gobi

Qualcomm is adding 4G technology to its Gobi laptop modems and expanding its chip offerings that support 3G technologies.

The San Diego-based company announced at CTIA in Las Vegas Tuesday that it will add, for the first time, LTE, or Long Term Evolution 4G technology to the roster of 3G technologies that the Gobi modem supports. 4G technology is expected to offer much greater data throughput than current 3G technologies (see chart below).

Gobi modem technology is significant because it supports more than one type of 3G service. In effect, Gobi allows switching to a different 3G provider in software. The integrated Gobi modem on HP EliteBook business laptops, for example, supports Verizon's EV-DO and AT&T's HSPA 3G services. Before, a user would have to replace the internal modem to switch providers.

And Gobi modems will now be future-proofed by supporting LTE, too. Michael Concannon, senior vice president of connectivity and wireless modules at Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, explained how this could play out for PC makers. "A PC supplier, for example, may go with a 3.6 megabit-per-second module on a very low-end laptop, while in the mid-range they may want to go with a 14.4 (Mbps), and at the very high end… Read more

Whether or not tablets take over as a new mobile computing form factor of choice for much of the world depends on whether they can be easily used for key functions in ways that smartphones and laptops can't. Clearly, different users will be seeking different "key functions," and thus Panasonic has announced the Toughbook H1 Field. In many ways--nearly every way, in fact--the Toughbook H1 Field is a polar opposite to Apple's iPad.

A variation on an existing H1 used in professional healthcare environments, the Field combines Windows 7 OS with an 1.86 GHz Atom … Read more

Goby is a new search engine designed to answer the age old question, "what is there to do for fun around here?"

Goby.com is designed specifically to help people find things to do in their leisure time ranging from hiking to biking to finding a good restaurant or bed and breakfast.

Goby CEO Mark Watkins talked with Larry Magid about why his search engine is a better fun finder than general search tools like Google and Bing.

New search engine Goby is launching Tuesday night, and unlike Microsoft's Bing, or Hunch, Goby really is a "decision engine"--enabling users to very quickly find something to do nearby or in a far away place.

Its task-centric search tool is comprised of three boxes--a "what," "where," and "when." You just tell it what you want to do and where you want to do it, as well as some general date (or no date at all), and it goes through its index to find you places or activities that match up … Read more

In the interest of achieving faster 3G on my Apple MacBook Air while getting more bang from my BlackBerry, I've found two paths to 3G Nirvana. Well, maybe not quite Nirvana.

My first foray into 3G on the MacBook Air via a BlackBerry Storm produced satisfactory results. Here, the Blackberry served as a 3G modem via Bluetooth. The Bluetooth bottleneck, however, can be frustrating (it's closer to 2G than 3G) when there is a need for speed. So, I turned to a physically tethered connection via USB.

Let me preface this by explaining why I resisted a tethered (… Read more

Though Apple has yet to offer built-in 3G on MacBooks, pairing them up with phones like the Blackberry Storm provides a decent wireless workaround.

In December, I took the MacBook Air (i.e., the designers of the Air) to task for what I thought was a serious technological gaffe: not building 3G into the Air. At the very least, I thought 3G should have been included in the October refresh of the Air.

But I'm not going to rehash those gripes here (or repeat Apple's likely reasons for not including 3G). This time I bring good tidings.

After … Read more

Apple's MacBook Air doesn't live up to its wireless promise.

To quote an Apple tagline, "without wires, you're free to go anywhere." But the wireless part of the "air" play on words fails to deliver. (The other half its light-as-air weight: here it does deliver.)

As I've written in the past, I like the Air. I got one in February as soon as it was available at retail and have been pleased with the performance, screen, keyboard, build, and, until recently, the battery life (which has dwindled to under an hour). Of … Read more

Shockingly, we're finding that not everyone can afford to pay the $80 million or even the $12 million charged by U.S. Submarines to make custom luxury submersibles. But there's still hope for you cheapskates out there who still wish to play Captain Nemo.

Dubai-based Exomos will sell you your very own yellow submarine (or blue, green, orange, black or white) for only $40,000. The battery-powered "Goby" model carries three people and can cruise up to 40 meters below the surface for 8 kilometers per charge, according to Red Ferret, with on-board GPS and sonar … Read more