Samsung, Intel, and Sprint-Nextel had a unified presence at 3GSM this
year to demonstrate Mobile WiMax.
The three devices
that Samsung demonstrated are prime examples of what we could see in
2008 here in the US. Read More for the complete story in words and
pictures.
Ever since Sprint announced their intention to move to WiMax
in August of last year, questions have arisen as to what kinds of
devices we could expect to see that would take full advantage of all of
the bandwidth available with WiMax.
It’s a given that we will see WiMax PCMCIA/ExpressCards, and
USB dongles, but as far as other devices go, will they remain similar
to standard wireless phones or will they resemble UMPCs and small
tablets? The next few examples shown will hopefully shed some light on
the variety of devices already planned.
The SPH-P9000 is a device with many features that would place it
squarely in the UMPC class of portable computing devices.
The device features a dual-band dual-mode Mobile WiMax/CDMA 1xEVDO
radio, a 1.3 megapixel camera, a 5 inch widescreen display running at
WVGA (800×480) resolution, 256MB RAM, 1Ghz Transmeta CPU, 30GB HDD with
Windows XP
Professional, collapsible QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth with accompanying
short range messaging client, microSD slot, miniUSB and proprietary 24
pin connectors, an Extended I/O Pack that serves as a docking station,
and a 2880mAh battery with the option to upgrade to a 7200mAh battery.
This device has been confirmed for launch in South Korea, but no
overseas launches are confirmed at this time.
The SPH-M8100 is by all accounts a typical Samsung slider phone.
Stylish, thin, and feature packed, the device would not look out of
place in Seoul or anywhere else in South Korea.
What sets it apart from the multitude of handsets? This phone
is one of the first Windows Mobile 5.0 devices with WiMax built in. The
phone has a single band CDMA 1xEVDO radio as well, but ithe band
supported is not the 1700Mhz used in South Korea, rather it is the
1900Mhz band used in the US.
The phone has 128MB ROM and 64MB of RAM, a 2.8 inch 65K color
touchscreen display at QVGA resolution, 2.0 megapixel main camera for
video and pictures, as well as a front mounted VGA camera meant for
video calling.
As is typical with South Korean handsets this one includes a
transceiver for T-DMB digital television (Terrestrial Digital Mobile
Broadcast), Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP suppport, USB port, support for
editing of Microsoft Office documents, integrated Digital Power Amp for
enjoyment of music and media, support for multiple audio/video formats,
and memory expansion through an MMCmicro slot.
Thhe phone has been confirmed for launch in South Korea in the first
half of the year, but the presence of CDMA 1900 leaves the possibility
open for US release with nothing confirmed at this time.
The last device shown was a USB dongle with both Mobile WiMax support
and HSDPA support. The dongle also includes a UICC slot to presumably
insert some type of SIM card though no specific types of cards were
mentioned. The dongle is supported under Windows 2000 and XP, but no
mention was made of any support for Windows Vista.
into the types of devices we will be seeing in the near future. Only
time will tell if WiMax truly lives up to its potential, but after
seeing these examples, WiMax could finally bring the dream of a
ubiquitous network into reality. We at PhoneNews will continue to
follow up on any and all 4G developments and will bring you news as it
happens.
