Looking for a new phone to replace the your aging unit? If the current offerings from other companies haven't tickled your fancy, you might want to check out Verizon's XV6900 Touch from HTC. This phone has some pretty good features that seem perfect for regular travellers and jetsetters.

More details and pictures of the Verizon's XV6900 Touch  in the full article.

People who are always doing business on the go should check out Verizon's new product, the UM150 wireless USB Modem for Verizon Wireless. Compatible with most computing devices - desktops, notebooks, tablets, etc. - this small, wireless modem lets you get connected to Verizon Wireless high-speed broadband. The UM150 wireless modem is optimized for Verizon Wireless to ensure higher performance compared to the usual DSL connections.

When used with Verizon Wireless' EV-DO network, the UM150 has average download speeds of 600 kbps and average upload speeds of 500-800 kbps. The small wireless modem also features a retractable antenna as well as a Y-shaped extension cable for more flexibility.

The UM150 is priced at US$ 79.99 after a US$ 50 mail-in rebate, and comes with a two-year agreement with Verizon Wireless. It's certainly not free like Sony and T-Mobile's joint offer for the PSP, but still is a great deal.

Folks, there's a new BlackBerry smartphone and service in town! Wireless innovation company Research In Motion (RIM) announced the BlackBerry 8330 World Edition the other day. Likewise, Verizon Wireless revealed its new Global BlackBerry service that will provide consumers an "always-on, always connected" wireless e-mail solution.

These two, furthermore, allow users to just use local number either for domestic or international use (Australia, Europe, parts of Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North America). Speaking of which, the Global BlackBerry Service is capable of making and receiving calls from more than 150 countries as well as send and receive e-mails in more than 60 different countries.

RIM President and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis mentioned that consumers have a lot to look forward to from BlackBerry 8330. He added,

The BlackBerry 8830 is built on an exciting new device platform that combines CDMA and GSM/GPRS roaming support with the latest in industrial design and functional innovations. This innovative and stylish smartphone includes all the benefits that users have come to love about the BlackBerry solution along with a compelling new global service from Verizon Wireless.

Both the smartphone and the service will be available on May 14 and BlackBerry 8330 will be priced for US$ 299.99. A couple of its features include:

• EV-DO/GPRS network connection for high-speed data transfer in more than 60 countries
• GSM/GPRS (900/1800 MHz) for continued voice and e-mail while traveling internationally
• Auto-selection of CDMA/GSM Mode
• Thin form factor of just 14mm for both style and easy handling
• New Trackball navigation system
• Media player
• Expandable memory option with microSD card (sold separately)
• Speakerphone
• Bluetooth® capabilities for certain profiles inclusive of hands-free, dial-up networking and serial port
• Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD)
• Instant Messaging capabilities for quick and easy communication

For those laptop and ultra-portable PC owners who are currently using or thinking about using EV-DO, the Kyocera KR-1 EV-DO router is a suitable solution that will keep you connected to the Internet even away from hotspots.

The price of outfitting your KR-1, along with the appropriate wireless card for your machine and the carrier you selected, usually runs somewhere above $300. You insert the wireless card into the back of the KR-1 and it becomes an instant WiFi Hotspot and router for your LAN. For the entire month of September Kyocera will be selling the KR-1 EV-DO router with a $50 mail in rebate.

This little price reduction makes justifying the purchase of EV-DO service and equipment a little easier. Plus, you can add the $50 you saved on the cost of the router on the monthly service fees you'll be charged for the service. As a current EV-DO subscriber, and KR-1 user I can attest to the convenience it provides when traveling.

If you are a student or currently in a job that requires you to bring a computer with you into the field, a solution like the KR-1 provides unrivaled freedom, and the $50 rebate only sweetens the pot!

Sprint Nextel proudly announced its latest offering, the EV-DO Revision A network cards for laptops. Promising to increase average download speeds to 450 kilobits per second to 850kbps and upload speeds to between 300 kbps and 400 kbps, the new Novatel Wireless S720 Mobile Broadband cards definitely has more boost than its current version, which provides downloads between 400kbps and 700kbps with upload speeds of about 50kbps to 70kbps.

Sold through Sprint business sales channels, as well as online, for $249.99, the offer comes with a two-year subscriber contract, which can be availed by users for about $99.99 with a two-year subscriber agreement. Currently, service plans for the card range from $39.99 per month for 40 megabytes to $79.99 per month for unlimited data usage. With the two-year service contract, customers can get the unlimited data package for $59.99 per month.

Hopefully, Sprint will do their upgrades soon on their network to EV-DO Revision A Network. Without the upgrades, this speedier wireless laptop cards will be all for naught.

As EV-DO technology has become more and more popular over time the variety of solutions available to meet the needs of EV-DO users has become equally diverse. Carriers like Verizon and Sprint are currently in the process of maintaining and, in some cases, upgrading their EV-DO network infrastructure to keep up with the expected demand. The depth of the financial investment in network infrastructure alone demonstrates an iron clad commitment to the future of this technology on the part of the carriers.

The new AirCard 597E from Sierra Wireless is evidence that the next generation of EV-DO (known as Revision A) will be a viable competitor in the future of high speed wireless data services, and the investment will not have been in vain. "Built for notebook computers with ExpressCard expansion slots, the AirCard 597E will be fully compliant with network operator requirements and will offer user-friendly features such as Assisted GPS (aGPS) location based services; a robust, fixed antenna design; and an external antenna jack for flexibility and improved reception in fringe coverage areas or for specialized applications. The AirCard 597E is expected to begin shipping in the first quarter of 2007. ExpressCard models for HSDPA networks are expected to follow later in the year."

Sierra Wireless has been carefully watching the market and has plans to benefit from an overall trend in consumer habits that they expect to peak in 2007. "Notebook installations of ExpressCard slots are expected to move toward critical mass in 2007 - we are timing our ExpressCard products to match market adoption." said Trent Punnett, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Development for Sierra Wireless.

Since Dell and Apple (along with most all of the other manufacturers of laptops in the world) have moved to the express standard and basically abandoned the older PCMCIA standard, the market for express based network and storage solutions is expected to continue to grow. Eventually, everything will be done without wires, under one universal standard that is expandable, extensible, modular and fully self-sufficient (yeah right!). Until then we are left to choose between the various competing standards available today until we find a winner.

The inevitable, evolutionary movement towards the Revision A standard, that all EV-DO network providers will eventually undergo, moved a little faster recently as Sprint became the first provider to offer a wireless EV-DO card that's Rev A compatible.

The revision A standard of EV-DO (used by CDMA cellphone providers Verizon and Sprint) will provide speeds of 3Mbits per second when downloading and almost 2Mbits per second in the opposite direction.

The lower latency and better connectivity rates of the updated standard will make latency dependent technology like VOIP possible over an EV-DO connection. The new standard is also completely backwards compatible, but the higher speeds associated with Rev A are only achieved when a Rev A compatible wireless card is connected to an access point or gateway that is configured to accept traffic using the new standard.

In other words, until the carriers (Sprint and Verizon) upgrade their networks to operate within the new standard, the newly released Sprint Rev A compatible EV-DO card will only be capable of current generation speeds.

Current generation EV-DO speeds are decent (between 400 and 800 KBytes per second down and up to 400 KBytes Uploading), making it somewhat difficult to justify paying more for this new Rev A card before the carriers even upgrade their networks.

Until the network providers begin the task of upgrading their networks to Rev A, the new Merlin S720 will likely only appeal to EV-DO enthusiasts. However, if you are the type that always wants to get the latest toys before everyone else, the Merlin S720 might just be an ideal investment for you.

Sling Media recently announced that its SlingPlayer Mobile TV software is free, for a limited time, to new Slingbox owners who buy and register their Slingbox between August 15 and September 16 of this year. Those who buy and register their new Slingboxes on the aforementinoed dates will receive a free registration key for the SlingPlayer Mobile software which normally costs $29.99.

SlingPlayer Mobile is a software package that lets Slingbox owners watch and control their home TV from any network-enabled mobile phone or PDA powered by Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS. It supports any type of Internet connection on your mobile device, including 3G cellular services such as EV-DO or UMTS, Wi-Fi USB or Bluetooth-based connections.

Novatel Wireless, a company known best at QJ.NET for providing wireless cards, has apparently branched off into developing complete fixed/wireless convergence solutions for both wired and wireless Internet service providers. Recently announced by Novatel Wireless was the development of the Ovation(tm) MCD 3000, a 3.5G multimedia application console that works with current EV-DO networks and is upgradable along the same evolutionary path.

"As we see operators worldwide begin to combine standards for fixed and mobile service on the network side, we are executing on our vision for fixed mobile convergence, by deploying innovative devices that allow operators to offer more services and ultimately give end users control over bandwidth resources," said Peter Leparulo, CEO of Novatel Wireless. "The Ovation MCD3000 will allow North American operators to benefit from 3.5G spectrum efficiency, while delivering advanced multimedia streaming services."

The first generation in the MCD 3000 North American family will come in a modern compact shape the size of a cell phone. It is aimed squarely at the businesses sector; giving small business owners a suitable alternative to wired broadband. Download speeds will burst up to 3.1Mbps and uplink speeds max out at 1.8Mbps; making it faster than most DSL connections, and comparable to cable.

The wider selection of consoles that make up the Novatel Ovation family are a "portfolio of desktop and portable consoles integrated with wide area wireless technology to provide broadband communications and the delivery of multimedia applications."

The Ovation hardware is all powered by Novatel's Conversa(tm) suite of software that offers "wireless broadband Internet access, advanced networking, and intelligent routing depending on quality of service and cost, multimedia application support, advanced security firewalls and protocol flexibility." If only we could get Novatel to offer a solution for home users that would allow us to eliminate the need for separate (wired) Cable TV, Internet and phone connections and the service providers that come with them.

As we have reported in the past, the ability for rescue personnel to maintain open lines of communication throughout a disaster  relief effort is key to the success of the rescue effort. IP networks are uniquely suited for maintaining high traffic, multiple media format communications during a disaster.

Because they can be made to be scalable, modular, standardized, easily deployed and maintained in the field and are efficient at delivering high volume multi-channel traffic, IP networks are more suitable and provide the best results in chaotic disaster situations. While IP networks are a great solution, they are vulnerable to damage from multiple sources found in and around typical disaster relief areas and must be beefed up or "ruggedized" in order to meet the demands of the job.

Entree Wireless (the company that created the Mobile Communications System) is now offering the Rugged Warrior battery pack as a solo unit through the website EV-DO Info. The entire rescue communications kit contains video equipment, WiFi radio and battery, built in camera with a light, an external search camera, a video terminal and is aimed at established rescue units instead of volunteer rescue units or home users.

The rugged powerpack, now being offered alone, is less expensive and functions as battery power for the Kyocera KR1 router in the field. As a person who travels quite a bit and depends on the Kyocera KR1 EV-DO router to keep me connected to the Internet for completing posts and turning in homework, this product would help me tremendously.

However, with most laptop batteries putting out only a mere few hours of juice (my Dell E1705 puts out 1.5 hours, 2 at best), the remaining problem is finding power in the field for the laptop that will last as long as the Rugged Powerpack!