Sierra announces a Sprint RevA PCI Express Mini to ship soon

xenophon · EVDO Addict Joined: 30 Aug 2005 Posts: 2004

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060918/to305.html?.v=4

Sierra Wireless reaches two EV-DO Revision A product milestones
Monday September 18, 9:30 am ET
AirCard(R) 595 Sprint Mobile Broadband card available from Sprint; MC5725 PCI Express Mini Card embedded module now Sprint certified

VANCOUVER, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ: SWIR - TSX: SW) today announced it has reached two milestones in the company's EV-DO Revision A development program. The company has commenced commercial shipments of the Sierra Wireless AirCard® 595 Sprint Mobile Broadband Card for EV-DO Revision A networks to Sprint. In addition, the Sierra Wireless MC5725 PCI Express Mini Card embedded module has received standalone certification for use on the Sprint Power Vision(SM) Network. Commercial shipments to customers are scheduled to begin this month.

The AirCard 595 Sprint Mobile Broadband Card and the MC5725 embedded module are fully compatible with Sprint's current Power Vision Network and will seamlessly migrate to Sprint's upgraded EV-DO Revision A network when and where it will be available. Rev. A technology is estimated to improve average download speeds to 450-850 kbps and average upload speeds to 300-400 kbps, six times faster than currently available upload rates. Sprint has announced plans to begin its rollout of EV-DO Revision A during the fourth quarter of 2006, and expects the upgraded network to be available to more than 40 million people by year end.

"EV-DO Revision A is a significant step forward for mobile data, as the increased uplink speed reduces sending delays and brings the user experience closer to a wired broadband experience," said Dan Schieler, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales for Sierra Wireless. "The AirCard 595 and the MC5725 take full advantage of these improvements, and we are pleased to support Sprint in its deployment of Revision A, to provide customers with future-ready solutions out of the box."

The Sierra Wireless AirCard 595 will be sold through Sprint indirect and business sales channels and online at www.sprint.com for a suggested retail price of $249.99 and as low as $99.99 with a two-year subscriber agreement.

The AirCard 595 is a Type II PCMCIA card that offers peak theoretical data transfer speeds of 3.1 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 1.8 Mbps on the uplink when operating on an EV-DO Revision A wireless network. The fixed, robust antenna is designed for superior performance, delivering better coverage in fringe areas and improved notebook battery life.

The MC5725 PCI Express Mini Card embedded module offers uplink and downlink data rates similar to those of the AirCard 595, but is designed for integration into notebook PCs and other portable computing devices, to provide AirCard Enabled(TM) built-in wireless network access. Sierra Wireless has more than 12 years experience in delivering industry leading WWAN products. To simplify and expedite product development cycles, Sierra Wireless provides OEM customers with a comprehensive software development kit (SDK), as well as superior integration and certification support services.

xenophon · EVDO Addict Joined: 30 Aug 2005 Posts: 2004

I'm a little confused with PCI Express Mini. Is that usable in an ExpressCard slot or is it only for laptops with internal embedded slot?

Michael · Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2006 8:44 am Post subject:

PCI Express Mini would plug internal (not PCMCIA not ExpressCard).

This means, that Sprint will start working out deals with Manufacturers to include EVDO in laptops from the factory.
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xenophon · EVDO Addict Joined: 30 Aug 2005 Posts: 2004

Are there laptops with user accessible PCI Express Mini slots?

Edit: Looks like some Thinkpads are 'user accessible' but you have to take the freakin thing apart. Hopefully there are others out there where you just open a door with one screw.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-64322