Nokia WiMAX Tablet Deal

Nokia today said that it had chosen to use Intel's WiMAX chipsets in its hardware, paving the way for future handheld devices from the phone maker that use the standard. As part of a deal to test the compatibility of its own devices and network equipment with Intel's, the Finnish company said it would use Intel's upcoming mobile chipset, known as "Baxter Peak," in a future version of its Internet tablets like the N800 to provide multi-megabit download rates at long distance. The technology should allow the handheld to stream movies or music without having to reduce quality to accommodate slower speeds, Nokia said.

Though it would not go into the specifications of the upcoming tablet, the company did observe that the unnamed Nseries device would be "among the very first" WiMAX devices to ship in 2008 and is likely timed for the formal launch of Sprint's Xohm WiMAX service in the early part of the year, though its open nature means that Sprint will not tie the purchase of the tablet to a subscription as with today's cellular access.

Recently, photos surfaced of an unknown Nokia tablet known informally as the N900 and may be the home of the future wireless standard.

By Electronista Staff