Gearfuse

Sprint and Samsung today announced that its joint-venture wireless infrastructure, better known as WiMAX, is ready for service. This comes after years of scrutiny against Sprint for basically fucking everything up along the way. Still, mistakes aside, WiMAX looks to bring a new generation of high-bandwidth web surfing to our laptops.

Have you missed out on WiMAX news in the past? Not sure what it is? This little bit from Wikipedia explains it wisely:

WiMAX, the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology aimed at providing wireless data over long distances in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access. It is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard, which is also called WirelessMAN. The name “WiMAX” was created by the WiMAX Forum, which was formed in June 2001 to promote conformance and interoperability of the standard. The forum describes WiMAX as “a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL” (and also to HSPA).

With speeds up to 70 Mbps and Siemens announcing the SE680 WiMAX Modem, 2008 and 2009 are gearing up to be the year for broadband access across multiple devices. It’s only a matter of time before someone starts sniffing out WiMAX networks and breaking their encryption.

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Intel has some pretty cool stuff up their sleeves as of late. This “Metro Notebook” concept is Intel’s attempt at creating a restyled, ultra-slim and ultra-light laptop that takes into consideration, the young urbanites need for class and style. The sub-0.7 thick, 1 kg sized Metro has an outside display built into the back of the monitor which serves as an always-on update screen.

The Metro’s outside screen will be made as a colored non-volatile e-ink screen that shows important content, such as e-mail, calandar entries, eBooks and more, even when the power supply is cut off. The Metro is designed for complete wireless communications with a reconfigurable antennae which can be switched between Bluetooth, WiFi, and WiMax. Intel also hopes to ship the item enabled to charge your cellphone and other devices wirelessly through a charge pad. One word: Wow! Hit the jump for an in-depth look at the features with a labeled pic. (more…)

CrunchGear is reporting that a Zune phone is all but officially confirmed. The phone will supposedly have a top download speed of 2Mbps. Plenty fast enough for the XBox-to-Zune streaming that has been floating around the sphere.

The mobile WiMax-enabled Zune Phone, will be fast enough for just about anything that users could want (within reason). The best part? The phone might be available before the infamous iPhone.

If the FCC grants approval to the design, Microsoft will be home free for a May release, a month before the scheduled release of the iPhone. Does Mac have anything to fear? Well when it was a matter of just the Zune and the iPod, we said no. But in the mobile phone market, which is new to both companies, Steve might just have something to worry about with all of the looming competition. — Andrew Dobrow

Zune Phone Confirmed! [CrunchGear, via TechEBlog]