The BBC is reporting that Nokia has signed a deal with Sony Ericsson, NEC and Alacatel-Lucent as part of an ambitious plan to roll out a 4G wireless system. It’s mostly the dry legal stuff about licensing that’s being hammered out just now, as the companies have formed a licensing framework for their 4G patents, called Long Term Evolution (LTE).
More exciting is the fact that the deal will help bolster LTE, which is in direct competition with the Intel backed Wimax standard which is another possible route that 4G connectivity could take. But what exactly is 4G? Well, the easy answer is, it’s 3G but one better. Basically, as far as LTE goes anyway, the new connectivity standard is faster than 3G and capable of long distance wireless tomfoolery (much like Wimax then).
Continue reading ‘Nokia et al to throw an LTE cat among the Wimax pigeons’
Motorola is betting heavily on WiMAX, the much-hyped 4G of mobile internet that offers download speeds in the tens of megabits, and has just performed a series of demonstrations in Chicago to prove it. Journalists and analysts were treated to a demo of WiMAX voice-over-IP calling, web browsing, and video streaming as they cruised down the Chicago River, and while driving at ‘beyond 50mph’ alongside it.
Chicago is one of six US cities that Sprint has hired Motorola to build WiMAX networks in, with plans to offer ‘high-speed internet browsing, local and location-centric services, and multimedia services including music, video, TV and on-demand products. Sprint also plans to bring Xohm WiMAX mobile internet customers search, interactive communications and social networking tools through a new mobile portal in a deal announced with Google.’
WiMAX is going to be big, believe us. And if you don’t believe us, ask a Korean — they already have WiMAX’s sister tech, WiBRO, available today.
