[opendtv] Clearwire CEO dreams of 'WiMAX iPhone' and new device ecosystem

From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:41:27 -0500
Ever since the early 1980s, when I first noticed this strange phenomenon, it 
never ceases to amaze me how people get so hung up on tangential details that 
really don't matter. Whether it's a particular RF modulation scheme, or a 
particular link layer scheme, or a particular backplane standard, when the 
hyped up solution is just one of several functionally equivalent options.

I could understand it if the people with religious fervor were heavily invested 
in THAT particular technology. But it makes no sense at all if they are just 
providing a service.

Why did Clearwire choose WiMAX anyway? You can achieve the same bit rates with 
WiMAX, with LTE, or with wideband CDMA, and also the same spectral 
efficiencies. Why make this big deal distinction where there is no difference?

Bert 

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http://www.rethink-wireless.com/?article_id=1915

Clearwire CEO dreams of 'WiMAX iPhone' and new device ecosystem
By CAROLINE GABRIEL
Published: 18 September, 2009

Until recently, Mobile WiMAX in developed economies has been largely a 
notebook/dongle play, following similar adoption patterns to Wi-Fi in its 
earlier days. But to make the differentiation from metro Wi-Fi and also from 
3G, supporters of the platform have long talked about creating a far broader 
device ecosystem, going beyond laptop access and handsets to embrace new device 
categories, supporting new business models.

Clearwire's CEO Bill Morrow was pushing this point home, even as one of its 
lead chip suppliers, Beceem, announced one million WiMAX device chips sold 
(mainly at Clearwire and Japan's UQ, and mainly in USB modems). While 
acknowledging the importance of low cost devices that encourage users to try 
new services (dongles and the Clearwire Wi-Fi/WiMAX mobile router both tap into 
an existing installed base of PCs and WLans), Morrow was also looking ahead to 
products that might bring new services and revenue streams to Clearwire and its 
MVNOs.

Only a 4G network could unlock the true potential of broadband web focused 
products like the iPhone, Morrow said during his keynote speech at this week's 
4G World show in Chicago. He proceeded to demonstrate a 'WiMAX iPhone' - 
actually an iPhone connected to the WiMAX network via its Wi-Fi mode and the 
Clearwire router. This was demonstrated alongside an iPhone linked to its usual 
AT&T 3G system, and the improved data rate and latency was clear to see.

"The 3G network is not built for the broadband data speeds we're talking 
about," Morrow said, while indirectly making a point he often drives home - 
that Clearwire is head-on competitive with the 3G cellcos incertain markets.

Clearwire is diversifying its ecosystem as it builds out more markets and 
starts to get sufficient volume of high-end customers - and a large degree of 
public profile - with which to lure vendors. It already has the Samsung Mondi 
MID and Morrow was promising smartphones, connected laptops, netbooks and 
tablets, plus new formats - a new generation of smartphones, as he called it, 
though the outline sounded like the 'smartbook' concept supported by Nokia, 
Qualcomm and many others. He believes this next generation handset will have PC 
features - 1GHz processor, high definition video, 3D imaging and 64Gbof 
internal memory - but also sensors as well as connectivity, supporting new 
functionality like voice and object recognition.

Morrow was also firmly behind the vision of investor Google, of fatter wireless 
pipes enabling cloud computing to go mobile, with people accessing services and 
data remotely over the web rather than keeping it all locally.
 
 
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[opendtv] Clearwire CEO dreams of 'WiMAX iPhone' and new device ecosystem

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