Last year, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has included the South Korea’s WiBro technology as one of its 3G communications standards. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics were currently unveiling diverse WiBro devices.

KT are expected to start mobile network business by itself with its Wibro network. If KT will provide mobile network business with Wibro, the cost will be cheaper than other MNOs’ operating cost. KCC decided to assign the remaining frequency for Wibro, 2360 ~ 2400 MHz, to new operator preferentially. KCC is also considering to assign 2.5 GHz to new Wibro operator. Due to this, Cable TV operator and other company could begin mobile network business through Wibro.

Today, KCC will allow to use 010 access code, mobile phone prefix in Korea, for Wibro operator. That means Wibro operators can provide mobile network service like existing MNOs. If more companies are coming with Wibro network, more various mobile services would be available for Korean customers.

LG's WiBro-capable device

[via 3Gweek]

Scartel (brand Yota), Russian provider of Mobile WiMAX, and HTC today officially announced the HTC MAX 4G, the world’s first integrated GSM/WiMAX handset. The HTC MAX 4G was first leaked early last month as HTC T8290. It has a mix of HTC Touch Diamond and Touch HD design, comes with a 3.8-inch display screen, 800 x 480 WVGA resolution, built in WiFi and Bluetooth.

Thanks to mobile WiMAX, high-quality multimedia entertainment is no longer limited. With Yota Video, a full video on demand (VOD) service, users can watch their favourite movies and videos from their personal Yota catalogue anytime, anywhere.

Broadcasting 14 free channels at launch and 23 channels by the end of 2008, the new device will support Yota TV service. The vibrant, 3.8 inch 800×480 screen of the HTC MAX 4G can display up to nine TV channels simultaneously, allowing quick and easy channel surfing and programme selection. Thanks to the device’s TV-out capability, users can also watch content on the big screen, putting the HTC MAX 4G at the very heart of the mobile entertainment experience.

The HTC MAX 4G supports GSM calls using a SIM card from any Russian network operator and when both callers are Yota subscribers, the call will automatically be routed as a VoIP call over the Yota Mobile WiMAX network. The Yota Phone service also supports more business applications, allowing users to switch between English and Russian contact records while providing functionality such as call holding, conference calling and video calling using the VGA camera on the front of the device.

The HTC MAX 4G also integrates a 3.5mm headphone jack to create the best possible experience for enjoying movies, music and photos on the go. Running Windows Mobile 6.1, the HTC MAX 4G incorporates HTC’s proprietary Touch FLO 3D user interface, allowing swift and intuitive navigation to key applications such as dialling calls, listening to music, taking picture and more.

Key HTC MAX 4G specifications:

• Processor: Qualcomm ESM7206A 528 MHz
• Platform: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• Memory: ROM: 256MB / RAM: 288MB / Flash: 8 GB
• Dimensions: 113.5mm x 63.1mm x 13.9mm
• Weight: 151 grams (with battery)
• Display: 3.8-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen
• with 480 x 800 WVGA resolution
• Network: Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:900/1800/1900 MHz
• Yota Mobile WiMAX 2,5-2.7 GHz
• Device Control: TouchFLO 3D
• GPS: Inbuilt GPS
• Connections: VoIP
• Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 b/g
• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• HTC ExtUSB
• Main camera: High-resolution with autofocus
• Second: VGA-camera
• Additional: Motion G-sensor (automatically rotating picture)
• Proximity sensor (saving energy while talking due to the switching the display off)
• FM-radio
• Audio: Ring tone formats: AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, QCP, MP3, WMA, WAV
• 40 polyphonic and standard MIDI format 0 and 1 (SMF)/SP MIDI
• Battery: Li-Pol, 1500 mAh
• Talk time: GSM: up to 420 minutes
• VoIP: up to 230 minutes
• Standby time: GSM: up to 350 hours
• VoIP: up to 50 hours
• AC Adapter: Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
• DC output: 5V and 1A

[via SlashGear]

Following months of rigorous testing to ensure that each product met the strict WiMAX Forum interoperability and conformance standards, the announcement included four base stations and six mobile station modules (also known as terminals) operating in the 2.5 GHz frequency band from eight WiMAX Forum member companies, including Airspan Networks, Alvarion Ltd., Beceem Communications Inc., Intel Corporation, Motorola Inc., Samsung Electronics Company, Ltd., Sequans Communications and ZyXEL. All of the newly certified 2.5 GHz mobile station modules passed the mandatory MIMO testing protocols.

These 2.5 GHz products were certified at the WiMAX Forum’s lead certification testing laboratory, which is operated by AT4 wireless in Malaga, Spain. Products achieving Mobile WiMAX certification were tested for functionality that supports mobility through rigorous testing including interoperability amongst vendor equipment and MIMO capabilities.

The WiMAX Forum estimates that more than 100 Mobile WiMAX products will be certified by the end of 2008, and by 2011 more than 1,000 products will undergo Mobile WiMAX certification. The WiMAX Forum plans to stay ahead of the demand for certification with a robust global lab infrastructure, including six WiMAX Forum partner labs that are now open and ready to accept products for certification testing in China, Korea, Spain, U.S., along with two labs in Taiwan, ADT and TTC/CS. The WiMAX Forum plans to open two more certification labs by the end of 2008 in India and Japan and an additional lab in Brazil in 2009 in order to support the anticipated growing demands in those regions.

The WiMAX Forum Subscriber and User Forecast Study projects that by 2012 there will be more than 133 million WiMAX users globally and approximately 70 percent of forecasted WiMAX users will utilize mobile and portable WiMAX devices to access broadband Internet services.

WiMAX is a 4G, IP-based broadband wireless technology that provides low-cost, multi-megabit speed and greater throughput for the mobile Internet era of video-rich content and bandwidth-intensive applications. It is based on the IEEE 802.16e standard.

To accomplish its goals, the OPA will form a WiMAX patent pool to help participating companies obtain access to patent licenses from patent owners at a predictable cost.

The patent pool will aggregate essential patent rights needed to implement the WiMAX standard as defined by the WiMAX Forum and the IEEE 802.16e standard. To help ensure product differentiation and interoperability at a more predictable cost, this approach will focus on providing a more competitive royalty structure by charging only for the features required to develop WiMAX products. The patent pool will incorporate a variety of royalty licensing solutions, including accounting for cross-licensing among individual members within the pool.

In addition to the formation of a WiMAX patent pool, the OPA will educate the WiMAX ecosystem about, and serve as a central resource for WiMAX intellectual property rights topics.

The OPA will issue a call for WiMAX essential patents for inclusion in its patent pool. An independent third-party reviewer will serve as the “patent referee” and will evaluate submitted patents to determine how essential they are to the WiMAX standard and WiMAX Forum profiles. While the OPA initially will focus its efforts on the WiMAX standard, it may work with other industry groups in the future.

“The convergence of mobile computers, WiMAX wireless broadband, and powerful, HD-rich computer technologies point to a tremendous growth opportunity,” said Maloney, Intel Corporation executive vice president and general manager, Sales and Marketing Group. “Individuals – not households – will drive the next era of growth with people each owning one or more computing devices. People have an innate desire to be ‘connected’ all the time and see personalized, mobile technology as the way to meet that need.”

“Mobile WiMAX is the right solution and it’s happening now,” Maloney added. “Wireless networks will be how the majority of people get connected and they have to be Web 2.0 capable. That means they’ve got to have a lot of bandwidth to send data either to or from devices at a rapid-fire pace.”

Intel has developed an integrated WiMAX/Wi-Fi solution, codenamed Echo Peak that will be available as an option for certain Intel Centrino 2 processor technology-based notebook PCs. The company aims to enable initial availability of certain WiMAX-enabled notebook PCs in the United States later in the second half of the year depending on individual computer maker plans and WiMAX network availability, with system and network availability expected to increase in 2009.