Intel Rolls Out New WiMax Chipset

The completion of its WiMax baseband chip -- coupled with a previously announced, multiband WiMax/WiFi radio on a single chip -- indicates that "Intel continues to drive innovation in mobile broadband access by eliminating the seams that prevent ubiquitous wireless connectivity," said Intel Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Sean Maloney.

Real Wireless Internet

In Hong Kong, Maloney showed an Intel Centrino Duo-based computer with WiMax, WiFi and high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) 3G capabilities accessing the Internet via the WiMax network.

Though other cellular wireless technologies are used more for applications such as mobile video, Intel touts WiMax capability for content-rich applications, which can be delivered with responsiveness and free of interference from other wireless technologies on a system.

"The Intel WiMax Connection 2300 will help speed the deployment of mobile WiMax and accelerate the availability of a new wave of 'personal broadband' laptops and mobile devices," Maloney said.

Heavy Wireless Lifter

Although there is some competition for a next-generation wireless standard, the real question about WiMax is who is going to implement the technology and how much is it going to cost, DataComm President Ira Brodsky told TechNewsWorld.

Still, some WiMax projects, particularly a proof-of-concept model for handheld television units rented out at NASCAR races, show the powerful potential of the wireless technology, Brodsky noted.

Also praiseworthy is Intel's strategy of pairing WiMax with WiFi and other wireless technologies, in order to position it as a "heavy lifter" for wireless users seeking more multimedia content such as mobile TV, he added.

Sprint Solution?

Recently, a lot of doubt surrounds WiMax technology but the support of wireless carrier Sprint (NYSE: S) has changed that, claimed Brodsky.

"Sprint makes a world of difference," he said.

Sprint may be planning to use Intel's WiMax technology for its own mobile television offering, which would be more powerful than other wireless technologies from other carriers, according to Brodsky.

Standards Significance

With users and enterprises typically slow or unable to upgrade their own devices, it is key that WiMax has a standard for the wireless technology, Ovum Vice President of Wireless Telecoms Roger Entner told TechNewsWorld.

"You really need the standard before you can do anything," he said. "Otherwise, it's all premature."

Entner indicated that WiMax is not the only wireless technology in need of standardization, and that all of the next-generation wireless solutions face the same problem.