Asus has a WiMax laptop, too

Everyone else is doing it, so why shouldn't Asus? Late Wednesday, the company announced the immediate availability of the M50Vm-A1WM, a 15.4-inch laptop with a built-in WiMax module for the recently launched Sprint Xohm data network.

Next-generation data connectivity aside, the $1,399 M50Vm-A1WM (catchy name, that) looks to be a fairly typical media-oriented mainstream machine. Its WXGA+ display should do just fine for watching movies, and we hope its Altec Lansing speakers will make it easy to enjoy music; the laptop is also HDMI ready and Dolby Home Theater certified. Inside the case, you'll find a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor, 1GB Nvidia GeForce 9600M GS graphics, and a 250GB, 5,400rpm hard drive.

The company's WiMax promotional page also lists a WiMax-enabled version of its 14.1-inch F8Va laptop, though that model doesn't appear to be immediately available. So far, the company hasn't announced plans to release a U.S. version of its WiMax-enabled Eee PC 901--but we certainly expect to see it happen, as the Netbook's extreme portability seems the perfect match for next-generation wireless services.

Of course, the WiMax-enabled laptop will initially appeal to residents of Baltimore, where Sprint just launched its Xohm network. However, there will eventually be a broader market for such laptops; Sprint has plans to roll out the technology to other cities, including Chicago, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Portland, Ore., and Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.