Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition

We've covered the Nokia N810 before, a neat little Linux-based handheld computer with excellent internet capabilities.. but unlike most Nokia devices, the N810 doesn't have a built-in phone. The Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition is not just a black variant of the N810, this version adds WiMAX technology to the N810's WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.



The WiMAX version of the N810 also introduces an updated version of the OS 2008 Maemo operating system with several enhancements. This version of the OS is also available to existing N810 and N800 users free of charge.
What is WiMAX?

Most of our readers will be familiar with WiFi and 3G technologies such as UMTS. Although WiMAX is a different technology to WiFi or 3G, it can effectively be viewed as a cross between the two. WiMAX offers city-wide wireless broadband access without the need for a SIM card. WiMAX base stations cover a relatively large area, but the access mechanism is similar to a WiFi hotspot.

Nokia N810 with WiMAX WiMAX networks are being rolled out across the world, usually in large urban areas (but sometimes in rural locations too). One complication though is the proliferation of frequencies used by WiMAX networks. WiMAX frequencies worldwide can be more or less anything, usually in the range of 1.7 GHz to 5.8 GHz. Some typical implementations are 3.5 GHz (common in Europe) and 2.5 GHz (common in the US).

Xohm

The Nokia N810 WiMAX supports a fixed frequency of 2.5 GHz and is designed to work with the Sprint Nextel Xohm service. This means that at present, the N810 WiMAX Edition is a US-only device. It is possible that other WiMAX-enabled versions of the N810 will follow, but as yet nothing has been announced. Despite this limited availability, the new version of OS 2008 is available for other N810/N800 users.

Nokia say that this version of the N810 is not locked into the Xohm network, so it can be used potentially with other 2.5 GHz WiMAX networks in the US (for example Xanadoo and Clearwire).

The N810 WiMAX Edition should be available during summer 2008. Exact pricing is not known, but it should be roughly the same price as the existing N810 which retails for around $420.