

On December 5 PhoneScoop reported that the first XOHM launch was eminent, but I wanted to wait for something a little more official to be published before I covered this. Todays the day! TelephonyOnline has a story from Monday 12/10 with comments from the great XOHM press relations rep John Polivka. Here are some of the details from Mr. Polivka:

The soft launches will cover the downtown cores of Chicago, Baltimore and Washington but will rapidly expand outward, following existing cellular data traffic patterns throughout their respective cities. Though Sprint has set no date for the broader customer trials, Polivka said, Sprint intends to keep the trial short, using it as an opportunity to optimize the network for a full commercial launch in the second quarter.

Please click on the link to the very well written article from Kevin Fitchard on TelephonyOnline. I have submitted my email address to be a beta tester for the service in Dallas, so if I get the opportunity I'll keep everyone posted about this new mobile highspeed internet service. I'd really like an OQO model 2 with a XOHM card to test it out around town, but I won't push my luck.

Gadgets and TV Part II

What do NASCAR, NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL have in common besides the fact that they are major sport conglomerates? I would like to see the NASCAR NEXTEL FanView™ migrate to the other major sports. Wouldn't it be great to have a video/stat view at your NFL venue of choice. Do you even know what the FanView is?
It's a revolutionary, handheld device designed to enhance your entire race experience — from practice and qualifying to full race-day coverage — and offers these features:

• Live race broadcasts
• In-car views from up to seven drivers
• Live driver, race and track stats
• Comprehensive audio coverage of drivers, teams, race officials and radio broadcasts
• New! Watch SPEED's Trackside Live and ESPN's NASCAR Now live on your device!

I imagine uniquely designed shapes for the different sports, so maybe the NFL version would be the shape of a football and MLB would be the shape of a baseball. Time magazine even labeled the FanView as one of the Best Inventions of 2006. There must be some kind of exclusivity clause with NASCAR for FanView, because I'm sure the other sports would love to have another item that people at the games can pay to use. Parking $20; hotdog $5; beer $8; hat $30; FanView rental $50. Why not? Some supporting venues offer free WiFi so why not just provide a device that is wireless and connects to the internet, and includes event content and advertising? Yet another WiMAX possibility that could also utilize EVDO Rev0.

Another utilization of WiMAX was announced by NEC in Japan recently, from Gizmodo; "Just in Japan for now, the NEC Lui is a system designed around a central server that will stream media to any device around the house using WiMAX and Windows Vista."
So instead of utilizing wifi it utilizes WiMAX. It will interesting to see how use of the WiMAX technology is charged to the consumer? Will there be a subscription service like Tivo? Tivo provides content and WiMAX is just a connection to the internet. I can see where Tivo might want to add WiMAX to their devices and then just charge a little more for utilizing that type of connection. Maybe the satellite providers would like to add it to their boxes as well?

So if the Xohm service from Sprint Nextel still happens the gadget crowd will have even more options to choose from.

Gadgets and TV

Ok so the holiday shopping season is in full swing, and everyone is rushing out to purchase their goodies. Top sellers seem to be the Wii and iPods. Is the iPod/iPhone/Touch the most impactful gadget of the 2000's? The cell phone has really transformed our lives, remember back when we just dialed 4 digits on a rotary dial phone to talk to our friends? Remember when we first saw a car with a phone? My first car with a phone experience was a 1986 Mercedes roadster, I remember my friends and I were amazed and could only imagine that a doctor would need such a thing. Then in 1994 I remember seeing people carrying these large phones that reminded me of the field phone used by the military at the end of WWII and Korea and Vietnam. I remember a class mate of mine in high school said his mom worked for southwestern bell mobile systems a new pager and cell phone division of southwestern bell and I thought mobile systems, what's that? Then I remember the first RIM pager/calendar thing and the first US Robotics Palm III. The year was 1995 I was working for a long distance company called US Sprint that was changing it's name to just Sprint and they were launching a wireless digital phone service, not a cellular service but a digital service called Personal Communication Service (PCS) that worked on technology called CDMA developed by some company called Qaulcom. About that same time GTE rolls out a PCS service and so does PrimeCo. Looking back on PrimeCo and Sprint they were at the forefront of the technology. So fast forward to 2001 and the launch of Apple computers new music device the iPod. Wikipedia states,"As of September 2007, the iPod had sold over 110 million units worldwide (stated in "The Beat Goes On" conference) making it the best-selling series in history." So it was just a matter of time before the PCS device and the digital music player merged. So what's next? Where do we go from here? I still believe that the future is upon us, and the days of being tied to wired high speed internet connection are numbered, but aren't their some things that require one to sit a desk? The real question is what can't one do? Do I really need a seperate GPS device, Blackberry, iPod, and laptop? Why can't I have all of this in one Pearl sized package? Is this where the iPhone is heading? If it isn't maybe it should. Why do I need a laptop? To check email and access custom applications for my company? I can already check email on my iPhone. One thing I'm pretty sure of is that most people, including me, don't want to watch TV or a movie on a two inch screen. I prefer the big home theater with full surround sound, why limit my movie/tv watching experience, but there is something to be said for being able to watch my movies or DVR from somewhere else if I'm traveling. Why should I have to wait until I get home at the end of the week? Will a wireless carrier offer me cable or satellite programming on my phone? What about on iPhone or Touch? I really think Sling Media is on to something, but I'm still dependent on a home internet connection. If Sling can manage to add a built in high speed wireless data connection to their devices, then I don't have to have a home network. Which leads me to another new device/service that Amazon has just released the Kindle. I'm still not sure about this little thing, but I must say I'm really intrigued. If I could get rid of my book library that takes up so much space, and I can access my books almost anywhere in the U.S. why wouldn't I want that? The Kindle has built in wireless high speed internet access for downloading new material from books to magazines. I can get my New York Times or Wall Street Journal everyday on this little thing. So which wireless carrier is going to blink and step out there and say to Sling use us? Did you know that some counties and police departments are not issuing carbon copies of traffic tickets any longer? I learned first hand that Dallas county is utilizing a handheld device to issue citations and I get a printed copy that's a lot like my receipt I get at National Rental Car when I return my car. My ticket is electronically transmitted to the court and no paper can get lost or shuffled. I suppose my data could get scrambled, but the chances of that happening are slim. So what's next. Apple has some great ideas, and I expect them to challenge the portable GPS market soon with an iPhone GPS service along with 3G or 4G high speed internet connectivity. Who says that Apple will only work with AT&T? What other industries will be revolutionized or infused by this growing state of mobility that people are experiencing. There's another interesting device that I have not mentioned to this point, and I'd like to pick up here next time. What do NASCAR, NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL have in common besides the fact that they are major sport conglomerates?

Android Story of the Day

Digitimes is reporting that HTC will produce 2-3 Android devices with Wi-MAX and TD-WCDMA.

Good on it's word the Open Handset Alliance and Google have released the first SDK for the new OS. Check out all the greatness on the Google/Android site.

Sprint and Clearwire Say Psych and Stuff

Yeah that's right Sprint and Clearwire have supposedly decided that working together on Wi-MAX won't be such a good idea after all. The WSJ is reporting that sources close to the matter have said since Sprint doesn't have a CEO it would be premature to define a formal agreement. So does this mean that the planned Xohm product is soon to go the way of ION? You do remember that little revolutionary product that Sprint tried to roll out back in 1999/2000. It will be interesting to see how this turns out. Clearwire's stock tanked in late afternoon and after market trading. AP - WSJ: Sprint and Clearwire Splitting Up

and STUFF
On a separate note Sprint released their customer service agenda for 2008 today. Promises of a rewards program for longtime subscribers will be nice, I wonder how that will be implemented?

Open Handset Alliance - NOT gPhone

"Android™ will deliver a complete set of software for mobile devices: an operating system, middleware and key mobile applications. On November 12, we will release an early look at the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) to allow developers to build rich mobile applications." OpenHandsetAlliance/Android

Open
Android was built from the ground-up to enable developers to create compelling mobile applications that take full advantage of all a handset has to offer. It is built to be truly open. For example, an application could call upon any of the phone's core functionality such as making calls, sending text messages, or using the camera, allowing developers to create richer and more cohesive experiences for users. Android is built on the open Linux Kernel. Furthermore, it utilizes a custom virtual machine that has been designed to optimize memory and hardware resources in a mobile environment. Android will be open source; it can be liberally extended to incorporate new cutting edge technologies as they emerge. The platform will continue to evolve as the developer community works together to build innovative mobile applications.

So there's no gPhone, and the wireless community is working together? Here's the list of companies working on this effort.

Open Handset Alliance Founding Members
Aplix (www.aplixcorp.com), Ascender Corporation (www.ascendercorp.com), Audience (www.audience.com), Broadcom (www.broadcom.com), China Mobile (www.chinamobile.com), eBay (www.ebay.com), Esmertec (www.esmertec.com), Google (www.google.com), HTC (www.htc.com), Intel (www.intel.com), KDDI (www.kddi.com), Living Image (www.livingimage.jp), LG (www.lge.com), Marvell (www.marvell.com), Motorola (www.motorola.com), NMS Communications (www.nmscommunications.com), Noser (www.noser.com), NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (www.nttdocomo.com), Nuance (www.nuance.com), Nvidia (www.nvidia.com), PacketVideo (www.packetvideo.com), Qualcomm (www.qualcomm.com), Samsung (www.samsung.com), SiRF (www.sirf.com), SkyPop (www.skypop.com), SONiVOX (www.sonivoxrocks.com), Sprint Nextel (www.sprint.com), Synaptics (www.synaptics.com), TAT - The Astonishing Tribe (www.tat.se), Telecom Italia (www.telecomitalia.com), Telefónica (www.telefonica.es), Texas Instruments (www.ti.com), T-Mobile (www.t-mobile.com), Wind River (www.windriver.com). More on members

Google will not brand a device or market a device instead they will provide a bundle of applications referred to as a "software stack". So when can I get it? Q4 2008.... The press release says second half of 2008 so that usually means Sept/Oct. so I always lean towards later instead of sooner on these type of announcements. The question I have is who/what organization is leading this effort? There has to be a team leading this effort from software, hardware, and manufacturing. With all the carriers lined up now we need to see what will be the first device that utilizes this new infrastructure. There are little details about the OS in the announcement, or was there anything? The OS is Android and the leader is Google. So now we wait and see what the details are released on 11/12 in the SDK (software development kit) and then we see what comes out next year. It will be interesting to see what the baseline processor and graphics specifications will be. Will there be a screen size standard? Will it matter if the application is GSM or CDMA or WiMAX? I guess we'll see.

More information is provided in a Forbes article, Google's Dream Phone.

Wi-MAX Update

The first part of this post will be about Sprint and Xohm. Secondly I'll write about the news about the classification of Wi-MAX.

The Wallstreet analysts are a buzz about what will happen to Sprint Nextel and the new Xohm service with the hiring of a new CEO. The best article I've read about this was from SmartMoney. The author of this article spent a great deal of time considering what the future holds for Xohm and the conclusion is that Xohm will continue and thrive due to the "ecosystem" that has been developed by the collaboration with such companies as Intel, Motorola, Samsung, and Nokia. Read the full article: SmartMoney

UN Telecoms Agency Approves WiMax As Mobile Wireless Standard Friday October 19 the U.N. telecommunications agency met and approved WiMAX as a new 3G standard. AP writer Frank Jordans writes:

GENEVA (AP) -- The broadband technology WiMax has been added to a global standard for mobile devices, boosting its chances of becoming the preferred system for the next generation of high-speed wireless Internet access.
The decision Friday by the U.N. telecommunications agency means that airwaves designated for other technologies in the standard known as IMT-2000 can now be used for networks based on WiMax. That's likely to spur development of the wireless technology, attract new investors and eventually drive down hardware costs, analysts said.

Additionally WirelessWeek has a great write up about the meetings and provide more details about the specifics and significance of this decision. What does this mean to Sprint Nextel - Xohm which has been touted as 4G? It's now part of the 3G standard! WirelessWeek

Sprint CEO Resigns/Fired

Sprint announced Monday (Oct.8) that they will miss previously provided guidance of $11.0 to $11.5 billion of adjusted OIBDA and $41 to $42 billion of consolidated operating revenue and expects to report a net loss of approximately 337,000 post-paid subscribers in the third quarter. Oh and CEO Gary Forsee is stepping down as the company's chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO), effective immediately. Check out the press release.

A lot has been written about this move by analysts and the common theme is that Sprint needs to re-evaluate the Xohm/4G/WiMAX effort. Many analysts feel that spending $5billion on a new network with an "unproven" technology is not a wise decision for a struggling wireless company. I for one feel that scaling back or shutting down the Xohm effort is a bad choice. Xohm has the potential to separate Sprint from it's competition and establish it as the technology leader in the mobile wireless broadband segment, which doesn't exist today. To stall or slow down Xohm is very short-sighted. The wireless phone market has all but reached it's saturation point, so a growth company would be wise to move to the next great thing. Intel has designed new chip sets for the Mobile Internet Device, Google is working on a new Mobile OS or OS standard for Linux mobile devices. Imagine if Palm, Google, HTC, and Intel all worked together to create this new line of devices that provide MP3, PMP, GPS, Phone, and enterprise application support. It's basically a cross between an UMPC and a PMP in size with maybe a 3 in wide touch screen with a slide out qwerty. The possibilities are endless for something in this space. If I can leave my laptop and smartphone at home and utilize an MID with bluetooth and voice service? Why wouldn't I do that?

I just hope that whomever the Sprint board finds to fill the CEO position does not chop things up, but takes a long hard look at all the assets within the portfolio and then makes decisions based on the future not just based on the past or present time. Only AT&T and Verizon have an equal set of assets.

WiMAX World USA - Chicago, IL

WiMAX World USA is about to kick off in Chicago and last night Sprint and Motorola demonstrated how the Xohm service will work when it is deployed. I would love to go to this event, but it wasn't a possibility this year, maybe next year. What I missed most was the demo that was given last night on the Chicago River. Sprint set up four towers along the river to demonstrate that mobile WiMAX will work even when switching from tower to tower. Motorola has a press release for the event, and a fellow bloger was able to attend and documented his experience very well. Check out the story by By Eric Bangeman from ars technica. Here's the link to the Moto Release.

Here's the Sprint press release via Yahoo.

Xohm is Coming

Sprint has released a new marketing video about Xohm at the Xohm homepage. Hit the link below and then select "About Xohm" on the page.

Xohm is Coming

More Gphone Musing

SmartMoney had a story about the gPhone and made some really good points. I like to read what the wallstreet analysts have to write about technology and I found the story to be well written. As I have previously written I think that Google is looking for an ecosystem to support an open source type of OS like maybe a Linux based system that has the Google infrastructure to support Google applications like Talk, Maps, Earth, Spreadsheet, Documents, Calendar, Contacts, Photos, Videos, and all the other on-line Google apps. Additionally I think the devices will be GPS enabled so the user will get realtime Maps and Earth location information. The discussions about Google funding a Gphone by selling advertising on the device would be ground breaking and I really don't see how that would work, others talk about a device like the iPhone or iPod, but I can't see that either. Here are a couple of connect the dot type things that I've found coinsidense maybe. I won't be surprised to see HTC and Palm devices that are developed with and for Google. Digitimes has a story about HTC "HTC is still paying close attention to the latest developments in Linux technology." This quote may or may not mean anything or it could be an invitation or a table setting of something bigger to be announced in the next six to twelve months. Another theory or idea that is being spread around is the idea of Google and now Apple bidding on 700 MHz spectrum set to be auctioned by the FCC in 2008. I really don't see either of these companies getting into providing a network, and if they did I would think they would partner with a known entity to provide operational support and they'd have to partner with chip manufactures to create a chipset and then partner with device manufactures to embed the chips. I really think we will see a multilevel collaboration between Google, HTC/Palm, and Sprint (Xohm) utilizing Intel chips. Google and Sprint publicly have announced a partnership, Palm has been working on their Linux based OS for about four years now, and Intel is providing Wi-Max chips to help power the Sprint Xohm ecosystem of consumer electronics. I don't think that these devices will be limited to Smartphone types either I think we will see a new class of UMPC that may look like a Palm Foleo, Nokia's N800, Samsung SPH-P9200, or OQO Model 02 and have Xohm and EVDOrevA support, with video phone, gps, bluetooth, wifi, SD and micoSD expansion. As I read more articles and blog posts I'll add new posts on this topic, because I really think 2008 will be a "watershed" year for mobile data devices that come in small packages, but really pack a punch. As a former Platinum frequent flier I know I would have loved to ditch my heavy laptop and my bulky smartphone for an OQO model 02 with broadband and the smallest mobile phone I could find and if I could sync my calendar and contacts of my little phone with my OQO wirelessly even better.

Another Writer Muses About Wi-MAX

I've found another writer interested in Sprint's Xohm Wi-MAX 4G network, Ross Rubin. Mr. Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment on Engadget.com. He has written a two part story about the Xohm service and the consumer electronic devices that Sprint would like to see utilize the mobile broadband service. Mr. Rubin also references an article from telephonyonline.com that’s worth a read. I’m looking forward to a mobile XBOX that has Xohm service so I can play Tiger Woods 2008 or Halo 3 on XBOX Live while on my lunch break.

Check out the links below:
Switched On: The WiMAX window (Part 1)
Switched On: The WiMAX Window (Part 2)
Rethinking WiMAX

Sprint Sees Growth Beyond Cell Phones

There's another good article by Peter Svensson an AP Technology Writer about the Sprint 4G/Wi-MAX/Xohm effort. The stock market analysts are almost all taking a wait and see attitude towards this new technology and network roll out of Sprint's. I'm also a "believe when I see" type of person, but I can't pretended that the idea of the network isn't exciting. Read the article on Yahoo.

Another 4G UMPC

Raon Digital has announced a new WiBro device for Korea and it makes me wonder if devices like this will be successful in the U.S. when Sprint has completed their XOHM roll out? UMPC devices really facinate me, because I'm not sure the right design has been demonstrated yet and the other question I have is who do you market it to? Is it the business traveler, the student? It will be interesting to see if these ever gain any market share from laptops. More details from aving.net below.
"SEOUL, Korea (AVING) -- Raon Digital announced the release of its new UMPC ‘EVERUN’ equipped with built-in WiBro module in Korea market, which supports 802.11b/g WLAN, Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity and HSDPA/Wibro. In particular, the new EVERUN enables users to enjoy 3G mobile communication service via a SIM card. Weighing only 460g, the EVERUN adopted 4.8-inch WVGA(800x480) LCD featuring auto-rotation and auto-brightness control function. It offers up to seven hours (12 hours with a large battery) of battery life thanks to its power saving AMD Geode processor and high capacity lithium-ion battery. It is available in October of this year."

Samsung 4G Forum 2007 in Korea

aving.net is covering the Samsung 4G Forum 2007 in Korea and captured the below information and images of an updated UMPC that I previously posted about. You can also see these images on Giz.

"SEOUL, Korea (AVING) -- Samsung Electronics unveiled its compact UMPC 'Deluxe MITs(model: SPH-P9200)' at the Samsung 4G Forum 2007 in Korea market. As a successor model of SPH-P9000, it can connect to wireless internet and VoIP phone via Mobile WiMax. Running on Windows XP, the SPH-P9200 adopts 5-inch touch screen, folding QWERTY keyboard and 30GB HDD."