AT&T and others are kicking 3G to the curb after it hits the 7.2Mbps barrier, and moving over to zany 4G technologies. T-Mobile, though, says they're sticking with 3G HSPA for the foreseeable future, and that the network will carry near-4G speeds in 2010.

This is good news for T-Mo subscribers in the short term, and I can see why the company would want to incrementally push past all their competitors while they all toil with next-gen hardware and infrastructure. But what happens when everyone else is finished rolling out their LTE networks? Where does that leave T-Mobile, besides three years behind? [MocoNews via Electronista]

HP is mum on exactly which carriers they're talking to, but those two were mentioned as possible candidates. HP hopes to quadruple their netbook sales to 40 million by 2012 with this plan, so hopefully the subsidy will knock enough off the price to make it worthwhile. Netbooks are mass-market now, but the overlap with people who already pay for a 3G data plan on their phone and want to just tether it will be one issue to surmount. [WSJ]

Let me spell it out for you: When you search for a gas station, it returns street directions, but also the pump prices. When you search for a movie theater, it returns movie times. Your maps never get out of date, and your points of interest database could be pulled from all the Google/Yahoo!/Yelp types of sites, giving you access to a practically unlimited number of...roadside Denny's.

And then there's traffic hive-mind thingy...(jump)

UPDATE: Whoops! Photo works now...thanks B.A. Kotaku.

Instead of merely reporting accidents and moving you away from them, the Dash comes with historical traffic data that goes hour by hour, per section of road. That means it knows that highway 80's average speed is about, oh, 20 miles per hour at 5pm going towards the bridge. And in the middle of the night, it should be 60.

But that doesn't account for one time delays like ballgame traffic and accidents. Say someone using a Dash is stuck in some traffic like that. The Dash GPSs uses its cellular data link to report slowdown to the Dash central server, which kicks down the fresh data to other users in the area. So your Dash is part of a traffic avoiding hive mind. Think about it&Mdash; Big cities are full of traffic, and early adopters, so this could really work.

Dash GPS's connectivity also makes it pretty easy to program. You can use the touchscreen. Or you can select an address on your PC, right click, and select "Send to Dash" to move it directly to your device. In the demo I saw, this took about 1 second. (Below)

Another thing that impressed me about Dash was how effectively it searches for stuff you need. Eric searched for propane, and the GPS hooked into Yahoo!, where it pulled back results for hardware stores, and other places that didn't actually have the word propane in the store's title. The web interface is tweakable, too.

One could setup Dash to update RSS feeds with geographic data, for things like apartments on craigslist, or dog parks.

The screens here are from a prototype device, so the UI has a long way to go before it starts shipping in early 2007. The hardware is a little thick around the middle, but that's ok considering this isn't meant to be a pocketable GPS, considering all that connect-licious wireless gear inside.

PS, Cory D. and the EFF Gangstas: These guys are insanely pre-cautious when it comes to privacy of location data, too. Pricing? Not yet.–Brian Lam

[Dash.net]

I'll make a prediction: Within 5 years, all high end laptops will be sold with integrated broadband. What do you think?– Brian Lam

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Sierra Wireless EVDO/HSPDA Aircards [Macworld]

By Sean Captain

Random routers may give you a crust of bread and such. But god bless the child who's got his own always-on, high-speed connection from a cell phone company. Laptop data cards have been trying the patience of early adopters for years. But three US services now offer bona-fide broadband download speeds in the 400-to-700-kilobits-per-second range. Jump to read about the state of high speed cellular data.

Verizon kicked off wireless broadband in the US about two-and-a-half years ago with Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO). In late 2005, Sprint followed with its own EV-DO service, and Cingular switched on its High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) network. Fast service from T-Mobile is nowhere in sight. So Catherine Zeta-Jones groupies should stick to IM-ing on their SideKicks.

Sporting one of the wireless broadband connections on a laptop feels as liberating as getting a drivers license and no longer having to ask mom and dad for rides to the mall. I've tried out cards from Verizon and Sprint in New York City and had no trouble connecting from anywhere. If you're someone who needs to be connected all the time — say a journalist filing articles from the field — consider a wireless broadband plan.

That's assuming you live someplace that has the service. Cingular currently covers over 60 cities and their burbs with HSDPA. Sprint claims to support about 220 communities, where 153 million people live. Verizon says its broadband reaches half the country.

All three companies charge $80 per month for a standalone, two-year, unlimited data plan. But they lop off $20 monthly for customers who also have all but their cheapest voice plans. Notebook cards cost from $50 to $100.

You can save an extra $20 per month if you forego a laptop card and instead use a broadband-equipped cellphone as a modem, connected via USB cable or Bluetooth. The downside is that most phones can't provide data and voice service at the same time. (But Cingular's LG CU500 can.)

These phones all work as broadband modems:

Cingular
LG CU500


Sprint
LG FUSIC
Palm Treo 700P
Samsung A900
Samsung A920

Verizon
LG VX-8100 LG VX-9800LG Chocolate
Motorola RAZR V3c

You might be thinking you can offset the cost of a wireless plan by dropping your cable or DSL service at home. But if you're more than a casual Web surfer, you'll find this frustrating — especially if your pad isn't in a prime location to get a signal. I tried going wireless-only and went nearly mad waiting for episodes of Battlestar Galactica to download. (Okay, I'm a sci-fi nerd.) And even if you get all five bars, you'll suffer through any sizeable uploads - like sending a card's worth of candid shots from that bachelor party to your Flickr account. Upload speeds are in the paltry 50-70 kbps range.

Relief is in site, though. The next version of EV-DO, called Revision A, will push the upload speeds into the 300-700 kbps range. (Hello video conferencing!) Sprint and Verizon will be rolling it out in early 2007. Then in late 2007 or 2008, Sprint introduces a new technology called WiMax with download speeds between two and four megabits per second. (Yee haw!) Cingular is being mum about upgrades. But Sierra Wireless, which makes a lot of the data cards out there, has already announced an HSDPA model that can handle double the speeds currently offered by Cingular's network.

Sean Captain is a nerdy Manhattan hipster and freelance journalist who covers technology for great outfits including The New York Times, Wired, Slate, Popular Science, Real Simple, and Laptop Magazine. When he has time to spare, he posts to his technology blog at seancaptain.typepad.com.