I think the announcement that 4G Wimax Internet service is going to be available to consumers on a cell phone this summer marks a significant transition in modern American culture and society.
Americans have already flocked to their handsets and the mobile Internet for e-mail, social, sports, shopping and everything in between. This time next year or whenever Verizon and AT&T answer with their LTE products and you get a Wimax or LTE enabled handset for little more than agreeing to 2 year contract, we are in for a significant change in behavior. Let me explain…
The Evo functions as a personal mobile Wi-Fi hotspot allowing it to leverage both its 3G and WiMAX connections with up to 8 Wi-Fi enabled devices. What this means is that your cell phone carrier could replace your home Internet Service and because Wimax is high enough bandwidth to support video and most TV is available online now, it could replace your cable as well.
I admit that at 2-4 mbps isn’t enough bandwidth to comfortably run a typical household’s Internet needs much less replace their cherished television service but things are quickly headed in a 100% wireless direction for many people.
Anyway that you look at, these are exciting times if you’re the least bit gadgety and if even if you’re not but you run a business, it’s time to start taking the mobile movement seriously.
Here’s a snippet from Wimax.com’s coverage of the release..
In addition to its 4G connectivity, the device produced by HTC includes an impressive list of features including a 4.3-inch capacitive display with pinch-to-zoom and tactile feedback, an 8.0 mega pixel camera on the back, a 1.3 mega pixel on the front (for video conferencing), HD quality video, support for Adobe Flash, and more.
“Its not just 4G that makes this fast, the device also includes a 1GHz Snapdragon processor,” said Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse. “Websites including flash applications appear in a snap, and Android 2.1 apps like speech to text and Google visual search just have to be experienced with this device.”
Cnet also did a nice review on this amazing new piece of technology.. HD video and all!!
Other physical controls include a 3.5mm headset hack, a micro-USB port (yay for both), a power control, and a volume rocker. The protruding camera lens for the 8.3-megapixel shooter sits in the rear face next to the flash and a VGA lens sits above the display for video calls. We also love the included kickstand.
Other features include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 1GB of internal memory, Assisted-GPS with Sprint Navigation, seven home screens, a personal organizer, a microSD card slot that accommodates cards up to 32GB, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, an HDMI out port, the usual access to Google apps, Sprint TV, messaging, and Outlook Exchange support for contacts and e-mail. Outlook calendar syncing is not available out of the box, but you will be able to add the feature out at launch, Also, the usual Gmail syncing is onboard and the Evo also can function as a hot spot for up to eight devices.
Looking forward to playing with this one!!
Please leave a comment and let me know if you agree that broadband over mobile is going to mix things up quite a bit!!
