MuniWireless

If there was one clear point that surfaced in almost every interview and all the research we did for our new consumer report on WiMax, it was that the consumer appetite for a mobile Internet experience is apparently huge, and it’s just starting to grow. But in a thorough report about how Internet users are starting to ditch laptops in favor of phone-sized devices in the Wall Street Journal today, there isn’t a single mention of WiMax, probably because there…

Nokia has begun selling the N810 WiMAX Tablet in the US. With the rollout of WiMAX service around the world (Sprint’s Xohm service in Baltimore, WorldMax’s Aerea in Amsterdam), a number of hardware manufacturers have begun selling devices that take advantage of WiMAX networks. The problem is that if they have a built-in WiMAX chip, it does not mean the laptop or tablet will work in another country that uses a different frequency for WiMAX. Example: the N810 WiMAX Tablet…

Despite all the hand-wringing there seems to be going on about the supposed lack of WiMax devices, or the supposed closed nature of WiMax networks, it doesn’t seem like device manufacturers have gotten the memo. Instead, we’re seeing more WiMax devices emerge every day, with more (reportedly) on the way.

(And yes, that parade of laptops with WiMax embedded inside that we talked about earlier is already marching down the street. Told ya so!)

The HTC WiMax handset for the Russian Yota…

Marguerite Reardon has written a long article on CNET asking whether Sprint’s WiMAX service is doomed to fail. She enumerates several problems with Sprint’s offering and argues that it could end up being like EarthLink’s failed muni Wi-Fi strategy:

After all the doubts, deals and delays, the biggest launch of WiMax services in the U.S. will become official on Oct. 8, when Intel, Sprint, Clearwire and others host a WiMax celebration/demonstration in Baltimore, whose residents will be the first to test Sprint’s Xohm WiMax services.

The official press invite just crossed our email inbox, and it still says “COME CELEBRATE THE DAWN OF 4G WITH THE SEPTEMBER LAUNCH OF XOHM AND ITS MOBILE WIMAX NETWORK IN BALTIMORE,” which leads us…