ASUS today announced that it will be adding High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) to its popular series of Eee PC netbooks. The HSPA follow-on improves uploading speed. ASUS claims 7.2 Mbps (downlink) and 2 Mbps (uplink) — if you’re sitting under a tower at 3 am that’s fed by more than a few T-1 lines.
The HSUPA upgrade (for GSM networks like AT&T’s) is called “3.75G” by Asus. It will make its first appearance in Eee PC 901 netbooks from October 2008 onward. The Eee PC 901 features 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, 1 GB (DDR2) RAM, 16 GB Solid State Drive (SSD), 20 GB free online Eee Storage and 7.5-hour battery life with a 6 Cell battery.
Nine of the top ten selling notebooks on Amazon right now are netbooks. The other spot is taken by Apple.
Hey, whatever happened to that WiMAX option for the MSI Wind? Here’s Clearwire’s Scott Richardson talking to Kevin Tofel at Mobilize (video), talking about Portland’s Clearwire implementation. Intel’s Brent Elliot has a video showing their testing procedures around Portland.
This summer, Clearwire moved from network testing in Portland to operational testing, the last phase of the trial before commercial launch. Clearwire service may be available in Portland, Oregon in a month or so. By the end of the year, Clearwire may also launch commercial service in Atlanta, Las Vegas and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Sprint’s Xohm WiMax service is set to launch this month in Baltimore. More cities are planned for the fourth quarter, including Chicago and Washington, D.C. Sprint has also begun installing equipment in Boston, Philadelphia and Dallas/Fort Worth.
Intel will begin shipping its WiMAX/Wi-Fi 5050 PCI card ($50) later this year, which will enable WiMAX on Centrino 2 laptops. The Echo Peak module (left) shares MIMO antennas embedded in a laptop lid for both WiFi and WiMAX.
In Centrino 2 laptops, two versions of “Echo Peak” are available: 1×2 and 3×3 MIMO configurations. A 1×2 configuration in the 5150 (Echo Peak) module means one antenna is used for uploading, while two are used for downloading. Three antennas are utilized with the 5350 Echo Peak module for faster speed with longer range (but requiring more power).
Taiwan-based network-equipment makers, including Asustek, Gemtek and Universal Scientific Industrial (USI), are likely to be the contract makers for the Echo Peak and Shirley Peak modules.
For UMPC and MID devices (right), Intel is utilizing its next-generation ultra-mobile platform – codenamed “Menlow”.
A new analyst report from ThinkPanmure suggests that Android devices could arrive on the Clearwire network sometime in 2009, backing up recent comments about the platform by the operator’s CEO, Ben Wolff, says Unstrung.
A Beceem WiMAX chip in an Android-based HTC Dream or Netbook wouldn’t be a stretch.
It could soon be common.
