Samsung's Mobile WiMAX devices make us envious

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 12 April 2007 13:42

Your IT - Home IT

New Mobile WiMAX (aka WiBro) devices from Samsung for the Korean market give the rest of us an idea of what we can look forward to when WiMAX is eventually deployed.

Mobile WiMAX is available in Seoul and its southern suburbs, providing mobile broadband at lower prices than 3G HSDPA.

Samsung's new devices comprise a smartphone, a "multimedia convergence device" and a USB dongle.

The SPH-M8100 smartphone combines wireless Internet with voice and video telephony using WiBro and CDMA 1x EV-DO. Features include a 2.8in color touch screen display, TV-out, MMC card slot, Bluetooth (including A2DP for stereo audio), a 2 megapixel camera plus a VGA camera for video calls.

The P9000 convergence device runs Windows XP and includes a QWERTY keyboard, MP3 player, video player and camera.

The SPH-H1200 USB dongle supports WiBro and HSDPA in one device, providing broadband access in and around Seoul or elsewhere in Korea.

Some mobile WiMAX pilots are being conducted in the US, with widespread rollout expected in 2008. In Australia, most of the WiMAX spectrum is owned by Unwired and Austar, and Unwired plans to transition its network from Navini's proprietary system to WiMAX during 2008.

Samsung is involved in Mobile WiMAX projects in 23 countries.