If you want to hop on Verizon’s barely 6 month old 4G LTE network and enjoy the blistering speeds it has to offer then you’ve typically only had 3 ways of doing that: 1) USB modem 2) WiFi hotspot 3) Tether your smartphone. That’s now due to change since Verizon has just announced that they’ve approved the Novatel Wireless E362 for use on their networks. It’s an internal LTE modem, so chances are you’re not going to be installing it yourself, but you can expect to see a flood of notebooks coming out in the second half of this year with the E362 inside. It’s powered by Qualcomm’s MDM9600 chipset, meaning that when you’re not in an area serviced by Verizon’s 4G LTE network you can hop on just about everything else, from CDMA/EVDO on the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz bands, to GSM/GPRS on all four 850/900/1800/1900 MHz bands, and it’ll even do 42 Mbps HSPA+ on the 850/900/1900/2100 MHz bands, meaning no T-Mobile support sadly.
The E362 is also compatible with tablets, specifically anything running Android FroYo or Honeycomb, so we’re eager to see if anyone has the courage to come out with a tablet that can actually take advantage of the 15 Mbps speeds most people see on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. The Motrola Xoom is supposed to be LTE upgradeable, but we’ve yet to hear any concrete dates as to when that upgrade will be available to consumers. It’s going to involve sending your device in for modification, so you’re not going to have your tablet for the better part of a full business week. We say just save yourself the headache and ditch the Xoom and buy something slimmer and sleeker. There are bound to be a slew of tablets hitting the market this summer, and most certainly for back to school season.
[Via: Engadget]