3G Internet Access Via PCMCIA Card

An anonymous reader writes "Found this on a European site. It's a PCMCIA card that connects you to the internet over a 3G network. With a download rate of 384kb/sec, it's close to broadband speed, and it works wherever there's network coverage. If you're tired of searching for a WiFi hotspot when you need one, this could be the answer."

Comments

Why always somewhere else?

[BWJones]

So the question is: Why is the US the last place that gets many of these technological advances in networking and wireless data access? When I was over in NZ a couple of weeks ago, there were little tiny cell phones from Japan that were unbelievable in their capabilities. Stuff that typically takes years to show up here in the States are being used by Japanese school kids as a matter of everyday life. A card such as this that connects to a 3G network and auto switches to GPRS where available! (yes, I did read the article) would be huge here in the US particularly given the diverse geography throughout the US as one travels from one place to another.

Now if I could only get this either built into my Apple portables or get a 12in Powerbook or an as yet unreleased subnotebook with a PCMCIA slot....because the implementation and use of this particular card seems a little cluttered. You have to reboot with the card present in the PCMCIA slot which could be a Windows issue with networking I suppose. "You must restart your computer for the changes to take effect" type crap that I have to deal with whenever I use Windows systems.

Re:Why always somewhere else?

[agristin]

because networks take infrastructure...

to cover japan in a 3 G network we'll say it takes X cell stations and it will cover all N Million Japanese.

to cover the US (unscientifically a zillion times the size) it would take Zillion x X cellstations and it will cover all N Million Americans.

Upgrading the Japanese network requires retrofitting X cellstations, while upgrading the US network requires zillion x X cellstations.

Very few networks actually cover the entire united states, because of the related problem of:

polulation density.

Japan is packed with people, and overall there are more people per square mile-

the US when averaged out, is not very dense. Sure there are some dense areas, and that is where the tests and pilot programs and prototypes are tried out...

but this impacts cost. So if you could deploy a network and it would be used pretty thoroughly all the way through with users paying for it, you would have a good network economic efficiency (in terms of dollar earned per dollar spent on infrastructure).

The US with it's low density tends towards poor network economic efficiency (except on the coasts) while Japan has high density and tends towards good network economic efficiency.

This higher efficiency in turn makes it easier to make enough profit which make it worthwhile to upgrade the network to offer more services to sell to your clients.

-E

BTW... The 15" PB has PCMCIA.

Re:Why always somewhere else?

[megaversal]

I never really understand this argument. I'm not saying you're wrong, but here... every cell phone provider has dead zones everywhere. I have Sprint, and between all of my friends, we cover every major provider... yet no matter where we go, we always find our signal being dropped everywhere. Step inside a building? Lose signal. Elevator? If you haven't already lost your signal, you're about to lose it.

When I was in Japan last month, I found that none of these problems existed. On train rides in between cities, people were still using their cell phones as if they were standing next to a tower. I had many chances to interact with people who had the latest and greatest phones and they were watching TV on the phone, underground.. where my cell phone wouldn't even get signal.

If it's a population density thing, why do I still have this problem in a city like Los Angeles, yet they're fine travelling in between cities where often we get 0 coverage.

The only downside to their wireless system that I found was that whereas we get tons of cell phone minutes to talk, they get about 30 minutes... but their messaging system is really cheap. So where we spend most of our time with our cell phones to our ears, they're busy typing.