they may be here soon!
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/ZDM/story?id=1826567
Novatel to Launch First EV-DO, HSDPA ExpressCards
Novatel's new wireless card will work with new Apple, Dell, and HP laptops.
Sascha Segan - PC Magazine
April 10 -
Mac-heads, here's a 30th-anniversary gift for you. Novatel Wireless announced the first EV-DO card in the ExpressCard/34 format used by Apple's new MacBook Pro, ending a drought of wireless cards for Apple's new machine and for other Intel Core Duo laptops.
Many Intel Core Duo laptops, including models from Dell, Apple, Lenovo, HP, and Gateway, include the new ExpressCard format, which isn't compatible with the older, more popular PC Card format.
Novatel is developing the new Merlin X620 card for both Verizon's and Sprint's networks, according to Novatel President Brad Wienert. According to Novatel's naming scheme, that would make the Verizon card the XV620 and the Sprint card the XS620.
Slimmer than the usual PC Card, the X620 has a flip-up antenna and gets 0.5dB better signal performance than Novatel's previous V620/S620 models, Weinert said. This translates into up to 100 kbps better throughput, and generally better signal strength in low-signal areas.
Dell will rebrand Novatel's X620 as the Dell Wireless 5700 ExpressCard and sell it for their new Inspiron and XPS laptops with ExpressCard slots, according to Weinert and Dell. Dell says a Verizon card will be available in May or June; Weinert targeted June or July for both Verizon and Sprint cards. The cards will be priced similarly to existing PC Cards.
An HSDPA version for Cingular's new high-speed network will become available in August, according to Dell. The Dell version will be called the Dell Wireless 5510. There will also be a Novatel-branded version for other laptops if there is sufficient demand, but Novatel is holding back until Cingular rolls out more than 16 cities on the new network, Weinert said.
The new cards will ship with Windows drivers. Mac drivers will be available through a free online update to the Mac OS, Weinert said.
For now, owners of ExpressCard-only laptops who want to hook up to high-speed cellular networks must use USB or Bluetooth connections to mobile phones. Verizon has blessed USB hookups to the LG VX9800, Motorola RAZR V3c, Motorola E815 and LG VX8100. Sprint's "phone-as-modem" plans work with their MM-A920, MM-7500 and MM-A900 phones, and the Sprint PPC-6700 PDA. Cingular's LG CU320 phone will connect Macs or PCs to Cingular's new UMTS network using Bluetooth.
But PC-to-phone connections are often not as speedy as PC Card setups, especially if you're using Bluetooth 1.1/1.2 (the version on most phones), as Bluetooth's 720 kbit/sec maximum speed is well below the 1.8 mbit/sec maximum of Verizon and Sprint EV-DO. A new version of Bluetooth, 2.0 + EDR, triples Bluetooth's maximum data speed but hasn't yet appeared on many devices. That is why Novatel's solution will be welcomed by many road warriors looking to get online with their new laptops.
Copyright © 2006 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures
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