WiMax has long been seen as a potential competitor to cellular-based data networks, allowing a combination of high speeds and reasonable range.  Plus roaming between access points is supposed to be way easier to manage than normal WiFi connections.  Of course, it also requires a whole new infrastructure to be built out and it isn’t backwards compatible with other technologies such as WiFi, so it is a bit of a hard sell to drive adoption.  Still, companies are developing solutions.  Sprint has been working on their XOHM network for a while now, with a launch expected any day now or in several months, depending on who is giving statements to the press on any given day.

Things like this seem to take off more quickly in Europe, with more densely populated cities and a populace generally more willing to adopt the new technologies.  And so it is that Amsterdam was the target of a WiMax network launch this week.  With access priced at 20 Euro per month and unlimited download capacity the offering is priced lower than most other broadband options, so they’ve got a chance to take over a decent market share.  At the same time, however, the company’s management acknowledges that unless they are able to expand their coverage area and their subscriber base pretty significantly that they won’t be able to stick around too long.

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This summer is slowly turning into the hottest mobile season ever. All major manufacturers have at least one "super phone" in the pipeline. Here are some of the upcoming devices side by side:

(1) EVDO Rev.A.

(2) Initial release will be on Quadband GSM, a CDMA release is planned for later this year.

(3) The OS on the Sprint Instinct is "closed", no system currently exists to develop or add applications.

(4) The iPhone, HTC Diamond and SonyErcisson Xperia X1 all support Microsoft Activesync email, which requires a third party service. The iPhone will support the upcoming Apple MobileMe service which includes push email ($99/year).

(5) No US operator has openly committed to releasing this phone on their network.

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At present I’m in a hotel room with a NovAtel XU870 on AT&T and a Sprint EX720 in a major city that’ll remain nameless. The location of the room (corner room, many buildings around, back-side of the hotel, facing an alley, mid-level floor) ensures ‘interesting’ coverage. So, how do the fabled titans of WWAN stack up?

Read the rest of this entry »

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Originally Posted by Internal Sprint Memo

"Sprint reserves the right to limit throughput speeds or amount of data transferred and to deny, terminate, modify, or suspend service if usage exceeds 5GB per month in total or 300MB/month while off-network roaming. Check your subscriber agreement rights on Sprint.com"

It looks like Sprint will be the last of the big 3G operators to move to a capped data transfer service. Both AT&T and Verizon have had documented limits on their broadband data services, but Sprint was always the best of the bunch both on speed and terms of service.

But clearly all their new "unlimited" plans are costing them more data than they planned for, because on July 31st they will be introducing a 5Gb monthly limit. Of course, this is all speculation off a bulletin board of Sprint users, but most information from that source has been spot on in the past.

Thumbs down Sprint, thumbs WAY down.

Source: Sprintusers.com via Gizmodo.

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It’s clear that I know (too) little about Verizon, because when I came across their press release announcing a new, cheaper data plan for their smartphone lineup, I was surprised that it had taken them this long…

E-mail and Web for Smartphone is available for $29.99 monthly access with a qualifying voice plan through business sales channels, at www.verizonwireless.com and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores, including those in Circuit City. The plan is currently available on the Verizon Wireless SMT5800; the Verizon Wireless XV6800 and the MOTO Q9m. Other devices will be added within the next few months. An E-mail and Web for BlackBerry® plan is currently available.

It’s not a bad deal, considering they offer pretty decent EVDO coverage, though it’s not immediately clear whether the plan is available for current customers who are paying upwards of $59 for their smartphone data.

Source: Verizon Wireless

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If you are looking for a new, unlocked mobile phone then check out the inventory "blowout" over at Amazon. Some decent (and not so decent) deals on anything from a pink Sanyo to a purple LG with a dash of mobile broadband cards thrown in.

They are also offering some "no service required" phones for Sprint and Verizon, which is quite rare. Spare yourself the hassle and potential problems of Ebay, and see if any of their discounted lineup fits your needs.

Purchase link

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I know I’ve been pretty harsh on Palm in the past weeks, it’s hard not to be disappointed by them. But apparently by July all their troubles could be over when they release the Treo 800W.

Last week a Sprint summer lineup roadmap was leaked and subsequently removed because of legal threats, which is usually a sign that it is real.

The Treo 800W is supposedly a Windows Mobile 6.1 device, with a 320×320 screen (a first on a Windows device), real GPS, WiFi (a first on a Palm Treo), options for camera or no camera and Rev.A EVDO (another first on a Treo). As always with a new Treo, Sprint seems to be getting the sole rights on it for a couple of months

All in all it looks only moderately impressive. But when you look what the competition has to offer, then it’s clear that Palm is still a few years behind the rest. I had hoped for something truly revolutionary from Palm, or at least something that would be a departure from the 5 year old Treo form factor.

In a world where the Blackberry still rules the corporate world and newcomers like Apple and HTC are eating away market share from everyone, I had expected more from Palm.

Source: Palminfocenter

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Last year Verizon surprised everyone by claiming they would open up their network to any CDMA phone that could pass a simple approval test.

Details have finally been released on how this works, and it turns out to be a bit of a crock. The phone has to support CDMA (makes sense), but it also has to support the US E911 emergency system. This essentially means that all the "cool" phones from other CDMA countries (like Korea) will never pass the test.

In fact, I doubt there is a single CDMA phone with E911 that isn’t already supported and approved for use by Verizon. Why would any company make a CDMA device and not have it available for the largest CDMA provider in the country? In reality the entire program will most likely only benefit niche applications and be of no use to us commoners.

You can read more about the Verizon "open development" program here.

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