Sierra Wireless 3G PCMCIA AirCard 860 for Cingular HSDPA

Sierra Wireless has just announced a partnership with Cingular that will result in the sale of their AirCard 860 Wireless 3G PCMCIA card, making this one of the first products to support Cingular's upgraded UMTS HSDPA network. The 860 features both 850/1900 UMTS and quad-band (850/900/1800/1900) GSM/GPRS/EDGE support, with claimed 3G speeds of 400 to 700 kbps with 1Mbps bursts. Price is still unknown, but expect to see this new card for sale by the end of the year.

[Via CCN Matthews]

[Vic @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

From last week
"Hi Vic,

You will be able to purchase them from Cingular, probably in the next
few weeks or directly from our website. It will probably be cheaper to
buy from Cingular. We will be selling at list price $395 and the version
that we are selling directly are generic, meaning they are not locked to
any specific carrier.

Hope this helps!

Cheers!

[T.A. @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

I MUST HAVE I MUST HAVE I MUST HAVE!!!
I just purchased a 775 a 2 weeks ago. I can return it and pick up an 86o right?
I MUST HAVE I MUST HAVE I MUST HAVE!!!
I MUST HAVE I MUST HAVE I MUST HAVE!!!
I MUST HAVE I MUST HAVE I MUST HAVE!!!
I MUST HAVE I MUST HAVE I MUST HAVE!!!

[Jason @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

I'm so confused about this UMTS. If I get a European UMTS handset {GSM 850/900/1800/1900 UTMS 2100} like the Nokia E60, will it work on a N.A. (like Rogers' upcoming} UMTS network even though it uses the 850/1900 bands?

Will I have to wait for a GSM 800/900/1800/1900 + UMTS 800/1900/2100 handset?

Is anyone suprized WiFi mobiles are in such demand?

[iomatic @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Also, if you already have the MediaWorks (I don't which one I have-- it's the grandfathered 19.99 unlimited plan), does that work, or will they require a new service contract?

[T.A. @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

#3 Some one @ HoFo mentioned that new Sims for UTMS are required.

[r @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

you can use a Euro handset on Roger's future UMTS network, but you will not be able to take advantage of the UMTS data speeds because the handset does not operate on the 850/1900 umts band. Basically your handset will fall back to roger's GSM850 band which is GPRS/Edge

yes, there are new U-Sims for UMTS

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Don't get too excited. I know for a fact that Sierra is having some serious problems passing PTCRB conformance testing. Needless to say, Sierra's QA is not exactly a shining star. Don't expect this card until at LEAST the 2QCY06 if not much later. (Now that I've said this, Sierra will probably try and prove me wrong)

[Duffey @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

the mediaworks plan will not work for this device. You must get the Data Connect Plan which is 79.99 a month for the unlimted package

[John Stracke @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Why doesn't anybody build these things as CompactFlash instead of PCMCIA? I'd buy one for my Zaurus.