That N810 WiMax edition is looking better everyday.

http://www.mobile-tech-today.com/sto...story_id=61607

Sprint Will Launch 4G WiMAX with Localized Features

Sprint is lining up partners to help localize the WiMAX experience it plans to roll out this fall. Sprint users will get local news, weather, restaurant reviews, and other features on the XOHM 4G network through "geobrowsing." Sprint will kick off WiMAX in Baltimore, then move to Chicago and Washington, D.C.

In advance of its WiMAX rollout this fall, Sprint announced Thursday a lineup of mobile Relevant Products/Services partners to localize its customer's 4G experience. In what the company calls "geobrowsing," XOHM users will get local news, weather and many other localized networking features delivered to their laptops and mobile devices.

The WiMAX service is expected to kick off in Baltimore in September, with Chicago and Washington, D.C., to follow before the end of the year.
Location, Location, Location

GPS in the XOHM system continually updates the user's position and feeds it to back-end applications. This feature is added by California-based Open Wave. Using uLocate as the foundation for the service, Sprint has tested and implemented a number of applications before rollout.

The partnership between Sprint and uLocate includes building the entire XOHM localized experience, with APIs provided to third-party developers for their applications. Some big names will be part of the launch.

Yelp will provide local business news all the way through local restaurant reviews. Eventful service will not only list events for XOHM users but will also map the locations. NAVTEQ will stream up-to-the-minute local traffic information, while Google will serve up localized searching and map features.

John Polivka, spokesperson at Sprint, explained the difference between the XOHM user experience and using the Internet. "With Internet access you could go to each vendor now as a separate interaction; but with XOHM, the services are aggregated into a service package that correlates them due to the intelligence in the network; for example, plotting friend locations on a map, identifying a restaurant or entertainment venue from local search, and sharing plans to convene with the benefit of weather, traffic or ticket-purchase convenience."

XOHM users will have standard Internet as well. Polivka noted that there is no charge for third-party developers to become part of the program, but there would be revenue-sharing opportunities for both developer and Sprint. When asked if the XOHM service would serve up targeted advertising, ala Google and Yahoo, he indicated the business model allows for such arrangements.
Devices and Prices

Sprint also indicated it is working with a number of partners to deliver XOHM-enabled devices, although they declined to name them. One could imagine phones, PDAs and subnotebooks would be high on the list, although analysts predict laptop Relevant Products/Services XOHM WiMAX cards will be the first and most popular access points to the 4G network.

The localized services are part of the standard XOHM package, said Polivka. "XOHM subscribers arrange a subscription, not a contract, and open an account ... then go to a portal which contains the bundled WiMAX services/applications. A new WiMAX-capable device is needed."

Although no pricing was announced, Polivka added, "There will be day passes, home and away plans, and the ability to have multiple devices under one agreement, versus the telecom model where each device is a separate contract."

That was so full of marketing speak, it's hard to understand.

"With Internet access you could go to each vendor now as a separate interaction; but with XOHM, the services are aggregated into a service package that correlates them due to the intelligence in the network;"

Wow! I had no idea it could do that! I have always wanted banana splinter poke poke monster chimpanzee with my durka durka durka!

That said - thanks! I'll be re-blogging this shortly.

As I posted elsewhere (News), I encountered numerous Xohm spots all over Virgina, DC and Maryland a few weeks ago. Getting wireless access there will not be much of a problem at all.

Has anybody made a map of WiMax coverage yet? I've kept hearing for nearly a year now about how it'll be rolling out soon.. with no idea of where it's already available and no way to watch for progress in case I'm interested in it.

Also--will there be a WiMax modem for N800/N810 owners made available?

I take any news regarding WiMax with a heaping Sea of Galilee of salt. The simple fact is that WiMax has been hyped for years with next to nothing out there in terms of large scale, real world deployment and device availability by consumers. Sprint has scaled back their rollout to a large extent. The previous CEO got fired over it. Sprint also recently sold off most of their cell towers and is now leasing capacity. None of it exactly fills me with confidence. I've witnessed enough hyped vaporware over the years that I will belive it when I see it.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/01/s...s-and-devices/

Xohm was much more than vaporware when it kept popping up on my test tablet.

However Xohm wiil not suit much of the public that travels. I will still need a cell phone if I leave the DC/Xohm area. And that's generally at least 1 week/month.

Right now, yes. But to conclude it "will not" be good, without specifying a timetable, from coverage at public launch seems a little silly to me.