A few weeks back my man over at Nokia sent me their N810 Internet Tablet to play with (yeah,
that same one I watched launch over breakfast last Fall in San Francisco). It's a pretty interesting device, what with its 800 pixel wide, 4.13" touchscreen, slide-down QWERTY keyboard, full Web browser with Flash plug-in, Skype Client, and WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth connectivity... It's not a phone, though, and can't get onto cellular data networks without tethering to a Bluetooth handset. But that might be changing soon.
Nokia all but confirmed at said launch party that they'll release a WiMAX version of the device soon enough, and the rumor mill recently started pointing to an April 1 unveiling of the N810 WiMAX Edition to coincide with the beginning of CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas. Boy Genius Report seems to have put enough faith in a reader comment on their site to run a "Rumor Alert" post about the possible launch, and I've got a couple of sources of my own telling me they wouldn't be surprised to see a WiMAX tablet at Nokia's booth in a few weeks. Nokia's also hosting a "press conference in the sky" to kickoff CTIA on the 1st, and while I really have no idea what that's all about, a WiMAX device launch would fit in with the whole "sky" motif.
As for whether or not Sprint's going to get involved by way of (finally) rolling out their XOHM WiMAX service for reals with the N810 as its first device, your guess is as good as mine. I can tell you that Sprint's up to something they're pretty excited about but not yet ready to talk about publicly. I can also tell you that some successful WiMAX trials have been going on in a few cities around the country other than the Chicago and Baltimore-Washington, DC markets where XOHM soft-launched last December. But I can't tell you more than that just yet.
Don't fret, though - CTIA is less than two weeks away. Meantime, you can entertain yourself with BGR's rumor about a rumor.
