In any case, it’s happening now, and as Gus over at Lifehacker points out, don’t actually think that you’ll see unmetered iTunes downloads over the wireless network – that won’t ever happen!

[iiNet via Lifehacker]

The modem, called the U300, will be first available to customers of the Sprint/Clearwire “Clear” WiMax network in Baltimore, where their pilot program is under way. The connections will be managed automatically, much in the manner that 3G/2G phones handle them; the modem will connect to the faster WiMax by default, but will switch to the slower EVDO cell network when it’s out of range or too weak.

If these work well, they could be a boon to both Sprint and WiMax in general, as the of the appeal admittedly significant speed gain of WiMax over EVDO is mitigated by the need to purchase and carry around an extra adaptor. Speaking of mitigating factors—the added convenience of the U300 doesn’t quite justify its $US150 with-contract price. The adaptor should ship by the beginning of next week. [Yahoo]

Before we get started, a quick note on the last Windows Mobile test, and what we’re doing differently here. Some of you guys complained that the Samsung Epix was a crappy, slow piece of hardware. However, according to Laptop, its 624MHz Marvell processor and 128MB RAM are specs that just about on par with the three phones clamoured for in the comments. Still, you get your wish: Here we lined up the Sony Xperia X1, HTC Touch Pro (AT&T’s Fuze) and the Samsung Omnia, and put them through the same tests. On the Epix, for Opera testing, we went with v8.65 in order to not use beta software. (Opera’s own site lists 8.65 as its most recent stable version.) Here, all the Windows Mobile hardware we’ve added to the test have Opera 9.5 built right in.

So without further explanation, here are the numbers—time to load the page, and how accurately it was rendered using Firefox 3 as a reference:

As you can see, the Xperia, Fuze and Omnia are about on par with the Epix when it comes to IE (they suck!), though Opera Mobile 9.5 obviously crushes 8.65 when it comes to speed and competency. I asked Opera why I saw the performance differences between the three phones and they admitted that there are some tweaks, which “are mainly with making our browser work best on the different devices.” So, let’s look at the new phones and see how they rate against the Epix:

Xperia X1
You probably noticed in the chart that load times are longer over Wi-Fi in a few spots. This is because it would randomly hang, not loading data, for up to 20 seconds. The Xperia was aggravating because its touchscreen seemed to be the least responsive of the three, making navigation a pain, though its optical mouse came in handy for zipping around pages, and it worked better than the Omnia’s. One other annoyance is that Opera blocked its virtual symbol keyboard from coming up, which made it hard to enter one of the URLs. It falls smack in the middle.

HTC Fuze
I had the smoothest overall experience with the Fuze, and would be my closest thing to a recommendation. Its touchscreen was responsive, which made double tapping to zoom and pan around pages fast and mostly intuitive in Opera Mobile. Having symbols mapped directly to the keyboard is a big time saver while punching in URLs. This is good, since it seemed to be the slowest of the three, both over 3G and Wi-Fi. Sluggishness aside, the web experience is markedly more usable than the other two new phones.

Omnia
The all-touchscreen Omnia, despite being the fastest over 3G in a number of cases, was a nightmare. During the 3G tests, it managed to crash Opera on three of the six pages tested. I also had tons of Wi-Fi issues. Eventually I was told by Samsung that VZAppZone, Verizon’s pseudo-app store that’s all but pre-installed on the phone (after you fire it up, it installs), was breaking the Wi-Fi. (On the Epix in the previous showdown, I was later told by Samsung that installing Opera is what broke Wi-Fi for IE. So, uh, Samsung maybe…oh, whatever.) Also, its portrait keyboard has keys so ridiculously skinny, they’d remind anorexic models not to eat. When Opera did work and a page was actually loaded, it was the snappiest at moving around the page. But overall, yeesh.

Conclusion
So where would I slot Opera 9.5 overall if I were to slide it into the previous browser battle? I’d give it a B-. It has a great, desktop-y UI (though I wish a few of the buttons were a smidge bigger, taking into consideration fat fingers and the inadequacies of resistive touchscreens). It’s really competent, and it has a solid zoom metaphor, with the double taps usually working like a charm. And it has extras like tabs. But, and this is the big but, it still doesn’t feel quite as smooth or instantly responsive as Safari or Android’s browser. It’s clearly an OS issue, though, not an Opera one.

Speaking to that, testing these three phones actually took longer than it did to test the six in the original Battlemodo, entirely because of how much wrestling I had to do with Windows Mobile. I’ve used close to a dozen Windows Mobile devices over the last year, and it’s still a bitch.

If you haven’t noticed in our reviews of Windows Mobile phones, we’ve basically ceased comparing to them anything but other WM phones, in a wishful attempt at dulling our totally appropriate disdain for the OS, lest the review essentially turn into one giant bitchfest. They’re clearly off in their own world of performance and function.

Even ceding the point that Windows Mobile is somehow more functional than the iPhone or Android, it’s like comparing one of those 100-in-1 kitchen gadgets that’ll blend, slice, dice, toast, saute, braise, set the table, clean the dishes AND suck you off while it’s doing all that to a Waring MX1000 blender. It doesn’t matter how much the all-in-one gadget can technically do if you can’t figure out how to use it, and it performs every task with only mediocre results.

If the iPhone ran half as poorly as Windows Mobile phones, Apple haters would (rightfully) scream as loudly as Apple fanboys do about Vista. If any BlackBerry was as much of a flustercuck, reviewers would trash the crap out of it. I’m sorry, but at this point, any apologist left defending Windows Mobile is either delusional or full of crap—either way, not worth listening to.

I won’t touch another Windows Mobile phone until WM7 or at least 6.5, no matter how awesome the hardware looks. Call me when it runs Android.

The original timetable called for initial rollouts in 2010, with a wide commercial launch in 2011 and true mass availability in 2012. An IDC analyst says that Verizon’s shift to a more aggressive schedule was likely sparked by Japan’s NTT DoCoMo announcing last month they’d offer LTE service commercially in 2010, showing that “the race is on.” That’s right, people, Verizon is throwing down for the good ol’ US of A—Japan won’t beat us on mobile phone tech ever again.

After launching LTE, Verizon’s planning to offer femtocells through partners like Best Buy that won’t just make the signal actually decent in your house, they’ll have built in Wi-Fi, so you won’t have to have a separate box for it. Your move, AT&T. [Yahoo]

Doing a bit of maths, you’re still better off buying the Mini 9 up front and then adding the Vodafone 5GB data pack with USB modem for $40 a month (it works out about $120 cheaper). But sometimes convenience is everything, isn’t it?

Head on over to APC for a full cost breakdown of the bundle, and if you’re in the market for both a netbook and a wireless internet contract, maybe hold off for a week or two until we receive the official announcement…

[APC Mag]

For $149, you get 12GB of data that you can use any time you wish over the next 12 months. Of course, you’ll also have to pick yourself up an internet key ($129) to use the service, but that’s not too bad. And if you, unlike me, reckon you could fly through your mobile data within 30 days, there are also a heap of other options for you, which are detailed below the fold…- $15 (500MB)
- $29 (2GB)
- $49 (4GB)

All four of these pre-paid options (including the 12GB, $149 option) include 10 SMS messages as well as the data. Which kind of sucks for the big plan: 12GB, 365 days and only 10 SMS messages? They could have at least jacked it up to 20…

Get more on the go with 3 Mobile Broadband Prepaid

3 offers Internet Key for $129 and a choice of recharge options including $29 for 2GB

SYDNEY, 11 November 2008 – 3 has expanded its Mobile Broadband offering with Mobile Broadband Prepaid – offering fast, flexible and great value internet access without the hassle of being tied to a fixed line.

Available from Wednesday, 12th November, 3’s Mobile Broadband Prepaid recharge options include $15 for 500MB of data, $29 for 2GB and $49 for 4GB with a 30 day expiry. And in a market first, 3’s customers can choose to prepay their internet for a year by paying $149 for 12GB which comes with a massive 12-month expiry. With Christmas around the corner, it’s bound to be a great gift option.

“3’s customers want user-friendly, affordable internet on-the-go and by extending our mobile broadband offering to include Prepaid we’ve now got a complete range of internet solutions for our customers,” said Noel Hamill, Director Sales, Marketing & Product at 3.

“3’s Mobile Broadband Prepaid gives customers the freedom and flexibility to enjoy the internet on their own terms,” he said.

Making 3 Mobile Broadband Prepaid more attractive than ever, 3 has revamped its Internet Key modem, so customers can surf in style by picking from a modem with a splash of green, orange or blue.

The Internet Key modem slots into a USB port for instant wireless broadband access and is available with a prepaid starter kit for just $129. The prepaid starter kit comes with 100MB of data. It’s compact size and true plug and play experience allows users to insert it into a Mac or Windows PC for simple Internet access and ultimate mobility.

Easy Recharge
For recharge options, customers can choose from one of the following three ways;

Use a credit card online (on My3 directly from the connection manager)
Set up auto recharge online, by setting the recharge amount on a preferred day of the month
Purchase a voucher from a 3 Store, 3 Dealer or at over 15,000 participating outlets nationally

Recharges have a 30 day expiry period except for the $149 recharge which has a 365 day expiry period.

Where to Buy
Get hooked up with 3’s Mobile Broadband Prepaid from Wednesday, 12th November 2008 at 3 Stores and 3 Dealers across Australia, Mo’s Mobiles, Allphones, Dick Smith Electronics, Tandy, Powerhouse and BIG W, www.three.com.au or by calling 133 907.

[Three]

20 million use Opera Mini worldwide

New beta version and server park launched today

Oslo, Norway = November 11, 2008 – Opera today released a preview of
Opera Mini 4.2, the newest version of the world’s most popular mobile
Web browser that works on almost every mobile phone. With this beta
release, Opera celebrates Opera Mini being the browser of choice for
more than 20 million unique monthly users worldwide. As part of the
celebration, Opera Mini users in the United States and Asia-Pacific
region can now experience faster browsing speeds, due to the addition
of an Opera Mini server park in the United States.

Opera Mini is available to download for beta testing at
http://www.operamini.com/beta/.

“The number of people using Opera Mini worldwide proves that there is
a true revolution going on: people want to access all their favorite
Web sites on the mobile phone they have today,” says Jon von
Tetzchner, CEO, Opera. “We constantly focus on developing a faster and
more personal browsing experience. Opera Mini 4.2 beta is an update
that takes mobile Web browsing to the next level.”

Opera Mini 4.2 beta provides a more personalised experience with its
colorful selection of new skins, improved support for YouTube and
other mobile video services on a wider selection of mobile phones.
Improvements in Opera Link allow users to share notes between their
mobile phones and PCs, in addition to their bookmarks and
recently-visited URLs.

“Opera Mini is a mobile application to be reckoned with,” says John
Jackson, Vice President, Yankee Group. ?We have witnessed a 10%
average growth in the number of Opera Mini users worldwide every
month, with every indication that the trend will continue. As the
browser keeps improving in speed and functionality and end-user
awareness expands, Opera Mini’s popularity to users worldwide should
continue to grow.”

“I love Opera Mini, because when it comes to functionality, there is
nothing ‘mini’ about it,” says Meri-Tuuli Fagerlund, a student from
Finland. “I use Opera Mini daily to access the Web, and the best part
is that I do not have to carry my laptop when I have Opera Mini in my
pocket.”

To join the other Opera Mini fans and to show us how you use the Opera
Mini browser, check out Choose Opera at http://chooseopera.com/.

Opera Mini 4.2 beta is a free download from http://www.operamini.com/beta/.

About the use of Opera Mini

Since the worldwide launch of Opera Mini in January 2006, millions of
people have experienced the mobile Internet for the first time. Due to
its unique architecture, Opera Mini does not discriminate between
platforms or networks; it runs on nearly any mobile phone in any
geographic region. During the month of September 2008, Opera reported
19 million unique monthly users of Opera Mini, a 10.1% month-on-month
increase from August 2008 and more than 341% compared to September
2007. Opera Mini users viewed more than 4.5 billion pages during
September and each person using Opera Mini viewed approximately 238
pages on average. On November 11, 2008, Opera reported 20 million
unique monthly users of Opera Mini. For more information, go to
Opera’s State of the Mobile Web report http://www.mobilewebreport.com/.

About Opera Software ASA

Opera Software ASA has redefined Web browsing for PCs, mobile phones
and other networked devices. Opera’s cross-platform Web browser
technology is renowned for its performance, standards compliance and
small size, while giving users a faster, safer and more dynamic online
experience. Opera Software is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with
offices around the world. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock
Exchange under the ticker symbol OPERA. Learn more about Opera at

http://www.opera.com/.

Novatel Wireless Launches Ovation MC760 Micro Modem

Micro-sized EVDO Rev. A USB Modem Provides Integrated File Storage
with Enhanced Speed and Performance

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 10, 2008 – Novatel Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: NVTL), a leading provider of wireless broadband solutions, today announced the continued evolution of its USB product line with the introduction of the Ovation™ MC760 Micro Modem. The MC760 is the world’s smallest EVDO Rev. A USB modem, weighing less than an ounce and measuring just over two inches long.

The MC760 supports all computing devices equipped with Type A USB ports, including most desktops, notebooks and PDAs, to provide instant mobile broadband access anywhere a cellular signal is available. With out of the box support for a variety of operating systems including Windows® (Vista, XP, 2000), Mac® and Linux, the MC760 enables users to surf the Internet, check email and access important business documents with speeds faster than most cable or DSL connections.

With numerous standard features including on-board GPS, the MC760’s durable design includes an integrated microSD™ slot, capable of storing up to 8GB of files, videos or music with the use of a hot-swappable SD storage card (sold separately). The USB760 features an advanced internal dual band antenna system that includes diversity for enhanced performance on network fringe areas. The MC760 also features a service status LED indicator that displays the device’s connection status. Mobilink™ Lite Connection Manager Software is included to simplify set-up and navigation through the MC760’s vast feature set.
“The launch of the MC760 reinforces our commitment to deliver the most advanced mobile broadband solutions for our customers,” said Peter Leparulo, chairman and CEO, Novatel Wireless. “The MC760 is perfect for those seeking an extremely light, compact, plug-and-play USB modem to accompany their mobile lifestyle.”

Pricing and Availability
The Ovation MC760 will be commercially available this quarter through a variety of Novatel Wireless’s tier-one operator customers.

[Novatel]

Some people will not be affected, such as Blackberry users who want unlimited data and unlimited messaging. Included among some of the changes is a data cap for T-Mobile Shadow users, at 50 MB and 100 MB respectively. Current T-Mobile customers who are planning to add data to their existing plans might want to do so now to grandfather the price. [TmoNews]