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Story URL: http://hardware.silicon.com/desktops/0,39024645,39183828,00.htm

'Super-3Gs' get connected via the Gobi
Laptop makers give users the power to roam

By David Meyer

Published: Monday 07 April 2008

Dell, HP and Lenovo are to incorporate Qualcomm's Gobi chipset into their laptops later this year.

Gobi, which Qualcomm released in October 2007, is a chipset that allows travellers to connect to both High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and Evolution-Data Optimised (EV-DO) networks. Both are types of "super-3G", but are incompatible.

Wireless from A to Z

Click on the links below to find out more…

A is for Antivirus
B is for Bluetooth
C is for The Cloud
D is for dotMobi
E is for Email
F is for FMC
G is for GPS
H is for HSDPA
I is for i-mode
J is for Japan Air
K is for Korea
L is for LBS
M is for M2M
N is for NFC
O is for Operating systems
P is for Pubs
Q is for QoS
R is for Roaming
S is for Satellite
T is for TV
U is for UMTS
V is for Virgin
W is for WiMax
X is for XDA
Y is for Yucca
Z is for Zigbee

HSPA is used in Europe and much of the rest of the world, while EV-DO is used in the US and parts of Australasia.

The disparity between HSDPA - part of the HSPA family - and EV-DO networks has led to a situation where, despite data-roaming agreements between companies such as Vodafone (in the UK) and Verizon (in the US), a subscriber to either operator is forced to switch datacards if travelling between the regions.

Greg Raleigh, vice president of product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, said: "The Gobi solution enables enterprise users and consumers with the freedom of being untethered from wi-fi hotspots and connecting to the internet using 'almost anywhere' cellular broadband connectivity. We are pleased that Dell will be [using] the flexibility and efficiency Gobi provides to meet the growing needs of mobile data users."

Ken Bond, Dell's director of wireless product management, said the move would allow the laptop manufacturer to address the needs of "customers [who] are demanding more freedom to compute the way they want, where they want".