While ARM, NVIDIA Tegra, NVIDIA ION, and Google Android news dominated the headlines from Computex last week, Portable Monkey spotted another recent trend in netbooks: WiMAX support.
The wireless broadband standard hasn’t really taken off in the US yet, but it’s starting to pop up here and there. And this weekend a number of companies including Sony, Onkyo, and Clevo introduced mini-laptops with WiMAX support for the Japanese market. Wireless provider UQ Communications is providing WiMAX coverage in Tokyo and plans to expand its coverage over the next few years.
Samsung also recently introduced a WiMAX capable version of the NC10 netbook, which is available in the US for about $520.
I admit not knowing that much about mesh networking, but I would think the security issues would be daunting. As for Wimax, please bring it on, but until there is decent coverage I would not be willing to pay even $20 more for the hardware. Netbooks have an expected usable lifetime somewhat shorter than laptops. In my company laptops are changed every 3 years. The odds are you will change your netbook before Wimax gets to your area.
What should be offered to the public is MESH NETWORKING.
Like the OLPC XO-1 (either built-in to netbooks OR on USB plug-in options), MESH Networking is one of the technologies that Intel (a big WiMax tech owner) didn’t like about the OLPC (0ther was use of AMD owned processor tech that was lower power than Intel has ever had, or could have at the time).
Netbooks like the Gecko Edubook that is due out soon, should have the ability to run the Sugar Linux OS and have a MESH Networking module available for those other than users of OLPC XO-1 to be able to have school kids have the ability to use the full features of the OLPC XO-1 in other devices where all devices in schools can talk over the same Mesh Network.
Depends on what you mean the “next big thing”. If you mean will all netbooks have it like WiFi and Bluetooth. No I don’t think so. Data plans are way to pricey in most parts of the world, not as bad but still expensive down there in the US.
I guess it all depends on how much adding a WiMax radio will cost. If it is under $20 cost, then perhaps, especially if they get integrated into next gen chipsets. If they cost manufacturers too much though, they will probably leave it out because it is way too soon for mass adoption. Especially considering there isn’t even coverage in most areas.
That being said, I firmly believe that mobile broadband is the future. Be it WiMAX, LTE, or whatever is next. It all depends on how much longer telecom companies will be able to f* us over with these high priced packages.