Hasta La Gadget!

Get ready for fourth-generation wireless data. Now that 4G networks are popping up around the country, it’s only a matter of time before 4G-compatible phones show up in stores. Like, how about this summer?

According to a Forbes report, Sprint aims to launch the first 4G phone this summer, much sooner than many analysts expected. HTC, which also brought us the Nexus One, will be making the handset, using Android as the software platform.

The announcement is a part of Sprint’s aggressive campaign to push its WiMax 4G network as an alternative to the much slower 3G networks currently used by other carriers.

4G, the forth generation of wireless networks, would provide speeds of up to 10 Mbps, making it much more enjoyable for things like streaming movies, downloading applications or multiplayer gaming. By comparison, 3G networks offer just 1-3 Mbps.

Sprint has been selling a number of other WiMax products such as PC card adapters, modems and hotspot devices like the Sprint Overdrive shown above. Dell recently announced its Mini 10 netbook with an option to upgrade to a WiMax-enabled card.

WiMax currently covers roughly 30 million people in 27 U.S. markets, and Sprint plans to add Boston, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington to the list by the end of the year. This would bring the total coverage up to 120 million people.

“2010 will be the year of 4G,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint’s CEO, in the company’s most recent earnings call, according to Forbes.

Carriers in Europe and Japan have been making a push for next-generation networks as well. More than 800 million people by the end of this year, and over a billion by the end of next, will be able to enjoy 4G worldwide.

Since coverage in the U.S. will still be spotty when the Sprint phone arrives, it will automatically switch to Sprint’s regular 3G network in places where 4G isn’t yet available.

Verizon’s 4G network, based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology instead of WiMax, is set to roll out later this year.

Photo: Dylan Tweney/Wired.com

When we were told market research pointed to WiMAX and LTE standards for 4G connectivity coexisting, we didn’t expect they’d do it quite so closely. Beceem, the maker of the WiMAX chips inside “every device in Clearwire’s network,” is working on a 4G modem that can handle both WiMAX and LTE, with the added extra of being able to move seamlessly between the two networks in order to find the best signal possible. The mashup of the two standards makes sense in light of all the equivocation from Clearwire and Sprint on the subject of which one they’d prefer, and would be a more than welcome simplification of our collective 4G future. Anyhow, the latest development is that Beceem and Motorola are working to pair the BCS500 to the latter’s WiMAX 4G infrastructure, with the first dual-mode chips set to start sampling “later this year” and hit mass production in early 2011.

Beceem’s BCS500 4G modem splices WiMAX and LTE into one chip, sampling later this year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung‘s just busted out some more news from MWC, and one of the hottest items on offer are its LTE netbooks — the first ever. Sammy’s showing off the previously launched 10.1-inch N150, NB30, and N220 — all with the same specs otherwise, but now packing the company’s own, in-house designed Kalmia LTE modem chipset. There’s no word yet as to when we can expect to see one of these bad boys on the market (though we certainly expect them to show up this year) — so far, Samsung’s only saying it’ll deploy them “according to service schedule and market demand.” You don’t say? Check the full press release which is after the break (which includes each model’s specs).

Continue reading Samsung shows off LTE-packing netbooks at MWC

Samsung shows off LTE-packing netbooks at MWC originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a country whose carriers’ phone lineups are dominated by domestic giants like NEC, Sony, Sharp, and Fujitsu, you wouldn’t necessarily think that the road to 4G would begin elsewhere — strangely, though, South Korea’s LG has garnered the honor of becoming the first company to have an LTE device certified by Japan’s TELEC, a necessary, FCC-like step to getting cellular equipment deployed in those parts. NTT DoCoMo, which intends to launch commercial LTE service later this year, is undoubtedly stoked to hear that the LD100 external modem is the lucky recipient of TELEC’s seal of approval (following FCC certification last year, coincidentally), meaning the carrier now has the green light to use it in trials. Considering that TeliaSonera’s already beaten DoCoMo to the punch with a live, customer-facing LTE network, are the days of being shocked and awed by Japan’s mobile tech drawing to a close, or are we just witnessing a little fluke here?

Japan certifies its first LTE device, LG says ‘whoa, ours?’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Clearwire (along with Sprint and Comcast, just to name a couple) has been fiercely expanding its WiMAX network across America for months on end now, and while select citizens in select cities have had access to the 4G superhighway for just over a year, we haven’t actually had the opportunity to find ourselves in one of those locations for any amount of time. Until recently, that is. The Clear 4G service was lit up in Las Vegas late last year, which gave the Engadget squad just enough time to scrounge up a gaggle of Motorola 4G USB sticks and really test out the network while at CES. Meanwhile, the North Carolinians among us were also able to test the boundaries of the 4G patches that have been setup here, and we’re finally ready to dish out a few opinions on the fourth generation of cellular data. Eager to know if it’s the best thing since sliced bread the invention of the MP3? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Clear WiMAX USB modem impressions

Clear WiMAX USB modem impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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