Sanyo Building Dual Mode CDMA/WiMAX handsets

Although cell phones that include WiFi data connections are nothing new, this is. Sanyo are building handsets that include the new WiMAX wireless standard. This new standard has better range than the existing wireless LAN standards; while 802.11g only works within a few meters of the access point, WiMAX can cover several city blocks with a single transmitter, and the system still works if there are obstructions between the transmitter and the receiver. Although the announcement (which was made by Beceem, who make the WiMAx chip that Sanyo are using) didn’t mention which network may be using the new handset, it is most likely to be Sprint, who recently announced that they are spending $3 billion dollars over the next few years building a WiMAX network. Sprint already sell the Sanyo M1, which we reviewed here.

 

[Via PhoneScoop]