Hasta La Gadget!

Sprint and Clearwire’s WiMAX service has been making occasional cameos throughout the five boroughs since at least June, but now it’s official: the service has been launched, closing up one of the most conspicuous holes in coverage so far. This matches up nicely with the San Francisco go-live we reported on earlier today, so you’ll now be able to take your red eye from the Big Apple to the City by the Bay without fear that your EVO’s going to get slow when you go wheels-down. Plans run from $25 a month (for the iSpot) all the way up to $55 for a mixed-mode WiMAX and EV-DO data stick, which works out to somewhere between 0.00001 and 0.0003 percent of your housing costs in Manhattan. Glass is half full, y’know.

[Thanks, Marcus]

Update: We’ve just been contacted by Clear and told that New York’s still in the “operational readiness” phase of the go-live, which means hardware’s only being offered to customers in limited areas and not all hardware is available (notably, the iSpot isn’t yet being offered). Same goes for Los Angeles. San Francisco, meanwhile, isn’t yet there — we’re told there might be some limited pockets where service is showing up, but Clear hasn’t commercially launched there, even on a limited scale. For what it’s worth, all of these areas are still expected to go fully live in 2010, they’re just not quite there yet.

Clear WiMAX is live in New York City (updated: semi-live) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Clear  | Email this | Comments

The CDMA-equipped Samsung Galaxy Tab has so far been nothing more than a sticker in a random snapshot and some whispers about Verizon, but Boy Genius Report is saying that the Tab’s also bound for Sprint‘s network this November, on both its 3G and 4G (i.e. WiMAX) network — à la the Galaxy S / Epic 4G. No word from Sammy HQ on this one, but it’s worth noting that in our briefing, a Samsung rep mentioned that an American carrier could put Qik on it and, well, that’s kind of Sprint’s thing. We don’t suppose anyone heard its preferred dessert choice in the process, hm?

Galaxy Tab with WiMAX coming to Sprint this November? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Boy Genius Report  | Email this | Comments

Looks like the prepaid wireless data market is starting to heat up: Clearwire just launched its Rover service, which offers 4G wireless data for as little as $5 a day — with two free days included when you first sign up. That’s not bad if you just need a quick hit here or there, although you need to pony up $150 for that Rover Puck WiFi hotspot we saw at the FCC last month or $100 for a USB stick, and anything more than a day quickly becomes less of a deal at $20/week and $50/month. Oh, and it’s 4G-only, so if you’re not living or working in a WiMAX city you’re out of luck. Still, those prices aren’t terribly out of line with the competition, although we might be more inclined to choose Virgin’s $40/mo prepaid MiFi and settle for 3G speeds while getting more coverage. Decisions, decisions — what a wonderful problem to have. PR after the break.

Continue reading Clearwire’s Rover service goes live, offers $5/day 4G service

Clearwire’s Rover service goes live, offers $5/day 4G service originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Rover  | Email this | Comments

Infineon, the company behind the baseband chips inside your super-duper new phone, is about to cash out from the wireless industry courtesy of Intel’s insatiable appetite. The Wireless Solutions Business (WLS), which accounted for nearly a third of Infineon’s €3 billion ($3.83b) revenue last year, is being sold to the American chipmaker for a cool $1.4 billion. For its part, Intel is quick to reassure the world (and its antitrust authorities) that WLS will continue to operate as a standalone business and continue to support ARM-based devices. Chipzilla’s perfectly innocent ploy is to harness Infineon’s knowhow in future smartphone, tablet and laptop products, providing both the processing and wireless capabilities. Specifically mentioned in the news release is Intel’s ambition to “accelerate 4G LTE” through this deal, while also not neglecting its ongoing efforts with WiMAX, with the overarching strategy being described as “a combined path.” We should know more about where this path will take us when the acquisition is completed in the first quarter of next year.

Continue reading Intel gobbles up Infineon’s mobile unit in $1.4 billion deal, looks to ‘accelerate 4G LTE’

Intel gobbles up Infineon’s mobile unit in $1.4 billion deal, looks to ‘accelerate 4G LTE’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

It looks like New Yorkers may finally get 4G next month. The high-speed wireless network, run by Clearwire but also available from Sprint, Time Warner Cable and various other companies, has been up and down in New York City for weeks as Clearwire has been testing it, Sprint spokeswoman Stephanie Vinge told me on Twitter.

Walking through the Queens Center Mall today, though, I found a Clearwire store promising to open in September. They could open the store as an information kiosk without a network available, but it would help pay the rent if they could actually sell modems.

To double check, I emailed both Sprint and Clearwire. Clearwire spokeswoman Susan Johnston said, “In advance of Clearwire’s commercial 4G launches we
regularly conduct operational readiness activities, which include
preparing our local market retail presence.  These activities are
underway in a number of cities, including NYC.  As we stated during our
recent 2Q earnings call, we expect to launch commercial service in NYC
by the end of the year, but we are not providing additional details at
this time.”

Looks like some white paint at the Queens Center Mall may be providing additional details!