Wireless+: UMDs Find Xohm Sweet Home

There’s been a lot of talk about all the shiny new devices everyone from the Big Three carmakers to kitchen appliance manufacturers will offer to take advantage of the forthcoming 4G world of always-on, ubiquitous, high-speed connectivity. However, the first 4G devices likely will be handhelds, laptops and ultramobile devices integrated with WiMAX functionality. Built for multimedia convergence on the go, they promise to be very high on the coolness meter — if we ever get to see what they look like.

Samsung’s mobile convergence device, the P9000.

Motorola and Sprint showed off live mobile WiMAx on live devices at WiMAx World USA.

Sprint Nextel’s imminent launch of its nationwide mobile WiMAX network (“Xohm”) has the industry in a state of high anticipation, and several manufacturers already are highlighting their device strategies. For instance, Sprint’s network got an official unveiling at this fall’s WiMAX World USA during an outing on a boat floating serenely down the Chicago River. Motorola Inc. devices and laptop cards were shown running VoIP calling on a handset, Web browsing, video streaming and MobiTV, seamlessly handing off from node to node while moving past Xohm access point sites along the route of the cruise.

Meanwhile, Xohm chief Barry West offered a few more details about what to expect when the WiMAX service goes commercial next year. He emphasized that there will be an open-access approach when it comes to devices and applications. He explained the business case for Xohm, saying the model turns the traditional wireless approach on its head. “Device subsidies have destroyed the value of the device in the minds of the consumer,” he said. “[Because of the subsidies], to make the model work requires a one- or twoyear commitment [to ensure ROI].” Instead, he said, Xohm will change the paradigm by eliminating subsidies and creating an open environment where any WiMAX-certified device can connect to the network.

“You will buy a device, pay full freight on it, then activate it at home,” he explained. Much like Wi-Fi, users can prepay for a day, a week or a month, or sign a two-year contract in exchange for a cheaper rate. The important point, he says, is the explosion of consumer electronics devices that will arise from the new model; he said that Xohm ecosystem partners like Samsung, Motorola and Nokia have pledged to embed WiMAX chipsets into 50 million devices and that the vendors will be able to market those devices on their own, outside the purview of Sprint.

All this means that “it will be possible to have multiple devices,” he explained. “You’ll have a rate that applies to you, the person, instead of to each specific device. And if you want to upgrade, do it without penalty. In a traditional wireless scheme you have a real problem [recouping the investment] when a subscriber upgrades.”

Xohm, he added, will be synonymous with the mobile Internet, supporting third-party applications from VoIP to IP video. He referenced Sprint’s partnership with Google Inc. as evidence of Sprint’s open-access commitment. And what will these devices look like? A Motorola spokesperson tantalizingly stresses that the sleek and slim handsets shown in the cruise demo are not an “accurate indication of the way our final commercial products will look like. Those are still top secret.”

It’s a recurring theme. In fact, out of the top manufacturers, Samsung is one of the few already showing off WiMAX devices, developed initially for Korea’s WiBro market. One, the P9000, is a device with a panel that unfolds to reveal a fullsized qwerty keyboard. It features still and video cameras, an MP3 player and other bells and whistles, and is designed to encourage content creation.

Meanwhile, Intel Corp., Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks have announced interop testing to ensure that Intel’s forthcoming WiMAX silicon, Nokia WiMAX devices and NSN’s infrastructure equipment will work together, creating a potential end-to-end juggernaut for operators. Everyone’s favorite WiMAX-oriented word is quickly becoming “ecosystem,” and true to form, the three have started testing their equipment and devices with dozens of other equipment vendors’ products for interoperability and conformance with industry standards in Sprint’s Herndon, Va., testing labs.

Samsung, Motorola and Nokia also will soon get a challenge from a new source: Nortel Networks. Nortel has announced that it too will add WiMAX-enabled devices to the company’s WiMAX portfolio. The move comes courtesy of partnerships with device makers XyZEL and Quanta.

Nortel plans to offer service provider customers PC express cards and USB dongles for WiMAX connectivity on laptops, as well as indoor routers and outdoor gateways for WiMAX to the home or business. Based on the Beceem BCS200 WiMAX chipset and the Sequans SQN 1130 WiMAX chipset, all will be fully integrated with Nortel’s WiMAX network infrastructure. The endpoints will have various features and functionality. For example, the WiMAX Indoor Premium Router will have VoIP, data and Wi-Fi capability.

As to what will come out of all this activity, these device promise to be multimedia-oriented, taking cues from UMDs and offering more kinds of functionality in a range of form factors. “It’s a very exciting time, and we can’t wait,” said one Motorola exec.