HTC Max 4G - My Dream device…
Posted by Diego Samuilov on 11/18/08 in Cell Carriers, Devices, GPS, HTC, Pocket PC Phones, Smart Phones, Streaming Video, WiMAX, Wifi / Bluetooth, Windows Mobile 6.1
A new device was announced by HTC and it passed right under our noses… the HTC Max 4G, the first WiMax phone. Recently announced by HTC and it is expected to be released in late November… only … it will be in … Russia! under the Yota carrier. 
This dream device sports 4G connectivity to a WiMax service that will provide blazingly fast data connection. It will also include the usual connections for all those aging GSM/GPRS/EDGE carriers out there… The screen is a beautiful WVGA 480 x 800 pixels, 3.8 inches diagonal that we all love from the HTC Touch HD, TouchFLO 3D, accelerometers for auto rotate, proximity for screen auto-turn off (which can heavily extend power management), 288Mb RAM, 256Mb ROM and a whopping 8Gb user available internal storage memory plus the corresponding extension slot for microSDHC.
WiMax in a UMPC
WiMax has had a very difficult roll out, by anyone’s estimation. When WiMax first came on the scene as a revolutionary replacement for WiFi, it was assumed by many people who are supposed to “know” such things that by now it would be the wireless standard. Like the paperless office, that has not exactly come to pass yet.
Many people say one of the key speed bumps that WiMax has hit has been a dearth of consumer products that implement the new standard, and I am inclined to agree. However, it is a traditional chick-or-egg scenario. Until WiMax networks are readily available to consumers, why produce products for them…but if there are no products, why spend the capital to deploy networks? Another blow came last week as Intel announced it was delaying until the end of the summer the long awaited Centrino Montevino chip that will include WiMax as an out-of-the-box wireless option.
However, hope may be on the horizon as VIA announced a new UMPC reference design called OpenBook, which is built around WiMax and other 3G technology (EV-DO and HSDPA) as well as WiFi.
ABI Research: Mobile WiMAX Faces a Diminishing Time-to-Market Advantage
Posted by gasusan2005 on 02/29/08 in WiMAX
Service providers with the right spectrum, available capital, and access to enough sites to place base stations are in a great position to take advantage of WiMAX’s headstart on the 4G market. But LTE (Long-Term Evolution) and UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband) are vying for 4G as well – and even though mobile WiMAX has a time-to-market advantage over LTE, delays in certifications by the WiMAX Forum (coupled with delays in network rollouts) could narrow that window of opportunity.
ABI Research is confident that UMB will not gain traction, as the true battle for 4G blossoms between mobile WiMAX and LTE.
“The biggest opportunity for mobile WiMAX is the chance to develop a wider device ecosystem and worldwide subscriber base before LTE starts to do the same,” says ABI Research principal analyst Philip Solis. “However, LTE remains a potential threat to WiMAX since 3GPP-backed LTE will become the dominant 4G technology and is progressing quickly toward standardization. Additionally, LTE is seeing early trials take place while moving into TDD (as well as FDD) spectrum territory.”
GSM-based networks represent the primary radio access network technology deployed, with over 80% of the installed base of base stations worldwide; so WCDMA networks generally will migrate to LTE (with Verizon Wireless being a notable exception). Eventually, this will translate to wider deployment at a faster rate than WiMAX. ABI Research forecasts that LTE subscriber numbers will surpass mobile WiMAX subscribers after 2015.
Around the same time that LTE rolls out, 802.16m, or WiMAX 2.0, will make its way into products. Just like LTE, 802.16m will be part of the IMT-Advanced set of technologies.
MWC: WiMAX Forum Announces Mobile WiMAX Certification Product Progress and Updates Technology Roadmap to Include 700 MHz
Posted by gasusan2005 on 02/12/08 in Mobile World Congress, WiMAX
WiMAX Forum, Members Promote Mobile WiMAX at 2008 GSMA Mobile World Congress
The WiMAX Forum today announced that 28 Mobile WiMAX products in the 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz frequency bands have been submitted for WiMAX Forum certification since WiMAX Forum labs began accepting applications from vendors in late 2007. The organization further announced its official decision in support of significant market demand to expand the WiMAX Forum product development roadmap for Mobile WiMAX certification in the 700 MHz frequency band. These updates were delivered as part of a media luncheon hosted by the WiMAX Forum at 2008 GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
“With more than 260 commercial WiMAX deployments rolled-out on a global basis, WiMAX technology is the only commercially available OFDMA-based wireless technology today to support the rapid expansion of mobile broadband Internet access and the broad proliferation of the open Internet concept that so many mobile service providers are talking about here this week,” said Ron Resnick, president of the WiMAX Forum. “We expect this momentum to be evident at Mobile World Congress and at the upcoming WiMAX Forum Congress event series.”
