ceremorphosis

While it may seem WiFi hot spots are ubiquitous, especially here in Northern Virginia, it’s actually not the case. Many are located in hotels, which means they are essentially inaccessible. Starbucks stores are located on seemingly every corner, and you can sign up for T-Mobile’s service. At $40 a month (if you forego signing the contract), it’s cheaper than most data plans. It’s also good at Border’s book stores. Oddly enough, if you go to a Starbucks in a Barnes and Noble, you can use T-Mobile, while B&N is pushing Cometa – or is it SBC nowadays? If you go to Tysons Corner, it’s Sprint PCS. Hardly efficient.

I can use my Treo as a Bluetooth modem, which gives me EDGE speeds. However, the latency can be pretty bad. It’s rough typing in a console and getting character lag.

The MacBook Pro and a handful of Windows-based laptops now support ExpressCard/34 only. This renders it impossible to use HSDPA or EVDO PCMCIA cards. So far, the only firm commitment I have seen from a manufacturer for ExpressCard did not come from the usual suspects, but from Dell:

When will ExpressCard Mobile Broadband cards be available from Dell?
We do not anticipate seeing mobile broadband ExpressCards available in market until later in 2006.

• Dell plans to launch the Dell Wireless 5700 EVDO ExpressCard for use on the Verizon Wireless network around May/June.
• Dell plans to launch the Dell Wireless 5510 3G HSDPA ExpressCard for use on the Cingular network in August/September

What format/size of ExpressCard Slot is Dell using?
There are two formats available in the market: 34mm and 54mm.
The Dell Wireless 5700 and 5510 ExpressCards will be in the 34mm format

So now we wait.