Thinkpads and Cingular 3G Network

[aramosjr]

Anyone have any idea when the Thinkpads will come with embedded WWAN cards for Cingular's 3G network?

[DIGITALgimpus]

My bet is not for a while. I believe Lenovo already sealed a deal, which most likely includes some exclusivity as that's what Wireless providers like (look at how bad cell phones are getting when it comes to "only available through ______".

Hopefully they will standardize and be compatible with all services... but doubt it.

[BillMorrow]

wait for the hack..
for every lock there is a key..
someone someplace will unlock the sierra wireless card for use by all service providers..
so it has always been, so it will always be..

also, within a few days, i will be adding a deal for activating the WWAN thru verizon..

free activation..

otherwise there is no free lunch in these deals..

yet..

[bill bolton]

someone someplace will unlock the sierra wireless card for use by all service providers..

It depends of how its done. There are certainly some approaches for restricting wireless devices to a single vendor (for instance looking up the specific device ID against a list at every login) that are effectively unbeatable.

Cheers,

Bill

[sugo]

It's here finally.

Lenovo T60 with Cingular WWAN

Now please offer a 2100+850+1900 UMTS version.

[tiatian]

Verizon and Cingular on Thinkpads... Is Sprint Nextel access next? Could it be possible to access the Sprint network on the Verizon WWAN since they both use the EV-DO networks? I'm sure there is more involved than just that, but something to think about.

[savarin]

I think that is too soon to choose one 3G technology (EDGE) and use it in Thinkpads. There are more technologies and nobody knows who will be the winner. And as I know they are not compatible. In different countries there are used different technologies.

In our country you can buy UMTS or EDGE or CDMA. Practically the same price (25 USD/month), the same speed (250 - 400 Kbps download). When I was choosing my technology the most important viewpoint was signal coverage. That is why i have UMTS/GPRS PCMCIA card with automatic switching. Where is no UMTS signal the card automatically uses GPRS. And GPRS is everywhere.

Did Lenovo think of these problems, i.e. different net in different countries and signal coverage?

I think the best solution for Lenovo would be to wait for the winner technology or use some combined card. Option already produces some, as I know.