PhoneDog.com - The latest about the Nokia N810 Wimax Edition

ARTICLE: WiMax: Some thoughts on Sprint's XOHM launch and the future of mobile broadband

10/1/2008 5:45:00 PM

Sprint launched its WiMAX service, "XOHM," in its first public market earlier this week. Customers in Baltimore, MD can now sign up for daily and/or monthly mobile broadband service thanks to the US' first commercial deployment of next-gen wireless internet service, and Sprint's going to be rolling out XOHM (which operates on the 802.16e standard, in case you were curious) next in Chicago, Washington DC, Providence, RI, Boston, and Dallas.

I'm really excited about XOHM and "4G" mobile broadband services like WiMax and LTE, in general. Combined with the advent of open platforms like Nokia's S60 and Google's Android and promises of open networks from the likes of Verizon Wireless here in the States, services like XOHM could really help make good on the promise of catch phrases like, "Internet Anywhere" and "Cloud Computing."

For the uninitiated, think of WiMAX as a sort of step forward from the cellular data services that currently bring Web and Email to smartphones. The service promises much faster speeds than cellular data, and could conceivably replace both cellular data plans (EV-DO and HSDPA) and home broadband connections (DSL and Cable Modem) once its up to snuff. Based on XOHM's pricing and promises, the potential is huge for everyone from students to small business owners to road warriors and virtual telecommuters like me.

XOHM's allure is always on Net connectivity at a reasonable price with speeds more like Cable modem than cellular. XOHM currently offers four service plans: $35/mo for home-only access, $45/mo for mobile access, $65/mo for two-device access (home and mobile modems), and $10/day for a 24 hour pass. XOHM is currently offering promotional prices on all three monthly services, including $50/mo for life special on the two-device setup, and you'll have to pony up another $60 for an ExpressCard modem for your Windows laptop (Mac is not supported) or $80 for a home modem that can be connected to a WiFi router. More modems and a few dedicated devices - including the Nokia N810 WiMax Edition tablet computer - are coming soon.

For someone like me who pays for my own Net access at home, at my office, and on the go, XOHM could be a dream come true. $50/month for two device service would save me about $50 each month: With a home modem I could hook up to a WiFi router and a modem for my laptop, my wife and I could share service in the house (as we currently do with our cable modem) and I could have laptop access on the go and at my office (where I pay for a share of another cable modem account). I carry my laptop from home to the office and back each day, anyway, so having a XOHM account tethered to my laptop would be just fine.

XOHM wouldn't do anything about my cellular data expenses, but I'm only spending six bucks each month for T-Mobile's T-Zones plan right now, anyway. Cellular access for my laptop is still too expensive for how little I'd probably use it. But a DSL-class connection like the one XOHM promises could work for me both at the office and when, every so often, I'm on the road.

PC Magazine's Sascha Seagan posted an early review of XOHM this morning, and his hands-on trial of the service in Baltimore speaks more to me than any marketing material could. Seagan writes about both the huge potential of XOHM and the drawbacks of a new network technology that faces two major hurdles to its stated goal of becoming a mainstream alternative to cellular and DSL/Cable Modem broadband: network coverage and inconsistent speeds.

"When XOHM worked well, I could do things I'd never before dreamed of doing over a cellular connection," Seagan writes. "A 720p movie trailer streamed along for more than a minute before needing to buffer again. In essence, it was a big, fat pipe heading into my laptop."

Segan goes on to say that "XOHM mopped the floor with existing cellular networks ... With a strong signal, I saw download speeds averaging 3.6Mbps, with my fastest test at a blazing 7.1Mbps. That's faster than my home cable connection! "Good" upload speeds varied from 416Kbps on up to a really impressive 2.1Mbps." On average, he got 2.3Mbps down and 915Kbps up from XOHM in Baltimore, which is within the advertised range of 2-4Mbps down and 500-1500Kbps up. By comparison, Seagan got around 700-900Kbps with a peak of 1.9Mbps for downloads on Verizon Wireless' EV-DO network.

The two problems with XOHM in this test were consistency and latency when compared to DSL or Cable-based WiFi connections. While XOHM bested EV-DO pretty much across the board, it was either better, worse, or on par with WiFi depending on when and where Seagan was testing. "7Mbps (download speed) in one place, 2Mbps in another," he wrote. "And XOHM's upload speeds are slower than high-end wired solutions."

The article goes into much more detail and is definitely worth a read if you're interested in early tests of XOHM. Me, I'm waiting for the service to come to the San Francisco Bay Area so I can try it for myself. I've long been tempted to give up my home and office cable modems in favor of an EV-DO data plan (in the name of saving money), but the speeds just aren't there yet. XOHM - and other forms of WiMax and, come 2010, LTE - carries the promise of wireless broadband that's fast enough to replace the wires of Cable and DSL for most consumer and small business use cases.

As someone who currently pays Comcast twice to use the same service in two different locations, I can't wait to trade two bills for one even if it means carrying a laptop modem around. XOHM should be rolling out in those next five markets pretty soon. I sure hope my neck of the woods is on deck for the batch after that. More importantly, though, I hope the service catches on quickly enough to make it worth XOHM's while to do what they need to do to develop a robust, stable WiMax network that makes good on those promises of fast, affordable connectivity that doesn't keep us tethered to DSL or Cable wires. Now that would be something.

ARTICLE: Future Talk: Netbooks and MIDs will have 3G/3G built-in. So what?

9/4/2008 12:00:00 AM

There's been a lot of talk over the past several months about Netbooks and now MIDs. Netbooks are ultra-light, ultra-portable, low cost laptop computers like the Asus Eee PC, MSI Wind, Lenovo S10, and Dell Inspiron 910 Mini - they generally have screens in the 7-10" range, run an Intel Atom or similar low-powered chip, and cost in teh neighborhood of $400-500 (or more, depending on the configuration). MIDs are smaller tablet-like devices like the Nokia N810 that are less like laptops than oversized cell phones, and generally feature a touchscreen and/or sliding QWERTY thumboard. While few MIDs are actually shipping in America, Intel recently showed off a host of the devices at the Intel Developers' Forum in San Francisco.

So why do I bring this up? Well, first there was word that Xohm, the Sprint/Clearwire WiMax venture, will finally be launching this Fall with the Nokia N810 WiMax Edition on board as its first standalone device (alongside of some USB modems and portable routers). Then I heard that two cellular carriers in Europe will soon be offering 3G-capable Netbooks: T-Mobile will carry the Eee PC while Vodafone looks to be onboard with the Dell Inspiron Mini.

But is there really a market for two new classes of connected mobile devices? While I totally get it - Netbooks and MIDs both offer greater power and larger displays than smartphones, and are more portable than full-sized laptops - I'm not entirely sold on the idea that enough people will see huge advantages in carrying these devices in addition to or instead of smartphones and conventional laptops. Wireless broadband is available to laptop users by way of USB and ExpressCard modems that connect to cellular carriers' EV-DO and HSPA networks, and WiMax, LTE, and other 4G solutions will involve similar laptop-based solutions, as well.

So why the need for a Netbook or a MID? Me, I ordered a Netbook partially out of professional curiosity and partially in hopes that it can serve as my "Trade Show Machine." While my Apple MacBook isn't all that heavy, after three 10 hour days on the show floor, every extra ounce in my shoulder bag takes its toll. The prospect of a 2.5lb Netbook standing in for my 5 lb laptop is thus an appealing one. I also like the idea of carrying a $400 machine all over Vegas for four days while leaving my $1,000 machine (which, more imporantly, houses lots of precious data) at home where it's safer and sounder. Whether or not a Netbook can handle basic video editing remains to be seen, but the point is that for me, anyway the Netbook has a potential niche use in my professional life. A 3G/4G-enabled Netbook would be all the better, though WiFi is ubiqitious enough where I usually go that it doesn't matter all that much.

A MID, on the other hand, might not do that much for me. But I can only imagine niche uses similar to my personal case for the Netbook that have other folks all excited about this new form factor - particularly if it comes with always-connected wireless broadband.

So I turn to you, fair reader, to ask: Netbook? MID? Do you want one? Do you care? Why or why not? Would you rather see a WiMax-enabled Nokia N810 tablet or Lenovo S10 Netbook, or a WiMax-enabled Android phone or Windows Mobile powerhouse? Or is there room in your gadget bag for a smartphone, laptop, and one of these new-fangled Internet devices?

ARTICLE: Xohm: Sprint Ready to Launch WiMax Service

9/2/2008 1:00:00 PM

While Xohm CEO Barry West confirmed some time ago that Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Chicago will go live with WiMax service this month, some new details about actual Xohm devices - and launch plans for a few more cities - have been kicking around the InterWebs over the past week or so.

Sidecutreports spoke with the head WiMax Man himself last week and West offered up a few juicy tidbits of info:

Xohm now has more than 1,000 WiMax base stations online
Live sites are currently deployed in Baltimore, Chicago, and D.C., as well as Boston, Philadelphia, and Dallas/Fort Worth
The first three of those cities will go live in September; No launch date was given for the latter three
Average download speeds in network coverage areas should average 3 to 5 Mbps

Great ... So if you live in one of the soon to be Xohm-enhanced cities, what can you use to get online? Sidecutreports got a bit of info regarding the September launch:

West also said that Sprint will have a small assortment of devices ready for the Baltimore launch, including modems from Zyxel and ZTE, as well as two devices for laptops, one a USB-attached device from ZTE and the other a PC card from Samsung. Nokia's already announced Xohm-ready WiMax tablet, West said, should be available shortly after the Baltimore launch.

We're hoping to get some more info straight from the horse's mouth next week at CTIA Wireless in San Francisco. Meantime, you can mine an archived version of the My Xohm website for more details over on leo712's Evernote site.

ARTICLE: Nokia booth tour and N810 WiMax edition demo @ CTIA '08

4/14/2008 12:00:00 AM

Come with us through the magical land of Nokia's CTIA booth. Make a DJ request. Watch the giant TV. And get a demo of the new N810 WiMax Edition internet tablet which will be available this summer.

VIDEO: Nokia booth tour and N810 WiMax edition demo @ CTIA '08

4/14/2008 12:00:00 AM

Come with us through the magical land of Nokia's CTIA booth. Make a DJ request. Watch the giant TV. And get a demo of the new N810 WiMax Edition internet tablet which will be available this summer.

VIDEO: 180 ft in the sky with Nokia N810 WiMax - CTIA '08

4/7/2008 12:00:00 AM

Last week during CTIA 2008 in Las Vegas, Noah and Doug took to the sky with Nokia to learn about the new N810 WiMax tablet. To add to the wow factor of CTIA, Nokia's conference in the sky was hosted outside and up 180 feet in the air!

ARTICLE: 180 ft in the sky with Nokia N810 WiMax - CTIA '08

4/7/2008 12:00:00 AM