Hasta La Gadget!

Looking for one more excuse to stay inside and avoid that sweltering Las Vegas heat this summer? Good news, gamblers — Clearwire’s CLEAR WiMAX service has officially gone live across 638 square miles in the greater Las Vegas area. By the books, that’s serving right around 1.7 million residents, not including the influx of tourists from other WiMAX-equipped cities that will undoubtedly take advantage. To coincide with the launch, Samsung has also announced that its QWERTY-packin’, DivX-friendly Mondi — which we toyed with back at CTIA — will be available in Vegas-area Best Buy and Clearwire outlets starting August 1st. Said MID arrives with 4G support, WiFi, GPS, 3 megapixel camera, a QWERTY keypad, a 4.3-inch touchscreen, Opera 9.5 and a customizable set of widgets on top of Windows Mobile. The device is supposedly available now through Samsung’s website and “select Samsung authorized distributors,” but we’re having no lucky hunting one down at present time.

Read – CLEAR in Las Vegas
Read – Samsung Mondi shipping

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

CLEAR WiMAX goes live in Las Vegas, Samsung Mondi ships to take advantage originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Comcast on Monday announced that it will launch its 4G mobile broadband service in the Portland area via the Clearwire network starting Tuesday.

The service, dubbed 2go, will only be available if bundled with one or more of Comcast’s Internet, phone, or cable services.

Comcast is offering two data cards and service plans: 2go Metro, which offers 4G service in the Portland area; or 2go Nationwide, which offers 4G service in Portland, and 3G service nationwide via Sprint’s network.

The 2go service will be bundled in “Fast Pack” offerings.

Fast Pack Metro will be available for $49.99 and includes Comcast’s 12 Mbps Internet service, a Wi-Fi router, and 4G service with up to 4 Mbps download speed. Fast Pack Nationwide will run $69.99 per month with the same services, plus Sprint nationwide.

Triple Play customers who subscribe to voice, cable, and Internet will be able to add 2go starting at $30 per month.

A version of 2go will also be available for small- and medium-sized businesses.

In May 2008, Sprint agreed to take over the combined WiMAX operations of Clearwire in a deal backed by tech titans Comcast, Google, Intel, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks. In June 2009, Clearwire quietly launched its Clear WiMax service in Las Vegas today, but Sprint demurred, keeping the two companies’ WiMax systems still separate for now.

Sure, Clearwire has actually been running its WiMAX network in Atlanta for six weeks already, but that technicality isn’t stopping the company from deciding now is the time to “launch” the service in the metro area, with an appropriately-sized marketing blitz to boot. Portland travelers already using the service should feel at home now with their own personal 4G network to keep them company while they engorge on the recommended dosage of Chik-Fil-A sandwiches and Varsity chili dogs. Prices are identical to what we’ve already heard and, yes, even though the company just quietly launched the service in Las Vegas, expect to see the delayed red carpet rollout for that city sometime later this Summer.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Clearwire’s WiMAX ordained with official Atlanta launch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Clearwire‘s been slowly planting its WiMAX seeds around the country, and with nary a peep, it’s rolled out the service into the Las Vegas area, designated by the image above. According to a company rep, the “official” launch — including new store openings and a marketing blitz — will begin this summer, but for now, it’s operational and ready for those in the know. Portland and Atlanta vacationers, you can now watch your online bank account dwindle faster than you ever could before.

[Via Fierce Wireless; thanks, Zachery]

Read – Clearwire Goes Soft in Vegas
Read – Clear coverage map

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Clearwire sneaks WiMAX into Las Vegas, won’t admit it until Summer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T on Wednesday announced plans to significantly boost its 3G network performance and begin testing its new 4G network over the next two years.

The 3G upgrade involves boosting the network to High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2, which the company claims will double peak speeds of the current network, from 3.6 megabits per second to 7.2Mbps. AT&T said these improvements would begin later this year, and that it would also be releasing phones capable of handling the higher speeds.

AT&T’s release did not mention Apple’s next-generation iPhone or indicate whether the new iPhone, which is expected to be announced June 8, would include a 3G speed upgrade.

Farther down the road, AT&T will begin trials of its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in 2010 with plans to begin deployment in 2011. LTE is a new wireless technology that is expected to become a global standard. Many domestic and international carriers, including Verizon, have announced plans to adopt LTE for their next-generation networks as well.

This news appears to be a competitive move from AT&T in response to recent statements from Verizon. Verizon’s chief executive Ivan Seidenberg recently said Apple would likely consider sharing the iPhone with Verizon once the telecom company began upgrading to LTE in 2010. Thus, this announcement may be AT&T’s effort to retain its current iPhone customer base as well as its exclusive relationship with Apple.

Press Release [AT&T]

Photo: ktylerconk/Flickr