Hasta La Gadget!

In a presumed effort to shake up the Japanese wireless industry and provide consumers with 3G-equipped PCs that aren’t tied to multi-year contracts, Hewlett-Packard has quietly announced a deal with Japan Communications that will allow its machines to be sold with SIM cards that can be used on a pay-as-you-go basis. For those unaware, JCI leases network space from NTT DoCoMo, and as part of the agreement, HP will not only get to choose which devices can connect, but it’ll get to keep a nice slice of the mobile data revenue as well. Here’s the crazy part: the initial wave of netbooks will be sold for between $50 and $100 sans contract. That’s about what users pay in America now for subsidized WWAN-ready netbooks, but there’s a two-year contract tagging along. If all goes well, we could even see full-sized laptops, smartphones and digital cameras hop on the same bandwagon, but for now, we’ll be keenly watching how brisk sales are when things kick off next month.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Tablet PCs, Wireless, Internet

HP to sell contract-free, WWAN-equipped PCs in Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Laptops bundled with mobile telephony contracts rarely arouse our penny-pinching passions, but UK carriers are getting pretty aggressive with pricing for the Samsung NC10. Vodafone takes the lead by offering the extraordinarily well-reviewed netbook for free with a £25 ($40) monthly tariff over two years, which makes for a total contract cost of £600 ($972), or just over twice the retail price of the device — that, dear friends, is a good deal. Packages from the other carriers are similarly stonking, coalescing around the £30 ($48) per month mark, with Three standing out by asking for only an 18-month commitment. We’d prefer even shorter contracts, but can’t quibble too much with the value on offer.

Read – O2 (£29.38/month for 24 months, 3GB limit)
Read – Three (£30/month for 18 months, 5GB limit)
Read – T-Mobile (£30/month for 24 months, 5GB limit)
Read – Vodafone (£25/month for 24 months, 1GB limit)

Filed under: Laptops

Samsung NC10 being offered by UK carriers, Vodafone’s pricing surprisingly good originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember that Novatel MiFi 2352 we got our hands on a few months back? Well, it looks like it got a little makeover just in time for yesterday’s launch on Telefonica Espana. While we’re digging the look of the thing, it’s what’s going on under the hood that really piqued our interest: Adding to the usual WiFi connectivity and encryption, this guy sports two processors, a separate Linux OS and additional flash RAM for hosting and running third party apps accessible to its WiFi clients. If anything, this suggests that Novatel has “big plans for the platform,” as SlashGear notes. While available apps are currently limited to Alcatel-Lucent’s Nonstop Laptop Guardian (a user admin package for enterprise users) we’re looking forward to seeing what the company and its partners cook up in the future. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s commence with the unboxing. Shall we? Video’s after the break.

Continue reading Video: Novatel Wireless’ GSM MiFi 2352 launches on Telefonica Espana

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Networking

Video: Novatel Wireless’ GSM MiFi 2352 launches on Telefonica Espana originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:43:00 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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Being that Release Candidate 1 just hit the tubes, we weren’t really expecting a big Windows 7 presence at Computex this year. Much to our surprise, Viliv has announced that it will be showcasing the first official Win7-powered MID at the Taiwan-based show later this week. The heralded S5 will be the lucky device, with a duo of WiMAX-equipped cousins (X70 EX and S7) hanging around to demonstrate live video streaming. Needless to say, we’ll be doing everything we can to drop by and see how things are going.

[Via CNET]

Filed under: Handhelds

Microsoft showing off Windows 7-powered Viliv S5 MID at Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 31 May 2009 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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