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Samsung's Mobile WiMax MITs devices go live in S.Korea
As if you weren't already feeling cheated by your data plan, Samsung comes along and launches a few Mobile WiMax MITs (Mobile Intelligent Terminal) devices in S.Korea: their SPH-M8100 WinMo 6.0 cellphone and SPH-P9000 (pictured) all-out convergence thingamajig. That's right, 12Mbps or about 2-3 Mbps when traveling up 120-KPH (75-MPH). While the Mobile WiMax (or WiBro as it's hailed in its Korean home) service isn't country-wide yet, Korea Telecom's offering does cover the 10M+ people scooting about Seoul and its southern suburbs including 17 universities and 4 subway lines. How S.Korea pulled a 19 ranking on the technology superpower list still has us scratching our heads.
Samsung's SPH-M8100: another hi-spec MITs WiBro handheld
This isn't the first time we've seen Samsung's SPH-M8100. Remember, this is that crazy WiBro (mobile WiMax) phone sporting a dedicated RSS key (upper-right button on that Korean keypad). Only now, it's been slightly retooled for its official Korean launch. Besides the facelift, it appears unchanged spec-wise as a member of Sammy's elite MITs (Mobile Intelligent Terminal) family of devices. So it still packs the latest CDMA and EV-DO radios and DMB mobile television only now wrapped up in a pretty Windows Mobile 6.0 interface. Bluetooth, 2.8-inch display, and 2 megapixel camera still come standard. With any luck, we might see this rollout on Sprint's WiMAX network someday, somewhere. Yeah, right.
Samsung shows off Mobile WiMAX wares at 3GSM
Sprint has apparently gotten a few of its disparate Mobile WiMax partners to play nice with each other at least for a little while, with Samsung, Intel, Motorola, and Nokia all sharing a booth at this week's 3GSM conference to help spread the WiMax word. For its part, Samsung has trotted out three WiMax-ready devices, including two handsets we've seen before and a new USB dongle to bring some of that wireless broadband goodness to your laptop (or desktop, if you choose). Likely to attract the most attention is the company's SPH-P9000 "UMPC-like" device, running on Windows XP and packing a 5-inch display, 1GHz Transmeta CPU, 30GB hard drive, a foldable QWERTY keyboard and, of course, those integrated Mobile WiMax capabilities, with some good 'ol EV-DO to back it up. The also-on-display SPH-M8100 wraps that Mobile WiMax into a more traditional form factor, running on Windows Mobile 5.0 and packing a 2.8-inch display, 2 megapixel camera, and T-DMB mobile TV capabilities. Rounding out the WiMax lineup, Samsung's USB dongle is about as straightforward as you'd expect it to be, with a UICC slot to accommodate your phone's SIM card and a handy LED to let you know that it's working. Mac users are apparently out of luck with this one, however, as it's strictly Windows-only for the time being. In addition to showing off its wares, Samsung also confirmed that it's currently conducting seven Mobile WiMax trials with various partners, with more planned for later this year, though there's no indication exactly when or where.
Samsung's SPH-8100 WinMo Pocket PC with Mobile WiMax, IMS, and DMB
It's not the dual-mode WiMax / GSM handset we're waiting for, but Samsung's SPH-M8100 Mobile WiMAX slider should force an optical interrupt nevertheless. Like the SPH-P9000 introduced yesterday, this device is part of Sammy's Mobile WiMAX MITs lineup only this time in a dedicated IMS lovin' handset. Come on, you remember IMS right? It's the IP Multimedia Subsystem we saw under global trial back in February which even Cingular has been known to dabble around with. IMS support means this not-a-cellphone handset will not only provide access to content over high-speed Mobile WiMAX (WiBro as it's known in Korea), but it'll also feature such SIP-based services as VoIP calls, video conferencing, and "Push-to-All" which we assume is just the push-to-talk, walkie-talkie service as it's known 'round here. The handset runs Windows Mobile 5.0 PocketPC and features a 2.8-inch 65k color, 240x320 touch-screen TFT display, MMCmicro expansion, and 2 megapixel camera with another 0.3 megapixel shooter up front for video conferences. It also features T-DMB mobile TV with both the antenna and stylus tucked neatly away in the case. Oh, and this handset will pull double-duty as a Mobile WiMAX modem for your laptop too. Now pardon us, we have to get back to banging our rocks together, there's mammoth for dinner tonight! Lots more pics after the break.
