ATT HSPA Plus Modem Leak

AT&T's planned move to HSPA+ service for its next-generation 3G should be accompanied by at least two computer networking devices when the network goes live, as a slide leak late Monday has revealed the carrier's plans. A Sierra Wireless notebook card nicknamed the "Triple Lindy" should lead the charge, Engadget says, and will have a dual-stage enclosure that can either work as a regular ExpressCard/34 adapter or else plug into a PC Card adapter for use on older notebooks. It could reach the theoretical peaks of the service at 21.1Mbps downstream and 11.5Mbps for uploads.

A simpler device, Option's 393, would provide USB access for computers and other devices without a card slot. The smaller frame will limit it to peak speeds of 14.4Mbps down and 5.8Mbps up but will also supply a microSDHC card slot to double as flash storage.

The slides have the devices shipping later in the year, with the Option 393 arriving first in early October and the Sierra card arriving in mid-December. Whether or not this is the case is uncertain, though AT&T has publicly promised HSPA+ sometime in 2009.

By Electronista Staff