HSUPA
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Option's USB GlobeSurfer iCON HSUPA touts 7.2Mbps downloads
We're all quite aware of just how proud Option is of its HSUPA offerings, and while it has raised the bar before in terms of sheer speed, the company is once again kicking out a new way to get your lappie connected to blazing fast internet without a WiFi hotspot in sight. The diminutive GlobeSurfer iCON HSUPA boasts a compact, USB stick design, and even includes a swivel connector as to play nice with just about every USB nook and cranny out there. Aside from touting 7.2Mbps of downstream capacity and 2Mbps on the upbeat, the GlobeSurfer looks to provide web access for those not already sold on the firm's ExpressCard options. Users can purportedly expect "plug 'n play" abilities, backwards compatibility with EDGE/GPRS/GSM data connections, tri-band / quad-band support, and a wide range of OS support that includes Windows Vista and OS X. No word just yet on price or availability, but we sincerely hope Option doesn't keep the USB brethren in the house waiting too awfully long for these high-speed luxuries.
Novatel revs up its line with new HSDPA / HSUPA offerings
Novatel's keeping us in the bits pretty well lately, what with those Rev A dongles on Sprint and Verizon, and that XU870 HSDPA ExpressCard hotness. Now they've got a trio of hot new accessories, including a pair of HSDPA devices: the Merlin X950D ExpressCard and the Ovation MC870D USB Modem. The X950D offers up global tri-band HSUPA and quad-band EDGE/GPRS, and works in ExpressCard/34 and 54 slots. The real hotness is the 2.1Mbps HSUPA uploads, and those 7.2Mbps downloads aren't bad neither. There's also built-in GPS. On the USB end of things, Novatel's Ovation MC870D (pictured) does 7.2Mbps HSDPA, but apparently doesn't match those hot upload speeds in the X950D. The dongle is Europe centric, hanging out on the 2100MHz band, so Americans will have to look elsewhere. Novatel is also announcing two HSDPA embedded laptop modules for OEMs, the EU870D for Europe and the EU860D for North America. Luckily for those of us wondering where North American USB HSDPA is on this list, Novatel is launching the Merlin XUA-1 ExpressCard to USB adapter, to let you use those cards with any old USB 2.0 port. No word on price or release dates for any of this stuff, but this should be enough to get us salivating, we suppose.
The Huawei E270: fantastic enjoyment with HSUPA uplink
Calling its E270 HSUPA modem "fantastic enjoyment" is strictly Huawei's own terminology here, but at two glorious megabits per second of upload speed (albeit theoretical) and up to 7.2Mbps on the downstream, well... "fantastic enjoyment," indeed. Granted, it'll be at least another year before we really start to to see widespread deployments of HSDPA's heir apparent -- which leaves the download speeds untouched from HSDPA while boosting the uploads significantly -- but we're glad to see manufacturers already have their eyes squarely on the prize for getting equipment prepped in the pipeline. Huawei says its E270 is also the world's first USB modem for HSUPA, surely bringing smiles to the faces of the expansion slot-challenged among us, and the tri-band 3G / quadband 2G radios should be enough to spread the love worldwide. No word on launch plans, but with the requisite networks necessary to take advantage of that juicy hardware far from in place, let's not put the proverbial cart before the proverbial horse.
Fujitsu packs 7.2Mbps HSUPA into a LifeBook
Fujitsu has a "world's first" at 3GSM this week, with HSUPA UMTS 3G data built into one an upcoming LifeBook model. We're pretty sure we could get used to those 7.2Mbps downloads courtesy of HSDPA, and we naturally find the 1.4Mbps uploads that HSUPA brings to the table agreeable, and but unfortunately that's about all we know about this laptop so far, except that it's packing a webcam and will launch at the beginning of March.[Thanks, Jarle]
Ericsson gives HSDPA a Latin flair
HSDPA rollouts seem to be progressing at a solid clip across Europe, Asia, and North America -- and before too long, we might be able to add Latin America to that list. Ericsson takes the honors for providing the infrastructure to light up the continent's first HSDPA network, which will find its home with Chile's ENTEL PCS. Technically, Ericsson is calling the network simply "HSPA," a generalization of HSDPA / HSUPA that leaves open the possibility of going big with upstream speeds down the road. For now, Ericsson is speaking in theoretical terms, saying only that it'll go "up to 14.4Mbps" down to the handsets, but a more realistic goal in the near term is the several hundred kilobits to a couple megabits per second most carriers around the world are currently providing. ¡Viva WCDMA![Thanks, Daydalaus]
LG's KC1 Windows Mobile-powered smartphone to hit Korea with WiMax
While LG's Chocolate assortment is growing with feature-packed additions at an alarming rate, there looks to be a WinMo-powered sugar daddy headed down the pike with WiMax ready to rock. We knew Samsung and LG were using this year's ITU Telecom World conference as a launching plugging point for a few snazzy announcements, but today brings about the unveiling of a Windows Mobile 5-packin' smartphone boasting LG's Chocolate touch, built-in WiMax, a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen, two-megapixel camera, microSD slot, and Bluetooth. The phone will reportedly also support CDMA and EV-DO, and should be released in South Korea real soon -- unfortunately, there's "no word" on whether this beauty will ever see the light of day on American soil, but one can hope.[Via Slashphone]
Samsung and Nortel hit 3.6Mbps down / 2Mbps up over HSUPA
Big deal, another demonstration of wireless video streaming to laptops and cellphones... we've seen that before, right? Au contraire, these devices are pumping vid over HSUPA and are on display now at ITU Telecom World in Hong Kong. Samsung and Nortel managed to squeeze a downstream data rate of 3.6Mbps out of a theoretical 5.6Mbps. Better yet, they pulled off a 2Mbps upstream rate kicking HSDPA's puny 384kbps neatly to the curb. Both rates comfortably smoke those demonstrated by Option and Nortel earlier in the year. Yeah, we knew the demonstration was coming, but with HSUPA networks going hot in 2007 -- notably with Orange in Europe -- isn't it nice to see the first glimpse of a laptop snuggled up to a new SGH-G630 HSUPA handset we might someday be holding? [Via AVING and Telecoms Korea]
Mobile WiMAX, HSUPA get spotlight at ITU Telecom World
LG and Samsung are using Hong Kong's ITU Telecom World 2006 as a platform for highlighting a couple technologies that, frankly, can't get here soon enough. It seems somehow appropriate that the Korean crosstown rivals are fighting for their share of the spotlight, parading HSUPA and Mobile WiMAX equipment -- both of which have the potential to shatter upstream speeds offered by the latest live technologies (HSDPA and EV-DO rev. A), while Mobile WiMAX also offers the tantalizing opportunity to pull upwards of 10Mbps down to you. While this isn't the first time we've seen either of these technologies in the wild, they're obviously becoming more ubiquitous at each and every trade show around the globe -- which means our dream of some day hosting Engadget Mobile on a cellphone grows ever closer.Read - LGRead - Samsung
Option brags about successful HSUPA tests
They can't claim to be the first to rock HSUPA outright, but Belgian outfit Option appears to be the first to hit up the 3G+ tech via an honest-to-goodness data card. As a reminder, HSUPA is the de facto successor to HSDPA in the GSM family tree, leaving the plenty-fast HSDPA downlink speeds be to concentrate on boosting the uplink; it's capable of topping out at a whopping 5.7Mbps up, compared to HSDPA's measly 384kbps. Of course, those crazy upload times do us no good without somethin' we can plug into our lappies; that's where Option comes into the equation, demonstrating a prototype card using Qualcomm's MSM7200 chipset in a variety of real-life scenarios (including a car traveling at 50 km/h), managing a respectable 1.3Mbps up and 2.7Mbps down. Now that testing is in full swing, Option says we can expect commercial HSUPA products from their camp in the first half of 2007.
