FreedomPop's pseudo-free home WiMAX goes live

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <img alt="FreedomPop brings its payonce WiMAX to home access, hopes you'll pay for more" data-src-height="340" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/freedompop-home-burst-hub.jpg" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">FreedomPop tempted users with the prospect of free home internet access -- free after buying the hardware, that is -- back in December. If you've been champing at the bit ever since, you'll be glad to know that the more stationary service is at last live. As promised, you'll get 1GB of free data per month after picking up the $89 Hub Burst modem and router combo. That allotment won't be useful for much more than emergency access on the desktop, but customers will have multiple avenues for raising the ceiling, whether it's agreeing to join in promotions or simply paying for more. A starting $10 per month subscription nets a more reasonable 10GB cap, and additional plans boost the peak speed from a pokey 1.5Mbps to 8Mbps at $19 per month. We'd think carefully about leaping in when FreedomPop hopes to switch to LTE this year, but the price is low enough that the early adopter tax will be low.</div><div class="open" dir="ltr" id="pr_box" style="text-align: left;"><div id="pr_box_button">Hide Press Release</div><div id="pr_text"><i><b>FreedomPop Launches Free Home Broadband</b></i><br /><i>Home Hub Burst Device Enables Free Internet in the Home, Further Disrupting $100 Billion DSL and Cable Industry</i><br /><i>LOS ANGELES, March 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- FreedomPop, America's new free Internet company, today announced the public availability of its new Burst home router device, offering 100 percent free high-speed Internet in the home or small office. FreedomPop's new home broadband device provides speeds faster than typical DSL and comparable with most major cable providers. The Burst wireless modem router is $89 and requires no additional installation requirements, contracts or cancellation fees, and can connect up to 10 devices wirelessly.</i><br /><i>"Major broadband providers are charging in excess of $500 per year for home Internet, and continuing to raise their prices – leaving consumers desperate for ways to cut down on their monthly bills for home Internet," said Stephen Stokols, FreedomPop's CEO. "FreedomPop's early success in the wireless market has put us in position to offer home broadband users significantly discounted alternatives."</i><br /><i>FreedomPop home users will receive 1 GB of free data each month and can earn unlimited data by adding friends to their network via email and social media networks, and engaging in partner promotions. The company also offers heavier data users a variety of cost-effective plans, starting at under $10 per month – 80 percent cheaper than today's DSL or cable offerings.</i><br /><i>FreedomPop's free wireless Internet model brings a new level of competition not seen in the US broadband market to date. Unlike most European markets, capped data plans for lighter consumption are not available in the US, leaving consumers to sign up for unlimited plans that can range from $45 to $60 per month.</i><br /><i>To order the FreedomPop service and Hub Burst, go to www.FreedomPop.com/home-internet while supplies last.</i></div></div></div>

FreedomPop's pseudo-free home WiMAX goes live

  FreedomPop tempted users with the prospect of free home internet access -- free after buying the hardware, that is -- back in December. ...

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Broadcom outs smaller, more efficient LTE-Advanced modem for high-spec mobiles

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><hr dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" /> <div class="image-container" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"> <img alt="Broadcom out shrunken down LTEAdvanced modem for highspec mobiles" data-src-height="340" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/02/broadcom-lead.jpg" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> Welcome to the BCM21892. It may sound like every other piece of Broadcom silicon we've covered, but it actually represents an important move from a company that is eager to start pecking at Qualcomm's lunch. First and foremost, this a 4G modem for flagship phones rather than any budget fare, with support for LTE-Advanced and data speeds of up to 150Mb/s. To deliver that kind of performance, carriers either need 20MHz of contiguous bandwidth -- a rarity these days -- or they need carrier aggregation technology, which allows a modem to exploit separate chunks of bandwidth simultaneously. The BCM21892 boasts that spec too, not to mention compatibility with most of the popular network standards in use around the world, from the TD and FD types of LTE right down to HSPA+, TD-SCDMA and EDGE/GSM. Finally, through a combination of small transistors (28nm) and clever algorithms, the chip is claimed to reduce power consumption by 25 percent compared to rival devices, and also to take up less space -- potentially leaving more room for other goodies (Broadcom suggests NFC). The chip is still only at the the sampling stage, however, so the folks at Qualcomm shouldn't have too much to worry about until at least 2014.</div></div>

Broadcom outs smaller, more efficient LTE-Advanced modem for high-spec mobiles

Welcome to the BCM21892. It may sound like every other piece of Broadcom silicon we've covered, b...

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Netgear buys Sierra Wireless' AirCard unit

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><hr /> <div class="image-container" style="text-align: left;"> <img alt="Sierra Wireless AirCard 76x hotspot" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/02/sierrawireless-cardsjtjt.png" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> Sierra Wireless<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7080182682816192337"> will be a very familiar name to many travelers who've depended on a hotspot or modem to keep their laptop online. Let's hope they aren't overly comfortable with the brand: Netgear just snapped up the assets of Sierra Wireless' AirCard business, which covers many of the portable 3G and 4G devices we hold dear. The $138 million, 160-employee deal gives Netgear the resources it wants to make a big push into LTE access devices. Sierra Wireless, meanwhile, is blunt in describing the handover as a cash grab: the agreement gives it "significant financial resources" for improving its embedded modules and machine-to-machine devices. The deal should thus make sense for both sides as long as it completes in March, although we can't help but feel that it's the end of an era for jet set data users.</a></div></div>

Netgear buys Sierra Wireless' AirCard unit

Sierra Wireless will be a very familiar name to many travelers who've depended on a hotspot or ...

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