Regulators have approved the first WiMax wireless broadband laptop PC card to be offered by Clearwire, and it should be available to users later this year, the company said Tuesday.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved a WiMax laptop PC card that fits into a standard Type II laptop card slot and can be used with the Windows Vista and XP operating systems, Clearwire said in a statement. The card works on Clearwire’s WiMax network, which has been built with Motorola wi4 Expedience wireless networking equipment.
Approval of the high performance WiMax card should propel the use of WiMax by broadening the potential base of customers, Clearwire said in a statement. Laptop PC users were instrumental in increasing the popularity of Wi-Fi, which WiMax aims to replace with its speedier wireless Internet service and wider ranging access. Wi-Fi became popular because it freed people from sitting at home connected to the Internet by wire, and instead allowed them to sip coffee at Starbucks while reading e-mails wirelessly on their laptop PCs.
Source: InfoWorld