Believe it or not, Aztech's WL850MS was actually first mentioned way back at CES 2008, but it's just now finding the limelight at CommunicAsia. The well-spec'd unit supports 1080p media streaming over Ethernet or 802.11n WiFi, and you'll likely be thrilled to know that it boasts MIMO antennas for extended coverage and 2.4GHz / 5GHz dual-band capability. You'll also find four 10/100 Ethernet ports for multiple video recipients and a pretty swank enclosure, if we may say so ourselves. Word from Singapore has the unit retailing for around $263, but there's no telling how long we'll have to wait before seeing it on US soil.

Although we're still waiting for WiMAX to really crash the party, WiNetworks is way ahead of the curve with its Win7200. The Pico Base Station was designed to provide "optimized indoor and outdoor WiMAX coverage," and is available in the 2.xGHz and 3.xGHz (802.16e Wave 2) frequency range. The single-piece device promises to sip power and stay tight for use in cramped environments, and it's also crafted to play nice with existing network equipment and provide interoperability with third-party WiMAX-certified gear. To date, a price has yet to be divulged, but the outfit will be proudly showcasing its new toy at the WiMAX Forum Global Congress and CommunicAsia late next month.

Talk about putting the cart before the horse. Without a bona fide WiMAX network for mass consumer use up and running yet here in America, Siemens is making sure you're really ready for its onset by announcing its first WiMAX ExpressCard. The Gigaset SE68 WiMAX is based on the IEEE 802.16-2005 standard and complies with Wave 2 specifications (including MIMO A / B), supports beamforming and has actually been demonstrated as functional way over in Singapore. With a network in place, users can expect mobile broadband speeds of up to 20Mbps, and while no price is given, you can just circle the entire summer of 2008 in anticipation of its arrival.

Just think -- this time next year, we'll all look back at this milestone and wonder how on Earth we thought it was impressive. For now, however, we wouldn't blame you for high-fiving everyone around, as NTT DoCoMo has stretched the boundaries again with a recent Super 3G field test. Reportedly, the outfit was able to record "a downlink transmission rate of 250Mbps over a high-speed wireless network in an outdoor test of an experimental Super 3G system," and while it's not quite the 300Mbps we'd heard about before, you won't find us kvetching. If all goes to plan, the firm is hoping to "complete development of the technologies required for the eventual launch of a Super 3G network" by 2009, but who knows how long we Americans will have to wait to indulge after that.

Buffalo's out tooting its own horn today, as the AirStation Wireless-G MIMO Performance Router claims to be the "first commercial wireless router to come with DD-WRT firmware pre-installed." Aimed squarely at the SMB and SOHO market, the WHR-HP-G54DD (WHR-HP-G54 pictured) is the first device to emerge from the firm's partnership with NewMedia-NET. Of note, this device features five QoS levels to prioritize traffic, optimized link state routing (OLSR), a data transfer application with VPN functionality, PPTP protocol support, WMM and DDNS, and a bevy of management applications including remote network status logging, remote web management via HTTPS and web-based backup / restore. If all this sounds like your cup of tea, you can pick one up now for £41.70 ($86), and you can check out the full (and we mean full) list of specifications right there in the read link.

It's been some time since Airspan kicked out a new device enabling laptop (or desktop, for that matter) users to hop on the Mobile WiMAX highway, but that's changing thanks to its recently-unveiled MiMAX USB. This USB 2.0 dongle "turns any laptop into a high performance Mobile WiMAX client," and it marks the first product in the Mobile WiMAX MIMO family. As with the 16eUSB that came before it, this gizmo allows users to connect to "virtually every Mobile WiMAX network that is deployed worldwide," and supports "all of the target Wave 2 MIMO Mobile WiMAX certification profiles (2.3GHz, 2.5GHz, 3.3 - 3.8GHz, and 4.9 - 5.8GHz)." Furthermore, the MiMAX USB even plays nice with licensed and unlicensed frequencies, and if you're looking to detect WiMAX networks before flipping on your machine, the optional MiMAX Finder should do the trick. Sadly, there's no mention of a price just yet, but we've got a feeling those details could be loosed during next week's WiMAX World USA in Chicago.

We're fairly sure Amigo Technology's R622AG WiFi router meant no harm when it came out of the laboratory looking exactly like Microsoft's latest console, but we'll be surprised if no legal teams are contacted over this one. The four-port router supports 802.11a/b/g, includes a pair of USB 2.0 connectors for sharing external data or printers over the network (shown after the jump), and should look like a long lost twin situated beside your Xbox 360. No word yet on price nor availability, but this thing definitely outdoes the other 360 copycat we saw just days ago in terms of closest resemblance.

You'll probably recall Atheros' name from the rundown of Draft 2.0 802.11n gear mentioned just a week ago, but now the firm is getting official with its bundle of refreshed pre-N gear. The new AR9001 family of chipset solutions builds upon the existing XSPAN offerings, and is reportedly compliant with the latest IEEE draft of 802.11n. Primarily aiming for SMB and Enterprise markets, the outfit is doling out a number of AR9001AP access points / router SoCs that "integrate its 802.11n MAC / baseband and 400MHz Wireless Network Processor (WNPU) into a single chip." On the consumer front, the AR9001U sect presents the "world's first dual-band capable 802.11n USB chipset," and also includes the company's first 1x2 MIMO configuration. Unsurprisingly, pricing details on all these goodies are still up in the air, but Atheros claims that second-generation AR9001 items are currently sampling to customers and should hit " full volume production" in Q3 of this year.

[Via PCWorld]

If there's one thing that we'll never be satisfied with, it's finding out just how many nanoseconds we can shave off our download times from year to year, and thankfully, the IEEE seems to get that. While it has certainly taken its sweet time with 802.11n, the task force has already voted to make 100G the next Ethernet speed, and now it's pushing to make WiMAX implementations even quicker. Reportedly announced at 3GSM, the IEEE has began working on a new version of the 802.16 standard, dubbed 802.16m, which "could push data transfer speeds up to 1Gbps while maintaining backwards compatibility with existing WiMAX radios." Potentially more interesting than cheering for speed boosts is the group's outright assurance that this protocol will meet the ITU's requirements for 4G, insinuating that it should be the token choice for further 4G developments. Nevertheless, the increased bandwidth is supposedly needed due to convergence between VoIP and various forms of multimedia (IPTV, streaming video, digital downloads, etc.), and however true that may be, some skeptics are still understandably doubting the whole "backwards compatibility" aspect. Still, the IEEE hopes to have this together by "the end of 2009," but considering the team's less-than-stellar track record in the deadline department, we're not holding our collective breath.

[Via DailyWireless]

As America struggles with the transition to proper 3G networks, Japan continues to make strides towards the fourth generation of mobile phone networks. In field experiments, NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile phone operator in Japan, achieved an approximate 5Gbps downlink data rate. That beats previous tests by a factor of two, as DoCoMo managed to achieve 2.5Gbps over a year ago in December 2005. The increase in data rates appeared to be as simple as doubling the number of antennas -- the MIMO technology in use takes advantage of multiple antennas capable of transmitting signals independently: more antennas = more data -- and using a proprietary solution for receiving the signal. So, what are the prospects of the Japanese public getting their hands on a wireless standard that can download up to 640MB per second? Not great, for the moment at least. DoCoMo is planning on releasing its specific findings regarding the technology at 3GSM in Spain: when they do, we'll know more. Until then, just try and keep the drool off the keyboard, ya hear?

Following up on Sprint's announcement to spread the WiMAX love to Chicago and Washington, D.C., Horizon is looking to broaden that area of coverage out just a bit by partnering with Navini Networks. This news comes after the FCC approved Horizon's purchase of the WCS A Block spectrum previously owned by the diminishing Verizon, and now the firm is looking to deploy the wireless goods in "Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Richmond, and Cincinnati" for starters. Horizon has selected Navini's 802.16e equipment to get things up and running, and states that its objective it to "provide wireless last mile access to residential, business, and emergency restoration markets," but folks in rural areas will seemingly get shunned for now. Horizon isn't wasting any time getting this thing started, either, as it plans to start building the network in Q1 of this year, with hopes for "ongoing expansion and additional network deployments in the latter part of 2007."

[Via TheWirelessReport]

It looks the barrage of draft-spec 802.11n gear being released isn't slowing down anytime soon, and helping the yet-to-be-ratified protocol gain more ground is SMC. Making good on its promise to ship draft-N gear, the networking company has reportedly launched the Barricade N, which utilizes "multi-antenna MIMO support" to connect at rates of "up to 300Mbps," sports a four-port Ethernet switch, and can automatically prioritize duties such as music / video streaming to keep things skip-free. Complementing the new router are pre-N versions of the company's EZ Connect CardBus and PCI wireless adapters, which will give your lappie or desktop the ability to take advantage of the ultra-speedy 802.11n standard. All three devices are purportedly available right now, with the Barricade N selling for $120, the PCMCIA adapter demanding $80, and the PCI card costing $90.

Intel has had some decent success with its "kitchen sink" approach to WiFi ubiquity and integrated graphics dominance, and it doesn't look like they're taking any chances with WiMAX. Hardly more than a month after busting out its first WiFi-integrated WiMAX Connection chipset, the 2250, Intel is testing out a new 2300 version which supports mobile WiMAX and MIMO functionality. The the new all-in-one chip also claims lower power requirements and less heat generation than its predecessor, making adoption of the newly improved chips a relatively painless one. The whole shebang is still managed by the same unified software, and Intel is supporting "over-the-air provisioning" to allow for easy configuration and consumer activation of services, as opposed to the traditional service provider-based way of doing things. Hard to tell how that PR-speak will end up playing out for actual consumers, but it at least sounds promising. With the design finalized, Intel still has some more testing to do, but hopes to start busting this thing out in card and module forms in late 2007.

[Via Laptoping]

As we edge ever closer (right?) to finally seeing a finalized 802.11n protocol, companies are shoving (sometimes in secret) draft-spec 802.11n kit into their products to take advantage of the here and now. Taking yet another baby step towards the goal, Qualcomm is releasing a fourth-generation chipset, dubbed the AGN400, to take advantage of Draft 2.0 of the IEEE 802.11n standard. The chipset itself was crafted by Airgo, who just so happened to be acquired by dear Qualcomm in one fell swoop, and also features Airgo's True MIMO Gen-N technology. Although Airgo has had its quibbles with backwards compatibility in the past, this device will supposedly play nice with all previous 802.11s, including the earlier draft of 802.11n and the typical trio of 802.11a/b/g. Reportedly ready to fit a "full array" of interface buses for OEM products, this Draft 2.0-compliant chipset purportedly provides "significantly better performance, a greater feature set, and enhanced interoperability" over the previous rendition. While pricing details weren't discussed, it should be ready for the world to see by CES, while True MIMO Gen-N products should be available by "the first quarter of 2007."

[Via PhoneMag]

Nothing much to see here, just Corega doing its thing with a no-frills 802.11n router and PC card. The CG-WLBARGE router and CG-WLCB144GE card both sport XSPAN technology for multiplex usage of the MIMO antennas, resulting in some fancy "3x3 communication," which sounds no different than what you'll be getting from any other recent 802.11n offering. What is lacking is that fancy guarantee ASUS has for its new draft-n products, meaning late-in-the-game IEEE revisions could render your setup obsolete in a few months. But with looks like these, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

[Via Akihabara]