Huawei announces dual-mode Wi-Fi and HSPA for netbooks

Stan Beer
Friday, 17 April 2009 10:03

Business IT - Technology

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies has developed what it claims to be the world's first module to provide both Wi-Fi and HSPA Internet connectivity for Intel's entry level Classmate PCs.

Huawei says its EM772 wireless module will accelerate the development of the mobile computing device market at the low-end including Classmate PCs, netbooks and laptops powered by Intel Atom processor and Intel Centrino processor technology.

While Intel has had the Classmate on the market for more than two years, the low-end sub-notebook or netbook space has exploded over the past 18 months since Asus pioneered the market with the Eee PC 701 in late 2007.

Today, nearly every major notebook vendor except Apple has an Intel Atom powered netbook on the market with an integrated Wi-Fi card. However, to connect to the net outside Wi-Fi hotspots, users need to plug-in a separate 3G dongle into a USB port.

According to Huawei, by leveraging the Wi-Fi/HSPA integration capability and small size of the EM772, manufacturers will not only be able to reduce the size of the mobile computing devices, but also significantly reduce the cost of producing them. 

Peter Rossi, Chief Technology Officer for Huawei in Australia said, “The EM772, with its integration of Wi-Fi and HSPA capabilities, will greatly improve connectivity and allow students using Classmate PCs throughout the developing world to easily go online, anywhere, anytime. Huawei is proud to be spearheading wireless developments that are improving education standards globally.”

“We are confident that the new-generation EM772 will enhance the consumer experience. Innovation continues to be the basic tenet of Huawei’s growth strategy, and will allow us to tap the opportunities presented by the fast-growing laptop market.” said James Chen, Director of Marketing Department, Huawei Terminals.

Hawk Min, Hardware Engineering Team Director of Intel Emerging Market Platforms Group added, “The module’s small packaging size will also fit well into the thin and light netbook and notebook designs, which are a mobile trend in 2009.”

With a maximum uplink rate of 5.76 Mbps and downlink rate of 7.2 Mbps in the HSPA network environment, Huawei claims the EM772 will enable users to download a standard MP3 tune in less than one second.  In a Wi-Fi environment, access rates can reach a maximum of 54 Mbps.