Why WiMAX? See Its Potential

posted by Bill Kircos on September 08, 2008

Intel’s Sean Maloney got to literally test drive Clearwire’s upcoming WiMAX network while visiting Portland, Oregon a few weeks ago.

Check out the promise of a WiMAX network - the ability someday soon to drive around town and always be connected. Just how many people in one car downloaded e-mail, streamed high-def video, made a clear Skype phone call and tested Internet radio? What wireless speeds did they hit while driving around town on one connection? What are the (hefty) differences in the scope of equipment needed for a 2G cell tower vs. a WiMAX one?

Check out the video here and thanks to Clearwire for the inside look and inviting us.

It’s been a milestone year for WiMAX. At IDF two weeks agoDell and Sony joined several others in publicly committing to adding WiMAX to some of their laptop models. Sprint XOHM will light up its first US city, Baltimore, next month. Efforts around the world sprout up virtually every day.

A second proposed and somewhat similar network called LTE is now hoping to move its own network availability timeframe in from 2012. We plan to ship our first ever Wi-Fi/WiMAX product later this year in the U.S. for our popular Centrino 2 laptops.

And of course, the big U.S. news - the proposed formation and $3+ billion joint investment in a new Clearwire company, backed by Sprint, Comcast, Google, Time Warner and others. That, and the Open Patent Alliance effort for easier and more open intellectual property rights should further speed WiMAX adoption.

Here’s a good primer on WiMAX, too.

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tagged: Centrino 2, Clearwire, Maloney, Sprint, WiMAX, wireless, Xohm