Xohm on track for April launch with up to 10 devices, nation mops brow

Sprint's CTO, Barry West, is working hard to alleviate concerns that their mobile WiMax service plans might be in jeopardy. Speaking on a WiMax panel here at CES, West said that things are on track for a commercial launch of their Xohm service in April in the Baltimore, Washington, DC and Chicago markets. At that time, up to 10 WiMax devices should be ready to roll which, if our Xohm booth tour is any indication, would include a WiMax-enabled Samsung Q1 UMPC, Nokia N800, and Eee PC among a few laptop and desktop modems. The service will sell for "reasonable rates" with plans to cover daily, weekly, monthly, or longer commitments. Devices like WiMax-enabled cameras could be sold with the service price baked in according to West. A 1-week disposable camera we imagine. However, unlike cellular services, Sprint has no plans to subsidize WiMax devices. While none of this is new, we're definitely relieved to hear it again.

[jalapeno @ Jan 9th 2008 12:21PM]

Very nice to hear indeed!

[Erwos @ Jan 9th 2008 12:27PM]

Definitely good news. But per-device costs are going to make or break this service - a WiMax-enabled eee for $500 is lame if the data costs exceed the actual cost of the laptop every year.

[wickedpheonix @ Jan 9th 2008 12:39PM]

I dunno dude - I know more than a couple people willing to pay hundreds of dollars for MMO currency when the actual game itself is only $30+$15/mo.

[davesweeps @ Jan 9th 2008 12:28PM]

WiMax, YES! Go Sprint! Go Sprint!

[Michael S @ Jan 9th 2008 3:07PM]

Will there be an extra charge for bad customer service or is that included in the daily, weekly, or monthly price?

[Brian @ Jan 9th 2008 6:37PM]

Does anyone know if these Wimax devices are locked into Sprint? I hear their network is really open to devices and everything, and I'm quite excited as this year we finally get some Wimax devices for the consumer. Thing is, I live down in Colombia, where Wimax has already been available from an ISP for a while now. However, they don't sell any Wimax devices here, besides the router that you use to login to your connection.

Question is, would I be able to buy a Wimax-enabled Eee PC, Nokia, or anything and use it on *any* Wimax network? Not just XOHM?