Taiwanese manufacturer HTC, maker of the Android G1 handset, has unveiled the world's first 4G mobile handset, the HTC MAX 4G, capable of speeds of up to 70 megabytes per second.
The handset runs Windows Mobile 6.1 and sports a 3.8-inch touchscreen with 480x800 resolution.
It allows high quality mobile television to be streamed over the network thanks to the high bandwidth opportunities, as well as super-fast movies, games and maps to be delivered to the handset.
Super fast
WiMAX works in a similar way to Wi-Fi, but over a much larger area. The 70Mb/s speed is only applicable for handsets very close to the source... a more accurate figure is 10Mb/s over a 10Km range. But still super fast.
The deal with Scartel also allows another 4G connected handset to be contacted using VOIP over the network, and will work with any SIM card in Russia. Though that's not much use over here in Blighty.
WiMAX is currently being extensively tested in the UK and is set for large-scale deployment in the near future, though the lack of definite plans for a full scale roll out mean such handsets as the HTC MAX 4G will be a while coming.
But the days of wired connections are clearly numbered... better start hiding that Ethernet now if you want to save it.
