Sierra Wireless announces the world’s first dual channel HSPA+ USB modem [42 Mbps is yummy in my tummy]

Sierra Wireless has just announced the world’s first dual channel HSPA+ modem, the AirCard 312U. It’s going to be sold in Australia as the “Telstra Ultimate USB modem“, which is just about the most bad ass name you can call a laptop accessory. Telstra, as far as I’m aware, is the only operator in the world to have a fully operational commercial dual channel HSPA+ network. It’s basically a plain “old” HSPA+ network, which currently maxes out at 21 Mbps, but with the ability to use two channels to double the bandwidth to 42 Mbps. Think of the shotgun modem you used in the late 90s to double your download speed, and you understand the basics of how dual channel HSPA+ works.
Now just because it’s shipping in Australia doesn’t mean Americans will be missing out on the fun. T-Mobile USA, who is currently the only nationwide operator to offer an HSPA+ network, albeit to a limited amount of markets, has said that they plan on rolling out dual channel support in 2011. While the Aussies down under get to enjoy mobile broadband, North America is just going to have to wait. In a few months time Verizon and MetroPCS will both have their respective LTE networks turned on anyway and then you guys can all point at Australia on a map and laugh to your heart’s content.
As for Europe, the only operator that has offered concrete guidance on dual channel HSPA+ rollout is Telefónica Spain, who has committed to supplying 42 Mbps of mobile broadband goodness within the next 3 years. Bit of a stretch, but it’s coming.
Favorite quote from the press release: “Customers using a Telstra Ultimate USB modem in enabled coverage areas will experience real-world download speeds up to 20 Mbps.” How nice of them to tell people outright that their 42 Mbps modem will only give them half the speed during actual use. Thumbs up Telstra!

Sierra Wireless shares surge after 2Q results

Shares of Sierra Wireless Inc. jumped Friday after the Canadian wireless modem maker posted better-than-expected second-quarter results, prompting at least one analyst to upgrade its shares.
Sierra posted a net loss of $8.6 million, or 28 cents per share, compared with a loss of $5.9 million, or 19 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Excluding stock options expenses, restructuring costs and other items, the company earned 14 cents per share in the latest quarter.
Revenue rose 18 percent to $159.1 million from $135.3 million.
Analysts, on average, were expecting a profit of 8 cents per share on revenue of $156.6 million, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
Morgan Joseph analyst Ilya Grozovsky upgraded Sierra to "Buy" from "Hold," with a target price of $10.
"As (manufacturing) customers serving a wide range of industries integrate wireless services into their products, we believe Sierra is well positioned to post further sales and (earnings per share) growth," the analyst wrote in a note to investors.
Sierra's shares jumped $1.42, or 18.7 percent, to $9 in after-hours trading. The stock has traded in the 52-week range of $6.26 and $13.02.

Clear adds Mac-friendly 4G/3G modem, 4G routers

Clear today swung attention back to its 4G networking hardware with a particular focus on Macs. The Sierra Wireless-made 4G+ Mobile USB is its first dual 3G and 4G modem to support Macs and gives them an EVDO data connection fallback when 4G coverage is poor or non-existent. It should work with Mac OS X Leopard or later and will cost either $115 outright or $6 a month for a lease.

Routers now include two new options. The Spot 4G is a basic 4G-only mobile router for those that don't plan to leave Clear's coverage, sharing its WiMAX with up to eight other devices over W-Fi. The Spot 4G+ is a rebranding of Sprint's Overdrive with a 3G option and up to five devices sharing the network.

Both are OS-independent and carry different prices to reflect their expanded functions: the Spot 4G costs just $100 up front or $5 on a lease, while the Spot 4G+ costs $225 immediately or $6 per month.

Rates for access depend on how the device will be used and whether it supports 3G. The Spot 4G is the least expensive to use at $45 per month for an on-the-go connection or $65 per month to add home use, while the 3G-capable hardware raises these subscriptions to $61 and $81.

4G+ Mobile USB



Spot 4G



Spot 4G+

Sprint Overdrive hands-on

If you were worried that packing WiMAX into a MiFi-like device would end up bloating it by a thousand percent, we're very happy to report that you'd be wrong. The Overdrive's only marginally bigger than a MiFi and takes on a diamond-cut square shape (as opposed to the MiFi's rectangle) while adding a monochrome LCD up front that can be triggered on by touching (but not pressing) the power button. Other than that, you've got a micro-USB port, a microSD slot... and, well, that's about it. For something designed to slide into your pocket, we'd have it no other way.

AT&T future lineup shows two HSPA+ modems: Option 393 and Sierra Wireless Triple Lindy

AT&T (NYSE: T) is preparing to upgrade its 3G network to HSPA+ (also known as HSPA Evolution) to allow faster data speeds. And to make users sing along the updated network, they’ll need new “HSPA+ ready” products. That said, we’ve spotted two data cards in the carrier’s future lineup.

The first one is Option 393, classic USB-based modem, which we presume also comes with microSD memory card slot. At the maximum signal strength, users should be able to download at 14.4Mbps and upload at 5.76Mbps.

The other modem is Sierra Wireless “Triple Lindy,” a dual form factor ExpressCard/PCMCIA modem a la AirCard 402. Speed wise, this one should enable speeds of up to 21.1Mbps on downlink and up to 11.5Mbps on uplink. That’s pure theory at the moment, but who knows, maybe one of you live near AT&T’s antenna and will be able to come close to these speeds on his/her laptop. First, of course, we need to see AT&T rolling out HSPA+ upgrade – it’s easier afterwards…

[Via: Engadget Mobile]

Sierra Wireless AirCard 501 and 502 ExpressCard modems

by Sze

Sierra Wireless presents the new AirCard 501 and AirCard 502 ExpressCard HSUPA modems. Both AirCard 501 and AirCard 502 supports wireless download speed up to 7.2 Mbps and upload up to 5.76 Mbps. The AirCard 501 works on the on the 850, 1900 and 2100 MHz UMTS bands., while the AirCard 502 supports 900, 1900 and 2100 MHz UMTS bands.

These two new compact, portable AirCard modems have a Durable, durable and fixed design with no moving parts, and three LED indicators.

Sierra Wireless will release the AirCard 501 in Q4 2008 and the AirCard 502 in Q1 2009.

[sierrawireless]