Up close with Dell's Latitude E4300 and E4200 ultra-portables with DisplayPort

Posts with tag uma

Good news punters, BT's Fusion wireless VoIP / cellular offering will be turned loose for home use tomorrow. Even better, the new system will use WiFi rather than Bluetooth like the system we previously saw. The service is designed to work with BT's OpenZone WiFi hotspots and should initially support three UMA handsets: the Nokia 6136, Motorola A910, and Samsung's P200 before the month is out. A total of 20 handsets should be up and running on the service by Q3 2007, according to BT. Initially, Fusion will only be sold to customers of BT's own broadband service with a more open plan, including a pre-pay option coming later in the year.
Right well, they did say they had a certain affinity for Seattle then, didn't they? It looks like the first round of T-Mobile's long awaited UMA service is now kicking around Seattle way, with open trial customers able to purchase two WiFi-capable UMA phones, as well as the D-Link router which enables home access. Right out of the gate we already have our qualms with the service -- namely in that they're charging customers an extra $20 per month for UMA access (and only if they have an eligible $40+ per month rate plan), which is kind of a bummer since in most cases UMA is cost-saving to the carrier in that consumers needn't consume as much cellular air time. But that $20 extra also covers T-Mobile HotSpot access too, so if you're not just planning on using HotSpot @Home, um, at home, then you'll be good to go when roaming elsewhere. (It's worth noting, however, that UMA does not require anything special to get going, and will work on any WiFi connection.) The D-Link router is probably a skipper -- it'll set you back $50 (and goes free with mail-in rebate), but isn't necessary to use the service, and will probably leave you in pain as D-Link WiFi gear so often does. Oh, and hows about a word on the two phones you'll be using with @Home: you've got the Nokia 6136, which, of course, features a 1.3 megapixel camera, FM radio, and GSM / GPRS / EDGE; then you've got the far more feeble Samsung t709, with GPRS, 176 x 220 display, and a 1.3 megapixel camera. Both will go for $50 with a two year, $100 with a one year.
We wouldn't even think of buying a cellphone that didn't incorporate both WiFi and Bluetooth, so you better believe we were excited to learn of semiconductor manufacturer Marvell's new combo 802.11a/b/g - BT chip for portables, which is supposedly the first of its kind. The so-called 88W8688 -- which supports Bluetooth 2.0 and hardware acceleration for UMA, IMS, etc. -- has a footprint of less than 80-square-millimeters, or about half the size of current two-chip combinations. For consumers, this will mean smaller versions of all the gadgets we love, and most importantly for us, those super-functional-but-chunky smartphones that we feel naked without. Although the chip is currently shipping to select Marvell OEM partners, it has yet to announced which specific device categories will see the first implementations; our plea: get these puppies to HTC as quickly as possible!
When Sprint-Nextel became Sprint-Nextel, Sprint's landline service had to go somewhere, so it became Embarq. But now that Embarq's already hit the streets with its 20,000 strong workforce, it's time to introduce some products. We don't know the full rap sheet on their new Smart Connect service, but it sounds like the Plus version of system will allow wireless call roaming onto WiFi networks -- what sounds a lot like UMA, or BT's Fusion service. According to RCR they are also expected to offer user-customizable service packages, but really we just want to be able to move our Sprint-Nextel (or Embarq MVNO) calls off our daytime minutes, and onto our Embarq landlines, thanks.








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